Monrovia – As Liberians are at the verge of making decision as to whom to be the next President to take over from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, some older folks in rural Montserrado County have expressed disappointment in the decision making process of the country.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr – [email protected]
In the minds of these older folks, since they have been voting leaders into offices from their youthful ages up to present, those leaders have done nothing to improve their lives or those of their children.
Speaking to FrontPage Africa in Lower Bensonville, Montserrado County, a number of older people said they are disappointed and are no longer interested in making decisions for the younger folks, saying, they are tired dashing the hopes of their children.
“Let our children make their own decision this time, because all the time we been voting people to be President our children have not been benefiting, so this time around let them make their own decision,” old-man Yancy Bestman, 83, of Lower Bensonville noted.
Pap Yancy, as he is called in the area, could not hide his feelings on the current political struggle in Liberia.
“This time around I don’t want to be part of any decision making process in this country anymore, because all the people we voted before have failed us, they failed our children, and they even failed our grand children,” he said.
Pap Yancy said he voted for many of Liberia’s past and present Presidents including William V.S. Tubman, Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and in his mind, all of those who he voted for did nothing to improve the lives of the Liberian people.
“I give up already my son; we can’t keep failing our children by voting the wrong people in office, this is the time for our children to make their own decision that will benefit them,” he said.
Yancy is not the only older person in Lower Montserrado that has decided to leave the voting business with the young people.
Moses Dolo, 78, is another old man who has the same mind set as Yancy.
For old man Dolo, he is working along with Yancy and others to form an organization which he says will be aimed at giving the young people a chance to make their own decision in choosing whom to be the next President of Liberia.
“It is true that they need the old mat to build the new ones, but if you look in the race today there are all new mats, so let the young people look among the new mats and chose the mat they want for themselves,” he noted.
Jestina Tamba is another person, who strongly believes that previous leaderships has failed young people.
“Our children have for too long cried on us, but we always not listen to them.”
“We stole their voting cards and compelled them to vote for Ellen and Ellen refused to look after them and even us, we tired hearing them crying on us so let them vote for themselves this time,” she noted.