MONROVIA — Former Deputy Commerce Minister for Small Business Jemima Wolokollie has blasted the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) over its recent dues campaign, labeling it a “criminal scheme” designed to enrich party elites at the expense of struggling Liberians.
In an exclusive interview with The Liberian Investigator on Thursday, April 17, Wolokollie, who was expelled from the CDC in 2020, accused the party’s leadership of attempting to extort funds from ordinary citizens while offering no real solutions or direction.
“These people don’t care about the ordinary Liberians. I and many others are victims of their 419 pattern,” Wolokollie said. “They just left power less than two years ago, and now they’re asking people to pay their rent because they’ve gone broke. That’s criminal.”
Wolokollie’s comments come in the wake of former President George Weah’s controversial speech delivered at the CDC headquarters, in which he urged supporters to pay party dues and “invest in the movement that has invested in you.” Weah framed the appeal as a call to strengthen the CDC as a force capable of correcting what he described as the failures of President Joseph Boakai’s administration.
But Wolokollie dismissed Weah’s message as hollow and misleading.
“Former President Weah’s speech was empty because he had nothing meaningful to tell the few Liberians gathered at the CDC headquarters,” she said. “All the wrongs the CDC committed during their six years in power were done in his name — not to build the country, but to undo the progress made by past leaders.”
Weah, in his address, accused the Boakai administration of executive overreach, legislative dysfunction, abuses by security forces, and wasteful spending. He also painted the ruling Unity Party’s “Rescue Mission” slogan as unraveling under the weight of political controversy and rising public discontent.
Wolokollie, however, argued that Weah’s remarks were part of a calculated effort to rewrite history.
“The CDC today is a hollow shell. Those who made the party strong were chased out, and now it’s nothing but an empty bag that can’t stand,” she said.
She further criticized what she sees as Weah’s delusional aspirations for a political comeback in 2029.
“Former President Weah is living in a dreamland if he thinks Liberians will make the mistake of giving him a second chance,” Wolokollie said. “People are suffering. The country needs housing, jobs, and real development — not recycled promises.”
Wolokollie, now distancing herself from partisan politics, disclosed that she has plans to meet with President Boakai to advocate for the construction of affordable housing units across Liberia — an effort, she said, aimed at addressing the day-to-day challenges facing ordinary citizens.
Her political fallout with the CDC dates back to June 2020, when the party’s National Executive Committee expelled her days after then-President Weah suspended her from her post at the Ministry of Commerce.
Despite her dismissal, Wolokollie has remained vocal about the need for a new political direction — one that, she argues, places people over party and transparency over cronyism.
Discussion about this post