Montserrado County Senator Saah Joseph’s recent public statements have done more than just rattle political gossip circles; they have pulled back the curtain on the cutthroat, personal, and often dangerous nature of Liberia’s political party culture, particularly within the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). What makes this development alarming is not just the intensity of the accusations, but what they reveal about the internal fragility of a political machine that once boasted unshakable unity.
Senator Joseph, a man who rode the CDC wave to national prominence and legislative influence, now claims to have been deliberately sidelined by former President George Weah during the latter’s six years in office. The alleged four-year silent treatment, despite Joseph’s role as Chair of the Senate’s Executive Committee, paints a picture of a presidency where personal grudges were allowed to override political pragmatism. If accurate, this raises uncomfortable questions about how power was managed within the Weah administration: Was loyalty measured not by results, but by personal allegiance and deference to the party leader’s ego?
More disturbingly, Joseph alleges that his home was set ablaze in an assassination attempt masterminded by high-ranking CDC officials. His claim that the motive was tied to receiving more votes than Weah in Montserrado County is telling; it suggests that electoral success within the party could be perceived as a threat rather than an asset. In a functional democracy, outperforming the party leader in a given constituency should be celebrated as evidence of grassroots strength. But in this alleged scenario, it appears to have been met with political jealousy and, if Joseph’s claims hold, life-threatening retaliation.
His revelations also underscore the extent to which internal CDC politics were marred by factionalism and paranoia. The repeated removal of Joseph from the party’s internal communications (“chartroom”) at the behest of Representative Moses A. Gray points to a culture of suspicion where accusations of spying for opposition parties could be weaponized without due process. Such behavior not only undermines party unity but also corrodes public trust in political leadership.
Gray’s counter-accusations that Joseph is a traitor and opportunist only add fuel to an already combustible feud. The competing narratives reveal a familiar pattern in Liberian politics: alliances forged in the pursuit of power quickly unravel once personal ambitions clash. And as is too often the case, the public is left to sift through a mess of claims and counterclaims with little in the way of concrete evidence, but plenty of reasons to question the integrity of those who govern them.
There is also a personal dimension to Joseph’s counter-narrative. By rejecting Gray’s assertion that President Weah “made” him, Joseph seeks to reclaim his political identity and legitimacy as an independent actor. His highlighting of his humanitarian work through the Jefferson Baptist Mission and the establishment of schools before entering politics is a calculated reminder that he had influence before the CDC, implicitly positioning himself as more than a mere creation of the party’s political machinery.
This public fallout is not without consequences for the CDC’s already battered image. The party, still reeling from its 2023 electoral defeat, now finds its senior figures engaged in a messy, very public blame game. Such spectacles erode voter confidence and give ammunition to political opponents, particularly the ruling Unity Party, which will no doubt seize on these revelations to portray the CDC as disorganized, vindictive, and incapable of self-governance.
Ultimately, whether Senator Joseph’s most serious allegations, such as the arson attempt, can be substantiated is a matter for law enforcement, not political theatre. But even if parts of his account prove exaggerated or self-serving, the fact that such accusations are being made at all signals deep dysfunction within the CDC’s leadership ranks. If this is how Liberia’s largest opposition party treats its own, it begs the question: what kind of leadership culture does it aspire to project to the nation?
For the Liberian public, these revelations should serve as more than entertainment fodder. They should be a sobering reminder of the dangers posed by a political culture in which loyalty is policed through fear, dissent is punished with ostracism, and electoral success can make you a target. As Senator Joseph prepares to “tell all” upon his return from the United States, Liberians would do well to demand not just the truth, but accountability, because if these are the games being played behind closed doors, then the stability of the nation’s democratic institutions may be far more fragile than anyone would like to admit.
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