Monrovia – A Liberian prelate based in the United States has predicted that 2019 will be a challenging year for the country but called on his compatriots to “get together, unite and fight corruption” for the progress of all.
Rev. Philip Blamo stressed that in order to progress in the coming year, Liberians will have to tackle corruption because it is destroying the fabric of the nation.
“It is time for us as people to fight this corruption,” he said in a live video stream on Facebook on Sunday, December 30.
He also frowned on the construction of luxury properties by President George Weah while many Liberians live in porous condition.
In as much as we are very much supportive of our leaders building luxurious structures, mansions of their own, in the midst of corruption, when our people are hungry and our people don’t have things for themselves, for a leader, in less than six months to come up with such structure is a cause for concern, he said.
The Liberian prelate added it is a good initiative for government officials to build structures in the country but he warned that leaders have to be careful when embarking on such project amid lingering concerns of corruption, lack of accountability and hardship for ordinary Liberians.
“You can’t be building your house and the other people around you are not building anything… help the people, how they can be self sufficient,” he said.
“Weah building his house [in] less than six months right after he became president is wrong – in the midst of the disappearance of 16 billion dollars, in the midst of high corruption, it was wrong.”
He also cautioned against quick projects that are funded by the government but are not guarantee, while also slamming the government for its poor organization of activities and missteps by the Weah’s administration.
“We want to know the list of advisors; we want to know the economic advisor, we want to know the political advisor to George Weah and we will find their names because they have to be held accountable for these things,” he said.
Also expressing critical views about the media, Rev Blomo, who claims to be a former journalist, said the responsibility of the fourth estate is to promote national unity and cultural heritage.
“All the press does is fight the government and they are forgetting to promote the culture heritage of our country,” he said, adding that it is important for journalists to balance their stories and avoid ranting with the government and forget the promotion of the country.
He then called on the Press Union of Liberia to organize a national conference for all journalists in order to cultivate ideas that will promote the development of the country.
At the same time, Rev Blamo cautioned student political parties in the country to avoid melding into national politics and keep their activities campus-based, advocating for issues affecting them and get involved with projects that will help high school students.
“When students coming to take national exams, the University of Liberia students suppose to come together and tutor the high school students but all they want to do is burn tires and join other political parties,” he said.