Former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. has rejected what he calls a coordinated effort to depict him as demoralized amid an ongoing criminal trial, accusing political rivals and a media figure of manipulating public perception to further a presidential ambition.
In a forceful Facebook statement on Wednesday, Tweah accused media personality Stanton Witherspoon of broadcasting a “doctored” slow-motion clip of him leaving court—an excerpt he says was selectively edited to suggest dejection. Tweah argued the segment was part of a broader campaign, allegedly influenced by Senator Jeremiah Koung, a onetime associate he now calls a political adversary.
Tweah contends Koung sees the former minister’s imprisonment as a necessary step to clear his path to higher office. “Samuel D. Tweah Jr. will not go to jail,” Tweah declared, insisting his legal case is sound and predicting the trial will vindicate him. He added that if jailing him is Koung’s “only path” to the presidency, that strategy would fail.
Mixing the personal with the political, Tweah recounted an incident from a 2022 county tour in Nimba County—saying his wife objected to him staying at Koung’s residence, a warning he now interprets as prescient. He described her intuition as “a gift from God,” framing recent events within a narrative of foresight and betrayal.
Despite his defiant tone, Tweah qualified his stance: he said he would accept imprisonment only if legitimately found guilty. “I will gladly go to jail if I commit the crime for which I am accused. I will never go to jail for the crime I didn’t commit,” he wrote.
Closing his message with a combative assertion of character, Tweah described himself as “a fearless Grebo warrior,” signaling both cultural pride and determination as the legal battle proceeds. Observers say the episode raises questions about media ethics, the weaponization of edited footage in political disputes, and the extent to which personal rivalries shape prosecutorial and public narratives in high-profile cases.
