Government Has History of Not Paying on Time

The Editor,

The Liberian Government has a long history of not paying people on time. So, why are you surprised that it takes three months to pay our security people?? I’m not surprised at all..

(Re “… Three Months No Pay for AFL, LNP, and BIN Officers” Daily Observer Online)

In the 60s and 70s, my mother, Teacher Gladys, taught government schools. She used to wait for 6 months to get her January check from the Ministry of Finance.

In the meantime, we ate free government food (Bulgur Wheat) until her check came in June.  Sometimes we went to bed hungry because the government ran out of Bulgur Wheat.

Usually, those damn rogues at the Ministry of Education would steal the Bulgur Wheat intended for poor government employees.

But wait. How long should government employees suffer from the perils of delayed payroll? Why can’t we privatize the government’s payroll function?

 Wouldn’t a private company do a better job than our good-for-nothing government (Ministry of Finance)??  Of course, private companies would do a better job…

Private companies have done a whole lot to improve the lives of ordinary Liberians.  Because of competitive private companies, 80 percent (8 out 10) Liberians now own cell phones! 

So, why can’t we fire the Ministry of Finance for incompetence, and outsource our payroll function to a competitive private enterprise?

After all, competitive private enterprises routinely find ways to do things more efficiently than governments.

Look. If you want government employees to get their paychecks on time, you must fire the Ministry of Finance and hire a competitive private enterprise.

A word to all you True WIG (false hair) Party senators out there: Before you pass your Financial Autonomy Act, please pass Privatize Our Paycheck Act—okay?

We have proof that privatization improves the lives of Liberian people.

Martin Scott,
Atlanta, Georgia