General
Source: New Dawn
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was shocked Tuesday when 500 women, claiming to be widows of former personnel of the Armed Forces of Liberia, who had converged before the Executive Mansion on Capitol Hill to claim benefits for their deceased husbands.
Before the President's arrival from her office to address the widows, who wore black and white to symbolize that they were mourning for their late spouses, two of their leaders told journalists that they had assembled to question President Sirleaf why their husbands' death benefits were not being paid despite the passage of the 2011/2012 National Budget.
Sitting on top of rocks in the grass around the President's Foreign Ministry Office, the widows appeared resolute in their demand.
According to Ellen Toweh and Vivian Mulbah, the government had promised them on several occasions to pay the benefits through the Bureau of Veterans Affairs after the passage of the Budget, but unfortunately, the money is yet to come.
Vivian claimed that when they made a follow up at the Executive Mansion immediately after the Budget was enacted into law, President Sirleaf's National Security Advisor Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh, directed them to the Finance Ministry to get their benefits, but Minister Augustine Ngafuan allegedly told them that the money was not ready.
However, addressing the widows, President Sirleaf maintained that government does not owe them anything, stressing that the widows have no reason to gather in such large number before the Executive Mansion in demand of benefits that were not binding.
The President explained that some monetary allocations were made in the 2011/2012 National Budget for the widows for the sake of peace, but maintained that government has already cleared all death benefits to the AFL widows.
She told Vivian Mulbah and Ellen Toweh that it would have been appropriate if they had arranged to meet her with a delegation to present their concerns instead of the mass turnout before her office.
President Sirleaf then gave the women L$20,000.00 to enable them transport themselves back home, while the necessary mechanisms were being put in place to disburse the allotments in the Budget through the Bureau of Veterans Affairs.
Meanwhile, the widows have unanimously pledged support for President Sirleaf's second term bid, saying she's the right leader for the country. According to Vivian, the widows would have still given their support to the President, even if she had not given them the money.