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Credible source closed to the United States State Department has hinted that new sanctions on Liberia are expected to be landed on the Liberian soil due to ill-management of the country’s resources, and the growing wave of human rights abuses.
GNN-Liberia Washington D.C. source further disclosed that the Biden Government has observed that the government of Liberia has reportedly refused to realize the continues suffering of the Liberian people, while at the same time perpetually ignoring the hardship face with the lager population.
The newly Appointment United States Ambassador Mark Christopher Toner by President Joe Biden, and confirmed by the Congress has vowed during his confirmation to deal with corrupt Liberian officials, and those who will plunder in the country’s resources.
Mark Christopher Toner born 1964, is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer and former Spokesperson for the United States Department of State. As a career Foreign Service Officer, Toner served overseas in West Africa and Europe. Toner was the Information Officer in Dakar, Senegal, the Public Affairs Officer in Kraków, Poland, and the Spokesman for the U.S. Mission to NATO, in Brussels, Belgium. In Washington, Toner worked as a senior advisor for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; as a Senior Watch Officer in the Department’s Operations Center; and as the Director of the European Bureau’s Press and Public Outreach Division.
Effort by the GNN-Liberia quizzing its source as to whom this time will be caught in the expected U.S. sanction web, declined to further, noting, “For now it is not possible to name any individual, but rather those suspected of been behind the suffering of the Liberian people will not be out”, he revealed.
“We are watching the run-off with eagle, as we look forward for the people of Liberia to decide for the future of their country”, GNN-Liberia source in Washington D.C. via mobile phone disclosed.
In a related development, early in September, 2023, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently announced visa restrictions for individuals who he said were “undermining democracy” in Liberia ahead of the country’s elections in October.
Blinken in a statement released by the U.S. State Department did not specify how many people were affected or identify them. The move restricts their ability to travel to the U.S.
The policy is not aimed at the Liberian people or government, Blinken said.
The U.S. visa restrictions target people believed to be responsible for “undermining democracy in Liberia, including through manipulation or rigging of the electoral process; use of violence ….; or engagement in any other activity designed to improperly influence the outcome of an election,” Blinken said.
* The U.S. last year imposed sanctions on three Liberian officials for alleged corruption and misappropriation of state assets. The people included Liberia President George Weah’s chief of staff, Nathaniel McGill. Weah fired the officials, who deny wrongdoing.
* October elections in Liberia will test the popularity of ex-football star Weah after a chaotic first term. Weah came to power on a wave of hope that he could improve things, despite his lack of political experience. But a series of scandals have set him back.
* Opposition leader Joseph Boakai launched his campaign earlier this month. Boakai, 78, came second to Weah in 2017 elections.
* Liberia, founded in 1822 as an outpost for returning freed slaves from the Americas, is still recovering from a military coup in 1980 and a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003″, the statement published by the Reuters news agency quoting Mr. Blinken said.
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