Nobel laureate slams Liberian leader over corruption

Leymah Gbowee, the social worker who won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, on Monday in Paris, France publicly disowned her co-laureate for failing to fight graft and nepotism in the war-scarred African nation.

“People are very disappointed. We have a deficit when it comes to having a moral voice in the country,” she told AFP on a visit to Paris to promote the French edition of her book, ‘Mighty Be Our Powers’.

Gbowee, who said she felt guilty for not speaking out earlier, also revealed that she was stepping down as the head of the country’s reconciliation commission in frustration at its lack of progress.

“We worked hard for peace,” she said, adding that Sirleaf herself was critical of the regime of William Richard Tolbert, who was Liberia’s president from 1971 to 1980, and placed cronies and family members in top jobs before being toppled in a violent coup.

“What has changed?” said Gbowee. “Her sons are on the board of oil companies and one is the deputy governor of the central bank. The gap between the rich and poor is growing. You are either rich or dirt poor, there’s no middle class.”

The feisty Gbowee, who says her mission in life is to fight injustice and bring peace, also said she was resigning as head of the National Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, as “not enough is being done for national healing.”

She added: “I feel I have been a disappointment to myself and Liberia. Not speaking is as bad as being part of the system. Some may say I am a coward but the opportunity to speak out has come here.

“I will also speak about it when I get home.”