MONROVIA, Montserrado – The Coalition for Democratic Change has refuted claims that it has created a list of opponents who will be denied jobs in the new government.

Samuel Worzi, the spokesperson for CDC, told ELBC Radio on Friday that the party had not created a blacklist, as has been widely rumored on Facebook.

“Members of the opposition are Liberians and deserve the right to work in any government,” he said.

Some of the purported names blacklisted include Jacob Jallah, assistant minister for technical services at the Ministry of Information; Mohammed Ali, Unity Party’s national assistant secretary general for press, publicity and outreach; Jerolinmek Piah, press secretary to the president; Patrick Honnah, deputy director general for media services at the Liberia Broadcasting Corporation; Kula Fofana, assistant minister for youth services at the Ministry of Youth and Sports; Augustine Zayzay, assistant minister for expenditures at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning; and Abraham Kromah, deputy for operations at the Liberia National Police.

Julius Berrian, the former CDC representative of Montserrado’s 10^th district who was maneuvered off the CDC ticket to allow party stalwart Mulbah Morlu to run, was also included on the list of over 60 persons being circulated.

Rumors of the list were not restricted to social media, as it was also discussed on some radio stations in Monrovia.

The CDC spokesperson said the list was propaganda, created by those whose names are contained on the list.

“The blacklist is a political [ploy] to attract President-elect George Weah,” Worzi said.

On a related note, Worzi addressed reports of job forms being given out by CDC members and sold in the streets by some individuals. He said at no time has the party engaged in such activities. FrontPageAfrica recent reported that nine men had been arrested outside CDC’s headquarter for launching a fake job scheme.

“The CDC does not have jobs for sale, and the so-called action is a political ploy by individuals whose intention is to tarnish the reputation the party and Weah,” Worzi added.

Stephen Johnson, a member of the Unity Party whose name appeared on the blacklist, told The Bush Chicken via mobile phone on Sunday that CDC should be focused on how it will govern the country, rather than listing individuals who did not support the party.

Stephen Johnson, a member of the Unity Party, is on the rumored list. Photo: Zeze Ballah

“The purported blacklist came from the CDC Youth League because the journalist who read the names on OK FM said he got it from insiders within the party,” Johnson said.

According to him, CDC is finding ways to deny young and innovative Liberians the right to serve their country, which he considers improper.

For his part, Ali, Unity Party’s national assistant secretary general for press, publicity, and outreach, countered Worzi’s claim that individuals on the list were the ones who created it.

“It sounds stupid for us to be creating a list and misspelling our names,” he said. “It is total nonsense, and we know nothing about such list.”

Mohammed Ali, Unity Party’s national assistant secretary general for press, publicity, and outreach. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Ali explained that he found out about the list when the names contained in it were read by Julius Jeh on OK 99.5 FM.

“I have no idea about where exactly the purported list originated,” he maintained.

Ali said he had been informed that some CDC members who feared that Unity Party members would be appointed in their government were taking a “peremptory strike” by creating the list.

“We in the Unity Party are not fighting for jobs in the CDC government,” he said. “Members of the CDC should be given the opportunity to run their government because we do not want any excuses tomorrow if they do not live up to their promises.”

Featured by Zeze Ballah