LINKING HIM TO ENDORSING PRESIDENT WEAH IN RUN-OFF
Monrovia, Liberia – Brownie Samukai, a steadfast Unity Party member and former minister of defense, has disapproved social media posts that purport to be his endorsement of President Weah in the 2023 run-off election.
Using images of Brownie Samukai praying at President Weah’s Forkay Klon Church on social media on Sunday, November 5, 2023, CDC supporters saw the former defense minister closeness with the Liberian Leader in public as endorsing the Liberian leader.
But an inquiry made by OK FM, a local radion station in Liberia Station Manager Clarence Jackson to Brownie Samukai in a text message and this is how he (Brownie) responded.
“I simply responded to an invitation to attend nothing about endorsement, absolutely not”
The verdict of the lower court against J. Brownie Samukai and two other co-appellants, who misappropriated US$1.1 million meant for the Armed Forces of Liberia, was maintained by the Supreme Court of Liberia. The three individuals were sentenced to two years in jail.
Nonetheless, the court decided that if the guilty return half of the money within six months and pay the remaining balance within a year, their prison sentences could be suspended.
The nation’s highest court’s decision to rule against Mr. Samukai, was a severe setback to both his promising political comeback and the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), on whose platforms he was elected. After being found guilty by the lower court in 2020, Mr. Samukai, the former Minister of Defence, had hoped to be cleared by the High Court.
It is documented that the majority of Liberians blamed President Weah’s CDC government for preventing the state man from being appointed to the Senate, citing the possibility that this would impede their ability to secure votes for Lofa in the 2023 presidential election.
However, after observing Samukai at the president’s church and seated in close proximity, a number of supporters conjectured that Mr. Samukai is closely collaborating with the Weah team to ensure his participation in the 2023 run-off.