Let Our Actions And Conducts Reflect Our Founding Purpose

It is important for all of us; Liberians to reflect on the founding history of Liberia. We should do this by demonstrating our actions and behaviors to reflect the country founding purpose.

This could begin by eliminating the saying “where you tied the goat that is where it finds its food to eat.”

In context, it appears the culture in Liberia implies that when you are in a position of authority it is your turn to grab enough for yourself of anything that passes through the corridors of the office. 

This is wrong. It is killing us. This is why we are the oldest country in Africa and remains one of the poorest in the continent and the world.

For all of the political hoopla we are seeing in these elections cycles, there will be nothing to show for it after the fact if we maintain the same oligarchy governance structure. 

To experience true change requires a different approach in governance to include rule of law, honesty and equal access to learning and other skilled training and empowerment opportunities as guiding principles of a new identity and pride of citizenship. 

 July 26, 2018 will mark the 171 years anniversary of Liberia as Africa’s first Independent country except for Ethiopia, which was not colonized. 

According to the “Millstone” (1830-1860) of the U.S. Department of States, the founding of Liberia was motivated by the domestic politics of slavery and race in the United States as well as by U.S. foreign policy. 

The resulting state of Liberia was the second black republic after Haiti in the world at the time.

”The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here” is the wording on the official seal of Liberia.

This phrasing simply means all Liberians are bounded by “Liberian Identity.” All Liberians deserve equal and fair treatment.

All Liberians deserve equal and fair chance for better livelihoods. 

All Liberians must have equal access learning and other empowerment opportunities.

All Liberians must have equal access to healthcare and treatment.

All Liberians must have access to safe-drinking water, electricity, communication, paved roads for vehicles to ply.    

All Liberians are equal under the law. All Liberians deserve to have equal fighting chance to benefit from all the resources of the country including foreign donations.

This also means no one should be favored over others based on his or her position in government or private sector. 

This means no one should be favored over others base on his or her religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, region of origin, country of origin. 

Liberty means for one to be set free from legal, social, or political restraints. It also means to be set free from slavery or from the control or influence of an individual or group.

From this definition, it is obvious vast majority of Liberians cannot claim to be truly a free. 

At 170 years, yet majority of the population has not experienced the “Love of Liberty” due to the nonexistence of reliable Awareness and Empowerment structures. 

The nonexistence of these structures is also the obvious reason for sham patriotism and oligarchy governance. 

This is also why there is no legacy-driven leadership, and for these reasons, it is highly unlikely for the majority of the Liberian population to experience true freedom, rule of law and equal access to justice. 

It is the same reason why majority has no equal access to education and other skilled learning empowering opportunities based on competing ideas, no matter who is in the position of power. 

Jarwinken Wiah, Contributing Writer