In politics, there remains a strange relationship people, power and money. And it seems that candidacy of Joseph Mills Jones highlights this strange relationship in a rather glaring and lucid manner.
I don’t know if you have noticed but whenever you pass around the National Headquarters of Mills Jones’ Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) you will see that the Liberty Party has taken over that piece of real estate and is now using it as parking lot for its numerous vehicles. MOVEE’s HQ is virtually dead with only security personnel occupying the building. For a Party that most people thought were a major contender for the presidency, this is a disgrace and a shame.
Let me remind you, just in case you have forgotten the entire issue of Code of Conduct was singularly intended to prevent Mills Jones from becoming President. That’s how powerful Mills Jones was when controlled the Central Bank and was very delusional that money could easily buy power. Mills Jones’ actions as Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia ran chill through the spine major political actors. However, it is important to mention that Mills Jones broke every professional ethics surrounding the office of the Governor of any central bank, the world over.
During Mills Jones’ second term as Governor of the Bank, some political actors deceived Mills Jones into believing that if he dished out money in a certain way, he could win the admiration, and by extension the political loyalty, of a cross section of society and this could lead him directly into the Executive Mansion. Off course this was an appealing proposition to Mills Jones especially since he would not be spending his own money to gain this purported notoriety and fame.
The plan was, under guise of empowering the domestic private sector, the Bank could design a program that would give huge Liberian dollar loans to grassroots people who would then see Governor Jones as an economic messiah and on the basis of that, he could launch a run for the presidency. The idea sounded appealing and Mills Jones jumped on it.
The way Theo Bettie (the late) designed the program and the subsequent political branding of Governor Jones was such that leaders of key business, trade, marketing, and grassroots organizations would be enlisted and the monies would be given to their members though them. I can vividly record the case of the Yana Boy Association in which all they needed to do was get an Article of Incorporation, Business Registration and a bank account. Once that was done, LD$5,000,000.00 was immediately deposited into their account. Whatever happened to that money remains a misery.
Mills Jones was furthered advised that all his messages should be populist in nature and all his appearances should have political undertone. Mills Jones began using Central Bank activities around the country as political rallies.
For the first time in the history of the world, we started seeing a sitting Central Bank Governor riding open top jeep, paying folks to line the roads whenever he was travelling, demanding all Bank employees to turn out to these programs, and organizing gowning and honoring programs.
Off course, D. Maxwell Kimayan of the Liberia Business Association (LIBA) saw the Mills Jones’ gravy train and jumped on it. Everyone knows that Kimayan’s ascendency to the presidency of the LIBA is an act of fraud because he never owned any business and was therefore never qualified to be part of LIBA.
But as a con artist, Kimayan can make his way anywhere. With the opportunity from Mills Jones, Kimayan seized the opportunity without any further thought because either way, Kimayan benefits from being the one controlling the loan program and then the political machinery. Kimayan walks away from his process an extremely wealthy man whether Mills Jones wins or loses.
But what is troubling is that Mills Jones should have known that all his life he had never focused on the ordinary people and politics is about people and their condition. Money, as important as it is, is not the only thing that people care about; people want more than just money. They want to know that their leaders understand their plight, care about them and respect them. People want leaders who they believe like them and look like them.
For Mills Jones, he has always felt better than the ordinary people. Mills has always looked down the ordinary people and despised them. Even in the neighborhood where Mills Jones lives, until he wanted to be President, he never spoke to anyone in that area. He never used his wealth to assist any of them or to impact the community in any significant way.
For Mills Jones to have jumped from the clear blue sky and think that he could be President of the Republic of Liberia simply because he used public monies to give to people was a terrible mistake of judgement and a misreading of the political history of the Republic.
Additionally, Mills Jones picks a running mate, Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves of the Providence Baptist Church, who himself is not people centered person and could not even win re-election in his Church. For Mills Jones to have selected the reverend speaks volume as to who he really is. But more important, for the reverend to have accepted to run with Mills Jones was a betrayal to his Church, his Faith, and the messages he had preached over the years. Mills Jones happens to be the epitome of everything that Rev. Reeves has preached against over the years. But then again, as human as he is, Rev. Reeves might have thought that the vice presidency was too important a promotion in life to forgo.
Today, from everything we have seen, the “poverty doctor” is amongst the least of the candidates in the race. Mills Jones is not even able to keep his party HQ alive after boasting of enormous wealth and financial prowess. Well, maybe Crayton Duncan might have absconded with the Governor’s campaign resources but for Governor Jones to be struggling as he is, speaks volume. And if the Governor had resources, he would stay remain in the tier 3 category in the political race. Political leadership should have more to offer than money. People matter!
Robin Lee Tarpeh, Consultant and Strategist
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