Beyond Seven Days of Noise: The Liberia We Owe Future Generations

Elect leaders, particularly lawmakers, who understand the weight of their public actions (utterances) and their level of political maturity.

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By: Austin S Fallah – A True Son of the Planet Earth Soil: [email protected]

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “We need leaders who are not in love with money, but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humility. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.”

Borrowing from Dr. Martin Luther King (All we say to America, be true to what you said on paper): Liberian politicians, all we ask is that you be true to what you said during campaigns to the Liberian people.-Austin S Fallah.

“Let the facade of political costumes end, and the true meaning of public service begin.

“Liberians have seen hands raised and voices raised in chambers, meetings, and other public forums time and again, but they must ask: do those actions truly make sense if the Liberian people are not benefiting? What is the purpose of all the debates, promises, and public displays if they do not lead to real improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens?”

“How can Liberians keep watching hands being raised and voices being heard in chambers, meetings, and other gatherings when the Liberian people are still not seeing real benefits? Do all these speeches, motions, and promises truly make sense if ordinary Liberians continue to struggle without meaningful improvement in their lives?”

“Liberians are tired of seeing hands raised and voices raised in chambers, meetings, and endless public discussions. But what do all those raised hands and loud voices mean if the Liberian people still aren’t benefiting? Are these decisions improving the quality of lives, creating opportunities, fixing our roads, schools, hospitals, and communities, or are they just empty performances for politicians?”

Hon. Edward Wesee: “Stop the public social-media political costume-wearing that makes you look like you’re working for the electorate. Still, you’re not actually in the best interests of those who elected you to make their lives better.”

Liberia has a familiar political season that many citizens recognize immediately: seven days of noise, debate, public arguments, radio talk shows, press conferences, social-media battles, legislative “hands-up” demonstrations, promises, accusations, and counteraccusations.

For one week, the nation may appear fully awake.

Everyone has something to say.

Politicians speak loudly.

Supporters defend their leaders passionately.

Critics expose failures.

Journalists ask difficult questions.

The public debates every detail from street corners to market tables, from campuses to churches, from keh-keh to palm wine stations, from drinking parlors to beaches, from motorbike stations to Facebook pages.

Then, after the seventh day, the noise fades.

The meetings end. The microphones are turned off.

Public attention shifts to another controversy.

The speeches disappear from the headlines.

And too often, the national problems that started the noise remain exactly where they were: poor roads, under-equipped hospitals, struggling schools, corruption, unemployment, weak public institutions, limited opportunities for young people, and communities that continue to wait for basic government services.

This is the problem of “the seven days wahala noise” in Liberia.

It is not that public debate is bad.

Debate is essential in a democracy.

Citizens should speak, protest for a good cause, not hooliganism, criticize and advance solutions, ask questions, and demand accountability.

The problem is that spewing good-for-nothing noise has become a substitute for action.

Outrage has become a substitute for policy.

Political performance has too often replaced public service.

The nation cannot develop on the strength of loud voices alone.

The question Liberia must ask itself is simple but urgent: When will national policies go beyond seven days and begin to improve the everyday lives of ordinary people?

When will the people seen in national chambers stop being remembered only as hands-up, noisemakers, and loud voices with little substance?

When will public officials be known for turning national policy into visible reality?

When will a policy passed in Monrovia reach the child sitting in an overcrowded classroom in Lofa, Grand Gedeh, remote parts of Montserrado, Grand Bassa, River Cess, Margibi, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Kru, Nimba, Bomi, Maryland, River Gee, Gbarpolu, or Sinoe?

When will a budget approved in the capital become medicine in a rural clinic, a bridge connecting farmers to markets, clean water in a community, electricity for small businesses, and jobs for young people?

Liberia does not lack speeches.

Liberia does not lack talent.

Liberia does not lack intelligent citizens, patriotic youth, hardworking women, experienced professionals, natural resources, or a proud history.

What Liberia has often lacked is consistent follow-through: the discipline to convert ideas into policies, policies into programs, programs into measurable outcomes, and outcomes into lasting improvements in the lives of the people.

That is the standard by which leadership must now be judged.

Leadership Must Be Measured by Results, Not Volume:

A leader’s usefulness should not be determined by how loudly he or she speaks, how often the leader appears on radio, how many supporters clap at a rally using outdated slogans that have not brought any good changes to the nation, or how effectively the leader criticizes opponents.

A leader should be judged by results.

Did more children receive quality education?

Did more mothers survive childbirth?

Did hospitals have essential drugs, trained staff, electricity, and functioning equipment?

Did farmers get roads to bring food to markets?

Did young people gain skills and employment?

Did corruption decrease?

Did public money reach the projects for which it was intended?

Did communities become safer?

Did citizens begin to trust their institutions?

These are the questions that matter.

A government that makes a thousand announcements but delivers no services has not succeeded.

A legislature that debates endlessly but fails to oversee national spending has not fulfilled its responsibility.

A public official who raises a hand in a chamber but does not raise citizens’ standard of living has misunderstood the purpose of power.

Political office is not a performance costume-wearing stage.

It is a responsibility to serve.

Liberia’s national chambers, the Legislature, ministries, agencies, and public institutions, must become places where serious problems receive serious solutions.

Legislators should not simply debate bills; they must ensure laws are implemented.

Ministers should not only launch programs; they should publish results.

County officials should not only attend ceremonies; they should report openly on completed projects and unfinished promises.

Citizens should not be asked to wait endlessly for development while officials congratulate themselves for plans that exist only on paper.

The Liberian people deserve a government that works after the cameras leave.

Education Must Be More Than a Promise:

No country can move confidently into the 21st century while neglecting education.

Liberia’s young people are not asking for miracles.

They are asking for schools with qualified teachers, books, safe classrooms, technology, laboratories, sanitation, and a curriculum that prepares them for the modern world.

Too many students complete years of schooling without gaining the skills they need for employment, entrepreneurship, civic participation, or higher education.

This is not the students’ failure.

It is a failure of national planning.

A child’s future should not be determined by whether they were born in an urban community or a remote village, in a wealthy home or a poor one.

Liberia needs education policies that survive beyond seven days of public attention.

That means long-term investment in teacher training, school construction, curriculum reform, digital access, vocational education, and accountability for educational spending.

It means supporting technical institutions that prepare young people for careers in agriculture, construction, health care, information technology, engineering, renewable energy, and business.

Young people should not graduate only to sit on street corners with certificates and no opportunities.

Education must be connected to the economy.

It must prepare citizens not merely to seek jobs but also to create jobs.

A nation that educates its people equips itself for progress.

Health Care Is a National Security Issue:

Liberia has learned painful lessons from public-health crises.

The country knows that weak health systems can quickly become national emergencies.

Yet hospitals and clinics in many communities still face shortages of drugs, equipment, trained professionals, ambulances, reliable electricity, and basic supplies.

Health care cannot remain a matter of speeches delivered during emergencies.

It must be treated as a permanent national priority.

Every Liberian family deserves the confidence that when a child is sick, when a mother goes into labor, when an accident occurs, or when an epidemic threatens, there will be a functioning health facility nearby.

The government must invest in county hospitals, rural clinics, medical training, disease prevention, maternal care, mental-health services, and reliable supply chains for essential medicine.

Health workers must be respected, paid fairly, trained continuously, and deployed where they are most needed.

The people of Liberia should not have to choose between illness and poverty because medical care is unavailable or unaffordable.

A healthy population is not only a humanitarian goal; it is an economic necessity.

Sick citizens cannot learn, work, farm, build, or lead at full capacity.

Therefore, national policy must recognize that health care is an investment in Liberia’s future, not simply an expense.

Roads, Infrastructure, and Public Services Must Reach the People:

For many Liberians, development is not an abstract idea.

It is the road that allows a farmer to transport cassava, rice, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, or vegetables to market before they spoil.

It is the bridge that lets children get to school during the rainy season.

Electricity helps a business stay open after dark.

Clean water protects families from disease.

Internet access connects a young person to education and opportunity.

Infrastructure is where policy becomes visible.

Citizens can see whether a road has been repaired.

They know whether a clinic has medicine.

They know whether a school has desks.

They know whether a public project was completed or abandoned.

For this reason, government must make infrastructure planning transparent and accountable.

Projects should not be selected only because they benefit political allies or because they look impressive during election season.

They should be based on real national needs, economic value, population impact, and long-term maintenance.

Liberia does not merely need roads that are opened with ribbon-cutting ceremonies; it needs roads that remain usable for years.

It does not need buildings that are launched with public excitement and later left unfinished; it needs functioning facilities staffed with capable people.

Every county deserves development, not just promises.

Fighting Corruption Requires Systems, Not Slogans:

Corruption remains one of the greatest barriers to national development.

When public funds are misused, schools remain unfinished, hospitals go without supplies, roads collapse, and citizens lose faith in their government.

Corruption is not a victimless crime.

It is a money-eating-hyena-vampire that steals directly from poor people and future generations.

The fight against corruption must go beyond public condemnation.

Liberia needs stronger systems of accountability: transparent procurement, public access to budgets, regular audits, enforcement of asset-declaration requirements, protection for whistleblowers, independent anti-corruption institutions, and consequences for officials who misuse public resources.

No person should be above the law because of political connections, wealth, position, family name, or party affiliation.

The public must see that justice is applied fairly.

If corruption is punished only when it is politically convenient, then the country will continue to suffer from distrust and impunity.

A serious government should welcome scrutiny.

It should not fear citizens asking where money has gone.

It should not treat criticism as hostility. Accountability is not an enemy of government; it is what makes government credible.

Liberia Must Honor Its History by Building a Better Future:

Liberia’s history includes people who challenged the nation to think more deeply about justice, citizenship, governance, and national responsibility.

When the names are called, John Kizzy, King Long Peter, King Sao Boso, King Boatswain, President Joseph Cheesman, Albert Porte, Tom Kamara, Hon. G. Baccus Matthews, Dr. Edward B. Kesselly, Dr. Amos Sawyer, and others, they should remind us that Liberia’s story has never been only about those in power.

It has also been about those who questioned power, resisted injustice, demanded inclusion, and called the country back to its moral responsibilities. like Dr. Henry Boima Fahnbulleh, Dr. Togba-Nah Tipoteh, Hon. D.Karn Carlor, Prof. Alaric Tokpah, Cllr. Samuel Kofi Woods, and many more unnamed in here.

These names represent different periods, backgrounds, and contributions, but they should all challenge Liberians to ask what kind of record they are leaving behind.

History will not remember us for the noise we made for seven days.

History will remember whether we built institutions that lasted, protected the vulnerable, expanded opportunity, and defendeddfendedfendeded truth, and placed national interest above personal gain.

One hundred and ten years from today, none of us living now will be here.

The politicians of today, the activists of today, the journalists of today, the businesspeople of today, the teachers of today, and the students of today will all be gone.

What will remain is the record of our deeds.

Will future Liberians say that we wasted our time in endless arguments while the country’s children suffered?

Will they say we had opportunities but lacked courage?

Will they say we loved positions more than service, and political victory more than national progress?

Or will they say that this generation finally decided that Liberia deserved more than temporary excitement?

Will they say that we transformed public debate into public action?

Will they say that we built schools, strengthened hospitals, connected communities, reduced corruption, created jobs, and improved governance?

That decision is being made now.

A Call for a New Political Culture:

Liberia needs a political culture that rewards competence, integrity, humility, evidence, and service.

Citizens must demand more from leaders, but leaders must also demand more from themselves.

Elections should not be competitions over who can insult opponents most effectively.

They should be contests of ideas, plans, records, and measurable commitments.

Political parties should present clear programs for education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, jobs, transparency, and national unity.

Candidates should explain not only what they want to do, but how they will do it, how much it will cost, who will implement it, and how citizens can measure progress.

The media also has an important role. Journalists must continue to report on controversy, but they should also follow policies after the headlines disappear.

They should ask: Was the promised school built?

Did the hospital receive the equipment?

Was the road completed?

Where did the budget go?

Who has been held accountable?

These questions can help transform public discussion from temporary outrage into sustained civic pressure.

Young people, especially, must refuse to inherit a politics of noise.

They must organize, educate themselves, participate in elections, monitor public projects, challenge corruption, and insist on a Liberia where hard work matters more than connections.

The youth of Liberia are not merely leaders of tomorrow; they are citizens of today.

Their future cannot wait.

Liberia must go beyond seven days of wahala noise.

The country must move from speeches to systems, from promises to performance, from political theater to public service.

The Liberian people do not need leaders who are simply loud.

They need leaders who listen, plan, implement, and deliver.

The time has come for national policies to reach beyond the chambers and trickle down to the masses, not as charity, but as the rightful result of responsible governance.

Better schools, less corruption, more hospitals, safer roads, stronger institutions, and good governance are not impossible dreams.

They are achievable goals if Liberia chooses action over noise and substance over spectacle.

The question is not whether Liberia can do better. It can.

The question is whether those entrusted with leadership, and those who elect them, will finally decide that seven days are not enough.