Monrovia – Presidential press secretary Sam Mannah has been incommunicado for days now, according to executive mansion sources, who divulged that Manneh has been suspended indefinitely by his boss, President George Manneh Weah.
Mannah made the list of President Weah’s early pick of officials when the Liberian leader made his very first cabinet appointments, few days after being sworn in as president on January 22, 2018.
Since his appointment as presidential press secretary, having graduated from being Weah’s media aid during his days as a senator, Mannah has not ceased from taking jibes at critics of the regime, especially over issues relating to the presidency.
But our sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal, disclosed that since his suspension, Mannah has not been seen anywhere near the president’s Foreign Ministry offices or in the public glare, as he has even not been seen in most social gatherings and at famous entertainment centers where he and most of his colleagues and even his boss frequented months ago.
Recently, speculation has been rife regarding the indefinite suspension of presidential press secretary Mannah, with the presidency being tight-lipped over the issue.
Government’s chief spokesman, Information Minister Eugene Nagbe has reportedly said he has no comment regarding the issue, without the minister confirming nor denying reports of press secretary Mannah’s suspension by President Weah.
Efforts to reach Mannah has so far proven futile, but PUNCH has learned that the presidential press secretary’s suspension stems from statements he made that were allegedly deemed derogatory and demeaning to his boss, President Weah.
Highly-placed governmental sources, who prefer remaining anonymous for this report, confided in PUNCH that Mannah was recently heard bragging that he’s the architect of if not all, then most of President Weah’s correspondences, even to the point that he was heard boasting at one point, of being the author of most of the president’s speeches.
A recent social media post of Mannah apparently corroborates our sources’ assertions. On Thursday, Mannah posted on his official Facebook page: “Just thinking out loud. Since when did a Press Secretary shoulder the responsibility of writing letters on behalf of the President to other branches of government? Big difference between press secretary and an Executive Secretary. Furthermore, there’s a longstanding tradition within the executive, and that tradition has not changed.”
There are reports that besides Mannah’s social media post, his boss is intensely mad at him for allegedly saying he (Mannah) even wrote the president’s tests, while he was pursuing his online Master’s Degree with the American university, Devry. PUNCH has not independently confirmed these reports.
After lack of higher education dealt a major blow to Weah’s quest for the Liberian presidency, in July 2013, he earned a Master’s degree in Management from the Keller Graduate School of Management, Devry University, after bagging his first, a Master of Public Administration Degree (MPA) from the Devry University in Miami, Florida the USA, two years earlier.
