Today, I rise to speak not just to the broken-hearted, the weary, or the frustrated. I rise to speak to everyone who has been pushed to the margins of society, abandoned in the darkness, or betrayed by a system that promised hope but delivered hardship. Today, I raise my revolutionary voice against the shameful exploitation and humiliation of our armed forces, the brave men and women of the AFL who endure bullets, battles, and brutality, yet earn a mere US$184, while high-ranking enlisted Command-Sergeant Majors earn just US$440.11.
By Jefferson T. Koijee, former Mayor, Monrovia City Government, contributing writer
A nation that pays generators more than soldiers has declared war on its defenders.
On a troubling note, defenders of our sovereignty are working for six painful months to collectively earn what a single generator assigned to a Presidential appointee, Patrick Honnah cost at US$3,622.
While these worsening conditions unfold in our country, Liberians still struggle with deplorable healthcare system and medical malpractices within a sitting Vice-President medical health center once accused of extracting human parts and selling them on the global black market for ritualistic reasons. In these moments, silence here is a betrayal to the most oppressed and soul-wounding Liberians.
Additionally, Liberians are waking up to secret deaths in every community and workspace—women and children are being raped without resource services and fair judicial system. For the record, over one hundred and twenty-seven human rights violations have been recorded.
For SGBV cases, From January to October in 2024, there were 2,759 Rape Cases According to the Liberia Ministry of Gender Children and social Protection. 68.7% that’s 1,902 accounts for Montserrado county. The inference is high and the average monthly incidence rate is 276 per month, while the average daily incidence rate is 9 per day. These figures simply show that every day in Liberia, 9 rape cases were reported and 276 rape cases were reported every month from January to October. Isn’t this devastating for a nation that is governed by so-called experienced public actors?
To our struggling masses:
Let it be clear: your present situation is not your final destination.
Too often, people look at where they are right now; the jobless youth, the struggling student, the overlooked dreamer and they assume that this is how the story ends. But I am living proof that your current condition is only a chapter, not the conclusion. Some people that scorned me in the nation and never accepted me in their thoughts and imagination as anything of value.
Later by the precious grace of God I was then called to serve our nation. The same voices that once doubted my dreams now echo my vision at the Monrovia City Government.
It is easy to be discouraged when the weight of poverty, betrayal, or injustice sits heavy on your chest. But hear me today: You are not stuck, you are being shaped. The fire you feel is not destruction, it is refinement. The pain you endure is not punishment, it is preparation.
I have walked through valleys of accusation, swam through floods of lies, and stood in storms of propaganda. Yet, like many of you reading this now, I have held on to one unshakable belief: My worth is not determined by my current struggle, but by my undying resolve to rise.
To the young man in the slums who has been told he will never amount to anything, keep going.
To the single mother who have to spend twenty-four hours on empty stomach selling in market places such West point, New Kru town, Duala and Red Light, who barely makes end meets, hold your head high.
To the dreamer whose vision is mocked by the blind, stay focused.
Liberia has a way of grinding down its own children, but we were not born to remain on our knees. We were born to build, lead, and inspire.
Every revolutionary victory begins with a moment of faith, the decision to believe that you deserve better, and the courage to fight for it. Whether they imprison your body or slander your name, your soul must remain vigilant and free always.
So, I say this to every comrade, every patriot, and every fighter for justice:
Your current place in life is not where you will remain. You are not the title they give you. You are not the rumors they spread. You are not the job that the current vicious system that is illegally taking away from you, the battle you fought, or the scars you carry.
You are becoming.
And in your becoming, you will rise not just for yourself, but for a nation that needs to see that triumph is still possible in the face of trials.
It is now clear that Liberia is indeed cursed by two wicked leaders. Boakai-Koung, they are one poisonous serpent with two heads named and styled the risky mission. There is a need we rise up to the occasion from communities to communities, street to street, from zones to zones, slums to slums, from ghettos to ghetto to rally our people to stand up against this curse that is brought by the risky mission.
As we get prepared for the final destination of victory owned and inspired by the people, the choice is yours to either reclaim yourself from this batch of dishonor. Additionally, I will be with you soon hands in hands, shoulder to shoulder as we stand together to defend our dignity. As you may be aware there will be no price too high to pay to stand up for the heart and soul of our noble country.
The struggle continues. But the victory will be ours.
