Monrovia – Human Rights Lawyer Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe says Liberia taking over from the United Nations Mission in Liberia has sent a message that the country is ready to function as a peaceful nation and that never again will it return to its ugly past.
Report by: Al-Varney Rogers alvarney.rogersfrontpageonline.com
“When our government took over from UNMIL on Friday, July 1, 2016, what we, the people of Liberia were doing on that historic day was that we were saying to the world that we were now able to function as a peaceful nation and that never again, will there be a need for a peacekeeping force in Liberia.”
“We were promising the world that Liberia will forever be a peaceful country. We the people of Liberia must keep this promise. We have no other choice,” Cllr. Gongloe added.
Cllr. Gongloe said that Liberia should be guided by its founding history of upholding equality and becoming the beacon of hope for all of the oppressed people.
“We must be guided by our history that, a nation established on the promises of protecting human rights, especially upholding the equality of all Liberians in the governance of the country, governance by respect of the rule, becoming the beacon of hope for all oppressed people of the world, and a shining example of the ability of African people to run a civilized government, has suffered landmark tragedies due to the failure of its leaders to keep the promises upon which Liberia was founded,” Cllr. Gongloe added.
Cllr. Gongloe said, election manipulations, corruption and violation of basic human rights were factors responsible for the breakdown of the state.
He recalls, that in 1927, President Charles D. B King, manipulated the electoral process to illegally retain power. In the election between Charles D. B. King of the True Whig Party and T.J. R. Falkner of the People’s Party, King obtained 243,000 votes and Falkner got 9,000 votes, when the total number of registered voters in that election was 15, 000.
“He (King) betrayed the promise of upholding the law and morally governing our country. King was a beneficiary of a corrupt electoral process introduced and managed by him. The election is still recorded in the Guinness Book of Record as the most fraudulent election in world history.”
“King and his Vice President were forced to resign as a result of the crises that had its roots in the fraudulent elections of 1927, as the opposition accused President King of permitting slavery, slave trade, and forced labor,” Cllr. Gongloe added.
Cllr. Gongloe continues: “In the 1970s President William R. Tolbert promised to open the political space to allow the Liberian people to speak to their leaders freely without any fear of repercussion.
However, his arrest of university students in 1974, 1978, one of whom was your humble servant and leaders of PAL, MOJA and LINSU in 1979, in their attempt to freely express themselves to their government was a betrayal of his promise to the Liberian people that he would uphold freedom of expression.”
The Human Rights lawyer said, in 1980, the military brutally overthrew the Government of President Tolbert, established a government they called the People’s Redemption Council and promised to eliminate corruption and inequality as well as to promote respect for basic human rights and the rule of law.
“The military government headed by Master Sergeant Doe became very corrupt and promoted inequality and institutionalized abuse of human rights and lack of respect for the rule of law. “
“The military government of Samuel Doe, betrayed the promise made to the people of Liberia on April 12, 1980. The result was the extra-judicial killings of political opponents and a fourteen year civil conflict,” Cllr. Gongloe added.
Recounting historical facts, Cllr. Gongloe said, that the current government has failed to take queue from past governments.
“President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who promised the Liberian people that she would be in power for one term and her main concentration would be the laying of a firm foundation for good governance, through combating corruption, upholding the rule of law and protecting the human rights of all Liberians without distinction. She declared corruption as public enemy number one,” Cllr. Gongloe added.
The Human Rights layer continued: “However, under her administration, Liberians have witnessed selective justice, the shielding of some corrupt officials, the jailing of journalists and political activists for sedition, criminal libel against the President, criminal malevolence; she has engaged in nepotism, preferential treatment of some political appointees in terms of salaries and benefits, the breaking down of viable institutions established by past governments, such as National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL).”
Cllr. Gongloe furthered that President Sirleaf has failed to revive institutions such as the Housing and Savings Bank, the Agricultural Bank, the Free Zone which were established by past governments based on the homegrown vision of building local capital for investment and the development of local entrepreneurship and increased agricultural production.
“Although, President Sirleaf promised us change for the better, the process of the change that she promised has been largely driven, by prescriptions of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral institutions,” Cllr. Gongloe said.
Cllr. Gongloe added “Unlike the regime of President Tolbert that relied on local wisdom and the experience of other countries like Ivory Coast and Tanzania to develop the policy of self-reliance as a sustainable instrument of comprehensive national development and the policy of export promotion and import substitution as a sustainable economic policy, for reducing economic dependency, promoting industrialization, with the net effect of increasing employment, broadening the tax base and improving the quality of life of the people of Liberia, this government has largely relied on the prescriptions of the world bank such as poverty reduction strategy and vision 2030”.