ost Liberians are disillusioned and frustrated by the embarrassment caused by the Liberian Embassy in the aftermath of the so-called Nippy spy memo, which is now widely known as the Nippygate scandal. 

Boniface Satu, who is president of LCA said his community was compelled to call the meeting to seek answers, clarifications and redress to issues of burning concerns. He thanked President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for dispatching a delegation headed by Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh, national security advisor to the President to engage Liberians in the US in order to allay their fears.

The meeting afforded Liberian Chief of Mission, Ambassador Charles Minor and Fahnbulleh the opportunity to address the crucial issue, but it appears they have trouble in having their presentations taken seriously by some Liberians in the audience, some of who accused the two men of covering the truth.

At the meeting held on Sunday, January 20, 2008 at a local community center in Silver Spring, MD, the expectations from Liberians were very high, but attempts by the Liberian government officials to provide reasonable explanations in order to allay some of the legitimate fear and concerns did not resonate well with the audience.

The officials insist the memo contains “false, misleading and malicious implications intended for public scorn and character defamation” which according to them has since been discarded. They reassured their fellow countrymen that the Liberian government is not in the business of blacklisting its citizens.

That’s why the Liberian community association in the Washington DC area was constrained to organize an urgent town hall meeting because some of its members were accused as “enemies” of the state.

The memo, which emanates from the Embassy, has already created fear, divisiveness, mistrust and distrust amongst Liberians. Furthermore, it has and continues to embarrass the United Party led government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Some Liberians believe the memo was intended to undermine the promising democracy and relative peace Liberians have fought for over the years.

However, others, including Patrick S. Tuon were not pleased with Fahnbulleh's explanation provided on the nippy memo issue. They said Fahnbulleh has some disconnection in his presentation. “On one hand, you said you received the memo in 2006 and you discarded it because you said it was anonymous, so you did not take it serious, but at the same time, you are recalling one of the top members of the Liberian Embassy because of this same memo. There is something that is not correct.”

He pointed out that in 2006, when “you (Fahnbulleh) received the memo, you should have known that it was a junk and no one at the Embassy was connected to it, but not to wait for one year later, when the same memo resurfaced, then you connect someone to it. Mr. Nippy has been made the fall guy.”

Edwin F. Bondo of Baltimore also accused Minor and Fahnbulleh for not being truthful to the Liberian people in their presentations. “The Ambassador is not honest enough,” said Edwin, who said, “I have been listening to you for more than one hour and you people are not saying the truth.” He asked Fahnbuleh and Minor to address the major issue relating to the Nippy memo and stop “playing around the issue.”

Pointing at Fahnbuleh, Bondo said, “you worked with the (Samuel) Doe government and reason that caused Doe to die was based on false security information. I know when a leader receives security information, he would decide to take action and there are people who work in the government who would act like they are best people. They would pass on false information to get others killed.”

He warned that “when the government continues to receive security information without analyzing the facts, they will experience the same fate as Doe and Charles Taylor. If the Ambassador sitting here is honest enough, he would say yes that’s true. He has been receiving reports about me that I want to overthrow the government. This is not the first time he has received such reports. He has been receiving these kinds of reports, so we should stop fooling each other.”

Some Liberians believe the inability of security agencies in Liberia to ascertain the facts when they receive classified information on national security has got Liberians killed, arrested or harassed by forces of government in the past. “How intelligent information will be on the air. That shows the people in charged don’t know what they are doing. They don’t know how to handle security intelligence,” Edwin stressed.

Dr. Fahnbulleh and the Director of the Cabinet, Medinah Wesseh are in the United States to explain government’s position on the memo saga. They are here because the Liberian government has taken the issue seriously, but most people wonder whether they would make a difference in allaying the existing fear and mend cordial relationship with the Liberian Embassy near Washington DC.

The citizens are turned off by the lack of confidence and disconnect between them, their embassy and government. Sometimes, they are embarrassed by government’s untimely and inadequate responses to allegations couple with the questionable behaviors of certain officials of government, including Amb. Charles Minor.

Some Liberians interviewed after the town hall meeting confided in the FPA that they are afraid to visit the Embassy for fear that someone is monitoring their movements and recording license plate numbers to subsequently frame them as enemies of the state. Some have even mentioned to the FPA that family members in Liberia have also advised them not to return home anytime soon as the National Security Agency and the Defense Ministry have blacklisted them.

It is also alleged that against this background, that Defense Minister Brownie Samukai visited the US sometime in 2007 to meet with Liberians to discuss their concerns.

The memo issue by the few unpatriotic individuals has dampened the enthusiasm of Liberians and some staff at the Liberian embassy.

ULAA President Emmanuel Wettee in his presentation at the meeting clearly stated that the current memo saga has decayed the Union’s partnership with the Embassy. He seeks for a quick resolution that will ease the tension and restore people’s confidence in the Embassy.

Noting that the memo situation has the potential to create strain relationship between the Liberian communities in the US and the Liberian embassy, Wettee said a resolution will enhance the union’s partnership with the Government of Liberia, most especially the embassy. “We always view this relationship as one of the pillars of our strength,” he stressed.

He said ULAA is troubled because this issue has the potential to allow undemocratic tendencies of the past to repeat itself. “We want to state for fact that any attempt to repeat those events of the past that led our country to destruction will be met with strongest force of resistance in the entire history of ULAA.”

“Today, we are here to join our community leaders and fellow Liberians to send a strong message to the government of Liberia that the union will not condone any action or inaction of our government to roll back the progress being made to strengthen democracy in our country,” Wettee warned.

He reminded the government that its failure to address these issues may have serious implications for continued interaction of “our people with the Embassy and thus undermine efforts in encouraging Liberians to return home and contribute to the development of Liberia.”

ULAA will not remain silent, Wettee says

Wettee said ULAA is prepared to continue working with the Embassy, but emphasized that ULAA will not remain silent on issues that will eliminate the rights and liberties of Liberians.

Some Liberians questioned the sincerity of Dr. Boima Fahnbulleh, who on several occasions attempted to explain to the audience that the Liberian government is not in the business of blacklisting its citizens, while Amb. Minor insisted he is not aware of the spy memo, which was transmitted from the walls of the Embassy near Washington DC.

Fahnbulleh said his office received the memo in 2006, but soon discarded the email when the NSA determined the contents were bogus.

Kpeten Benwalah II told Fahnbulleh that “When the two elephants fight, the grass will suffer. There are a lot going on at the embassy. I see they have recalled the press attaché and Mr. Nippy, but they have not recalled the Ambassador for consultation. I know diplomacy, but this is troubling me. We are afraid to go back home. And I heard you telling someone you would give him your card, so are you going to give your cards to everyone who wants to return home to be protected by the national security person?”

Advisor Fahnbulleh responded that it was not the NSA that recalled former first secretary at the Embassy, Christopher Nippy. He said Nippy’s recall was within the premise of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “If they feel there are occurrences at the Embassy and they need an insight, they have the right to recall any officer to come home. As a matter of fact, this email just surfaced recently on the internet and that is why the foreign ministry is calling Mr. Nippy.”

He explained that NSA received the memo in 2006 and has since discarded it, but that the Foreign Ministry can conduct its own investigation to determine the truth of what they heard. “The Ministry can also get back to us and ask for our investigation into the case. They can ask Mr. Nippy to explain his role in the memo case, but there is no inconsistency here.”

Memo not credible, Fahnbulleh says

The national advisor explained the NSA did not believe the spy memo was credible, reiterating that the government was not blacklisting anyone.

 However, if the foreign ministry decided to call Mr. Nippy, well that is the prerogative of the ministry, “but we did not recall Mr. Nippy. We as NSA are more advance than the ministry. They are ministers and what we see they don’t see. We only let them see what they are supposed to see.”

However, he quickly told the meeting that NSA would get involved in the case when the ministry informs it that Mr. Nippy has confessed to a crime, but until them, NSA is out of it. “That’s how we operate.”

Dr. Fahnbulleh revealed that currently the NSA is investigating a deputy minister at one of the ministries in Monrovia, without the Minister being aware. He did not name the deputy Minster or the ministry.

“Security is not effective and the memo leak has exposed the NSA. How can NSA keep Liberia

stable when the UN leaves? I have a friend of mine who wants to invest in Liberia, but he is holding back because of news of overthrow, etc. It is sad the Liberian government can not control information,” said a Liberian at the meeting.

Dr. Fahnbulleh called for patience and promised that upon his return to Liberia, he would meet with the President and those concerns would be addressed. He briefly explained ongoing restructuring of the security agencies in Liberia. “We are training people who are credible. People who have integrity and we are building an institution that will greatly help control intelligent information.”