A complain From Truth Bread Fast Show Talk Show host, Mamadee Diakite to Speaker, J. Alex Tyler of the 53rd National Legislature against Representative J. Gabriel Nyekan of District#11 Montserrado County under the caption: REP GABRIEL NYEKAN LIED - NEEDS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR HIS ALLEGATION AGAINST ME ____________________________ September 22, 2014 Honorable J. Alex Tyler Speaker House of Representatives Capitol Hill Monrovia, LIBERIA Honorable Speaker of the National Legislature: This communication serves to officially bring to your attention the following public comments made by Montserrado County District Eleven Representative Gabriel Nyekan about my person and my hard-earned reputation: 1. Rep Nyekan on Thursday, September 18, 2014 at a called Press Conference at the Capitol Building referred to me as a “jihadist and ex-LURD fighter” and splashed doubt on my Liberian citizenship; 2. At the same press briefing, he stated that there are court records to established that I stole 40ft Container from the Freeport of Monrovia where I served as Assistant Port Operations Manager for Container Operations and that I was convicted for the crime; 3. Rep Nyekan told the Press Conference and mentioned on Sky FM on Friday September 19, 2014 that my name is on the Ministry of State payroll with a monthly pay of five thousand United States dollars (USD5,000.00); and 4. Rep Nyekan stated that he has evidence to substantiate all the allegations Mr. Speaker, while I hold that all the allegations are false and baseless, I respectfully seek your intervention as Speaker of the House of Representatives to initiate a process that would convince Rep Nyenkan to make public all the pieces of evidence he claims to be in his possession in relation to the allegations he spread in the public. I harbor no doubt that my decision to seek your official intervention is the first course in seeking redress and the most civilized and acceptable route to follow whenever a member of the House of Representatives injures the dignity and integrity of any member of the society. Rep Nyekan’s conduct is a novelty. Ordinarily, Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t have given all the above allegations any sense of serious consideration if they were uttered by an uninformed man on the street. I find it excruciating and unacceptable for a member of the First Branch of Government who is a component of our National Political Leadership structure to emit obese lies bearing the potential to impugn my name and subject me to infamy. The extent of the injury Rep Nyekan caused my name and my person is strengthened by his political stature. His utterance is a callous abuse of legislative respectability and a disservice to the people whose mandate he holds as a legislator. I don’t want to waste time on his questioning of my identity as a Liberian; that is a fruitless venture because his conduct projects no impact on the legality of my citizenship in any regard. To use my name as a basis to determine my citizenship is a total absurdity worthless of my precious time. Referring to me a “jihadist” is very sad. Jihad is associated with Islam with a negative connotation because of its variant definitions and interpretations. It is not a complimentary word in the context in which he spoke; it is highly derogatory and defaming. Using the word in this context demonstrates his deficiency in appreciating that our Country is a post-crisis nation still struggling to survive the effects of our years of war that had religious and tribal dimensions. In this regard, I find it disturbing and painfully shocking for Rep Nyekan to make such statements loaded with religious and tribal inclinations with the potential to affect the sensitivity of Liberian Muslims and Mandingoes in general. I cannot still digest the rationale and motive that fanned his anger to the proportion of making such repugnant, false and demeaning comments about me. That was so sad. On the unfounded allegation that I receive a monthly pay of five thousand United States (USD5,000.00) from the Ministry of State, I think this must claim the attention of the entire Legislature because its borders on corruption. If Rep Nyekan’s wisdom is anything to absorb, the Legislature must institute a probe to establish the veracity as it remains a clear demonstration of mis-use of state money on the part of the Ministry of State for a non-Government employee to be on its payroll. The payroll of all Government institutions is a product of legislative action through the budgetary process of our Governance system. I strongly believe that Rep Nyekan much heralded passion to fight corruption should force him to lobby with colleague legislators for the Ministry of State to be investigated for wasting state resources in such manner. On the point of being an ex-LURD fighter who killed people during the war, Rep Nyekan is making up stories and swimming in a pool of fallacy with the object of denting my character and also endangering my life. I was never a member of LURD; I did not fight any war and had no link to any warring faction. I returned to Liberia in 1996 and since then I have been here in Monrovia seeking education, doing business and practicing as a journalist: references to support my position are endless. These are verifiable. Mr. Speaker, for Rep Nyenkan to evade care in stating that there are court records to prove that I was convicted for “stealing 40ft container” from the Freeport of Monrovia is a sad reflection of his person as a legislator and an elasticity of gossips framed to meet his mindset about me. Court records are public documents and can be assessed. I have never been brought before any Court on criminal charges not even to mention conviction. That is a lie. Honorable Speaker, Rep Nyekan also told the nation that I was refused a media service contract for the House of Representatives Nation-wide Oil Bill Consultation and he believes that angered me. This is another deliberate flight away from the fact and a lie produced from his thought. I have never expressed any interest in carrying out media services for the Oil consultation. I have remained vehemently opposed to the House of Representatives using over One Million USD for the oil consultation and I have made my position public on that subject. Rep Nyekan proceeded ill-informed and he needs to be corrected. He also planted his feeling in the soil of fallacy in relation to my contract with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at the Legislature and his failure to ask questions surrounding my professional relationship with the PAC has pumped his falsity to an unimaginable volume. I was awarded a one-month professional media service contract by the World Bank to provide services to the PAC. The process met World Bank standards and it was awarded through a competitive process. If Rep Nyekan were imbued with fairness and objectivity bottomed on the willingness to learn, he would have sought the facts in relations to my contract with the PAC: ask Senator Edward Dagosseh and Rep Ben Fofana of the PAC for a background to my one-month service contract with the PAC. This is a professional service contract paid for by the World Bank to help the National Legislature in its fight to attain prudence in the public financial accounting system of our Country. Why is he angry? Mr. Speaker, Rep Nyekan’s assertions are troubling and pure illustration of insensitivity. His reference to my tribe in the Press conference is a ground for concern. I didn’t choose to be a Mandingo and I am proud to be a Mandingo man. It is my hope and prayer that other members of the House of Reps will see his comments as very dangerous to our national fight against tribalism and will advise him in private to desist from sowing seed of discord and trumpeting tribalism. In these modern days, to hear a member of our national political leadership making divisive comments in the public is a naked expression of hate and insensitivity to many Mandingoes who live in his district. If we must attain national reconciliation, which is a strong ingredient to peace, people similarly situation as Rep Nyenkan must avoid making comments with tribal and religious reflections. Mr. Speaker, please convey my heartfelt and sincere best wishes to members of the House of Representatives as we all in our various social and apolitical domains strive hard to project peace in our action and words, foster democracy and stand united for the good of the Motherland. I am grateful for your time in reading this communication and taking action. Yours; Atty. Mamadee S. DIAKITE DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL, RCI LEAD PRESENTER, THE TRUTH BREAKFAST SHOW (TBS)
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 21:18:56 +0000
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