Kokoi vs. Joekai: Ex-Monrovia City Employee Fights Back Against ‘Vindictive’ Dismissal
In an August 15, 2024 Facebook post, Boye Kokoi, one of the nine employees dismissed from the Monrovia City Corporation, has vocally contested the legality and justification of his termination. Kokoi asserts that “no record/evidence exists anywhere of me insulting the presidency” and challenges his accusers to provide proof of any such behavior.
Kokoi’s dismissal, he argues, is not justifiable. He calls upon Mayor John-Charuk Siafa and Civil Service Agency (CSA) Director-General, Josiah Joekai to “display a single post on social media or anywhere to prove that in my political disagreement I insulted the presidency or government officials.” He emphasizes that his political engagement, both before and after the 2023 elections, has been “never toxic” and devoid of any insults towards the presidency or government officials.
The former employee asserts that he was targeted long before his dismissal. “Since March of this year, we heard about a list that contained our names—people believed to be CDCians employed by the former Mayor Jefferson Koijee at city hall who would have been dismissed,” Kokoi explained. He expressed that his dismissal did not come as a surprise due to prior alerts about such actions.
Kokoi also accuses Josiah Joekai of holding a personal vendetta against him. He recounts, “Josiah Joekai contested in district #3 Montserrado County in 2017 legislative elections. He asked me and many young comrades in the district to support him, at which time I supported Cllr. Kanio Gbala. Joekai took offense and drew malice from that election that he has extended to me in my professional life today.” Kokoi further claims that Joekai once physically attacked him at his parents’ home in Morris Farm at midnight.
The dismissed employee condemns the actions of the authorities, stating, “It’s sad for my country, it’s sad! Josiah Joekai got no evidence whatsoever on me insulting the president. They continue to break our laws simply because they want to be vindictive against a Young CDCian.”
Kokoi concludes his post with a firm declaration: “If my only crime for dismissal is because someone identified me as a CDCian who campaigned for former President George Weah, we welcome your decision, but I remain a CDCian. We shall meet in court, enough is enough. God bless the Motherland.”
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