About Aloysius Howe:
Howe is the Special Assistant and Media Aid to Liberia’s Finance Minister, Samuel D. Tweah. He is also a member of the Congress for Democratic Change, one of the constituency parties within the ruling establishment (Coalition for Democratic Change).
Howe was accused of allegedly withdrawing 160k from the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services ( LISGIS) account on October 19, 2022, on Cheque tee– BG CHK330, Ref. J01CQWL222920084.
Liberia’s Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah, who is the chairman of the Board of Directors of LISGIS confirmed LISGIS paid Howe US$160 thousand for his (Howe) Public Relations services he allegedly provided to the institution.
Picture Credit: Social Media (Samuel Tweah and Aloysius Howe)
In March of this year, Howe was reportedly attacked by students of the University of Liberia particularly members of the Students Unification Party (SUP) in which he sustained injuries when he had gone to see Joseph Blama, a lecturer at that government-run university. Howe said on Facebook that he thinks his connection to the government led to the attack on him.
Sunday’s Fracas
Sunday, members of Senator Prince Johnson’s Christ Chapel of Faith Ministry were forced to escape for safety when a youth group operating under the name National Patriotic Party (NPP) Youth Council attacked the church’s grounds while yelling “War Crimes Court.”
A situation that created fear in members of the Church thus forcing them to run for safety.
The group has allegedly gone in defence of Vice President, Jewel Howard Taylor who was expecting a response from Senator Prince Y. Johnson whom she [ VP Howard-Taylor] has had a soured relationship with recently.
The Nimba County Senator had last week invited Liberians to gather at his church on Sunday, where he promised to respond to Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, who had called him a “killer” earlier in the week during a program held by Legislative staffers in the joint chambers of the Capitol Building in support of President George Weah.
Before the ceremony on Sunday, the Nimba Senator told his audience that he had received information suggesting that “hooligans” from the CDC, were nearby and intended to attack him and disturb the event.
Leaked WhatsApp Message
A leaked WhatsApp message from Howe, a Special Assistant to Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah, urged members of CDC to falsely blame the Unity Party for the attack on Senator Prince Johnson’s Church, went viral on social media on May 22, 2023.
Howe said in the WhatsApp message, “The party needs to have a press conference and accuse the unity party of masterminding what happened today at PYJ church, accuse them of being the one who placed people in CDC paraphernalia to create chaos and make it appear like it is the CDC who sent him.”
What we found
The Stage Media Liberia-TSM placed a WhatsApp message to Howe, he confirmed the number is his, but claimed the WhatsApp is fake and he responded to the message.
Aloysius Howe “Thanks for reaching out. This was brought to my attention yesterday and I was shocked. I provided clarity on it for public consumption.
Please see below 👇👇. “The folks from the unity party need to do better. Their actions to have created a fake WhatsApp message in my name with reference that we want our party (CDC) to do a press conference and accuse them of being the one who masterminded what happened this morning at PYJ church is clowney.
Whoever sat behind the computer or a smartphone to programme such is brainless, mindless and foolish, and the viral manner in which key officials from the unity party are posting it on their social media pages is evident that these folks lack strategies for the upcoming election and are chewing on every insignificant thing.
Howe said the message has no connection to him “That WhatsApp message is fake and has absolutely no connection to me. At no time did I say anything of such or write anything of that kind in any chat room.“
According to Howe; a fake WhatsApp page can be created: “Hey, even I here can use your number and create a fake WhatsApp message. “I am not saying that the number is not mine, of course, it is mine but that message is not real.”
The picture on his WhatsApp profile matches the one on the group conversation but Howe claimed the message is fraudulent.
We also look into the mobile money registration that was made, and it is established that Howe is the owner of the number attached to the Whatsapp message.
To find out if Howe’s allegation was true and whether two individuals could share a cell number, we contacted Tarloe Yardanmah, an IT specialist.
“It is impossible,” Tarloe said.
He claims that a single mobile user may get sim cards from the same GSM provider under many identities but with the same picture and different mobile numbers.
He asserts that it is also feasible to register a mobile device in someone’s name without using that person’s phone number.
In response to the question about WhatsApp groups, Tarrloe stated that a person must be a member of the group to access it.
This implies that the group administrator must add you to a social media group like WhatsApp. He stated that someone can send a message to their WhatsApp contact using another person’s phone without that person knowing, but this is not the case.
