Weah sidelines Deputy Minister over ethnic slur

Liberian President George Weah has suspended his deputy Information Minister Eugene Fahngon for fuelling ethnic divisions by referring to descendants of freed slaves as ‘Congo Liberians’. BBC News reports that his office said the government was committed to a ‘one country, one people’ policy, with zero tolerance for ‘divisive politicking or tribalism’. Fahngon said on social media that an anti-government protest planned for 7 June had been orchestrated by so-called ‘Congo Liberians’, a reference to descendants of freed slaves who returned from the US to found Africa's first independent republic. The US embassy in Liberia condemned his ‘irresponsible’ comments.