When President George Weah and government officials arrived at Langley, the CIA’s global headquarters, several politicians, including journalists, were curious about the purpose of the invitation.
Many claims from Shine Liberia, a Spoon FM journalist, and social media accounts identified as Charles and David also attracted many comments on what they wrote on social media.
Solo Kelgbeh, the presidential spokesperson, debunked the claim that the CIA was arresting the president.
In a FrontPage Africa report, the meeting had a gag order. Still, insiders disclosed that it was top-secret, and the critical discussion was on the national security interests of both nations, even with the deep concerns about corruption and human rights violations in Liberia.
The president returned to Liberia on March 28 but never spoke of the meeting at the CIA.
He said, “I am a leader; I have meetings, and the meeting was successful; we are happy to continue.”
The Central Intelligence Agency is the first line of defense of the USA. It’s also clothed with authority to monitor piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking, cybersecurity, and varieties of international crimes.
Secretary of State Blinken recently released a demanding report on the current state of Liberia’s national security.
Significant problems include the recent seizures of illegal weapons, the two occasions when drugs were found at the RIA, the deaths of auditors, widespread corruption scandals, subpar public services, and facilities, etc.
What Experts Say?
Steve Zargo, Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Senate of Liberia, said the invitation is not a good sign: “The CIA doesn’t invite individuals easily, but to have them invite the president of a country raises a lot of eyebrows.”
According to him, the CIA invitation is based on gathering data: “The CIA invitation is not something that anyone should celebrate because the invite is based on gathering enough data.”
While it is true that we do not know why he was invited, he has asked Liberians to stop speculating about why our president was invited.
President Weah is the first Liberian president to be invited to the CIA. Still, security expert Togba Emmanuel says the invitation reveals that President Weah’s administration continues to suffer from information management deficiencies, and maintaining confidentiality is critical in this case.
“One would submit that Weah is the first head of state invited.” It might be true since Weah’s invitation was the first publicly announced one. This has helped to engender more speculation, primarily negative.
Togba said unfortunately, the speculations cannot be refuted because pacts from these high-level security meetings are not for the public; thus, public trust will suffer, potentially jeopardizing his political prospects if caution is not exercised.
Secondly, it places Liberia on a pedestal and invokes the need for more questions on the aftermath. Is Liberia now a target like the overnight attacks on the Ivory Coast, Ghana’s border, and Togo?
Additionally, he said, for instance, how will the news of the president’s visit be received by Russia, Wagner, terrorists, extremist groups, and their allies, especially when “battling extremists and Wagner/Russia expansion” is said to be one of the meeting’s main goals?
Is it also proven that the Wagner Group is expanding through terrorist financing to make targeted countries more vulnerable and ignite the need for the Wagner occupation?
Meanwhile, the security expert says several questions about President Weah’s meeting border on the negative that needs to be addressed.
By: Melvin Jackson
