Three (3) Reasons why Deputy Speaker Thomas P. Fallah betrayed the CDC, George Weah, and Fonati Koffa
Three (3) Reasons why Deputy Speaker Thomas P. Fallah betrayed the CDC, George Weah, and Fonati Koffa
Martin K. N. Kollie writes…
Fallah has left the CDC and embattled Speaker Fonati Koffa in the cold. What may have influenced and underpinned his quick shift amid the power play on Capitol Hill? This is the question we intend to answer.
1) Money
Fallah’s budget is US$1,325,817 in 12 months. As Deputy Speaker, he can’t afford to lose this. Let’s outline a few lines in his 12-month budget as of FY2024:
I) Basic Salary (Elected Official) – US$208,950.
Fallah alone receives this as a salary in 12 months while tens of thousands of civil servants cannot even earn a living wage (e.g. $150 on average). This is on budget line 211106.
II) We are paying Fallah US$595,000 just for “legislative committee hearings” even though attending committee hearings is and should be part of his work as a lawmaker. This is on budget line 263645.
III) Fallah has US$74,002 for entertainment when millions of Liberian youth, including university graduates, remain unemployed, poverty-stricken, food insecure, and aid-dependent. Should we even be responsible to entertain Fallah or any public official for that matter? This is on budget line 222105.
IV) Fallah also has US$46,914 to buy fuel for his vehicles when health facilities, including referral hospitals, lack stable electricity due to fuel shortages and financial difficulties. Most health and education facilities are underfunded in Liberia. This is on budget line 221401.
Is Fallah willing to forgo all these fat salaries and benefits because of George Weah, CDC, and Fonati Koffa? Is he willing to forgo the prestige, power, and political influence that this position (Deputy Speaker) comes with? I will leave this for you to answer.
2) Fallah came to the Legislature as a plank seller. Today, he has amassed unexplained, questionable, and mammoth wealth from the public coffers including a university, estates, vocational institute, high schools, trucks, media empire, etc. Fallah is a “millionaire”. This is why almost everyone in Liberia wants to be a politician or a lawmaker. Politics is so attractive in Liberia. We are doomed as a nation if we don’t disincentivize politics or make it less attractive. Thomas Fallah once served as Chairman of the all-powerful Ways, Means, and Finance Committee. He may have gotten a guarantee that his huge accumulation of wealth and tenure wouldn’t be audited and accounted for.
3) Fallah believes that he was the one that helped the CDC in Lofa County for the 2023 presidential election. So, he can do without them politically. Furthermore, he felt betrayed when he was recently insulted by some CDC lawmakers and stalwarts because of Fonati Koffa. Additionally, he has greater political ambition just beyond the Legislature after spending more than 18 years as a lawmaker. With George Weah announcing his presidential ambition for 2029, people like Fallah, Saah Joseph, and others believe that they cannot continue to march in Weah’s shadows. They are willing to end their political loyalty to the CDC. With Fallah’s latest betrayal, the CDC could suspend or expel him. This would make Fallah a free agent to determine his own political future as CDC’s return to power remains highly unlikely amid internal cracks and exogenous factors. Fallah’s decision to switch appears to be a risky move because he, too, could be axed as a Deputy Speaker in the end.
Fellow Liberians, whichever way it goes, remain conscious, vigilant, and reminded that no one side of this political fight is in your interest. The ongoing is not about you. It is not about improving your lives. Be smart and know that it’s not about you and your children.
It is not about improving education, enhancing healthcare delivery, creating jobs, increasing civil servants’ salaries, providing safe drinking water, empowering Liberia increasing energy access and affordability, etc. Neither the Speaker’s side nor the majority bloc is in your interest. Be smart.
The fight is about money, power, fame, control, and political influence. In all of these, the Liberian people are still the victims. This is the real tragedy on the home front as I write from my solitude (lonely place) here in Europe. So, do not be deceived. It’s not about you.
Activist Martin K. N. Kollie writes…
