By: Julius T Jaesen II
Liberia:- The exposition found on Comrade Mohammed Bamba’s Facebook page, with its intricate web of deceit surrounding Col. Abe Kromah, has left me not just astonished but utterly flabbergasted. The meticulous orchestration of falsehoods under the guise of a diatribe titled “Wʜʏ Mʀ. Jᴏsᴇᴘʜ N. Bᴏᴀᴋᴀɪ’s Dɪʀᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ Gᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ ᴅᴇsɪɢɴᴀᴛᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ Lɪʙᴇʀɪᴀ Dʀᴜɢ Eɴғᴏʀᴄᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ Aɢᴇɴᴄʏ Aʙʀᴀʜᴀᴍ Kʀᴏᴍᴀʜ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴍᴀɴ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ғɪɢʜᴛ ɪʟʟɪᴄɪᴛ ᴅʀᴜɢ ᴛʀᴀғғɪᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ sᴜʙsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀʙᴜsᴇ.” showcases a mastery of deception that is both alarming and concerning.
The comrade’s attempt to cloak his self-serving narrative in references to Sir Robert Peel’s social contract theory is a feeble ploy, conveniently disregarding Col. Abe Kromah’s long-standing dedication to effective law enforcement, a hallmark of his illustrious career.
Throughout history, accolades have been showered upon Abe for his adept handling of governmental responsibilities, a testament to his unwavering professionalism. As a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Col. Kromah’s tenure as a probation officer in the superior court of New Jersey exemplifies a life lived in adherence to exemplary standards.
My keen interest in this narrative stems from a deep-seated reverence for truth and the rule of law, principles which appear to have been trampled upon in Bamba’s politically motivated tirade.
Let us meticulously dissect the fabrications propagated by Mr. Bamba and shed light on the veritable truths obscured by his malicious rhetoric:
1- Col. Kromah sought refuge at the Police Headquarters and the AFL Barracks, during the crisis.
2- That we were all here when this police professional was requested by the interim government to serve as provisional head of the AFL during early days of the restructuring process of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
3- He has always been a professional Law Enforcement Officer and was never a soldier in any of the warring factions. Col. Kromah is a relative of the late AGV Kromah, who headed the ULIMO-K faction.
4- CoL. Kromah was appointed as Chief of Staff and was given a befitting rank of LT General, with intervention from the governing authorities of ECOWAS which was headed by the late President Jerry Rowland of Ghana.
5- Col. Kromah resigned his position as Chief of Staff of the AFL, publicly after the election of Mr. Charles Taylor because of ideological differences with Taylor and left the country in July of 1997 for further studies in the US. The Police Colonel became a Lt General in the AFL to commensurate his assigned position as Chief of Staff of the AFL.
6- Col. Kromah, as he prefers to be called has since returned home and has served in several positions in government, the latest of which was the position of Deputy inspector General of Police for Operations, where he was removed by President Sirleaf which was considered by many has a political move to satisfy the opposition CDC at the time, but was rehired in the same position, after a few months.
7- COL. Kromah was one of the most effective Deputy Chiefs of Police in our country’s history.
8- Col. Kromah had an opened disagreement with the then opposition leader George Weah in 2014, when Koijee, the then Youth Leader of Mr. Weah’s party was arrested and charged with attempted murder, after a member of the CDC was manhandled and beaten unmercifully by Koijee and his men.
9- Col. Kromah started a Private Security Force and managed it during the six years of Mr. Weah’s Presidency, which is today one of the largest and effective security organisations in the country.
Barely two weeks after his nomination, and subsequent appointment to the position of Director General of the LDEA, the citizenry has approved the work of Col. Kromah, as envisage by Sir. Robert Peel. In just a little over two weeks of his ascendency at the LDEA, he has debunked the political driven doomsday pronouncement and Liberia is getting a head of the drugs war. He has arrested several drug distributors and sent them to court, including his own best friend’s son.
10- We now know that this brother is not only an anti drug personality, but also a strong advocate for the punishment of dealers and traffickers.
11- We have come to find out that everything said about this brother was based on falsehood, spread by Bamba and some in the CDC.
12- For more clarity, let borrow a little of your time to take you through some of the lies that have been dispelled by some reputable journals and journalists, which debunked the myth harbored by the one time go-for of Mr. KOIJEE.
Contrary to Bamba’s perception, when the history of law enforcement in Liberia is written, you will come to realise that Col. Kromah will be cited as a trailblaser.
We in the intellectual community and of the victims goups, are of the conviction that the references made to human right violation attributed to Mr. Abe Kromah is self-serving and a political stunt. There was no time during the Liberian crisis was Abe Kromah a part of any warning factions. We have come to realise that the references to the AFL by this brother was so delusional that even the crazy man on the street will not take this brother seriously.
The senior brother served as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia during the interim government and way after the April 6 war has ended, between August of 1996 to July of 1997; this is public records. During this period in the history of our crisis, there were no military actions, matter of fact, the peacekeepers were deployed in the interim government’s controlled territories.
Again, this is a matter of public records, I can debate the brother publicly, on all his defaming characterisations. I will also encourage the senior brother to take legal action against Bamba, if he continues these libelous insinuations. Again, it is public record that Ltg Kalilu A. Kromah resigned in a public press conference, after the election of Mr. Taylor in 1997 and left for the United States.
Mr Bamba is a resentful young brother who was not of age during the Liberian crisis and his only reliance has been historical records, which are being distorted by his insinuations. Mr. Bamba who was a manor during the crisis, had come to Liberia as a child along with his dad, a truck driver, from Tuba, the Ivory Coast. Consequently, the only option he had to launch his plans of proxy attacks for his one-time and now sanctioned boss Jefferson T. Koijee, was to embellish the truth.
Mr. KOJEE was arrested and detained and charged by Col. Kromah, when he served as Deputy Chief of Police at the LNP, so little fellows like Bamba and the rest that will come under this post, considered it a “revolutionary” mandate to attack Abe Kromah, by all means necessary.
This prompted the posting of a photo of a gentleman in a militia uniform and presented the person as Abe Kromah, whom according to him was a “rebel soldier in the ULIMO-K Army”.
He eventually spearheaded all of the anti-Abe Kromah publications. He has lied and embellished with recklessness information about the brother regarding the LIBERIAN crisis when Abe was never a part of the TRC documentation he injected him and made inferences to present the brother as a bad man.
No reference whatsoever was made to Abe Kromah in any way shape and form in the TRC documents. Unsuccessfully, the intellectual lad in Bamba has consistently fought by all means to link Col. Kromah to the ULIMO warning faction against all and every reputable journalists in our country.
We will stop here and await a rejoinder from Koijee’s ventriloquist puppet in the rookie and simpleton in Mohammed Bamba.