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Posted September 7, 2006
Did
Government Use Morris Dukuly As Scapegoat In Mansion Fire?
On Sunday, August 3, 2006,
the former Minister of State and Presidential Affairs and Chief of President
Sirleaf ’s office staff, Morris Momolu Dukuly, his family, and closed
associates sighed relief, when the Liberian government in a statement
attributed the cause of the July 26, 2006 fire incident at the Executive
Mansion to “Electrical shock”
The government quoting
findings of an investigation conducted by a principal forensic analyst in
the South African Police Service, Sello Jacob Lekotjolo claimed, “Electrical
fault seriously caused the problem.” The report further revealed,
“Overheating of an electrical wire due to mechanical or poor electrical
problem or poor connection caused the problem. This high contact resistance
overheating occurred within the capacity of the circuit breaker or
electrical protection device,” (FPA, 2006).
The pronouncement for the
Dukulys is considered a turning point in the political and professional life
of Mr. Dukuly because during the fire probe many Liberians directly or
indirectly pointed accusing fingers at him as a prime suspect. The local
media quoting some insiders of the government claimed that the former
minister was literally “cowed” by the political leadership to accept
responsibility for the incident. “When anything goes wrong in an
institution, somebody must take responsibility,” President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf said in Monrovia when she addressed reporters few days following the
fire outbreak.
Even though President
Sirleaf did not say exactly what the former Chief of Staff did that
warranted him taking responsibility for the fire outbreak, Mr. Dukuly
“Willingly” took the blame and subsequently tendered his resignation.
A formal program making
Liberia’s 159th independence anniversary was marred on July
26,2006 when fire gutted the 4th floor of the Executive Mansion.
The program was taking place at the Mansion when the fire erupted. The
episode caused pandemonium in Liberia. As a result of the fire, the
President’s office and the cabinet room, which are situated on the 4th
floor, were devastated. Unfortunately, the incident coincided with the with
the visits of presidents, John Koffour of Ghana, and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory
Coast to Liberia, and the day electricity was restored to Monrovia after
sixteen years of disruption in power supply.
Government’s Reaction
The
Liberian government reaction to the fire incident was swift and robust. An
immediate probe into the cause of the fire was instituted and tougher
security measures, which included the quarantine of the Executive Mansion
was put in place. The President reshuffled her government and replaced
former Minister Dukuly with her long time ally, Willie Knuckles. Former
National Security Advisor, Madison Tukpah, and the Director of the Special
Security Service (S.S.S.), Victor Helbs were sent away. Veteran politician,
Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh replaced Mr. Tukpah, while Chris Massiquio took over
the S.S.S. as director.
Public’s Reaction
The fire incident was
widely criticized and politicized. Some politicians, individuals, and
institutions that wanted to get the ears of President Sirleaf as it is most
often done in Liberian politics, took advantage of the situation to pledge
support to the Liberian government. Some through innuendoes tried to equate
the situation to a conspiracy concocted by some Liberians with the sole
purpose of ruining the current political stability in Liberia.
A statement of sympathy and
solidarity from the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) to
President Sirleaf and the people of Liberia described the incident as
“tragic and regrettable”. AFELL said, “The situation would had plunged our
country into another round of chaos, anarchy, and destruction had not been
for the divine intervention of the Almighty.”
Others fabricated stories,
bad mouthed, and made frantic efforts to demonize the President’s former
Chief of Staff. One of such disparaging statements and un-established claims
came from the Forum for the Establishment of a War Crime Court in Liberia.
The so-called war crime
court advocates tried to establish a correlation between the fire incident
and a previous meeting reportedly held between former minister Dukuly and
the Chairman of the disbanded Liberians United for Reconciliation and
Democracy (LURD), Sekou Conneh. The group claimed, “The recent visit of
ex-warlord Sekou Conneh to the Executive Mansion, followed by an “arson
attack” was alarming. The visit is alarming, especially so, when it appears
like the arson was a combination of inflammable pyrotechnics devices
compounded with incendiary high velocity gasoline which has twice the
destructive powers as compared to ordinary or natural gas,”(Inquirer,
2006).
The group further claimed
that during Conneh’s alleged visit to the Executive Mansion, he was
“Surreptitiously sneaked into the office of President Sirleaf, by Chief of
Office Staff, Morris Dukuly to the fright of the President,” (Inquirer,
2006).
The Justice and Peace
Commission of the Catholic Church in a reaction to the incident, called for
a legal probe of the matter. The JPC argued that “ I f Dukuly is accepting
responsibility for the July 26, fire that gutted the Executive Mansion than
he should be arrested and prosecuted for launching an arson attack on the
president of Liberia.”
“For Morris Dukuly, the
JPC contended, to have resign his post in the government and accept
responsibility for the fire incident, it was treasonable under the laws of
Liberia and as such, the government should have Dukuly arrested, charged in
accordance with the organic laws of the state,” (Analyst, 2006).
Liberian Media Reports
Coverage of the incident
and its aftermath in the Liberian media was diverse. Some media institutions
in editorials castigated the incident and called for prompt investigations.
“It is unthinkable for anyone to believe that fire of such rapidity would
only engulf a particular section of the building, especially on Independence
Day when high profiled guests from around the world had come to celebrate
with us following years of blood shed,” read an editorial from the July 28,
2006 edition of the News Newspaper.
Other media institutions
sensationalized the story and out of ignorance took it out of context when
they mislabeled the incident as an “Arson attack”. The Analyst Newspaper is
one of few print media institutions that made such professional blunder (See
the Analyst, July 28, 2006 online edition). What transpired at the Executive
Mansion on July 26, 2006 was not an “Arson attack”; it was a fire out break
or incident because arson is “The crime of setting a fire with intent to
cause damage,” (Webster’s New World, 2000). Since the incident was being
probed and the paper could not prove that the fire was maliciously lit, the
use of the word, arson was legally and grammatically out of order.
Furthermore, the episode was an outbreak because it happened spontaneously.
Dukuly and
Family’s Reaction
In spite of the numerous
resentful statements targeted at the former minister, neither him nor his
family made any pronouncement regarding the situation. Following his
resignation, former Minister Dukuly opted to exhibit political maturity by
remaining silent while the matter was being probed.
Lessons to Learn
The outcome of the probe
teaches that Liberians must learn to treat anyone linked to an incident be
it public official or not as innocent until proven otherwise. An accusation
is not a conviction. For the fact that neither the Liberian government nor
the investigators could prove that the Executive Mansion fire episode was
maliciously orchestrated, establishes that Mr. Dukuly was used as a
SCAPEGOAT in the incident. He took the responsibility for a situation that
he had no control over.
His hard earned reputation
was hurt. He and his family were subject to unnecessary mental anguish and
social ridicule because of hasty conclusion on the part of some Liberians.
The incident was politicized and it was also taken out of context by some
media institutions.
Let this report teach
Liberians that it is better to eschew hasty conclusion and the politicizing
of matters that do not need such treatment. Issues affecting the nation and
its citizenry must be approached with caution and sobriety. In successive
administrations we witnessed how government officials and other individuals
acting on inadequate information and sometimes lies arrested, imprisoned,
tortured, and killed others unnecessarily.
Let the gallantry of Morris
Dukuly in accepting the blame for the Executive Mansion fire outbreak teach
us (Liberians), especially our national leaders that sometimes it is good to
sacrifice our personal gratifications for the well-being of institutions we
serve. Dukuly took the inflammatory comments and innuendoes that were
directed at him for an act he had no control of with pride and dignity
because he knows that Liberia’s national interest is more paramount than his
personal interest. That’s what patriotism is about, love of country.
Bravo Mr. Dukuly for the
political maturity exhibited. You are indeed a true nationalist. Big
brother, the maturity displayed during the course of the investigation has
again won more admirations for you amongst Liberians at home and abroad.
About the author:
Moses D. Sandy is currently pursuing a graduate degree in social work (MSW)
at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He holds a BA degree in
broadcast journalism from the University of Liberia, West Africa. He’s
former Editor-in-Chief of the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS).
Writes,
Moses D. Sandy
mds27@temple.edu
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