Monrovia – From within President George Manneh Weah’s camp, some confidants are detecting early signs of doom, which is springing out of his questionable decisions and missteps resembling errors of the past.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
Lester Tenny, an ardent member of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), is the latest to criticize the embryonic somewhat indiscriminate appointments in government, noting that the “pro-poor agenda was never about experimenting with kids with no experience and including those whose records in this country are sordid and filthy with the odor of corruption”.
Both the Office of the President and the Chairman of the ruling party declined to comment on Prof. Tenny’s outburst.
Tenny is a professor of Economics at the University of Liberia and has been with the ruling establishment since their long wait in opposition.
And though the young government is still finding means to get its feet firm on the ground, this partisan believes the CDC, which rode to state power as a grass root movement, is deviating from its course.
He wrote on his Facebook wall on Wednesday: “We are no longer an opposition political party.”
“We are a government now. The pro-poor agenda was never about experimenting with kids with no experience and including those whose records in this country are sordid and filthy with the odor of corruption.
“It was never an agenda to recruit family members and friends who share no vision nor possess the slightest inclination of running a bedroom before given serious responsibilities to manage the state.”
“If we chose to assist families and friends, it should and must never be at the embarrassment of the President.”
“The office of the president cannot be brought to public disrepute. Let’s not forget the battle we fought with those who libel the president as inept and incompetent.”
Tenny’s frustration emanates from some appointments in government, which he believes are undeserved.
While many have hailed Pres. Weah for his appointment of several young people to some key positions in the government, others believe that some of the appointments are not based on merits that commensurate with expected academic qualifications and discipline to ably handle the affairs of said offices.
In his outburst, Tenny wrote: “Why would we choose to ruin the generation that supposed to replace us while at the same time embarrass the intellectual class that defended the party by experimenting with kids?
How do we justify the inclusion of college dropouts and non-degree holders to positions of public trust?
What is the empirical reliance of our decisions?
The society is sensitive and we shouldn’t deceive ourselves, the opposition will feast on our ignorance soon.”
In early February, members of the tripartite CDC – the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP) and the National Patriotic Party (NPP) alarmed over being neglected in the appointments to government.
They accused the President of making appointments based on cronyism and friendship while deviating from the agreement that birthed the Coalition.
Bolton Dennis, Secretary General of the NPP in his quest for equitable distribution of appointed positions in government, contended that they were being marginalized by the President and his close associates.
This assertion was reignited by the CDC partisan who said, “it was never an agenda to recruit family members and friends who share no vision nor possess the slightest inclination of running a bedroom before given serious responsibilities to manage the state”.
In Tenny’s words the ruling party has abandoned some of its own gallant men who are competent and experienced due to their refusal to form part of those trooping the corridors of the venues were jobs were negotiated.
“President, we are digging our own hole to failure. We need to reflect on where we all came from.”
“Poverty looks in our faces each day as we walk the interiors of our hinterland. Our people are desperately poor and yearn for better life.”
“How do we do such when even the interior ministry is occupied by kids with no tribal lineage?” he noted.
He added that President Weah cannot claim to be running a pro-poor government when appointments to government do not match with the tenets of a government that seeks to represent the interest of the country’s downtrodden that comprise the majority of the country.
From his perspective, Liberia is treading a path of travesty by not carefully appointing officials with expertise in technical positions, citing the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and Internal Affairs as examples.
For the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he said, it is unthinkable that the President would appoint young folks who have no traditional lineage, neither do they neither understand the culture nor understand the language of the Zoes.
“How do some of those we appointed discuss with town chiefs and traditional leaders when they don’t understand the language of the Zoe’s.
“What is the justification of such mistake? Yet we shouldn’t pretend to ourselves that we are pro-poor!” he noted.”
Speaking of the MFDP, while acknowledging that Minister Samuel Tweah is well placed, Tenny said, his work would be grim if technicians are not brought to assist his work.
“His efforts will yield nothing if his principle deputy doesn’t understand the fundamentals of economics nor administration. This too is a travesty and a contradiction,” he penned.
He urged the President to make efficient use of the best brains in the CDC to efficiently mobilize domestic revenue through the country’s national resources.
Tenny: “Have the proper technicians in place and see if this won’t happen.”
” We have people with maximum knowledge in the party, yet we pretend that the party suffers skill drought.”
“The President won’t know everyone, it is our duty to him and country to assist and change the narratives.”