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Posted September 8, 2006
Using Modern Technology To Solve Mansion Fire Incident
Past Liberian governments would have solved the fire
incident at the Executive Mansion based on rumors, hatred, suspicion, and
even use it to implement their elimination schemes against opposition
members.
When incident like this at the Executive Mansion took
place, the late Samuel Doe’s voice trembled and unleashed his loyal troops
on opposition members, rounding them up on suspicion, rumors and whispers.
Charles Taylor’s quasi American accent would violently
echo on state-owned radio in reaction to the incident, and would unleash his
untrained and undisciplined ATU forces to conduct jungle justice.
When asked about their reactions to the recent findings
released by South African forensic scientists, two local reporters said so
far, the Sirleaf administration has made a breakthrough in the area of
advanced investigation, especially by making the findings public. The
reporters who spoke on condition of anonymity because of their impending
tasks to do a further-up into the findings, said even with the availability
of all of the modern investigative means, some leaders would still do it the
old Liberian way.
When the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Unity Party-led
government told the people of Liberia that forensic investigation will be
conducted into the cause of the fire that gutted the Executive Mansion on
Independence Day, several eyebrows were raised at the sincerity of the
announcement. This wavering is the result of past governments totalitarian
political philosophies.
Liberians’ experience in past governments’ methods of
handling such situations coupled with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s post
fire incident major changes at the Executive Mansion which affected her
security adviser, SSS director, and her planned scrutiny of all Executive
Mansion’s staff including the gardeners, shifted most Liberians belief that
the fire was an accident or an electrical fault. Furthermore, the events
including the aforementioned made Liberians to think that the president was
engulfed by suspicion and would act like her predecessors.
But in the aftermath of the gruesome incident, the
president maintained her emotions and frustration, urging Liberians to
remain calm and desist from jumping to conclusion-even though it was
reported that a former war lord, Sekou Conneh and former Presidential
Affairs minister, Morris Dukuly met twice at the Executive Mansion in the
latter office before the incident.
One marketer talked to in Gardnersville, Monrovia, said
this is the first time in her mature life in Liberia to see no one
incriminated in Executive Mansion incident. “New things have begun to take
place!” she exclaimed. She said though some people may think this happened
because of the presence of UN peacekeepers, some leaders would rather solve
it anyhow.
Meanwhile two major incidents tied to the government of
Liberia still remained unsolved. The findings into the Press Union of
Liberia’s complaints of physical attacks on its members and the forceful
taking of their equipments did not produce any suspects but rather brought
forth reconciliation. There has been no official reaction from the Press
Union of Liberia regarding the proposed roundtable discussion. Affected
journalists presented an estimate for their damaged equipments at
US$750.00.
Some observers believe the Presidential Committed has
achieved what it was set up to do-by recommending security-media round-table
discussion. “In the first place the committee was not clothed with the
authority to identify and prosecute suspects involved in those incidents,”
one analyst said.
The actual
cause of the shooting incident at Director Massaquoi residence that resulted
to the death of SSS officer, Emmanuel Williams has yet to be known. The
victim’s family pressured the chief executive to suspend and prosecute SSS
director, Chris Massaquoi and his deputy for their alleged role in the fatal
shootings. Since then only the suspected killer is being held by government
with no formal charges and no report as to how much forensic or physical
evident has been gathered from the crime scene. It is not yet established
whether the two SSS bosses will serve as state witnesses or accomplices in
the case of the fatal shootings.
Writes,
Thomas Kai Toteh
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
tnyantk@yahoo.com
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