ELECTIONS ARE once again on the horizon in Liberia – and just as the previous elections, since the end of the civil war, politicians seeking political offices are at it again, enticing and luring votes, not with the best ideas, reforms and what they can do to change the lives of their constituencies, but rather with damning insults of giving out rice and Liberian dollars to vulnerable constituents, who should know better but sadly, do not.
ELECTION PERIODS is really an interview process for politicians and aspirants. This is when voters and constituencies should be deciphering the issues and engaging the candidates on what matters to them, how is candidate X going to make my life better? How is Candidate Y better than Candidate Z who is currently in the seat? What are the most pressing issues affecting my community?
IN LIBERIA THESE days, poverty has taken over. More and more communities are living at the mercy of God with many unable to feed themselves or their families.
YOUNG BOYS and girls who should be in school have to roam the streets daily to fend for their families, running in between cars in traffic selling small items just to make a buck.
YOUNG BOYS AND GIRLS are being raped, sodomized, abused and assaulted with very little noise or alarm being raised by those seeking votes.
MARKETERS BRAVE THE SUN and the rains daily in pursuit of money. Many barely break even. Vegetables are left to rot because consumers are not buying as they once did. As a result, the market business is in dire straits.
CIVIL SERVANTS in most instances are working without pay, some haven’t been paid salaries for month. As a result, their lack of pay is causing unhappiness in the home.
SADLY, MANY of those seeking office appear to have forgotten that the World Food Program and the government of Liberia are responsible for food distribution during the Covid-19 pandemic.
INSTEAD OF ASKING the right questions about how far this rice distribution has gone, candidates themselves have joined the rice and money distribution business, preying on the vulnerabilities of the various communities they are looking to represent.
HOW MANY OF THESE candidates have actually investigated the Indian Head bags of rice they are distributing? How many have asked sellers why no one in Liberia is buying that rice and the price had to be brought down, far below the market rate? How many of these candidates actually inquired the quality of the rice and what it is actually used for in China before it was shipped to Liberia?
If we continue to allow ourselves to linger in mediocrity, believing that money and rice are the only expectations of those seeking our votes, we may continue to remain entrapped in a twilight zone of perennial obscurity, forever whining and wondering why is it that Liberia can never progress when all along the answer has been staring right before our very eyes: Liberians are the cause of their own problems, they are often just in denial – when the Sh… Hits the Fan!!!
THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS, constituencies should be asking those who, if elected will be responsible for the confirmation of officials and passage of concession bills and laws that should improve the lives of those languishing at the bottom of the economic ladder.
THE LIBERIAN CONSTITUTION provides checks and balances for the government through the separation of powers between its three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch.
THOSE WHO are privileged to serve in these positions – either through an election or through the ballot box are not elected to divide money or distribute rice. They are not there to build roads or schools or hospitals.
THEY ARE THERE to make sure that the rights of citizens are protected under the laws of the land, that the right laws are passed to improve the lives of their constituents and that the nominees to key government positions are properly vetted.
WHENEVER ANY of those seeking these positions come knocking on the doors of your constituencies, it is important that you ask them about their reasons for running. Are they running fulfil their role as a check on government by scrutinising bills? Delegated Legislation? Government Administration? Government Policy in general?
THE CONSTITUTION of the Republic of Liberia is clear. It requires all senators to take an oath or affirmation upon assuming their office, that affirmation entails supporting, upholding, protecting and defending the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Liberia and bearing true faith and allegiance to the Republic.
THE CONSTITUTION SAYS nothing about rice or money distribution. This is why, no one should fall under the spell of poverty to elect anyone who does not guarantee that they can fulfill these criteria under the constitution.
THESE MAY SEEM MINUTE in terms of meaning but they always trickle down to cost and effect and those below the poverty line.
THIS WAS EVIDENT in May 2013, when an audit of lucrative resource deals in Liberia found that almost all the concessions awarded by the government since 2009 had not been compliant with the law.
In a damning report commissioned by the Liberian government, international auditors found that only two out of 68 resource contracts worth $8bn (£5.1bn) were conducted properly. Concessions granted in agriculture, forestry, mining and oil – including a lucrative deal with oil company Chevron – were either wholly or partially flawed.
THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE voters did not vet those they elected to the legislature. They voted based on friendship, on rice, on money and on favors.
GOD OR ALLAH WILL NEVER come to save Liberia. Only Liberians can save themselves.
REGGAE GREAT BOB MARLEY in his famous Redemption penned the popular note: “None But Ourselves Can Free our minds”, speaking to a people who have been broken, devalued and taken advantaged of for far too long and bound by mental slavery.
HOW MANY HAVE sat in their car, or been to a club, a bar or concert and heard the song? How many have understood what it means to be a victim of mental slavery? How many are willing to do what is right instead of whining and crying without end to pain and suffering?
IF WE CONTINUE to allow ourselves to linger in mediocrity, believing that money and rice are the only expectations of those seeking our votes, we may continue to remain entrapped in a twilight zone of perennial obscurity, forever whining and wondering why is it that Liberia can never progress when all along the answer has been staring right before our very eyes: Liberians are the cause of their own problems, they are often just in denial – when the Sh… Hits the Fan!!!
A HINT TO THE VERY WISE!!!