Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s son has been confirmed as the interim Central Bank governor following the resignation of outgoing governor Mill Jones, who quit his position two weeks ago to enable him stand for the presidential elections due to take place in 2017.
Charles Sirleaf was the deputy governor of the bank until his promotion on Wednesday, though he was temporarily suspended in 2012 on his mother’s orders for breaching declaration rules.
It is still unclear how long Charles is expected to remain in the interim governor post or when a permanent replacement would be appointed.
His appointment has raised fresh allegations of nepotism against Sirleaf following the short-lived appointment of another son, Robert Sirleaf, to the National Oil Company of Liberia.
Jefferson Knight, head of human rights monitoring at the influential United Methodist church in Liberia, told AFP he believed Charles Sirleaf was appointed primarily due to his name.
“There are so many Liberians who are qualified for that post, why it is only he who will be elected? This is nepotism,” he said.
“I am sure the president is testing the water and I hope she will do the right thing by appointing another person. Though we don’t know for how long her son will remain as interim head, this is not smelling good,” Knight added.
