In the face of the plenty scapegoating on the rice price rise problem, there is need to show how this problem can be stopped and be prevented. The need is pressing because the rice price rise problem has led to the deaths and injuries of many Liberians. This Commentary helps to stop and prevent the scapegoating and its attendant violence.
By: Togba-Nah Tipoteh, contributing writer
We just went through the month of April and we are at the end of May. Let us remember the April uprising on the April 14, 1979, also referred to as the rice riot. At least 300 people died and many more people got injured. It is this violence that has led the people of Liberia to declare: We Want Peace! No More War! Although the forces of the government, led the Liberian National Police started shooting and killing of people and this led to fear and its attendant rioting, the government continues to do scapegoating by placing the blame on the “Progressives”.
The money-driven nature of the powers that be continues to lead to the importation of rice instead of the production of rice locally. The powers that be should be working on promoting the local production of rice but they are busy scapegoating, placing the blame for the rice price rise problem on other persons and entities. But placing the blame on others does not solve the problem and such leads to scapegoating and violence like the one that took place on April 14, 1979.
What solves the rice price rise problem is the local ownership, employment and production of rice, the staple food of Liberia. With such ownership and production of local rice, the importation of rice will come down and the consumption of local rice will go up because the price of rice will come down, given the increased quantity of local rice supplied. Therefore, the scapegoating does not help but hurts the people of Liberia, especially the vast majority of people who remain poor.
But the people who love Liberian continue to work to move away from scapegoating and move into Truth Telling by raising awareness of the people. This raising of awareness is motivating the people to take actions within the Rule of Law to transform the prevailing unfair electoral system into the enduring fair electoral system. It is only through this transformation that persons with good records can get elected to bring in the system of Justice, the indispensable ingredient for Peace and Progress in Liberia and in any other country
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