Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar
Monrovia – The Government of Liberia (GoL) has with immediate effect, recalled Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Lewis Brown.
Foreign Minister Gbehzohngar Milton Findley, in a communication dated 20 August, informed Brown that upon the directive of President George Weah, he was being recalled from the post with immediate effect.
Brown has been instructed to make available to the GoL the full listing of members of his family along with him in New York, USA, for the purpose of the Liberian government making available plane tickets to have they and their personal effects flown back home to Liberia.
The former Liberian Permanent Representative, Brown, has also been instructed to immediately take an official leave of UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.
Foreign Minister Findley, in his communication, a copy of which PUNCH is privy to, lauded the outgoing Permanent Rep, for what he described as Brown’s invaluable services while serving Liberia at the Permanent Mission in New York.
“I take this opportunity to thank you for your invaluable services to Liberia as well as your laudable representation of the country at the United Nations,” the Foreign Minister’s communication read.
Meanwhile, Brown has been instructed to liaise with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Administration, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, for the process leading to the sacked ambassador’s smooth return home.
Brown replies Government
Just a day after he received his sack letter, Liberia’s outgoing Permanent Rep to the UN, Brown, replied Government, acknowledging receipt of the communication relieving him of his post, also thanking Foreign Minister Findley, for acknowledging his service at the United Nations.
“Please convey my gratitude to the President for the opportunity to have served our country for the better part of seven months into the new administration, as well as my continued best wishes, for a successful stewardship of the Liberian government,” Brown wrote.
‘Kemayah, Brown’s replacement?’
President Weah’s political ally and current Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, is the man to likely replace Brown, PUNCH, has been told by sources.
However, the sources, who are well versed in international diplomacy, divulged that choosing a replacement for any country’s Permanent Rep at the UN, requires picking your best, an individual with the hands-on diplomatic acumen and a worth of experience in the field of diplomacy, with an emphasis in foreign relations.
Our sources argued that in such a crucial time in the country’s history, where she needs her foreign relations machinery well-polished and functional to make her case externally and attract the world’s attention to her plights, it will take someone more than a person from the background of business administration, who has worked for just a little over seven months at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
‘Worrying signs’
Brown’s recall from Liberia’s permanent mission in New York was hasty, and is diplomatically unhealthy, according to seasoned diplomatic sources who spoke with PUNCH on condition of anonymity for this report.
The sources wonder why would the George Weah led government chose to, according to the sources, recall the country’s Permanent Rep at the eleventh hour to his (President Weah) trip to the UN, which is headquartered in the United States that he has not visited since he took over as president, seven months ago.
The action leaves the country with a void at the UN that looks likely to be filled hurriedly, as President Weah prepares to make his debut appearance at the General Assembly within few days from now, according to one source, who noted that the process of confirming Brown’s replacement and the time it would take such individual to get settled down at the Permanent Mission, ahead of the president’s trip in September, are all complicated and may go a long way in working against the country as far as its apt representation at the UN is concerned.
One of the sources is of the belief that Brown’s recall has an undertone that the Weah administration may not make public, at least not any time soon, but the source indicates that the former Permanent Rep’s recall was harsh, untimely and presents worrying signs for the country’s foreign policy structure, especially as President Weah’s first appearance and first-ever address at the General Assembly are concerned.
Another source opined that whatever the case may have been, it would have been diplomatically prudent for the Weah administration to have proceeded rather maturely, by exercising just a little patience for Brown to have hung on for a little more time in order for the president to have appeared at the General Assembly and back before effectuating the removal of Brown who has done remarkably well on behalf of Liberia, since his arrival in New York in June 2016.
