Claim: Mulbah Morlu has endorsed the Unity Party
Verdict: Misleading, Morlu has not endorsed the Unity Party, and the phone in his hand is been interpreted falsely.
Full Text: Social Media users have circulated an image of the Coalition for Democratic (CDC) Chairman, Mulbah Morlu, holding a phone that has the Unity Party’s (UP) sticker at the back, indicating that he has endorsed UP candidate Joseph Boakai.
The post is seen here and on Shine Liberia with the claim that “CDC Party Chairman {should} mu campaign with JNB photo at the back of his phone while on CDC campaign tour.”
Verification: On September 4, Morlu said in a live broadcast that the phone was reportedly taken from a man believed to be a Unity Partisan.
On his page, he wrote, “CDC internal security unit arrests a Unity Party spy who infiltrated one of its meetings. He was investigated, exposed, and asked to leave the meeting peacefully. These are the agents provocateurs that infiltrate, spreading lies to cause baseless upheavals. They may even try to plant provocateurs among our people at the Sept. 7th rally. Regardless, the mighty CDC is well prepared & in full alert against the infiltration of counter-progressive forces.”
Abraham Kollie, the individual accused of being the spy, has said he is a staunch supporter of the CDC and currently carries the CDC membership card.
According to Kollie in a live interview, his colleague, who is the chairman of the Central Red-light Movement of the CDC, designated him to attend a meeting at Morlu’s place.
But before the instructions, he claimed to have sent his phone to charge at his neighbour’s, which is a UP partisan place, for charging purposes on Wednesday night.
Kollie stated that “On Thursday, while attending the auxiliary’s meeting at the chairman’s place, Morlu told them that each auxiliary would receive US$500, 500 shirts, and 500 berets, but said only the chairperson would receive those packages.
“When Chairman Morlu said it, I took my phone to call my colleague who designated me for the auxiliary meeting, but my daughter’s call came in saying, “Papa, I need to pay my graduation fees.”
At that moment, I did not know that there was a UP sticker on my phone. “Someone walked up to me and said I was invited to an investigation.”
Kollie said the investigation produced two reports: that I was a Unity Party partisan and a spy, and that I should come with my colleague for a full investigation.
“The investigators grabbed my phone and told Chairman Morlu that I was a Unity partisan. For God’s sake, if I were a Unity Party partisan, would I carry my phone with a Unity Party sticker?” he questioned.
“But they only told the chairman that I was a Unity Party partisan and a spy; that was how he took to his social media page,” Kollie explained.
Kollie also said his colleague arrived, but until now they have not conducted an investigation. Rather, their group was immediately dissolved, and he was instructed to never be around any CDC gathering.
He explained precisely what Morlu wrote on his social media page.
“After the chairman explained, I told him if you cut me now, you will see CDC in my blood, but I respect his decision as chairman.”
Kollie added that he is not satisfied with the investigation because he was never allowed to speak.
According to him, everywhere he has gone after the incident, people have called him a ‘spy,’ something that has led him to wonder why the party did not want to conduct a full investigation to protect his image.
“Last night I attended another gathering of the CDC, and I was called again a spy; currently, I think my life is not safe, and I want the chairman to conduct an investigation and again go to the same social media to retract what he wrote,” Kollie requested.
Kollie has announced his withdrawal from all activities related to the CDC. “For now, I have reserved myself from participating in all political gatherings of the CDC.”
Conclusion: It is fair to say that although the phone in Mulbah Morlu’s hand has a UP sticker on it, the context that he has endorsed the Unity Party of Joseph Boakai is misleading.
This story was produced with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development’s (CJID) support.
