By Festus Poquie
“You cannot hold a position within government and at the same time act in opposition to that same government,” Chairman Cooper Kruah said.
Liberia’s Movement for Democracy and Reconciliation expelled Nimba County Senator Samuel G. Kogar, severing ties with a prominent critic of President Joseph Boakai and the government’s handling of an alleged cocaine-trafficking investigation.
The MDR, a coalition partner of Boakai’s ruling Unity Party, said Saturday that Kogar violated its constitution, bylaws and code of conduct through repeated unauthorized attacks on the president and administration.
The party’s National Executive Committee approved his immediate expulsion after he failed to attend a final disciplinary hearing, according to National Chairman Cooper Kruah.
Kogar has accused Boakai of shielding his son, Joseph Boakai Jr., and other senior officials in the probe into the movement of about four tons of cocaine through Liberia.
In July a certain Colombian trafficking cartel claimed the shipment was routed through Liberia after payments were made to the president’s son, allegations that haven’t been independently verified.
Boakai Jr., also known as Jojo, has denied having dealings with the cartel. He has acknowledged traveling to Spain with Ibrahima Traore, who has been described in reports as a possible intermediary. Neither Boakai Jr. nor Traore has been publicly questioned by Liberian authorities, according to Kogar, who has called the situation “selective justice.”
Kogar has also demanded the removal of Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman, saying Coleman is unfit to remain in office after several senior police commanders were found complicit in narcotics trafficking. Some of those officials were dismissed, while others were put on trial.
The MDR’s expulsion announcement did not directly address Kogar’s criticism of the administration. Kruah said the party acted to protect its alliance with Boakai’s government and prevent public statements by Kogar from undermining party discipline and creating tensions in Nimba County.
“You cannot hold a position within government and at the same time act in opposition to that same government,” Kruah said at a news briefing in Monrovia. “That contradiction undermines party discipline and national progress.”
The party ordered Kogar to return MDR property and said any statements he makes from now on do not represent the organization.
The MDR reaffirmed its support for Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, who leads the party and was its standard-bearer before the 2023 alliance with the Unity Party.
Kogar rejected the process, saying his expulsion was a government-backed effort to silence him. He also raised concerns about a heavy police presence at the MDR headquarters in Monrovia, where the decision was announced.
“Any action taken against me outside the proper legal and constitutional process will be challenged through the appropriate legal means,” Kogar said in a statement, calling on Liberia’s civil society, media and international community to monitor the dispute.
The expulsion deepens a long-running political rivalry between Kogar and Koung over influence in Nimba County, a stronghold of the MDR. Kogar succeeded the late party founder Prince Y. Johnson in the Senate after Johnson’s death, while traditional leaders in the county later recognized Kogar as a political successor.
