Liberia: Unity Party Officials’ ‘Unit 2’ Meetings Stir Questions Over Who Wields Power in Boakai Government

MONROVIA – Three senior officials of the Unity Party-led government have set tongues wagging after posting photos on Facebook of what they described as late-night strategy sessions with “Unit 2,” a label widely read in political circles as a reference to Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung.

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By Rodney D. Sieh

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The posts come at a delicate moment for the Boakai administration, which is still facing questions over its request that the European Union withdraw its envoy to Liberia, partly over remarks she allegedly made about the Vice President’s reach into sectors outside his constitutional remit. For many observers, the timing has sharpened a question already circulating in Monrovia: who is really running the country?

The Posts

Youth and Sports Minister Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah captioned her photos: “To be a politician is not the thing… It’s the late-night meetings… Check-In with Unit 2…” She tagged the post #StrategicPartnership, #UnityParty and #PreparingForTheSecondLeg.

Mohammed “Mo” Ali, Managing Director of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation and a former Unity Party Secretary General, posted photos from the same room, writing: “These late-night strategic sessions keep things moving and on course.”

M. Boakai Jaleiba, Vice President for Administration at the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), followed with: “After a late-night caucus with Unit-2!”

None of the three posts mentions President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.

The EU Backdrop

Earlier this year, the Government of Liberia formally asked the European Union to recall and replace its Head of Delegation, Ambassador Nona Deprez, accusing her of making statements that undermined the country’s leadership, institutions and investment climate.

In a letter signed by Acting Foreign Minister Ethel Davis, the government alleged that the envoy made a series of derogatory and misleading comments during official engagements with Liberian authorities, investors and development stakeholders.

Some of the remarks were reportedly made at the Liberia-European Union Business Forum in Brussels on February 24-25, where the envoy allegedly questioned governance practices within the Liberian government and raised concerns about Vice President Koung’s role in the mining and energy sectors.

Critics of the move argued at the time that calling for the ambassador’s recall did not, by itself, clear the Vice President, and risked leaving the allegation unresolved in the public space.

Loyalty Signals

Against that backdrop, political watchers say the posts read less like routine party business and more like a public declaration of where loyalty lies. The hashtag #PreparingForTheSecondLeg is likely to be read as a nod to 2029, raising the question of whose second leg is being prepared.

The officials’ own histories add a layer of intrigue. FrontPageAfrica previously reported that President Boakai and his immediate circle blamed Mo Ali, Amin Modad, Cllr. Jeror Cole Bangalu and Rep. Clarence Massaquoi for the party’s defeat in Lofa. Massaquoi, now Chairman of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, is Minister Kruah’s spouse. For some insiders, a visible alignment with the Vice President by figures once at odds with the President’s inner circle is hard to dismiss as coincidence.

‘The Prezzo Approved This Meeting’

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pushed back on that reading.

“It is my understanding that the Prezzo had approved this meeting. It was primarily to discuss growing disenchantment among the young people in the party. Don’t mind the way it is being projected by the posts,” the official told FrontPageAfrica.

The source conceded, however, that the party’s troubles run deeper. “That, yes, is our biggest problem right now. People want to hold onto their jobs and not pay attention to the party. And even in their jobs, how many of the young people have they brought on board?”

Bad Optics

Critics are less forgiving, noting that most of those in the room owe their positions to President Boakai.

“These are people the President gave jobs. Is he supposed to tell them what to do? Should he provide them money? The optics are bad,” said the source.

Whatever the intent, the episode lands on a government already defending itself against claims that power has drifted from the Executive Mansion. If the meeting was sanctioned by the President, the officials chose to tell the public it was with “Unit 2,” not him. In Liberian politics, that kind of messaging is rarely accidental.