MONROVIA – Former Bomi County Senator Sando Dazoe Johnson has attributed the prolonged lack of foreign direct investments in Liberia to the ‘politically compromised justice system’ that has been cherished and harbored under the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government of President George Manneh Weah.
Since the inception of the Weah led-administration in January 2018, Liberia and its citizens continue to witness and experience foreign-direct investment nightmare, with either foreign companies or concessionaires showing little or no real interest in investing in the post conflict nation.
The situation has negatively contributed to the growing wave of joblessness, broad day light robbery, and increase in lawlessness in the Liberian society.
Speaking in an interview with FrontPageAfrica on Monday, May 10, via telephone, Mr. Johnson observed that the current lack of job opportunities for Liberians, most of whom are qualified, continue to contribute towards the high level of hunger and poverty in the nation.
Mr. Johnson, who is a National Executive Committee (NEC) member of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), was defeated by Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe in the just ended December 8, 2020 senatorial election.
He was also the former Spokesperson of the family of ex-Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor and an NEC member of the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP).
“To be honest with you, people are suffering and you can see it on their faces. They go to bed without having meal and they do not have jobs. They lives are miserable and so, the government needs to do something about it and provide the opportunities for them to be able to put food on their tables. It is unacceptable that in this modern age, people still go to bed without food”.
“Government has to look at the justice system. The justice system is weak and bad. When people cannot get justice or when the judiciary is compromised, you do not expect anybody to bring their money here. If people will bring their money here to invest, it will depend on the courts or the judiciary”.
Mr. Johnson pointed out that most foreign investors are reluctant to come to invest in Liberia in an effort to provide job opportunities to citizens, because these investors do not believe that they or their assets will be protected by Liberia’s justice system.
“These people will not bring their money here because; if anything happens they will need to get justice. But the justice system here is rotten and compromised. Nobody will come here because, nobody trust it”.
Overhaul
Mr. Johnson further stressed the need for the overhauling of the “entire” justice system of Liberia adding that, “they are the ones killing this country”.
He maintained that Liberia and its citizens will continue to suffer if justice is not dispense, void of partisanship, political interference or manipulation in Liberia.
“The entire justice system of Liberia needs to be overhauled. If there is no fair play in dispensing justice, the country will suffered because, the government does not have the capacity to employ all its citizens or put bread and butter on the table for each and every one of us. It is these investments that will give people jobs to be able to do these things”.
“But when the justice system is weak and politically compromised, nobody will put their money here and nobody will get job; the people will suffered”.
He added that as a result of the current situation, it remains the sole responsibility of government to create opportunities for citizens to get jobs.
Liberia is divided
At the same time, Mr. Johnson has observed that Liberians are heavily divided under the CDC led government of President Weah.
He stated that for the high level of division among the citizenry to be addressed, President Weah must take the lead in reconciling Liberians and desist from his constant habit of throwing jibes at opposition politicians or those he sees as his perceived critics.
According to him, reconciliation remains paramount to the developmental drive of Liberia and as such, the Liberian Chief Executive should not wait any longer in taking a bold step towards ensuring that citizens are reconciled.
He noted that President Weah should have in mind that he is the President for all Liberians, instead of only paying loyalty to executives, partisans and supporters from the ruling party.
“The country is divided and they need to do more. Especially the President, he needs to get involved in reconciliation which is key to the developmental agenda of Liberia. The country needs to be reconciled and the President needs to do that now”.
“The President is the President for everybody and the nation. He cannot be seen as the President for CDC. We disagree with that. The President needs to reach out to many persons as possible. This will help him achieve most of the things he wants to do”.
Mr. Johnson pointed out that Liberians will not be appreciative of the President’s developmental initiatives if he continues to preside over a country that remains largely divided.
He maintained that no individual has “monopoly” to build Liberia, but with the collective efforts of all citizens, regardless of political affiliation, the country can move from one state to another.
Remain law abiding
Mr. Johnson used this medium to urge Liberians to continue to maintain the peace and stability of the nation despite the numerous challenges they are faced with in the country.
According to him, Liberians must continue to hold together and avoid acts that have the proclivity of derailing peace and tranquility and embrace one another for the forward match of the society.
He said citizens should avoid engaging into violence or taking the laws into their laws and make maximum use of the rule of law in finding remedies to their problems or grievances.