—UP, Rescue Insiders See Veteran Politician As Suitable Choice.
As President Joseph Nyumah Boakai looks to nominate a new Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff, following the passing of Minister Sylvester Grisgby, veteran politician, renowned social justice advocate and Unity Party stalwart, Conmany B. Wesseh is likely to take charge of keeping the presidential gates, that’s according to credible executive sources.
Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and President Boakai’s former schoolmate and long time trusted friend, Sylvester Grisgby passed recently, leaving a void in one of the crucial and sensitive offices in government, that must be filled by a person of the late Minister Grigsby and President Boakai’s caliber.
“The President, under our constitution, has the exclusive right to nominate and subsequently appoint members of his cabinet, and that right, he, and only he can exercise, the Minister of State position being of no exception. But we believe the President sees Ambassador Wesseh as someone who is suited for the post, and we wouldn’t be surprised when His Excellency nominates the former senator and reverred public servant,” a well placed source asserted.
The character of the Minister of State, the conveyor belt and gate keeper between the President and the rest of the government functionaries and actors, and one who practically runs and watches over the affairs of the most important offices in government (presidency), should not be short of the knowledge, experience and competence that Ambassador Wesseh embodies, and this is apparently the reason why the former River Gee Senator is suited and could be announced.
Wesseh, a long time progressive politician, prominent pro-democracy campaigner and senior partisan of the governing Unity Party, served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration and later became senator for his native River Gee County.
Ambassador Wesseh, a former student leader during his youthful days, former Minister of Youth & Sports in the Interim Government of late Dr. Amos C. Sawyer, Deputy Foreign Minister for International Cooperation & Economic Integration in the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration, renowned national, regional and global civil society activist, and one of the champions of civil rights and multi-party democracy in Liberia, was initially rumored to have been named as Liberia’s Ambassador to the United States, United Nations or European Union, in the early days of the Boakai administration, but it now appears that the President may be bringing him on board as he endeavors to continue assembling qualified and competent minds to deliver effectively on his ARREST Agenda.
Two other names that have reportedly surfaced for the Minister of State post include the current Unity Party Chairman, Rev. Luther Tarpeh and former Chairman and resigned Commerce Minister, Amin Modad.