The Editor,
Just days ago, I wrote that Liberia was losing control of its affairs, by
allowing foreign diplomats to be arbiters of national political disputes. This
is something that the Council of Churches, the Muslim Council and the
Traditional Council should do. Of course, we miss Bishop Michael Francis,
Sheikh Kafumba Konneh, Chief Jallah Long. And the voices of all those progressists
of the past years, when they inspired our generation. If foreign diplomats take
the lead in resolving Liberian issues, stakeholders will soon start talking to
their fellow Liberians through foreign diplomats.
I served as diplomat in Washington, DC and in Abidjan. I cannot imagine any of
my colleagues in those posts speaking out loudly about issues in those
countries. That’s not what diplomats do. They represent foreign nations. They
cannot solve problems they don’t understand!
There is nothing wrong with diplomats interacting with state actors who are
interlocutors. And the state had its designated officials to deal with foreign
missions. We miss Baccus Matthews, Cecile Dennis and the voice of Wallace. The
number one rule of diplomacy is discretion. The more visible and powerful
foreign diplomats become, the weaker the government will appear. And soon CoP
will start dealing with them rather than petition the government. Maybe a good
thing… people may get their salaries!
There is no national emergency that necessitates the issuance of a press
release on national issues by four big foreign missions. Because of their
weight, they would be more efficient if they were doing their work in the
background and let Liberians take credit for the positives. But being the
ultimate agenda setters, they eclipse both government and opposition. Democracy
will suffer.
There is no war in Liberia and Liberians will not go to war because they want
to protest. They have issues to discuss with their government. In democracy, in
Paris, Dakar, Honk Kong, Washington, D.C. people make pan-carts and take to the
streets. It’s a medium through which people negotiate with their government. Of
course, some people think and believe that CDC won elections because they took
to the streets so many times!
When Liberians were dying like flies, it was a group of Liberians who sat
together under the banner of the Interfaith Religious Committee and drew a plan
for the return of sanity and the end of the war. That peace plan was never
compromised until the end of the war and it was never negotiated away. Then
they called on ECOWAS for help. That’s how it should be.
When the same diplomats published a letter about government going into their
accounts, I said that if they were in some other countries, they would have
been sent out.
Liberians will have to grow out of the dependency mentality that has engulfed
the nation as a by-product of the war.
Time to hit the reset button.
Abdoulaye Dukule