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By Stephen G. Fellajuah
Monrovia, Liberia; August 29, 2025 – Amid growing dissatisfaction and regret among politicians and parties that supported the ruling Unity Party (UP) during the 2023 presidential elections, more voices are joining the chorus of discontent directed at the administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
From Senator James Biney of Maryland County to Senator Crayton Duncan, and even Liberia’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Francis Sakila Nyumalin Sr., complaints have surfaced over what is described as unfair treatment in appointments, especially considering strong electoral support from counties like Margibi, which delivered the third-highest votes for the Unity Party.
Now, former Bomi County Senator, Sando Johnson, has joined the list of critics, labeling the ruling party as “ungrateful.”
Mr. Johnson’s remarks were in response to a recent controversial comment made by Unity Party Chairman, Rev. J. Luther Tarpeh, who stated that there are only two real political parties in Liberia, the Unity Party (UP) and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), and that all others are merely “helping verbs.”
Speaking on a local talk show Thursday evening, Johnson vented his frustration, saying “The UP members have got the fish. They’ve eaten the head, the tail, and now they want to chew the bones!”
He went on to suggest that despite sound advice from well-meaning individuals, President Boakai is being misled by what he called “vampires.”
“After good, good people advise President Boakai, vampires go to him at night and confuse him,” he said passionately.
“The small creek that the man will overlook is the same creek that will make him take off his trousers,” he warned Rev. Tarpeh, using a local proverb to illustrate the danger of underestimating seemingly minor issues.
Taking a job at the UP’s legacy, Johnson, who was also a defeated senatorial candidate in Bomi County, noted that the National Patriotic Party (NPP) has headquarters, but the Unity Party, after 14 years in power, doesn’t even have a single room registered in its name.
If President Boakai is not running in 2029, I will not support the Unity Party, he further declared.
Johnson, who currently serves as Legislative Liaison in the Boakai administration, did not mince words, stating flatly, some vampires have engulfed President Boakai.
In response, Rev. Tarpeh clarified that his controversial remarks were taken out of context. According to him, the interaction was a lighthearted exchange with Representative Musa Bility, in which he joked that Bility’s party, the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC), should support the UP in the 2029 elections.
Tarpeh explained that his comment about “helping verbs” was meant to illustrate that since the civil war, only two parties, CDC and UP, have led the country, while others have joined coalitions to support either side.
He insisted that it was never meant as a dismissal of the relevance of smaller parties, adding that his words had been distorted by the media.
Despite his clarification, the backlash continues. Political figures and critics from across the country have condemned the remarks as divisive and politically intolerant.
Some argue that such language undermines Liberia’s multiparty democracy and shows disrespect to the contributions of smaller parties in the nation’s political evolution. Editing by Jonathan Browne
