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The
Executive Mansion fire: Sabotage or electrical
malfunction?
Tuesday,
August 01, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
It was
supposed to be one of the proudest moments of her
presidency on July 26, when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and
her visiting friends who gathered at the Executive
Mansion to celebrate the nation’s 159th
Independence Day anniversary, and the turning on of
the lights were surprised suddenly by something they
didn’t expect to happen on the 4th floor.
Fire erupts from the 4th floor of the Executive
Mansion's on July 26.
Without any warning whatsoever to the host,
visiting dignitaries and other guests, the historic
Executive Mansion, the symbol of the Liberian
presidency was gutted into an inferno of unbelievable
proportion.
No doubt, it was an embarrassing moment for
President Sirleaf as her counterparts, Presidents John
Kuffour of Ghana, Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone and
Laurent Gbabo of the Ivory Coast, who arrived in
Liberia to lend their moral support to their friend
for her country’s triumph over adversity were
whisked away by security personnel for their own
safety immediately when the fire broke out.
Certainly, this would have been a political
boost for President Sirleaf and her young
administration, and also a psychological boost for the
Liberian people who came from hell and back after that
terrible civil war to a life of peace and some
tranquility.
I am sure the many Liberians that were at the
Executive Mansion that day for the festivities were
excited initially to join in on the other ceremony,
which was the turning on of the electrical power and
the light to their homes, a luxury some did not get to
have
in decades.
Unfortunately, those Liberians were as
terrified as the host and the visiting dignitaries,
who were forced to run for safety on a day they should
have stayed together as one to celebrate that special
occasion.
It is true that small generators owned by few
Liberians and foreign businesses have provided
services for the personal use of those individuals
over the years, due to the total lacked of electricity
in the entire nation.
With uncontrollable pollution always a concern
when the generators are turned on, the generators only
provide limited services to just few, and environmental
hazards to all; adding to the already polluted and
unhealthy climate in and around the surrounding
neighborhoods in the city.
No one is suggesting that electrifying Monrovia
will cut down on the pollution problem since the
former Public Utilities Authority (PUA), now the
Liberian Electricity Commission’s (LEC), hazardous
power plant that sits in the middle of Bushrod Island
near Point 4, is a human slaughterhouse that quietly
kills many from its emission of visible and deadly
poisonous gas daily.
The incident at the Executive Mansion was a
tragedy that shouldn’t have happened. Fortunately,
everybody, including President Sirleaf and her local
and foreign guests are safe.
Whether this was a result of electrical
malfunction or a breach of security resulting in
sabotage is unknown. However, we must be extremely
careful not to engage in any kind of witch hunt so as not to
indict others prematurely before an investigation gets
under way.
One thing we know, and has since been reported
in the media is that prior to the incident, former
LURD’s chief and rebel Sekou Damate Conneh visited
Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Morris
Momolu Dukuly at the Executive Mansion.
Mr. Dukuly, together with other Executive
Mansion personnel who worked directly in that building
and directly with the president have since been
relieved of their official duties for the obvious
breach of security.
If the incident is not an electrical
malfunction, then it is terrorism indeed, intended to
destabilize a fragile Liberia and the new government
of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
This selfish act could have also injured or
killed President Sirleaf and her visiting counterparts
and ordinary Liberians, on a day the entire nation
should have been celebrating their country’s
Independence Day and the lighting of parts of the
city, and not run for safety fearing for their lives.
Again, it will be wise not to rush to judgment
by speculating, but we should see the incident as simply an electrical malfunction and nothing else
until a thorough and independent investigation is
fully done and completed. And if Sekou Damate Conneh
and his friends, or any other person is found to have
been part of this selfish, embarrassing and heinous act, that
person should bear the full weight of the laws of the
land.
We, the Liberian people don’t need any more
destabilizing campaign intended to steal state power.
That’s why throngs of Liberians went to the polls on
hungry stomachs to vote last October and November to
choose the leader they preferred over the more than
twenty candidates that campaigned for the singular
position of president.
Sekou Damate Conneh was one of the candidates
that campaigned and participated in the election.
After the ballots were all counted, the most
convincing and engaging candidate, Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf won and was inaugurated in January of this
year.
So if this were to be acts of sabotage, then
why?
I
really want to know, and I am sure the Liberian people
would like to know also.
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