The Editor,
Who is and who is not a “First Clsss Citizen” of Liberia? Once you are not a First Class Citizen then what are the other categories of citizenship and what determines how you belong to the other classes? How does one become a “First Class Citizen?” How does one lose his/her First Class citizenship status if one is no longer in government? Or, is it for life?
Do you have to be elected or appointed to a government position to enjoy “First Class Citizenship” status? I didnt know there are three lanes roads in Liberia where the third lane jumps across the median/divide into the incoming traffic going in the opposite direction of traffic?
Do you have to be elected or appointed to a government position to enjoy “First Class Citizenship” status? I didnt know there are three lanes roads in Liberia where the third lane jumps across the median/divide into the incoming traffic going in the opposite direction of traffic?
By the way, when was the traffic law passed by the Legislature that even the Press Union of Liberia which is traditionally the “Fourth Branch” of government has no clue of its passage into law, let alone the Liberia Bar Association and its veteran lawyer who is also President of the Liberia Bar Association, Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe?
Are therefore “First Class Citizens” exempt from any liability if their dangerous driving causes accidents and endangers lives, destroys properties? And what is the definition of a “3rd Lane” when majority of the roads in Liberia are one or two lane roads in each durection?
How does a private citizen who is not an elected or appointed government official become a “First Class Citizen” solely for the purpose of driving into incoming traffic, creating chaos and traffic jam in a country already notorious for traffic nightmares?
And when was the traffic law amended by the Legislature and which “brilliant” lawmaker sponsored it or crafted it? I therefore bet that all lawmakers are automatically “First Class Citizens” and can drive into incoming traffic as the Supreme Court Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe did.
But won’t it therefore suffice to say or be prudent that all “First Class Citizen” drivers and their cars be accorded police escorts to ease the traffic jam?
Finally, we thank FPA’s Rodney Sieh for his journalistic instincts to have captured this story that has now led us to knowing about a “hidden” or unknown or unheard of amended traffic law that grants “First Class Citizenship” status to appointed Justices of the Supreme Court to un-supremely and recklessly drive into incoming traffic thereby endangering the lives of motorists and pedestrians in Liberia.
Thus, my application for “First Class Citizen” for driving purposes anytime I visit Liberia. Because the last time I was in Liberia for my mom’s funeral in July, 2011, it took me more than six hours to navigate the traffic from Roberts Internstional Airport to Caldwell Road. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was president then. Mr. Weah had arrived in Liberia the very day but politics got in the way of smooth traffic.
Mr. Weah’s convoy was diverted through Red-Light Junction to Gardnersville to the Freeport to Watersude, then uptown to the CDC Headquarters opposite Sinkor Airfield and Old Road Junction. My car was behind Weah’s convoy. Talking about traffic MESS? My driver told me, “welcome to Liberia,” And this was before the newly minted/amended traffic law making officials “First Class Citizen.” I hope I am not summoned by the Great Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe, my fellow Sinoe County and Kru citizen.
Jerry Wehtee Wion,
[email protected]
Journalist and Political Commentator,
Washington, D.C., USA
