In Summary:
- Recently, the Government of Liberia issued a statement condemning comments it claimed were made by Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe
- We have reviewed the original statement made by the Bomi lawmaker which was livestreamed on Spoon FM
- We found that a portion of one of the interviews was manipulated, and the quotes attributed to Senator Snowe in the government statement were not what he said in the Spoon FM interviews.
On May 24, the Government of Liberia issued a statement through the Ministry of Information condemning what it termed as “irresponsible and inflammatory statements” made by Bomi County Senator Edwon Melvin Snowe, Jr.
The government statement claimed that Senator Snowe said he would “do everything possible, including using his connections in ECOWAS to make the Boakai-led government to fail, even if it means discouraging foreign direct investment to Liberia and making the country ungovernable and unstable until he, Snowe, becomes President of Liberia”.
However, the statement issued by the government failed to mention where the comments by Bomi County were made.
Senator Snowe has since refuted the comments attributed to him in the government’s statement, terming it as malicious and politically motivated.
The Claim
Excerpt from statement reads: “Mr. Snowe declared that he would ‘do everything possible, including using his connections in ECOWAS to make the Boakai-led government to fail, even if it means discouraging foreign direct investment to Liberia and making the country ungovernable and unstable until he, Snowe, becomes President of Liberia”.
Rating Justification
To fact-check the statements attributed to Senator Snowe in the MICAT press statement, we conducted a rigorous online search for the original recorded videos of the Spoon TV interviews with the lawmaker.
We found the Wednesday, April 9, 2025, edition of the livestream program One-on-One with the CEO. It was during this exclusive interview that Senator Snowe first made the comments about the government.
What Did Sen. Snowe Say
At 3:16:10 timestamp of this 4:55:02 live video the Bomi County lawmaker began commenting on his decision in the 2023 election and the performance of the government thus far.
We have transcribed the conversations between Senator Snowe and the host of the show, Stanton Witherspoon as follows:
Senator Snowe: Stanton, I always say this and will say it on this show, I campaign and voted for George Weah, and if you were to bring the ballot box today, and put Joseph Boakai here and put George Weah here, I will vote for George Weah again and I will have no regret.
Stanton: Why?
Senator Snowe: I’m coming, guess what? Somewhere in my sub-conscience also told me that just in case George Weah didn’t win, and Joseph Baokai won the election, Liberia will still be in a better position because he comes with a reach history of governmental experience, that things will be okay, things will be different, he will do better, so when I see people saying George Weah did it so we will do it too, it bothers me, it’s troubling.
Stanton: Is he performing to your expectation?
Snowe: Who?
Stanton: President Boakai.
Snowe: Oh no, not at all, no. I think he needs to do better, he needs to do more, the fact that we can drag a problem in the legislature for six months, you don’t want to see the Speaker of ECOWAS parliament, you accusing Snowe of bringing ECOWAS here, why Tinubu didn’t write you letter formerly, and firing all lay tenure positions people, we go into the Central Bank we disrupting the operations at the Central Bank forcing people to resign, you say somebody was corrupt, you auditing them, then you pay them their benefits, you say go let me bring my own person here, you go to fisheries, you go to LTA, Abdullah Kamara, you suppressing an audit report but soon we go back (when the legislature reopens), we going to call for that audit report, you suppressing an audit report because Abdullah Kamara the person at LTA is soak into the corruption scandal at LTA, you can’t review Medtech, you can’t do this, you can’t do that, the president taking B (Bea) Mounting plane to fly to Lofa, I think the president needs to do better, I mean he’s in his second year he still got four years to his credit.
Stanton: Do you think he will do better?
Snowe: I pray he doesn’t, so we can move them from power.
Stanton: What do you think is his problem?
Snowe: I actually want him to be a one-term president, so if he doesn’t do better than it’s good.
After the April 9, 2025, interview, Senator Snowe also appeared on the regular format of the Spoon Talk on May 13. During this edition, he was interviewed by all the panelists unlike the first interview, which was conducted by the main host.
In this interview, Senator Snowe was asked if he was retracting his April 9 comments of wanting the government of Joseph Boakai to fail. He replied by saying:
“Stanton, let’s talk about that statement. Maybe you can play that statement again, but you know what I said, and I will continue to repeat it? I said then, and I will say today, that I want this government to be a one-term government.
“You (Stanton) asked me a question, and I spoke in context. I mean, people that admire me, people who are related to me, have criticized me just on the propaganda that is being carried by this statement.
“You asked me: ‘in 2029, there is George Weah, there’s Jeremiah Koung, or an alternative, who are you going to support?’ I said I am the alternative, I myself want to run. Then you said to me you don’t want the government to have a second term? I said no, I want them to fail, so they have one term.
“So, if that means I want the country to fall apart, or for things to go bad, Stanton, I am a responsible [person]. I’ve got more investment in this country than people can think, so I want this country to prosper, I want the good for Liberia, I never wish evil for this country, and let me make that point clear tonight.
“I spoke in context and the context I spoke in was that I want the government to be a one-term government but to come now and make it look like I want all the human being to die in the country, I want the country to suffer, I want hardship in the country, no I did not say that.”
However, this part of Senator Snowe’s statement was cut and manipulated to mean that he wants people in the country to die, he wants the country to suffer, and he wants hardship on the people.
These manipulated videos shared on online platforms like UL Gees and others can be seen here, here and here.
DN News, an online media with a strong social media presence, deleted a post where they shared the manipulated video and later offered an apology after Senator Snowe threatened to take legal action.
Conclusion
Based on a thorough review of the videos of the statements made by Sen. Snowe, we conclude that the quotes attributed to the Bomi County Senator in the statement issued by MICAT on May 24 are misleading.
Also, the viral short clips of Senator Snowe saying that he “wants people in the country to die, he wants the country to suffer, and he wants hardship on the people” are a doctored or manipulated video.
