This Commentary is in direct response to the Government of Liberia’s recent actions by declaring some of its citizens, “MOST WANTED” and “PEOPLE OF INTEREST.”

I believe very strongly, without any fear of contradiction, that the Government of Liberia’s actions were based on “hear-say and they-say” intelligence, gathered by the so-called “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL.”

I am not a Security Expert, nor a Lawyer (attorney), nor do I wish to play one, but I shall attempt to use my little A,B,C knowledge in those fields, to delve into the recent National Security debacle created by the Government of Liberia.

Interestingly, these actions were taken under the watchful eyes and gavel of our Oslo “NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LUREAL” Dr. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, herself a victim, who had to flee her country on numerous occasions, from similar actions of brutal dictators.

The nomenclature, “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (NSC),” which effectively replaced the “JOINT SECURITY COMMISSION, from my lay man’s understanding, is a conglomeration of all of Liberia’s security apparatus.

The “acclaimed” “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL,” I presume has its membership drawn from the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), National Security Agency (NSA) and Executive Security Service (ESS), formally, Special Security Service (SSS) and the Ministry of National Defense (MOD).

Other security institutions I also presume are part of the “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL” are the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), (Liberia National Police (LNP) & the Bureau of Immigration & Naturalization (BIN), Ministry of National Security (MNS) etc.

With all these multiple security institutions which comprised security personnel with diverse knowledge in security operation, how could the so-called “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL” blunder so badly?

How could the “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL” have come up with just ten names, eight of whom are Liberians and two Ivorian, as possible terrorists, without ‘FIRST’ being able to scope their locations, instead of the faulty intelligence, it relied on?

I think this is very, very, troubling as a result, I believe the Government of Liberia has already lost its case, if it had any in the first place. This is because of the over zealousness of the “self-proclaimed “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL” to get even with its alleged perpetrators.

Was the Government of Liberia not aware that the allegations of murdering United Nations Peacekeepers especially, in another foreign country is a very grave act of terrorism, which could carry the death penalty if convicted?

The Government of the “NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER” and the “DARLING” of the WEST, should have known better. The NSC should have ‘FIRST’ done a thorough and meticulous investigation, before going public.

Didn’t the Government of Liberia know very well that its actions have very serious regional and international implications, since the acts it claimed were allegedly committed by Liberian Citizens occurred in another sovereign country?

How did the “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL” come up with the names of Liberian Citizens as possible mercenaries, in the murder of international peacekeepers without exhibiting any shard of evidence whatsoever?

Besides, with the murder of United Nations Peacekeepers, it could even amount to international ‘TERRORISM.’ These allegations could carry the death penalty, or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, at an international Criminal Court of Justice (ICCJ), if convicted.

Is this our new standard of justice now under our “NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, Dr. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf? I find that to be very strange and hard to comprehend, especially in this 21st century.

Additionally, these allegations alone carry lifetime stigma on those accused and their families because of the arbitrary manner in which those citizens were declared, “MOST WANTED and PEOPLE OF INTEREST” and their names broadcast on national radio, before the Government could get its act together.

Their possible conviction could be based on the faulty “hear-say or they-say” intelligence gathered by the Liberian Government’s security institutions. Was this an attempt by the Johnson-Sirleaf Government to impress the International Community only to score political points at the disadvantage of its Citizens?

Does the Liberian Government not have an embassy in la Cote d’Ivoire? Does the embassy not have a security component which inculcates a covert intelligence as well as a military intelligence gathering capabilities?

Why didn’t the so-called “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL” utilize its intelligence gathering apparatus, before broadcasting the names of its citizens? Was the NSC trying to show that it is acting appropriately?

Is the Government of Liberia aware of the great harm its pronouncement has caused to the lives and reputations of the alleged perpetrators of the June 8 armed bush, which resulted into the deaths of seven United Nations troops from Niger?

I maintain the strongest conviction that gone were the days when Liberians were arrested by their own government and required to adduce evidence against themselves, to facilitate the government’s case against them, but I was dead wrong.

I maintain the strongest conviction that gone were the days when the universal rule of evidence which states that the “BURDEN OF PROOF” rests squarely on the shoulders of the one who alleges, rather than on the one who is accused, but I was dead wrong.

I maintain the strongest conviction that gone were the days of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC), which governed Liberia by degrees. I remember the draconian and infamous PRC “Decree 88(A),” which effectively banned Press and other Freedoms, but I was dead wrong.

I maintain the strongest conviction that gone were the days of Charles Taylor’s criminal enterprise, which left a brain drain as a result of about 99.9 percent of the educated elite fleeing the country for their dear lives, but I was dead wrong.

Unfortunately however, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who claimed she did nothing wrong, but fled her country only as a result of the “draconian” policies of the Doe and Taylor administrations, proved me dead wrong.

Is this the very Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who today, as President of Liberia, is technically indicting and chasing her fellow citizens all over the place? I am therefore convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, that nothing has changed, so I was dead wrong.

I like to therefore conclude that the “BURDEN OF PROOF” rests squarely on the shoulders of our acclaimed “NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER,” Dr. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first female President on the Continent of Africa.

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