The Editor,

There is a reason the English inscribed in their language synonym and autonym. According to Webster dictionary, a synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn (“with”) and ónoma (“name”).

An example of synonyms are the words begin, start, and commence. On the hand, an autonym, according to Webster dictionary, is an infraspecific name in which the species epithet is repeated or a name used by a group or category of people to refer to themselves or their language, as opposed to a name given to them by other groups. For example, Deutsche is the autonym of a people known in English as Germans.

In Liberia, we have many problems, but our most serious problems fall between synonyms and autonyms.  Dishonesty and amateurism are interpreted and understood as integrity and professionalism.  Guilt is better than shame, and we celebrate wealthy individuals who got their wealth on the backs of the suffering poor and through acts of corruption than the ethical people who struggle and endeavor to make ends meet through hard work and honesty.

This is Ellen’s Kingdom––the zone where dishonesty and amateurism mean integrity and professionalism, a territory where officials of government are treated like foster and adopted children.

Assuming all Liberians are uneducated, illiterate, unanalytical and unintelligent, this does not dilute or erase the fact the recent comprehensive audit of the Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) at the finance ministry in Liberia exposes the virus, infection, malady, disorder, and bug in President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Unity Party-led administration. 

One does not have to obtain a medical degree or knowledge to understand and know this––that the most common and generally devastating sickness in Liberia is celebrated corruption, of which the so-called PSDI project was and remains one of the glaring symptoms.  Even the Mursi and the Sentinelese indigenous people, considered the most isolated and primitive tribes of the world know that Liberia is excessively corrupt and that the PSDI program passed the test of dishonesty and amateurism but failed the exam of integrity and professionalism.

This is precisely why the media bliss of the program administrators, led by Dr. James Kollie, former deputy minister of finance for fiscal affairs and the chief implementer of the PSDI program, alleging that they did nothing wrong is not only rhetorically amusing but grossly depressing, unfortunate, and unconditionally shameful.

Instead of admitting the shamefulness with which the program has been misused and the funds dashed into an unrecoverable paradigm, Dr. Kollie, his associates and economic cum political guardians are dangling on spin campaign, perhaps, to smear the current minister of finance, Boima Kamara. 

This is not the way to make a sleeping dog to lie still even though we know that President Sirleaf will take no concrete action on and in this clear fraud and waste instance simply because it is something that hits at home––a chicken coming home to roast situation.   In other words, the charges are against “foster kids,” instead of officials, who know all of mommy’s little secret and friends.

Since the allegation of fraud and waste was uncovered and published, why hasn’t the President request that Dr. Kollie temporarily relinquish his post in government until the full case is resolved?  Also, why is Dr. Kollie and President Sirleaf treating the charges and matter like some palaver between two sons or children that need to be passed on judicially as a family matter? Doesn’t President Sirleaf have a justice ministry in her government? If she does, why hasn’t those involved not yet turn over to the agency?

In fact, we also know that there is a quasi-independent Presidential taskforce on transparency and corruption, the one that has been dragging the political foes (Senator Varney Sherman and former speaker Alex Tyler) on their knees to court and disgrace.  So, where is the taskforce in the Kollie-gate?  Is the “taskforce” only designed for people who step on the old lady’s toes, or who are not part of the foster kids’ basement?

“Madam President, due to the unprofessional manner in which the audit was conducted coupled with the form and manner in which the draft report that had not benefited from my response was made public, I am of the conviction that the current actors have no credibility and independence in reviewing my responses and/or facts that might be presented to them because they seem to have vested interest in damaging my reputation” – Dr. James Kollie, Former Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.  Dr. Kollie went further by saying that: “This was not an audit, but a witch-hunt.”  Really?

Minus the audit, the entire program was and is a gigantic failure and a waste of tax payer’s resources and here is why.  The program was and is flaw administratively, operationally, and a waste financially. Audit aside, we have people whose names are stated in the program’s report as beneficiaries who have publicly denied ever knowing about the program nevertheless receiving a dime from it.  Mr. Samuel Jackson is one of those. 

We also have people who have clearly stated that they cannot even locate where their businesses that qualified for the loans are located.  Moreover, the entire program is grossly engulfed with the loudest conflict of interest anyone can ever imagine, where loved ones, side-squeeze and sugar-babies were included in the theft with lofty amount of dollars when people with real and legitimate small businesses that hire or with potential to hire were left in the wilderness. 

Besides, the administrators of the program prioritize themselves as small business owners and prime beneficiaries.  What else does Dr. Kollie want to know? Is this what Dr. Kollie, his associate and supporters as well as President Sirleaf will consider a witch-hunt?

It is one thing to attend school and be considered educated; it is quite another thing to come out of school and leave all the theory behind and begin to use what you learn in the real world.  Dr. Kollie and his associates’ argument about how an audit supposed to go is not wrong; the problem is, it is a mere theory. 

Imagine what would have happened if the auditors had did not go public with their findings and instead alerted Dr. Kollie and his associates who are supposedly “foster kids” to the President.  My widest guess, this whole matter would have stayed in the dark until Jesus return on earth.

Here is why this bothers me the most.  First, apart from the fact that these people lack patriotism, and are subjugating millions of their fellow Liberians to excruciating hardship through waste, fraud, and abuse, they remain defensive and shameless. Moreover, they think every Liberian outside their orbit is unwise. 

Secondly, the whole PSDI program was my proposal to the Liberian government sent through Dr. Edward McClain, then Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and chief of staff to the President.

Third, the goal of the program was to create jobs through retooling and buttressing small businesses with capital, technical assistance, and oversight. This is part of labor market information and analysis, an element that should be within the authority of the ministry of labor, not finance.

Of course, one can understand that we do not have a real labor ministry in Liberia, since what we have appears to be a small labor union headquarters where disputes that have not reached judicial level are discussed.

Jones Nhinson Williams, Contributing Writer
jonesn.williams@maryland.gov

The Volcano Behind The Myth: The Case of Tipoteh vs Korkoya

, Contributing Writer

In his first major address to the United Nations, Pope Francis said: “A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged.” 

In all fairness, the case Tipoteh Versus Korkoya in the court of law in Liberia can be contextualized and reflected in what the Holy Father said.

While I am no aficionada of Jerome Korkoya, chairman of the National Election Commission of Liberia, I am justly constrained to defend him in the court of public opinion against the lawsuit filed by Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh’s and others, claiming that he (Chairman Korkoya) is not a Liberian citizen. 

Apart from the fact that the lawsuit shows every sign of being a political ploy; it is also a glaring and unfortunate misuse of Liberia’s resources, and an exclusionary attack on a man who Dr. Tipoteh and others perceive as weak and disadvantaged because of his background. 

In the complainers’ legal brief or submission, there is a valid contention that Chairman Korkoya allegedly broke Liberian law by not stating that he has American citizenship while seeking employment in the government.

That said, we can all establish the fact that laws are to be obeyed and laws are good to restrain human actions.  Equally, laws are useless, meaningless and unacceptable when they are selective and are imposed on a few rather than all. This is precisely why Dr. Tipoteh’s and others’ so-called lawsuit against Chairman Korkoya is categorically a witch-hunt. 

Instead of wasting the time and resources of the Liberian judiciary on an imaginary driven scenario that is based purely on personal and venal political motives that are grounded in an unending desire for state power, the complainers of this lawsuit need to focus on and address the ethical questions and human challenges facing the country and Liberians, especially the majority of our people who face economic and social exclusion that Pope Francis described as a “complete denial of human fraternity and a very grave offence against human rights and the environment.”

There are many serious problems in Liberia that the Liberian judicial system needs to focus on and deal with.  Besides, the country is becoming a narco-trafficking hub between South America and Europe.

Physical abuse and rape against women and girls are widespread; theft of public resources and corruption are in the roof; ritualistic killings and social exclusion are indescribable; access to meaningful preventive healthcare and basic education are virtually lacking, and unemployment has become an economic culture and a social reality. 

And, as Pope Francis also said during his speech at the United Nations, “The poorest [in Liberia] are the ones who suffer the most… They are cast off by [the Liberian] society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the consequences of the abuse of the environment [and our government’s failure in Liberia].”

I have always respected and held in high esteem Dr. Tipoteh and many of his allies who contend that Chairman Korkoya is not a Liberian citizen because he lived and worked in the United States. 

Assuming Korkoya is a naturalized US citizen, what is even wrong with that when, in fact, he was born in Liberia and belongs to one of the major local ethnic groups [the Kpelle tribe]? 

As Robert Ferguson, a former defense attaché at the United States Embassy in Monrovia once said, “Everybody in Liberia has skeletons,” including the people filing the self-interest lawsuit against Chairman Korkoya.

The simple fact is, the Tipoteh-led lawsuit is not altruistic, fair, and just, and for many reasons, it presents the highest measure of hypocrisy.

First and foremost, there are many Liberians [including his best friend President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and most members of her family and friends] in the country and in senior government positions who are citizens of the US and other Western nations. 

Secondly, the filers of the lawsuit failed to recognize that many Liberians [including Chairman Jerome Korkoya] fled the country involuntarily to school, live and work in Western and other nations because of the 14-years civil war which was engineered by many of the associates of Dr. Tipoteh and some of his fellow complainers. 

Moreover, the central duplicity of the lawsuit clearly shows in the fact that exceptions were and continue to be granted to certain types of Liberians while others are denied.

One such exception was the relaxation or suspension of the “Residency Clause” during the 2005 and 2011 Presidential and legislative elections, as well as the appointments of some affluent persons in government, i.e. Dr. Ophelia Weeks––the recently appointed President of the University of Liberia, a public institution.

If Dr. Tipoteh and his associates who are now clamoring for the exclusivity and prioritization of Liberian citizenship were serious, why is it that they did not question or file lawsuits against the entire Weeks family [for citizenship verification] who are in lucrative positions in Liberia?

Why didn’t they question some of the people that ran our economy from the finance ministry to the Central Bank of Liberia, or those that led our national security system for decades, as well as the past and present leaders of our nation’s maritime authority?

It wouldn’t even be a bad idea to ask “Civilian General’ Mary Broh about the whole citizenship matters as she flies from one government’s agency to the next, doing a good job. After all, she lived and worked in the U.S. too. 

Or, maybe Robert Sirleaf should not have been CEO of NOCAL, and Frank Tolbert should not have been Chairman of the National Investment Commission because they too fall in the same shoes with Korkoya. 

The only difference is, the others were or are not in positions that could possibly impede or grant Dr. Tipoteh’s ambition for the Presidency.

If Dr. Tipoteh truly believes in this so-called Liberianization concept, why hasn’t he frowned on the fact that we had and continue to have natives of neighboring West African countries in our foreign service at ambassadorial level? 

Why didn’t he sue when his friend President Sirleaf appointed Dr. Abdulai Dukuly to represent Liberia at a key U.N.’s function despite being an Ivorian citizen, as admitted by Dr. Dukuly himself?  

In this low energy quest against Chairman Jerome Korkoya, Dr. Tipoteh is stridently supported by Sister Miatta Fahnbulleh, an individual I certainly admired from childhood.  But, can Sister Miatta Fahnbulleh honestly admit that she has no other citizenship apart from Liberia? 

Furthermore, it is odd that Dr. Tipoteh is pursuing a charge so complex when he knows that many of his core followers or protégés abroad have acquired citizenship of those countries.

Besides, children of his friends as well as his political and professional peers, some of whom are serving in the Liberian administration also have other citizenship, so too are some of the families of members in the rank and file of the Liberian government.

One can understand why Dr. Tipoteh, Sister Miatta Fahnbulleh and others are going after Chairman Korkoya, but among the Grebo people in Southeastern Liberia, there is a saying that “town trap is not for chicken alone.” It can catch goats and sheep too.

This lawsuit is not only a bad town trap, it is a chancy precedence.

Moreover, it could reflect very poorly on the hard-fought character and legacy of Dr. Tipoteh––a great Liberian who Korkoya as a student was once a protégé. Therefore, I urge Dr. Tipoteh to desist and the reason is as clear as a snowball.

The call for justice, fairness and the application of the rule of law cannot and must not be half-hazard, half-baked, selective, and prejudicial; because if it is, then it is a sure recipe for a social iniquity that will destroy our inherent dignity as Liberians. 

To paraphrase Nelson Mandela, “No [thirst for] power on earth should destroy the thirst for human dignity.”

This lawsuit goes against what Mandela meant because ‘witch-hunting’ is beneath our inherent dignity as Liberians. And, if we have not learned anything from our self-destruction for 14 years, the consequences of exclusion should be one thing we must learn and not forget.

Korkoya is not only a sheer victim of a self-seeking political interplay, he is targeted because he is an easy prey and a subject of a passion for power. 

This is precisely why this whole Tipoteh-led lawsuit and the Miatta Fahnbulleh-led Liberian citizenship campaign are like the play “Julius Caesar,” according to literature, the driving forces in the play “Julius Caesar” were Cassius, Brutus, Marc Antony, and Octavius Caesar. 

“Cassius’s greed for power, good reputation, and his jealousy led to Caesars’ death.” Cassius had many motives for the killing of Julius Caesar.  One of Cassius’s motives was his greed for power. 

According to Literature also, Brutus too had many motives for killing Julius Caesar.  One motive of Brutus’s for killing Julius Caesar was that he knew the people of Rome loved and trusted him. Another motivation of Brutus was that he loved Rome. 

Brutus thought that if he kill Julius Caesar he would do a big favor for the Roman people because Julius Caesar becoming king could only mean bad things to come for Rome.  

Brutus had told the Roman citizens at Julius Caesar’s funeral, “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer–not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more” (III, ii, 17-19) to explain his reasons for killing Caesar. 

By telling the Roman citizens that he killed Caesar for them, he had eased some tensions between the citizens. So, the question is: Why are Dr. Tipoteh, Sister Miatta Fahnbulleh and others trying to figuratively ‘kill’ Chairman Korkoya?

Is it because they love Korkoya less and love Liberia more?

On the other hand, literature tells us that Marc Antony had many motives for rebelling against the conspirators and teaming up with Octavius to battle Brutus and Cassius. 

One motive of Marc Antony for revolted against the conspirators was that he wanted revenge. 

In view that, I am in no way perfect, and I am in no way Marc Anthony, even though I am in defense of Chairman Korkoya.  I defend Korkoya because of my strong belief in justice and fairness. 

I defend Korkoya because of my background and training as someone who once studied for the Catholic priesthood where honesty and integrity are not mere words, but concrete actions. 

The Tipoteh-led lawsuit and the Miatta Fahnbulleh-led Liberian citizenship campaign against Chairman Korkoya are not only a waste of the precious time and resources of the Liberian judiciary, it is a very gloomy precedence that disrupts us of the path to reconciliation and national unity. 

The effort to remove Korkoya from office on the basis that he is a US citizen serves no common purpose, except self-interest politics with no grounds in fairness and justice. 

About Author:

Jones Nhinson Williams is a Liberian philosopher (born in Pleebo, Maryland County but hailed from River Gee County) firmly educated by the Catholic Church.

He is an American trained public policy, labor market information, strategic management, and workforce development professional with accomplished global experience in job creation and institutional governance.

Father’s Day is very special to me because of my awesome relationship with my amazing and hardworking father, and more so, because of my rewarding and indescribable relationship with my two wonderful and very intelligent daughters, Mary Courmerssie Williams, 11, and Adel Muthio Williams, 9, who are currently serving as visiting students’ scholars at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)––a NASA lead center for Space Shuttle propulsion and its external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS)  design and assembly; and computers, networks, and information management located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama.

By all accounts, being a dad should be special to any good and decent man who is a father. And, by this I don’t mean just bringing forth a child. Besides, being a good dad does not mean being a rich man or doing a lot for your child or children; it simply means putting your child’s or children’s interest and future above every other thing, and doing your duty. 

If one fathers a kid, but hasn’t had much of a role in his or her life for whatever reason, I urge him to step up and embrace his role as a dad to the greatest extent he can. Yes, it is not easy and it’s going to be tough, and of course, it is not always going to be fun, but it is his responsibility. And by the way, being a good man means doing your duty. 

The fact is, commonsense suggests that fathers have a natural and moral value in their children’s lives.  Moreover, social science research––sociology, anthropology, psychology etc.––have all proven that fathers have important and irreplaceable role to play in their children’s live. The importance of fathers (according to Science) is vast and unending as revealed by the following:

1. Children with fathers are less likely to live in poverty
2. Children with fathers do better in school
3. Children without fathers are more likely to do jail time
4. Children with fathers are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol
5. Children without fathers are more likely to be sexually active as teenagers
6. Children without fathers are more likely to be obese
7. Children with fathers get more roughhousing (and roughhousing makes kids awesome)
8. Children with fathers are more likely to have a larger vocabulary
9. Children with fathers are more likely to be encouraged to take healthy risks
10. Children with fathers gain many additional benefits to health and happiness

As fathers, we have serious responsibility and obligation; perhaps, the most solemn duty in any man’s life, and here is why.  A child’s primary relationship with his/her father can affect all his child’s relationships from birth to death, including those with friends, lovers, and spouses. Those initial displays of interaction with father are the very configurations that will be projected forward into all relationships.

For instance, girls will look for men who grasp the displays of their good father; after all, they know how “to do that.”  So, if a father was kind, loving, and gentle, they will look and go for those characteristics in men they will want in their lives. 

Generally, most girls will look for, in others, what they have experienced and become familiar with in childhood.  Since they have been used to those familial and historic behavioral patterns, they would think that they can handle them in relationships. 

Boys, on the other hand, will generally model themselves after their dads. They will seek their father’s approval in everything they do, and copy those behaviors that they recognize as both successful and familiar. Therefore, if a father was or is lazy, rude, abusive, alcohol and drug-addicted, controlling, and dominating, those will be the examples that their sons will copy and outdo.  Nevertheless, if a father was or is hardworking, loving, kind, spiritual, supportive, protective etc., his sons will want to be that. 

According to social discoveries, human beings are social animals and we learn by copying behavior. In fact, social scientists unanimously agreed that all primates learned how to survive and function successfully in the world through social imitation.

Those early forms of interaction are all children know, and it is those arrangements that conclude how they feel about themselves, and how they mature.  Therefore, as fathers, we need to understand that our child or children are vulnerable to those early relationships and integrate those behavioral potentials in their collection of social exchange. 

It is unfeasible to over-estimate the magnitude of a father.  Illustratively, girls who have good relationships with their fathers tend to do better in math (I know this for a fact because my daughters, age 11 and 9, are a living proof and that is why they are selected for a visit at the NASA student program), and boys whose fathers are actively involved in their lives tend to have better grades and do far better on achievement tests.  In short, fathers are central to the outcomes of what their children become. 

In many African nations, especially Liberia, some men just fathered children and walked away from their lives for several reasons ––divorce, separation, carelessness, and plain evil.  These deadbeat fathers not only categorically refused to support their child or children, they denied them a roadmap to a better future. Moreover, their actions place serious burdens on women, especially the mothers of their children, with no punitive action. 

There are thousands of men in Africa, especially Liberia, who don’t know how their child or children eat, sleep, receive medical care, attend school, or are clothed. These men do these evil things toward their child or children because they can get away with them in societies that have no legal framework to demand obligatory parental support from deadbeat dads. 

In the case of Liberia, there are countless men residing in the United States who fathered children before migrating, but these men pretend as if they have no responsibility and obligation back home in Liberia, thereby leaving poor Liberian girls and women to struggle with supporting those kids alone.

It is not these men are unable to support their children, they take advantage of the fact that most African nations, particularly Liberia, do not have laws on the books that mandate parental support. 

This is precisely why we need a child support court in Liberia, as well as in most African countries so that deadbeat fathers will take responsibility and fulfill their natural and moral obligation to their children. 

African countries, and Liberia, need to incorporate child support provisions in court orders and they must enforce those obligations.   Generally, in developed nations, the law presumes that both parents of a child, regardless of whether they are or have been married, have an obligation to support their child.

For this reason, countries like the UK, Canada, the United States among others, award child support according to statutory guidelines that must be paid monthly by the noncustodial parent (payor) to the custodial parent (payee).  This can be done easily in Africa, and in Liberia, especially against deadbeat dad who abandoned their child / children when they travel to western countries. 

Lastly, when we have a child support court in Liberia, the country, government, and the children of those deadbeat dads will all benefit.  The government can charge a “court collection fee” for every child support payment collected from a father who refuses to take responsibility voluntarily.  This is one way to define a good nation. Africa must act in the interest of children! 

About the Author:
Jones Nhinson Williams is a Liberian philosopher (born in Pleebo, Maryland County but hailed from River Gee County) firmly educated by the Catholic Church. He is an American trained public policy, labor market information, strategic management, and workforce development professional with accomplished global experience in job creation and institutional governance 

Some sicknesses are physical and others are psychological. And when you talk to theologians or pastors, Imams, and Rabbis, they might tell you to add morality and spirituality to the list.

Liberia is a unique and pitiful environment because our real sickness is not that we are that bad a people, or that we don’t have a human mind and the five senses needed to think and solve our internal social, economic, political and lack of development problems.

Our real sickness is that we are, or have become a country of small and narrow minds.

Our leaders––past and present–– think small. Our bureaucrats think small. Our social and economic activists as well as our political strategists and supporters think small. Our neighbors and friends think small. And now we are encouraging our 2017 legislative and presidential candidates to think small, narrow, and even backward.

Of late, we see our fellow Liberians and others writing articles in various Liberian news outlets asking about how will we pay for certain things in Liberia when we advocate for, and implement them. Really??

Is this the question we ask our legislative and presidential candidates? Instead of applauding some of these legislative and presidential candidates for thinking big and even talking about these things, we are questioning them? 

Didn’t we hear current Ghanaian president H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo say he will build a factory in every region in Ghana if the Ghanaian voted for him?  This is just less than 12 weeks ago.

Of course, Akufo-Addo had to win the presidential election against incumbent President John Dramani Mahama because he thought big and encouraged his fellow Ghanaians to think big. 

Nobody in Ghana asks him how he was going to build the factory, or where he would take the resources from to do that.  Unlike our Ghanaian brothers and sisters, we (Liberians) are using our so–called education to be pessimistic and petit, not just in thinking, but in our actions and arguments.

Here is the thing: how do other countries pay for the things they have? How do they get money to give us foreign aid? If their political leaders were thinking small and their citizens pessimistic, they would probably be like us in Liberia.

My international experience in the global private, nonprofit, and public sectors inspired me to know that countries that do better and provide basic services to and for their citizens don’t just print money because they want to give our country (Liberia) some free money through foreign aid.

These countries, including a small nation like Israel, have people who think big and challenge themselves to do big things. Singapore, for example, is a classic example of thinking big and acting bigger.  Thanks to the country’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew’s big thinking and bigger actions, made Singapore the financial and shipping capital of Asia, and a donor nation while Liberia remains a begging country.

Right in our backyards, Ghana and Senegal, our friends there have started thinking big and doing some big things while we are retrogressing in the way we see things and act as a nation and people. 

Dislike him either way, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings thought big and did big and bold things to put Ghana on the road to being the most progressive and politically matured nation in West Africa.

And that is why our officials and other highly placed members of our Liberian community go to Ghana for almost everything, including medical treatment, banking services, contract signing, consulting search and more.

Take for example, our students at the University of Liberia and other institutions of higher learning in the country have problems paying their tuition. We could solve this problem and afford every serious young Liberian who wants a college degree to do so if we had a government-backed student loan program.

In countries where people think and act big, all their citizens who need to attend college do is to willingly find a computer and sign up for student loans.  As a Liberian, I did it while living in New York and I was able to attend NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service for another advanced degree; many Liberians who live in the US, Canada and UK have done it, so too are several Africans who obtained degrees from some of the best universities in the United States, Canada, and the UK.

The question is, what stops us from doing this in Liberia?  It is not that we can’t or that we don’t have the resources to do it, especially when our lawmakers individually earn more than US$12,000 dollars a month––an amount that can pay the annual tuition for about twenty-five full-time students at the University of Liberia. 

The only thing stopping us from achieving many basic needs programs in Liberia is our small and narrow mindset.  Until we can begin to have lawmakers and officials of government who think beyond eating palm butter rice and fufu with a bottle of beer beside them, we won’t advance at the next level as a country. 

Furthermore, how long and what will it take to have a national housing mortgage program, an unemployment insurance program, a workers’ compensation insurance program, a small business administration agency to provide guarantee for financial lending services rendered to our farmers, local innovators, and entrepreneurs so that more Liberians can take charge of the local economy and be able to create wealth and jobs for their fellow Liberians?

We don’t and we wouldn’t do these things because we are a nation that has political and social leaders with small and narrow minds. But that is not the only issue.

We also have a citizenry that doubts more than the doubting Thomas in the Bible, who doubted until Jesus had to personally rebuke him.

When one brings a big idea to some of our fellow Liberians, the first thing they do is to express doubt and pessimism.  In some instances, they tend to undermine the person, or disparage his or her idea simply because they lack the capacity to think and act big. 

Instead of listening and embracing a big idea and vision, some Liberians (especially the so-called ‘bookish type’ whose education cannot find them a fitting job in the global labor market) would try to entice others to follow their weak mental capacity and usual culture of blaming the white man for Africa’s failure.  How and why do we blame other countries because our officials and lawmakers are rogues?

In the 21^st century, how do we blame colonial powers for poverty, massive unemployment, and the lack of development in our respective African nations when our officials in government are stealing public funds, and/or diverting other resources for personal gains? 

How do we (Liberians) blame the United States, the UK, French, Germans, and others because our entire country Liberia lacks ambulance, good hospitals, good roads, 24/7 electricity, and even food to feed ourselves?

It is one thing to learn in school and in theory lessons about geo-political interplay and its effects on Africa.  But those are matters of the past; these things occurred some five or more decades ago.  Besides, Westerners respect anyone when they see smartness and dignity in them.  No western official or business person will disrespect an African lawmaker or bureaucrat that is upright, just, and intelligent.  In fact, those qualities may draw them closer to people.  

On the contrary, when a foreign or western investor talks to an African lawmaker or bureaucrat, in most instances, those African lawmakers and bureaucrats are the ones who sometimes will propose to the foreign investor how to cheat his or her own country and government.  It happens every day.

In Liberia, the Sable Mining case is a real-time example where our lawmakers, the people we trust to represent our interest were, in fact, allegedly concocting to dupe us as a nation and people.  And then, we blame other people, in most instances, the white man when we don’t have development in our communities.

How long and what will it take for us to have toll booths on our highways; high speed rails that connect various parts of our countries and regions, advanced medical centers, and bio-medical institutions, as well as advanced food manufacturing plants?

How long and what will it take for our children to have better and generally acceptable academic environments that will motivate them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)?

When we pay doctors, nurses, scientists, engineers, teachers, and professors ninety-five times less than a six-grade drop-out who happened to be elected a lawmaker just because he or she comes from a popular tribe or is liked in his or her tribal district, we are simply saying to our kids that it is ok or better to be a tribal and uneducated political stooge than to pursue STEM education in a changing world where technology is fast-tracked. 

In many developed nations, being a lawmaker is a voluntary job.  In some US states, including the state of Texas, being a lawmaker is a patriotic service.  It is not a career.  Therefore, the lawmakers only receive small allowances, and not big fat pay check. 

Because we gave lawmakers big fat paychecks and unnecessary wealth, many in Africa, particularly Liberia, think and believe they are equivalent to or better than neuro-scientists.  It is also one reason some lawmakers are involved in rituals to stay in office.

Imagine the countless ritualistic killings that have taken place in Liberia over the past decade.  What for? Why all this?  If lawmakers were paid less, we will have more people wanting to be teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, entrepreneurs, and farmers than performing rituals to be lawmakers.

In the USA, Canada, Israel, and many countries that have programs that benefit and ease life for their people, the leaders and citizens think big and act bigger. 

And when leaders think and act big, they don’t act irresponsible, childish, or make thoughtless statements such as “we lawmakers need more salaries (in addition to a free US$12,000 a month) because we have to take care of our constituents who beg us for money.”  Lawmakers are not NGOs.  Giving aid is not why people are elected to be senators or representatives. 

The role of lawmakers, among other things, is to put in place laws and support public policies and actions that create jobs for their constituents to work, earn good wages and improve their living conditions so that they will not become beggars, and so Liberia will not rely on foreign aid endlessly.

To his credit, Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of the ruling Unity Party’s administration recently said that Liberia didn’t need foreign aid.  He was and is right, that was a sign of thinking big, acting smart and being responsible as a leader. It tells me that the Honorable Vice President is serious and ready for an independent Liberia. That is what leadership is.

It also means he has gained some vital experience, after 30 plus years as a good public servant, that reliance on foreign aid not only breeds corruption but makes us dependent and lazy as a nation and people. And that is why we import even things like rice and pepper. 

I applaud the VP on this move. But guess what, there were people (Liberians) criticizing him because he thought Liberia is too old to be a nation of beggars––because he believes we need to change and be better.

Honorable Alexander Cummings of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) party says he can rejuvenate the Liberian economy and ensure that accountability and transparency are primarily. That too is a sign of thinking even bigger.

Coming from the global corporate world, Cummings knows what he is talking about and he knows that in the global corporate world one only excels if he or she thinks big. He knows it, lived it; and benefitted from it enormously as a senior vice president for Coca Cola, a worldwide manufacturing corporation based in the United States.

Liberty’s Party’s leader Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine, for his part, has laid out several blue prints for a changed and better Liberia, as he envisions it––according to him, a Liberia for all and one in which everyone, irrespective of tribe, age, religious affiliation, or social status, will benefit and live comfortably. Isn’t this what we all want? 

Isn’t this that makes the United States, the UK, France, Australia, Canada, and other developed nations strong and prosperous?  That their leaders think big and do big things.

From creating thousands of jobs, powering / electrifying the entire country to ensuring development in infrastructure, medical services, and research, agricultural – food production, and small business development so that Liberians take control of their economy to improvement in and access to education and social services, including taking care of our disabled people and the elderly in our community, Cllr. Charles Brumskine outlined his goals, and has a valid and admirable plan. 

Is it perfect? Probably not, but it is far better than what we have ever heard from anyone running for elected office in Liberia, including the office of president.  After all, nothing is perfect. 

Brumskine’s plan is more than thinking big; it is a vision. It is what other countries do and that is why we line up to get visas and struggle to visit those countries to seek medical care, attend better schools or even live well.

If we have a better and improved Liberia, as our presidential candidates are promising, we too will have people lining up for visas to come to Liberia.  But for now, even the people from Papua New Guinea would think twice before getting a visa for Liberia because life is just not okay in our land for ordinary Liberians.

Our lawmakers, ministers, and directors in Liberia all go to the US, Canada and some even go to Asia for medical treatment––for simple things such as laboratory testing and dialysis analysis and treatment. There others who even go to place like Ghana and South Africa etc.

So, Ghana can have dialysis center, diagnostic facilities, but we can’t. To our doubters, talking about a dialysis facility in Liberia is impossible. Even a school feeding program is also impossible. But what is possible is corruption––and a system where just 100 lawmakers are expected to use up more than US$500 million (half billion) dollars in twelve years on salaries for they and their whoever.

The only reason this happens is because we think small and narrow as Liberians and as a nation.

Cllr. Brumskine’s vision was laid out in his platform and we await the other candidates to present their platforms––something which they are soon to do. We look forward to seeing and hearing the good ideas of Honorable Alexander Cummings and Vice President Joseph Boakai, two fine gentlemen.

Instead of us embracing these big ideas from the Liberty Party’s leader and his opponents so that we make a sound electoral decisions, some Liberians are retreating to the usual mindset of just being Liberians as usual where we live in pessimism–––the idea that nothing is possible for us.

No one in their right mind should ask how will social services for our elderly and disabled brothers and sisters in Liberia as well as infrastructural and related developments be paid for when he or she is not asking why do we spend US$50 million dollars on just 100 lawmakers every year, when they are not asking why do we spend US$10.2 million dollars on the offices of six Liberian officials every year? There is just one thing we say to those who ask these bizarre questions: if you don’t know something then keep quiet instead of writing about things you have no idea about.

Every day, some of us see how and why other nations do well.  Some of us are living it and do it every day. We know how things are paid for in developed nations like the United States, Canada, the UK, Israel, France, and Germany.   Even Rwanda is making marked progress too.

We guide policy makers and political leaders with public policy analysis that lead to how good governance takes root and occur. We know the fundamentals of trustworthy and strategic governance and the role of good economics and sound public policies in ensuring job and wealth creation, better wages, and improved living standards.

These things are not isolated events; they happened because some political leaders, officials and citizens think and act big.  They happened because activists in those countries don’t compromise their values and principles for personal gains–and because their statesmen and women are honest brokers, not traitors and deceitful elders who compromise when it suits them and complain when it does not.

Having big ideas is a value added political characteristic that is good for any country.  U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi just remarked in recent days that when the Democrats take back the legislature in 2018, they will increase minimum wage in the United States to $15 an hour. That is thinking big.

My 11-years old daughter who has strong interest in US politics and is a Democrat, thinks Leader Pelosi’s vision of increasing minimum wage is the right path. But this is a 11-years old girl who, having been inspired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for president of the US in 2016, decided to run for her elementary school student government, and won. My daughter’s campaign speech in a video is online on Facebook.

At 11, my daughter told her schoolmates how her administration, as president for her fellow students, would change programs in the school and will encourage parents and teachers’ engagement. She also said she would ensure that the students got more involved in public service. After she won, parents and teachers in the school have undertaken more than seven major clean-ups events in Delaware.

When my daughter gave her big speech, no one doubted her.  Her schoolmates did not doubt her.  Her teachers were not pessimistic. In fact, her younger sibling, who too was born in the U.S., felt her sister’s speech was limited because she wanted her sister to say that her senior class will visit NASA Space Station in Arizona. 

And guess what? Some members of the senior class from the school, along with my two daughters, will be visiting the NASA Space Station in mid-June 2017.  This costs lots of money from parents, but no parent asks how and why, and that includes me.  It does not mean we have money, it just means we live in an environment and society where people are encouraged, praised, and paid to think big and do big things.

That is why we have Apple -iPhone, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, PayPal, Khan Academy, GoToMyPC and more. All these are things that were developed/created by people who live in a country where people are encouraged and commended to think big and do big stuff.

In Liberia, every big idea is doubted and every small and narrow idea is praised and considered as acceptable.  Therefore, we always hear “we tried” and not ‘we did it’ in all that we do as a nation and people.

So, why young kids in the US are thinking big, grown men and women in Liberia are thinking very small and narrow. This is funny but very sad for a nation 150 years since independence.

The truth is, everything in Liberia can and will be paid for if we have a government with leaders and officials that think big and act big. Leaders who will lead with conviction, clear direction, focus, and seek to do the right thing no matter what.

We don’t need people with narrow and small minds as leaders, as that will set Liberia backward increasingly.  We also don’t need leaders who put themselves and their families first than the nation and the people they serve or work for.  We really don’t need leaders who will surround himself or herself with sycophants, because it will render them paralyzed.  And we really don’t need leaders who give excuses.

When I decided to run for president before I withdrawn from the race for family obligation etc., my plan was to create a larger private sector and make sure we had over 5,000 CEOs in the private sector; build five regional capital cities etc.

The idea was to have one major city for major commercial activities, another for advanced medical services, one for information technology and related, another for manufacturing, and one for financial services.

These are big ideas. Are these difficult things?  Yes.  Impossible to do? No.  Others have done them so can we.

This is precisely why we need legislative and presidential candidates that will promise that they will eliminate poverty in Liberia; eradicate malaria; make sure our old people don’t die begging and untreatable.

We need legislative and presidential candidates that believe in themselves and in the Liberian people, that together, we can become the financial and commercial capital of West Africa; the center of information technology and bio- medical research.

This is also why when people with no real experience in the global labor market questioned and positioned themselves as questioners of why certain things are not possible only in Liberia, but are possible in other countries, it baffles me.

As Liberians, we need to ask ourselves a question: why should a country like Rwanda have unmanned drones deliver medical supplies in remote villages and Liberia can’t?

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda did not go to Harvard, NYU, Columbia, or Cambridge, but he thinks big and very big too. And because he thinks big, he does bigger things. For example, Rwanda today has a mini Wall Trade Center called the Kagali City Tower.

Rwanda also has a health care system far better than ours and most African nations.  And by the way, drones are delivering medicines and medical supplies to remote villages while some officials in our country don’t even know what a drone is.  Isn’t that a shame?

In Liberia, we tend to doubt every big idea. It is self- defeating, and a classic example of the lack of confidence as a nation.

We must give chance to our legislative and presidential candidates and other political leaders to think big and do bigger things. It is time we keep to ourselves the small and narrow minds that take us nowhere.

This small and narrow mindset makes our officials in government to see leaderships as being a sign of might. Some of them will give you an appointment for 9 am but will be available at 1 pm. We can change this and ensure a better country.  

We have Liberians with the knowledge, skills, talents, and dedication to help make our country a better place to live and work only if we all start thinking big and doing big stuff.

About Author

Jones Nhinson Williams is a Liberian (from River Gee County) who studied philosophy under the Catholic Church; and is also an American trained public policy, labor market information, strategic management, and workforce development professional. Email: jnw5050@gmail.com

In defense of decriminalizing marijuana use globally, former United Nations’ secretary general, Kofi Annan, once wrote on February 23, 2017 in the U.S.-based Huffington Post online journal: “In my experience, good public policy is best shaped by the dispassionate analysis of what in practice has worked, or not. Policy based on common assumptions and popular sentiments can become a recipe for mistaken prescriptions and misguided interventions.” 

Mr. Annan’s words herein may not only hold for this instance.  I believe these words can be applied to many spheres of human activities and undertaken, specifically with respect to politics, particularly African politics where tribalism, sectionalism and identity politics are not only ingrained in the conviction of the continent’s so-called opinion leaders and activists, but have become a common place and an obvious recipe for violence, deaths and destruction.

Liberia, a West African nation is, without a doubt, a failed and struggling state in terms of political, social and economic governance. Besides, the country continues to degenerate into further disunity and unending poverty under the current Unity Party-led administration which, of course, is led by Africa’s and Liberia’s first female President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

While the ruling Unity Party-led administration’s failure to provide good and strategic governance, reconcile the nation and unify Liberians around a common purpose is extremely disappointing to various stakeholders (western nations, regional and international organizations including the United Nations, European Union, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States that have invested so much resources) with interest in Liberia’s future and prosperity, it is intensely heart-wrenching to the forgotten elderly, the women, youth and children, especially young girls in both Liberia and Africa. 

More importantly, it is markedly dejecting to a nation of 4.5 million people whose hopes and aspirations as well as votes have been taken for granted through a wasted process of missed opportunities under the current President. 

That said, President Sirleaf leaves office effective January 2018 due to term limits but her party (the ruling Unity Party), which has failed the nation, is seeking continuation of her rule.   

In short, Liberians will hold Presidential and legislative elections in October 2017 to elect new leaders who are expected to change the direction of the country from failure and corruption, nepotism and social stratification, bigotry and economic paralysis to socio-economic prosperity and political decency, accountability and transparency, the rule of law and meaningful human development. 

The expected new leaders come 2018 will have the opportunity to transform Liberia by using good public policy that must be what Mr. Annan describes as, “best shaped by the dispassionate analysis of what in practice has worked, or not.”

For this reason, it is crucial for Liberian voters and Liberians in the diaspora to know the visions, platforms, qualifications, and experiences as well as the characters of the candidates that are running for public office so that when elected, their policies will not be based on what Mr. Annan termed as “common assumptions and popular sentiments” which, according him, “can become a recipe for mistaken prescriptions and misguided interventions” perhaps in solving Liberia’s numerous problems.

So far, what we have seen and heard from many of the surrogates of the ruling party and other political entities as well as some key Liberian Presidential candidates is nothing but tribal and identity politics and an artificial divide between who is “Congo” and “Congua,” or who is “native,” or  a “real Liberian.”  

These types of ideas and utterances are dangerous for Liberia now and in the future. 

They were also unscrupulous for Liberia decades ago and have led to our pointless years of civil war and colossal refugee flow in neighboring West African countries and around the world.

These tribally-bent utterances and fashion of thinking are acutely dangerous because they are being espoused by people who convey some form of social and oratory influence in a country and among a population that has a 70 percent illiteracy rate and a dismal comprehension level.  

These utterances and political mawkishness are also dangerous because the proponents have nothing to offer the Liberian people and Africa in general. In short, this tendency is, at best, sickening because it perpetuates the social and political essence of the campaigners, their followers and fans as well as sustains the failure of the country year after year.  

The question is: is this what Liberians and Liberia want now, after years of ongoing misery?

Absolutely not.  Liberians want change in the way they are governed; they also want progress in the country’s economic development, and improvement in their living standard­­––they demand a change that will be based on a clear and distinct national vision, not the status quo.

In view of the change Liberians want and the gloomy failure of the current ruling Unity Party-led administration, I and a host of other good-intentioned Liberian citizens established a political institution that has produced one of the best vision documents in the history of Africa, according western political commentators.  

Besides, we bring an unmatched and unique qualification, experience, admirable character, and passion to our collective quest to change Liberia from a nation of poverty to one in which we can have investment in science, technology, engineering, and math as well as in advanced manufacturing, agricultural-food production, education, workforce training, and infrastructure development while adhering to the rule of law, and simultaneously advancing transparency and accountability. 

This political and socio-economic vision document is widely distributed and put online.  Yet, not a single proponent of tribal and identity politics in Liberia has ever sought clarifications or questioned these ideas and the process by which they could likely be achieved.  

The reason is simple:  the narrative and concept are above their deliberative trajectory if it has nothing to do with tribalism.  So instead of discussing issues and ideas, they double-down on ethnic opinions.

Even though I have suspended my yearning to seek the presidency of Liberia due to some personal family goals and my international engagement with the global refugee crisis in which my voice matters at this critical moment, there are other respected and decent Liberians who are seeking the Liberian presidency because they believe they can better change the country. 

These candidates, I believe have good intentions and the character, qualifications, experience, and vision required to become President of Liberia.  

Notable among current field of Presidential candidates are current Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP), Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, leader of the opposition Liberty Party (LP), and Mr. Alexander Cummings of the opposition Alternative National Congress (ANC) party. 

I know these three respected Liberians.  I have talked with them and I know their true passion and plans for Liberia.  Their hearts are in the right place and they all mean well.  

Besides, these three candidates bring impeccable records to the Liberian Presidential race, and they unquestionably remain some of the best options so far in the 2017’s Presidential electoral process.  

For his part, Vice President Boakai, who happens to be the Presidential candidate of the current ruling Unity Party-led administration, is an honest man.  He is, perhaps, one of the few individuals in the Unity Party-led administration that is not only uncorrupted, humbled, and caring; but remains a dignified leader who wants a Liberia where everyone will have a place and be happy. 

 Moreover, the vice President has pointed out and can still draw a clear distinction between his style and understanding of leadership from that of his boss, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  

However, instead of the vice President be given the chance to tell the Liberian people about his vision for the country as well as explain to the Liberian people why the Unity Party-led administration, in which he is the second most powerful official, miscarried the Liberian people so gloomily, some unsolicited surrogates acting on his behalf are doing his candidacy a disservice by advancing a faulty theory: using identity politics––by espousing a non-existent reality, the so-called “Congo” and “Country” appeal.

This entreaty is the wrong prescription for the kind of Liberia we want after jailed President Charles Taylor’s 14-years of ruining our nation and after President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Unity Party-led administration 12-years of inopportune letdown.

Core Issues at Hand

This brings me to the core issue.  The fabricated impression that some candidates in the 2017 Presidential race in Liberia are “Congo” people and others are “non-Liberians” is not only baseless and outlandish; it is profoundly ingenuous and largely comes from corners where proper reflection is lacking and truth-telling is uncharacteristic.

For anyone, especially informed voters, in their right mind, to forget about the inability and gross incompetence of the Liberian labor force to adequately compete in the global labor market due to a lethargic educational system, disorganized governance process and the lack of investment in workforce training and development, but instead think, believe and promote that someone with a surname name Williams, Cooper, Jones, Cummings or Brumskine is “Congo,” or just because someone like Cummings, who is a native-born Liberian citizen that has excelled at a global corporate level no Liberian in history has ever reached, is a “non-Liberian citizen” is astounding and reckless.

Like Vice President Boakai, Dr. Mills Jones, Alexander Cummings and Charles Brumskine bring impeccable resumes to the 2017’s Presidential race. 

 Both Cummings and Brumskine, in particular, have visions and platforms that aimed at creating a level-playing field in Liberia where economic and social prosperity will be the measurement.

For his part, Alexander Cummings built Coca Cola’s Africa markets and expanded its global profitability. 

 He also led the global corporate giant overall’s administrative apparatus that covers worldwide operations, marketing, corporate governance, legal affairs and more.  He understands the world market and human capital development.  

Besides, he is a Liberian who, like most Liberians from humbled beginnings, attended public schools, lived, and worked in the country before taking the leap of faith to seek external employment outside of the confines of the Liberian government, which is sadly the largest employer in the country. 

With such a distinguished personality, the best we can do is to demand to know his vision and plans for Liberia rather than categorizing him within the limitations of our individualized personal thinking.

For his part, Cllr. Charles Brumskine brings a wealth of private sector experience and a record of accomplishments in government’s leadership that is exceedingly admirable and clean.  

He is perhaps, one of the few persons who has served in the Liberian government (past and present) without any tainted record of corruption, or a record of the abuse of power.  

As President Pro Tempore of the Liberian senate under a dictator, Charles Taylor, Cllr Brumskine is on record as the legislative leader who championed policy and statutory changes including regulations that increased the type of businesses that are solely intended for Liberian citizens.  

Record revealed that he also led a senate that not only frown on corruption, but that set an example by expelling a sitting Liberian senator for corrupt acts.  

Besides, he has remained in Liberia and in the private sector despite threats and attempts to falsely disparage his character and person.  Moreover, Brumskine has a clear vision that seeks to make Liberian politics civil just as he wants to ensure that every Liberian citizen and resident enjoys economic prosperity through employment, access to healthcare, good roads and more.

With such a remarkable track record and achievements, the best we can do as Liberians is to demand the right to further understand his vision and plans for Liberia and why he thinks he can make a better President than the rest of the field.

Instead, some have and continue to deny the voters this right by insinuating irrelevant matters that have nothing to do with Liberia’s progress.

Our Role as Voters, Activist, and Liberians

Our role as voters, activists, and Liberians, both in and outside Liberia, is to celebrate all those who want to change Liberia. We need to ask them probing and reasonable questions rather than injecting falsehood and scorning their characters when there is no reason to do so.  

Where we differ, we may make recommendations or debate the issues with them.  This trend will help and is far better than transplanting ourselves into tribal and identity politics that are based on obliviousness and misrepresentation with the sole intent of injecting fear and aversion in the minds of the Liberian public.

The impulse of falsely labeling people as non-Liberians just because we don’t support them or share their civic creed is worrisome, and it bothers me because I am not only a victim of it, I have seen how this mentality not only set many African nations behind, but tear them apart as well.  

It is this same type of thought that fueled the 14-years Liberian civil conflict where Krahns attacked Gios and Manos, Manos and Gios attacked Krahns and Mandingos, Mandingos attacked everyone, and where Lormas and Kissis think Mandingos do not belong in Lofa County, so on and so forth. 

The Consequences of thinking tribal

Just yesterday, there were some Liberians (many still do today) that believe that anyone with a Mandingo or Muslim name is not a real Liberian citizen.  In fact, when the late Dr. Edward Binyah Kesselly founded the Unity Party, there were people (including some officials who are grossly benefiting from it today) who opposed him not because he was a dishonest person, or a bad manager, or an uneducated individual; they opposed him simply because they thought he was a Mandingo man, or had a name that is common in Guinea, Mali etc. 

Others opposed him simply because he worshipped differently from the way they do. 

The question is: is this what Liberia needs?

I have also seen and heard from people who once accused and strongly believed that people like Dr. Amos Sawyer is not a true Liberian – falsely arguing that he is a Sierra Leonean. 

In fact, one prominent Liberian lawyer with whom I once had a stern political and policy dissimilarity, covertly told some people that I am a Togolese by heritage when in fact my parents are Grebo from River Gee County. 

His intent was to spew fear and hate against me as someone who had no true loyalty to Liberia knowing full well that his thesis was categorically untrue.

In 2012, when floated the idea that I would like to see a future political ticket with Kofi Woods and Tiawon on it because I admired their advocacy, I sadly listened to a Liberian with a graduate degree telling an audience that both Kofi and Tiawon are not true Liberian natives. 

The individual shamelessly went further and argued that Tiawon’s ancestors descended from the Nzerekore forest region of Guinea.

While these kinds of secretly perpetrated claims are misleading, tribally-bent elements toe this myopic line because that is the only case they can make.

When lawyer and veteran Liberian communications professional Kwame Clements expressed his interest to run for President two year ago, despite his intellect, all I heard from many of these tribally-bent campaigners who opposed him then was not whether he was truly qualified or experience, but that he was not Liberian enough.  

The same has been said about my Cape Palmas brethren, the Verdiers brothers. James and Jerome Verdier who, out of love for decency and fairness, constantly advocate for fairness, justice and transparency have been branded by some people as not Liberian enough. 

Like they have branded me, they accused both Marylanders as Togolese too.  The question is: when will this childish mentality stop?

This naivety is so embalmed in the mental construct of the tribal-sentiments campaigners such that falsehood has become a norm. 

During my recent visit to Liberia (July 2016), I visited a local food and café center to gush the views of fellow Liberians. 

While there, I encountered a critic (a former employee of the Liberian ministry of defense) of defense minister, Brownie Samukai. 

As the fellow informed us (his audience) about why he had issues with the minister, he remarked that “the minister is becoming rich by taking all the private security contracts in the country to please his foreigner wife.” 

After he ended his remarks, I gently stood up and said to the group that while I did not know the details of what the gentleman was discussing, I knew one thing was clearly false: that the minister’s wife did not have a Liberian background. 

I told the audience that, in fact, she is my paternal cousin, and someone who is not only a highly trained physician, but did not need Minister Samukai to live a decent life. 

While the audience’s view had changed on that one aspect, in spreading his falsehood, the critic failed to understand that the lady’s father is a Grebo man from River Gee County and a relative to (brother to my paternal grandmother) someone in the audience. Without this clarification from me, many there would have gone with the critic’s unfounded prophecy.  That is the kind of Liberia we have. 

This is the kind of Liberia that my two young and intelligent daughters, born to a former Kenyan United Nations’ diplomat, stand to face when I am probably not alive.  This is why this mindset must not be encouraged.  This is why I am opposed to it now. 

In addition, I personally defended Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai in 2006 and 2011 when some elements in the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party were spreading myths that the VP is a Kissi man from Sierra Leone.  While this lore was deceitful, the campaigners had a clear intent: to foster phobia and odium.

In the same vein, I have heard people accusing the vice President’s current chief of staff, Sam Stevquoah (a decent and intelligent brother) as being a non-Liberian citizen simply because they (campaigners of tribal sentiments) intuitively believe that his ancestors are said to have Ghanaian heritage. 

To them, nothing about Stevquoah’s qualifications and competence nor the invaluable services he is rendering to the Office of the Vice President and the Liberian people matters. What matters is the shallow view they share about what being a true Liberian constitutes. 

This display of tribal instincts must stop because if we do not stop this folly simply because it is not personally affecting some of us now, there will come a time that we will all be impacted gravely when it is too late.  As former Kenyan President Moi Kibaki once characterized it, tribalism is a cancer.  

It can and has the propensity to tear a nation and people apart. 

Therefore we, as Liberians and Liberia as a nation, should have no room for dizzy individuals who thrive on identity politics and the campaign of fear and hate.  

The reason is, these tendencies and form of discourse are the hallmarks of identity theories, and we all know that such views are dangerous to our unity as a nation and prosperity as a people.  

We cannot build better communities in our country and a better Liberia by playing tribal and divisive cards that benefit no one, not even the campaigners themselves.

This is precisely why we, as Liberians, need to heed the advice of former U.S. President Barack Obama as he states in his book, Dreams From My Father: “It is literally in my DNA to be suspicious of tribalism.  I understand the tribal impulse, and acknowledge the power of tribal division. I have been navigating tribal divisions my whole life.  

In the end, it is the source of a lot of destructive acts,” Obama maintains. 

Pope Francis VI also added his voice to the danger of tribal politics during a recent visit to Nairobi, Kenya when he said, “tribalism destroys a nation.” 

 The Holy Father stated further that: “Tribalism can be overcome with an open ear, an open heart and an outstretched hand to continue the dialogue.”

Nothing more meaningful than this in building a better country.

Conclusion

In one of my policy and managerial level jobs in the west, I provide monthly labor market reports and analysis to executives, policy makers as well as lawmakers regarding the status of the state’s economy and the impact the current trend of public policy has on the lives of the people in the state and how that reflects nationally.

I have a foreign (Liberian) accent and they all practically know that I am a native Liberian citizen. They don’t ask me question which tribe I am or which country I hailed from, as long as I do not pose any national security threat and is not engaged in economic crimes. 

They are, instead, interested in me telling them which industry sectors in the state’s economy gain or lose jobs in a given month, and why.  They are also interested in me telling them which occupations are growing faster and which are declining, and why.

In Liberia, we are more concerned about who is Kpelle or Krahn or Gio or Grebo or Kru or Mandingo. It is irrelevant and Liberians are not going to make a mistake in 2017 with this type political distortion. What does calling a candidate a Grebo or a Kissi or a Congo man or woman has to do with governing in the right way?

As a country, our electoral debates must be based on issues, dialogue, respect and visions for the future rather than identity politics and tribalism, which are pervasive, and can control a lot of our behavior readily, as well as have a greater potential to override our reasoning.  

Lastly, our failure to heed Kofi Annan’s adage about common assumptions and popular sentiments, Kibaki’s authentic portrayal of the menace of identity politics, and Obama’s guidance on the hazard of tribalism may divide us more as a nation more than bring us together as a people.  

Knowing that the campaigners of tribalism and identity politicking will not stop nor go away easily, we must all make effort to stop ethnic politics now and in the future!

About the Author:

Jones Nhinson Williams is a Catholic educated Liberian philosopher, a public policy, labor market information and workforce development professional, and advocate for strategic governance and refugees.

Recently, I was in San Diego, California to attend the HIAS Network National Conference as director of the US-based Jewish Family Services (JFS) refugee resettlement and immigrants’ integration service.

In this capacity and as a Liberian, I find myself fortunate to be in an international public policy position to help refugees, asylum seekers, migrant workers and victims of trafficking from around the world and especially blessed over the past decade and the half to have and continue to help Africans including my fellow Liberians.

There are approximately 2,160 plus current Liberia TPS beneficiaries (This number excludes Liberians who are not eligible and are out of status) in the United States. These persons were urged to use the time before termination of their TPS to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States or, in the alternative, to apply for other immigration benefits for which they are eligible.

Unfortunately and sadly, not many Liberians were or have been fortunate to change their immigration status from a TPS beneficiary to permanent residency. As such, these Liberian families and individuals face the toughest of time. These Liberian heads of families and individuals will be out of work, and will not be able to have access to many other things including certain social, security and economic benefits.

Moreover, they face mental torture and imminent deportation at any time. The downsize is that most of these Liberian families and individuals facing the current immigration crisis in the U.S. financially/economically contribute to the lives of hundreds of poverty-stricken family members and friends back home in Liberia. They also contribute to the maintenance of the perpetual sluggish Liberian economy which is largely subjugated by widespread corruption, gruesome mismanagement and massive unemployment.

With the Executive Order of U.S. President Donald J. Trump and the effective expiration (May 20, 2017) of the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) of thousands of Liberian, Guinean and Sierra Leonean nationals, this is the time that I have ever faced the most heartbreaking moment in my international public policy career and in my ‘diplomatic’ skills in addressing such a huge humanitarian problem, because after my initial discussions with concerned authorities regarding a possible Liberian TPS extension, I realized I have no reasonable or convincing justifications to provide as to why the TPS designation for Liberians should be renewed after I was asked to provide any compelling and convincing reasons. 

Consequently, I am therefore asking for help from all Liberians to help me with ideas and talking/written points to be included in my next formal communication to the current Secretary of Homeland Security, General John Kelly, for the TPS extension of Liberians in the United States. Please indicate your justifications in various Liberian chat rooms on Facebook and we will get them. 

More importantly, I want to thank all Liberians who have shown concern regarding the plight of Liberians in the United States that are undergoing this immigration nightmare.

Special thanks and appreciation to Counsellor Charles Walter Brumskine who, as a prominent Liberian citizen and leader, has been supportive to the point of voicing his concern and pleading for an extension of the TPS for Liberians during his recent Congressional visit in the U.S. capital, Washington, DC. We ask other prominent Liberians to follow his lead and do the same.

Background Information

On September 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the decision to extend TPS benefits for Liberia under the current designation for 6 months for the purpose of an orderly transition before the previous TPS designation of Liberia was terminated. The current termination for the existing TPS will become effective May 21, 2017.

During the renewal process in 2016, a statement from then DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson read: “After reviewing country conditions and consulting with the appropriate U.S. government agencies, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has determined that conditions in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone no longer support their designations for TPS. The widespread transmission of Ebola virus in the three countries that led to the designations has ended, no longer preventing nationals from returning in safety.

To provide for an orderly transition, nationals of Liberia (and individuals having no nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia) who have been granted TPS under the Liberia designation will automatically retain their TPS and have their current Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) extended through May 20, 2017. Beneficiaries do not need to pay a fee or file any application, including for work authorization, in order to retain their TPS benefits through May 20, 2017.

Although TPS benefits will no longer be in effect starting May 21, 2017, TPS beneficiaries will continue to hold any other immigration status that they have maintained or acquired while registered for TPS. DHS urges individuals who do not have another immigration status to use the time before the termination becomes effective in May 2017 to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States or to apply for other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible”.

Temporary Protected Status: Origins, Criteria, and Current Use

Congress created TPS in 1990 to establish a uniform system for granting temporary protection to people unable to return to their home countries because of a political or environmental catastrophe.

Before 1990, the U.S. executive branch dealt with this scenario by designating certain countries for Extended Voluntary Departure (EVD), an administrative status that amounted to an exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the Attorney General not to pursue nationals of certain countries for removal if found to be living in the United States without authorization.

However, there were no established criteria explaining how a country might qualify for EVD, and critics alleged that decisions regarding the grant of EVD to nationals of a particular country were often politically motivated. This argument became especially prominent in the late 1980s, when the Reagan administration decided not to designate El Salvador for EVD despite the country’s ongoing civil war at the time.

To resolve the controversy, Congress created TPS, a statutory mechanism for granting protection against deportation to nationals of designated countries. Under current law, the Homeland Security Secretary may designate a country for TPS when one of three circumstances occurs:

• There is “ongoing armed conflict” that creates unsafe conditions for returning nationals;
• There has been an earthquake, flood, drought, epidemic, or other environmental disaster that makes the state temporarily unable to accept the return of its nationals, and the state has requested TPS designation; or
• “Extraordinary and temporary” conditions in a state prevent its nationals from returning safely.

Once a country has been designated for TPS, its nationals who are residing in the United States at the time of the designation may be granted protection if they meet certain criteria. These include having been continuously present in the United States as of a date specified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and having a relatively clean criminal record.

The statute bars from receiving TPS those who have committed a felony offense, two or more misdemeanors, or engaged in the persecution of others. Similarly, individuals who have committed a controlled substance offense, a national security offense, or multiple criminal offenses are generally ineligible. 

Individuals who are granted TPS receive two main benefits: a reprieve from deportation and authorization to work. TPS holders may also apply for special permission to travel internationally and return to the United States.

TPS does not confer permanent residency, citizenship, or any right to ongoing immigration status. Once the U.S. government has ended a country’s TPS designation, TPS holders revert to their prior immigration status.

The government may grant TPS to individuals who initially entered the United States with a temporary visa and then remained once their visa expired, as well as those who entered without authorization. Individuals present in the United States on a valid nonimmigrant visa may also apply for TPS.

However, only individuals who are within the United States at the time that a TPS designation is initially made are eligible to apply for protection (though the cutoff date has been extended in some cases). This provision was created in part to address concerns that a grant of TPS would lead to a surge in new immigration.  

Beyond TPS, the executive branch retains discretion to designate countries for administratively based protection against removal, including EVD and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED).

Like TPS holders, individuals with EVD or DED protection may not be deported and may apply for work authorization. In the past, the executive branch has sometimes used grants of EVD or DED to continue to protect nationals of a designated country after that country’s TPS designation has ended.

For example, the George H.W. Bush administration granted TPS to Liberia in 1991, and the designation was extended through 1999. When Liberians’ TPS expired on September 28, 1999, the Clinton administration granted DED to those whose TPS had expired. Liberia was subsequently re-designated for TPS in September 2002.

In 2006, the George W. Bush administration announced that it would end TPS for Liberians but would grant them DED. President Obama has since extended DED for Liberians until September 30, 2014.

Currently, there are approximately 340,000 plus TPS holders. This figure does not include an estimated 9,000 plus Syrians who became eligible to apply when DHS advanced the date to demonstrate continuous presence in the United States.

It also does not include the additional 4,000 plus Sudanese or South Sudanese nationals DHS estimates may be eligible for TPS based on the advancement of the designation dates in those two countries.

Nhinson Williams, Contributing Writer
jnw5050@gmail.com

The Constitution of Liberia guarantees all natural born Liberian citizens, age 35, and with good standing, the freedom to seek the Office of President of the Republic of Liberia, provided they also meet the requirements of the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia. Such requirements include registering one’s candidacy, and fulfilling certain demands etc.

Under the guarantees provided by the Liberian constitution and the NEC’s requisites, Liberian soccer genius George Manneh “Oppong” Weah is undeniably qualified to seek the Liberian presidency. At 50 going on to 51, Mr. Weah exceeds the age threshold; has earned millions of dollars during his soccer career in Europe and continues to earn more money in his current game: Liberian politics.

He also single-handily owns a popular political institution, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party; and has a grassroots’ following that, on a serious note, does not understand what is stake for Liberia when we, as a nation, continue to opt for deterioration rather than advancement.

Many of us are not opposed to Mr. Weah’s ambition to seek the highest office in the land. After all, history reveals that some people in advanced democracies have sought similar offices because they were fatigued and frustrated with their corrupt leaders who failed them. 

Incontestably, Liberian politicians and leaders, particularly the so-called and unwanted progressive contingent and antediluvian PhDs, have failed our nation and its people. Is Mr. Weah, a gifted soccer star, seeking the presidency because of the corruption, dishonesty, and botch of Liberian politicians? Perhaps.

Even if this is the case, please Mr. George Weah, in sincerity, and with every ounce of love, affection, and respect for you, don’t run for President of Liberia.  This is an honest advice.

True be told, Mr. Weah’s patriotism and contribution to Liberia are cherished and will forever remain historic; his generosity is valued and his popularity is esteemed.  Besides, he is qualified to seek the Office of President of Liberia as per the Liberian constitution and the applicable requirements of the National Elections Commission of Liberia.

With that said, it is important to recognize that the job of President is not just a serious business; it is a hard venture. It demands more than meeting the mere constitutional obligations and the necessities of the NEC. It also requires more than just performing official ceremonies, especially in this age of globalization, technological advancement, and a period of knowledge-based economy discernment that entail possession of rational acumen, highbrow stamina, and integrated capacity. 

Moreover, being a President does not mean having a mere degree. After all, Mr. Weah holds two degrees, as we are made to understand. Even people with degrees from Western universities and other higher institutions of Learning in Liberia and from abroad, have failed our nation.

Besides, about 90 percent of the ‘highly educated’ individuals who are currently seeking the Liberian presidency lack the functional gravitas it takes to guarantee that we will have a prosper and competitive Liberia should they succeed in their bid for the highest office in the land. But in the case of Mr. Weah, we see the extreme­––the peak of unskillfulness and incapacity. This is precisely why Mr. Weah should not seek the Office of President of the Republic of Liberia.

Effective 2018, our country and Liberians in general need a President that will make real life and death decisions.  Decisions that would determine the ultimate future or absolute decline of the country––choices that will either put Liberia on the path to social progress, economic growth, and political stability, or keep the status quo of misery, mass poverty, and the endless wants of human needs.

While Liberia is not only a mess on a knife-edge that needs genuine and crucial socio-cultural resuscitation; the country also needs a far-reaching political and economic change as well as a leadership that understands the challenges imposed by globalization, technology, trans-national trade, international security issues, and the inter-connectedness of the labor market worldwide.

To drive this change and ensure this leadership, we need a President who can lead with vision, creativity and understanding; a head of state that is innovative and has the capacity to research, and make coherent decisions.

From all indications and based on some of the recent decisions of Mr. Weah, it clearly appears there is a lack of.

In addition, Mr. Weah should not seek the Liberian presidency because, effective 2018, Liberia needs to begin keeping pace with the changing world.  Our world has not only changed, it continues to transform every day in many ways.  We are transitioning from a largely dependent natural resources’ industry-based economy to a knowledge-based economy where even cars are self-driven, drones deliver packages and medications etc. 

This type of change requires a new type of national leadership (in any country) that should not only reflect having a mere divided, democratic, and elected government. It requires leaders with grandiose ideas and who can articulate those ideas into vision and programs with direct positive impact such as job creation, improved living standards and national infrastructural and workforce development in society.

So, while the Liberian government is divided into three branches, the President is not only considered the figurehead of the nation, he or she is also the engine that ushers change, or may become the epitome of failure if he or she lacks what it takes for the position. 

By law, the Liberian President can veto laws made by the House of Representatives and the Senate and can issue executive orders. The President also commands the Liberian military and security forces, which is significant because the national security of our country is paramount.

The President of Liberia is also a central figure in forging regional and international relations on behalf of our nation and its people. This makes the Liberian President one of the most crucial figures in keeping national, regional, and international peace. Although the judicial and legislative branches of the Liberian government have assigned powers as well, they are comprised of many individuals working together, which limit the power of any one individual.

As the single person in our country with the most power, the Liberian President has a great deal of importance. So, the job is not a joke or a 90-minutes track and field Olympics as some people might think.  It is a job that determines what kind of country we want for ourselves and our children’s future. Already, we have had two wasted generations; we cannot afford to add the third one and possibly the fourth.

Besides, more than anyone else in our country, the Liberian President symbolizes the country — its people and its beliefs. In this role, the Liberian President must not only be able to perform many ceremonial duties such as receiving foreign dignitaries and leading parades; he or she must be able to negotiate investments, inaugurate businesses, research, and academic institutions as well as be capable in guiding the trajectory of the Liberian economy to prevent capital flight, inflation, health crisis and disaster in the labor market.  These actions are not trivial. Competent Presidents must exude confidence, not just in themselves, but in the Liberian people as well.

Moreover, as leader of the executive branch, the Liberian President is primarily responsible for seeing that the work of the Liberian government is done, because as the late U.S. President Harry Truman’s once said, “The buck stops here.” This is true because, for example, the responsibility to administer and execute the laws of the land squarely rests on the President’s shoulders. And if Mr. Weah were to become President that is exactly what he will be expected to do. The question is, can he? Or, is he going to rely on others to tell him what to do or what needs to be done?

If Mr. Weah became the President of Liberia, he will also become so many significant things simultaneously: Commander in Chief; Chief Diplomat; Chief Executive, de facto Legislator, and the National Moral Leader. 

As commander in chief, Mr. Weah will be expected to develop and lead our military and security forces from a gun-toting sect to a professional lineup of engineers, information technology and cyber security experts, forensic scientists, and top notch investigators. He will make decisions about how to deal with matters of law and order while ensuring respect for human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law. 

He must to address issues within our immigration procedure that make it flaw and vulnerable to nationals of neighboring West African states and other nations and deal with questions of our nationality debate and the weaknesses in our judiciary and criminal justice system.

As the top diplomat, Mr. Weah will not only decide the direction of Liberia’s foreign policy, he will also play an important role in carrying it out.  That means the West African sub region, the African continent and the world will need know and hear his philosophy as a leader – how he thinks and what he says, not what other people will want him to think, believe, or say on his behalf.

As chief executive /administrator, or chief bureaucrat of Liberia, he will be fully and ultimately responsible for all the programs in the executive branch of the Liberian government – from education, healthcare, infrastructural development, the rule of law and public safety to the economy and investment in science, technology, engineering, and math as well as in advanced manufacturing, agricultural-food production, and workforce development.

While he will not be managing their day-to-day operations, he is expected, overall, to set the broad policy for the executive departments and agencies.  He will also face and must deal with the unending chaos in the country’s land ownership dynamic as well as contend with skills shortages and skills gap analysis; women, and youth unemployment nationwide, local areas unemployment and local employment dynamics, business employment dynamics, and the protection and support of seniors, the disabled and the mentally challenged. These are not inconsequential matters neither are they negligible realities because they affect real lives.

As a de facto legislator, he will be expected to maintain close contacts with the Liberian Senate and the House of Representatives to press for the passage of bills. While a President does not simply propose legislation, the President is, in most cases, actively involved in seeing that a legislation becomes law. 

If Mr. Weah also succeeds to become President of Liberia, he will automatically assume moral leadership.  He will be expected to set the moral tone for our nation, including showing exemplary honesty, religious faith, and integrity. 

Instead of being silent on issues and inquiries that demand public responses, Liberians will expect him to articulate clarity, hope, optimism, direction, guidance, and above all, provide commonsense solution in matters like religious tolerance, peaceful co-existence and tribal upheavals, women’s rights, workers’ rights and labor union advocacy, and political disagreements.

The demand of any President’s moral leadership has adopted new importance in recent years as the media and the public the world over has given the private lives of elected officials’ closer scrutiny. The “character issue” is frequently included in public opinion polls on any President’s performance.

Lastly, history has shown and current events suggest that some politicians and others have run for elected offices, especially the job of President, for several reasons, including to change the direction of their country; to make history; to make a point; to boost their brand; or simply because public service is part of their family’s history. 

To date, it is almost impossible to know where Mr. Weah stands on any issue or why he is really running for President.  His supporters will tell you he will change Liberia and make the country better.  How? No idea.

No doubt, Mr. Weah is a national hero but he, like most Liberians, has failed to recognize his strengths and weaknesses.  If he is truly patriotic and wants a better Liberia, the formation of his political party is a welcomed and commendable idea.  He can use his political institution better than he is currently doing. 

Forming a political party means one should seek the presidency or be President, it means he or she is serious about driving a message of change.  Mr. Weah must identify like-minded individuals and mobilize the Liberian people to ensure that change happens for his personal benefit but for Liberia’s.

In Myanmar, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is not the President, but she is the driver of change and leader of the ruling party with the coveted title “State Counsellor of Myanmar.”  As the political leader of the ruling party, she calls herself the boss of the President of Myanmar who is a member of her ruling party. Weah should take a clue from this remarkable woman’s playbook.

About  Author:

Jones Nhinson Williams is a Liberian philosopher, labor market information and workforce development professional with expertise in job creation strategies, public policy, international development, and strategic management. jnw5050@gmail.com

Not only is corruption a complex problem in Liberia and under President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s regime, it has gravely damaged the institutional and social fabrics of the Liberian society, both in the short and long terms.

After a decade of catalepsy on the impact and evil of corruption, the good news is President Sirleaf and her administration have gained relative consciousness about the need to fight corruption by setting up a ‘Presidential Task Force’ headed by a brilliant lawyer, Attorney Fonati Koffa, to investigate as well as subject anyone found guilty of corruption to the laws of Liberia through the court system.

No matter how one may think about Attorney Koffa and his simple past of misjudgment in the West, he has proven to be a serious guy for this job.  In addition, he is legally astute in terms of academic credentials.

Besides, the forcefulness, bravery and no-nonsense attitude he displayed in recent weeks to get to the bottom of the Sable Mining’s corruption scandal, irrespective of who is implicated, erased parts of my previous doubts about his moral ability to do an effective job.

This is why Liberians need to give the taskforce some space. In the same vein, President Sirleaf herself needs to be acknowledged for finally having the guts to actually do something about corruption in Liberia, even though it took a shame from a Global Witness’ Report to get there.

Despite the real efforts made in recent weeks in the fight against corruption in Liberia, we will make little or no progress if the process turns out to be a mockery or smokescreen, or a mere witch-hunt against few Liberian political opponents (like Counsellor Varney Sherman and House Speaker Alex Tyler) that the President just does not like or wants to use as scapegoats, as some are already alleging.   

Reason being to understand and fight corruption as well as know those who have looted our country’s wealth require more than just setting up a presidential taskforce that is headed by the president’s former private legal counsel and cabinet minister who reports to and is loyal to the president. This is not enough.  It requires being fair, transparent, honest and ensuring that the law is applied no matter who the accused or culprits are.

Apart from the fact that there are several mechanisms that helped to spread corruption and made it a normal practice and way of life in our country, there are also several persons that have engaged in corrupt acts in Liberia since President Sirleaf and the Unity Party’s government assumed state power in 2006.

This is why when the “Special Presidential Taskforce” setup to investigate and fight corruption in the wake of the Global Witness’ Report issued its latest list of ‘Persons of Interest’ in Liberia’s corruption fight, we were a bit baffled.

While releasing such a list clearly proves some points that the taskforce means business, it also clearly manifests that we are probably headed for a joke because the people and entities mentioned on that list appear to be small ‘fishes’ in the ocean of looters.

There is a saying amongst the Grebo people in south-eastern Liberia, that: “When you want to show your prowess as a serious hunter, you don’t go hunting for rats behind the house; you go hunting for elephants in the jungle.”

So, this goes to say that the list of persons and entities of interest in the so-called ongoing corruption fight by the presidential taskforce seems to be a hunt for ‘rats’ behind the house, because it appears that we, as a nation, are only interested in going after corruption cases that are monetarily insignificant while leaving out those who actually dismantled our nation’s resources and assets.  Having said that, few questions come to mind, and they are as follow:

Why is the Presidential Taskforce to fight corruption in Liberia neglecting the GAC audit reports that unearthed and discovered stolen money of about US$1.5 Billion?

Is the taskforce going to act on the findings of the Dunn Commission Report regarding the Email Scandal, the RIA Financial Scandal and the Tape Recordings, the Justice Minister’s Investigative Committee on the Zakhem Contract, the Western Cluster Scandal, the Nagbalee Warner’s Commission’s findings on the Carbon Harvesting, and the Dorbor Jallah’s Commission on Private Use Permit Report?

Will the taskforce act on the Tiawon Gongloe’s Commission Report, the H. Boima Fahnbulleh’s Commission Report, the November 7 Elections Violence Committee Report, the Moore Stephenson Audit Report on Contracts and Concessions, the Liberian Honorary Consul Scandal, and the Togba Nah Tipoteh’s Rice Commission Report?

Will the taskforce act on the Ministry of Public Works’ scandal of $7 million worth of contracts issued in small lots that bypassed the Public Procurement Laws of Liberia (PPCC) on April 18, 2007, and on April 20, 2007 as well as related scandals in later years in which certificates of completion were issued and contracts were awarded under dubious conditions?

Will the taskforce investigate the nearly US$ 4 million dollars bribe paid to the entire Liberian legislature over an 18 months period or the US$31,000 checks issued to each lawmaker for passing the last oil block lease, a sample check of which is below that was allegedly made payable to Honorable Sando D. Johnson of Bomi County? Both the Senate and House of Representatives combined have 102 lawmakers, so $31,000 X 102 lawmakers’ amounts to almost US$4 million.

Will the taskforce investigate the alleged US$120 million collected and spent in a mere two years period by the then Chairman of National Oil Company of Liberia, Mr. Robert A. Sirleaf, prior to his resignation?

Will the taskforce investigate the alleged US$$10.5 million of the Liberian people money that came from U.S. oil giant Chevron that was allegedly ordered to be given to Robert A. Sirleaf’s non-profit instead of the Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank of Liberia in addition to other social support that allegedly went to the finance ministry in the tune of US$78 million?

Will the taskforce also investigate a US$500,000 scandal, as reported in the Dunn Commission Report, which is said to have involved one Ms. Jenny Johnson-Bernard and wire transfer information said to have been found on a laptop belonging to the same Ms. Johnson-Bernard?

Will the taskforce investigate the Japanese funds that disappeared at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all other corruption acts at various autonomous agencies, including the National Port Authority, the Forestry Development Authority and more?

Will the taskforce investigate the alleged abuse of the royalties from the Liberia Maritime Registry, part of which are allegedly spent largely on global lobbying and unwarranted global public relations stunts?

Will the taskforce investigate the central bank’s fiasco loan scheme and the fall-out of financial disclosure after the former executive governor left office?

If all of these things and many more will be part of the scope and mission of the taskforce, then we can take in a breath of fresh air that they, somehow, mean business.

If the taskforce will pay deaf ears and close its eyes to these treacherous abuse of public trust and the theft of public properties but instead go after the ‘noise,’ then we can certainly say that the current corruption fight is just another level of trick from the ‘playbook’ of her ‘majesty,’ the “Iron Lady.”

Let us repeat again through this medium, our president needs to gain the trust and confidence of the Liberian people that entrusted her with their leadership, economy and national security, precious gifts which widespread and organized corruption have ruined  over the past decade.

The starting point to truly stop corruption therefore should be ensuring that no one is exempt from the fight on corruption. And if President Sirleaf is really serious as she pretends to show then we must address all corruption allegations dating back to 2006 when she assumed office as president of Liberia.

 Moreover, the president can inspire additional confidence in the Liberian people when she makes the taskforce independent of the Executive Branch of government––It has to be independent, neutral and must have real prosecutorial powers and authority.  

That means attorney Fonati Koffa must resign as Minister of State without Portfolio in the Office of the President and assume a full and independent chairmanship role of an Independent Inter-departmental National Task Force on Corruption that will comprise the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), the General Auditing Commission (GAC), the Liberian Bar Association (LBA), a coalition of women groups, the Liberia National Student Union (LINSU), the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC), the Muslim Council of Liberia (MCL), the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) and more, if needed.  In addition, Interpol should be invited as a consulting observer to the process.

The taskforce must also request that all officials of government (elected and appointed), from 2006 to present, must declare their assets before and after they entered or left government, it doesn’t matter whether they are currently serving in government or not.  This process should include where and how they got those wealth and assets and the periods.

Also, a global mechanism must be put in place to globally track the assets and resources, including properties, of all those who have served in the Liberian government dating back to 1990.  Until these things are done, we are heading for just another scam that will die in a few months.

Nigeria, under President Buhari, is doing this, so why can’t we do the same too?   It wouldn’t be a bad idea and I know President Buhari would be glad if we copy his strategies in fighting corruption.  The last time I had contacts with him he did not say there is a patent or copyright ban on his strategies to destroy corruption.  All it requires is seriousness, honesty and leadership which are not for sale––they are free virtues that all people, including President Sirleaf, have access to.

Finally, it is time we, as Liberians, not just the president, put the fight against and on corruption in the forefront of our daily lives. We will perish and lose full control of our souls and land if we don’t, and the signs are already on the wall.

This is why we must support Chairman Fonati Koffa and his team as they take on this brave and risky task in our nation’s history.  The best support we can provide to the Task Force is to morally empower them, check them, praise them when they are on-track and scorn them when they deviate.

We must make our voices heard by calling for an all-inclusive investigation into allegations of corruptions and economic crimes and money laundering in Liberia, not just the Sable Mining scandal. By doing these things, we will put accountability at the heart of our values and prosperity as Liberians, something that the president’s global public relations skydiving and award collection scheme won’t do.  Long live Liberia, long live President Sirleaf; with faith in God and concern for our people and love for our country, the struggle continues!

About the Author:
Jones Nhinson Williams, a Catholic educated philosopher and an American trained public policy professional, initially studied for the Catholic priesthood.  He has since 2003, devoted his life, work and passion to issues of corruption, poverty, refugee flow and forced migration, the environment, job creation and governance, and the rule of law in Africa.  He can be reached at jnw5050@gmail.com

 In the midst of nationalized corruption and deceit. Liberians should oppose President Sirleaf’s borrowing spree and egocentric global PR waste

It is one thing to keep amazing people all the time.  It is quite another thing to not love one’s country, disregard one’s fellow citizens and blatantly refuse to have pity for the suffering of the poor, especially when a vast number of them are women, children and the elderly.

 Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, prior to being President and as President, has clearly demonstrated the tenacity to amaze Liberians and the world at large by many of her personal, self-seeking and self-fulfilling engagements.  

From having a perpetual desire to be the center of the world and the global media to being the apex of arranged and customized social opulence, prestige, political power and economic wealth, the Liberian leader embodies all, such that every accolade on planet earth, including the Nobel Prize, became an easy prey. From the point of view of basic human tendency, this construct is somehow normal.

However, what seems ugly and in particular abnormal is the Liberian leader’s flagrant lack of love for her country, disregard for her fellow Liberians (other than her family and friends) and the manifest refusal to have some degree of pity for the suffering and hardship of poor Liberians, many of whom are innocent children, abused and neglected women and vulnerable elderly in a nation which actual poverty level various international institutions, including US-based Child Fund (Poverty in Liberia | ChildFund) and the Rome-based United Nations’ World Food Programme (Operations | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme – Fighting …) find very hard to statistically quantify because of the level of disastrousness.

It would be an understatement to reiterate that President Sirleaf has not only failed as President of Liberia; the Liberian President has equally failed as a serious leader, and more so, as Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state.  More importantly, the Liberian President betrayed not only Liberian women in many respects; she has created a misgiving on the competence of African women in a number of symbolic ways.  

In addition, she dashes the hopes and retards the future of Liberian children, especially our young girls and youth, who as a result of national leadership’s failure, greed and widespread corruption, have resulted not only to sex trade, prostitution and armed robbery, but are predictable victims of sex and human trafficking as revealed by these disturbing media captions: ‘Talk of Town’: Broad Day Prostitution Booming in Monrovia; Liberia: Nine Suspected Armed Robbers Arrested – allAfrica.com, and Liberia: Trafficked Liberian Girls From Lebanon Plead for Support …

The truth is, the President has failed miserably but she continues to live in denial, which in itself is a problem to moving Liberia forward.  Despite the goodwill of the international community and western nations to cancel Liberia’s debts while simultaneously dumping millions of dollars in humanitarian aid and capacity-building,  the Sirleaf–led Unity Party government, since taking office in 2006, has borrowed millions of dollars from a number of Asian financial institutions and from some not-so-good financial intermediaries that exploit poor governance and the callousness of African rulers as a means to subjugate African nations to predatory lending/victimized borrowing practices.  President Sirleaf’s leadership appears to have made Liberia a victim of this.

Since assuming office in 2006, the administration has signed shady loan agreements with several groups, including the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) in the amount of US$ 20 million, and additional loans from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) as well as the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).  

In addition, the Liberian government under President Sirleaf is said to have signed a couple of other loans such as a purported US$ 144 million loan from the Indian Exim Bank, signed on December 3, 2015, (Liberia: Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial … – IMF).  Accordingly, as of July 2015, a total amount of US$ 843.5 million in loans were signed since 2006.  

These funds are in addition to the tax-payers’ money the United States’ government and European nations sent to Liberia in the form of humanitarian assistance and bilateral support for capacity building.  Besides these borrowed funds, rogue foreign investors fueled huge investment dollars to Liberia since the Sirleaf-Boakai’s Unity Party-administration took office, and this amounts to U.S. $15 billion dollars, according to the Liberia National Investment Commission and various entities, including the country’s Ministry of Information. The United States Millennium Challenge Corporation and the United States Agency for International Development alone have spent, or wasted, a little over a billion dollars on Liberia since 2006.

Since President Sirleaf assumed office in 2006, the Chinese and Japanese governments and others have given lots of funds to support development efforts in Liberia.  Like the recent Japanese funds (Liberia: Japanese Fund Squabble At Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) that were squandered by individuals in the Sirleaf’s administration, most of the international resources donated and the local revenue collected from trade, import and export, and from businesses operating in the country as well as the millions of dollars generated from mortgaging our country’s vast natural resources, especially from the sale of offshore oil blocks, are embezzled or caught up in a corruption scheme by publicly elected and appointed officials, cronies, loyalists, kinsmen and women, and special interests with connections to pay and play schemes.

When many of these loans agreements were signed, the President and her Unity Party-led administration brainwashed Liberians and outsmart the Liberian legislature that the loans were “intended to raise the standard of living of the population … reduce time and cost for travel, improve accessibility and achieve security and safety on the road.”

Yet, after twelve wasted years in power, researches and news reports coming out of Liberia tell a different and sad tale with not-so-good headlines and captions such as:

    Global Witness exposes bribes to top Liberian officials by UK mining
    Liberia’s Ruling Party Head Arrested Over Over Global Witness
    Liberian children still drink unsafe water amid other sanitation problems
    Over 1000 Malangai Residents Drink Unsafe Water | The Liberian …
    Liberia: Grand Bassa Villages Struggle for Access to Safe Drinking …
    Police connected to Arm Robbery – The New Republic Liberia
    Neglected’ – Poor Health, Bad Roads Trouble Gbarpolu Inhabitants
    UL Increases Tuition: Student Movement Criticizes Decision
    Liberia: ‘Senior Police Officers Provide Arms to Armed Robbers …
    Reckless and controversial public servant salary: régime legalizes …
    Our Problem With Liberian Gov’t Officials Getting Away With Murder
    Another Budget Shortfall in Liberia – FrontPageAfrica
    House Prepares Bill Of Impeachment For Pres. Sirleaf | News – Hot

These disturbing realities failed to appeal to our President’s inner conscience.  Yet, according to a recent news report (Ellen Wants Senate to Ratify US$10M Financing Agreement), the Liberian President has requested the corrupt and inept Liberian legislature to ratify and give her a clearance to borrow more money that will, in actuality, end up in the personal bank accounts or hands of government officials, cronies, loyalists, family members as well as a few Washington, D.C. and Europe-based lobbyists while ordinary Liberians suffer.

The President argues that the ‘loan’ is needed to address youth empowerment concerns Vis a Vis employment constraints.  However, hindsight and basic experience suggest that this is far from the truth. Even though the President always outsmarts the Liberian legislature because of its corrupt elements, lack of vision and patriotism, she wrongly thinks and believes that she is smarter than all Liberians.  

To her surprise, Liberians know better than their President would think and that is one reason why every scheming, cover-up and trick the Sirleaf-Unity Party-led administration unveils or engages in are exposed in no time by the Liberian people.

The requested US$10 million dollars loan the President wants signed, especially when she has less than 15 months as President of the country, is not going to benefit Liberia and Liberians. Neither is it going to address the country’s massive unemployment, poverty and lack of innovation problems.

So, instead of the President borrowing more unnecessary loans that are squandered and glaringly unaccounted for, she must focus on recouping the stolen wealth amassed by her government officials and their criminal associates.

It is as simple as auditing the past and current officials of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and all other government ministries and autonomous agencies that are awash in widespread corruption.  

And if the President is really serious and not playing games as usual, she must drastically reduce government’s expenditures, fraud and waste, starting with the high salaries of elected and appointed officials.

She can eliminate ghost payroll, reduce unnecessary state-sponsored travels, and the budgetary allocations for the Office of the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President Pro-temp of the Liberian senate.  

Furthermore, the President cannot request for such a loan at this time because her administration has no credible policy, plan and implementation strategy to create jobs, or that can create jobs and wealth for unemployed and poor Liberians, boost small business establishment, and attract reasoned and responsible foreign investments to the country.

This is precisely why the whole idea of wanting to borrow such an amount with a ballooning interest rate is not just plain wrong, but politically insane, economically unjustified and socially incriminating.

What the President and the Unity Party’s administration failed to achieve in more than 11 years cannot be achieved in less than 15 months, especially when her legacy and Presidential leadership are now marred by the most organized and unheard-of corruption, waste, abuse of power, cronyism, unprofessionalism, nepotism and ineptitude never seen before.  

Even if the loan is given, the President cannot make any substantive progress because the entire Unity Party’s government is corrupt, disorderly and disorganized from head to toe such that it would be near impossible to achieve anything in 15 months in a period of political electioneering and the worst corruption saga’s investigation that engulfed the Liberian House of Representatives, the Liberian senate, the Executive Branch of government, and the leadership of the governing political party (Unity Party), of which the President is the ‘first partisan’ and the sitting vice President is a presumed ‘Standard-bearer.’  

These are hard facts and crushing realities that must be told because real people are not only suffering, but dying every day under her watch.  Even as the President pretends otherwise, the harsh realities of life and the deplorable circumstances in Liberia persist in indescribable manners.

With all of these problems, the President chose to leave the country with an infinite delegation to attend a private ’book’ signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. for her chief lobbyist and paid publicist, K. Riva Levinson of KRL International LLC.

For sure, neither Madam Levinson nor KRL International LLC shoulders the President and her delegation’s expenses at the luxury Ritz Carlton hotel where a typical night stay for a single room or suite costs several thousand dollars.  

How does the President of Liberia or her lobbyist, Ms. Levinson of the Washington, D.C.’s lobbying firm KRL International LLC, morally justify this logic and cost when over 500,000 children in Liberia slept hungry in the past few days; when over 100,000 young Liberian teen girls sell sex periodically to feel their unemployed parents and poverty-stricken sibling; when over 4 million Liberian citizens and residents have no access to quality healthcare, safe drinking water and electricity; when major Liberian counties, towns and villages are inaccessible due to bad or no roads; when students at various Liberian institutions of higher learning lack qualified instructors, tuition, material support and basic needs; when nurses, teachers, doctors, police, immigration and military officers in the country are underpaid and poorly equipped; when  the entire country has no advanced diagnostic facility and medical laboratory; when the entire country has no public library; when more and more Liberians are leaving the country as economic migrants and refugees, and when thousands of Liberian citizens and refugees in the diaspora are afraid to return to their homeland for all of these reasons?  

How do we develop Liberia and Africa when western firms and individuals seek to exploit our people through our rulers?  Why wouldn’t the West face serious illegal immigration issues when some western firms and individuals are part of the problem of corruption in developing nations?

Until the President, who has shamelessly enriched a select group of her inner circle while Liberia and majority of Liberians drift farther in poverty and ridicule, realizes her administration’s failed policies did not work and are not working, the facts are and will remain the same: more Liberians will continue to remain unemployed and poor; women and children will continue to lack access to healthcare and food security; education in the country will continue to remain abysmal and substandard; and corruption, deceit and the lack of public trust will continue to remain very high.

Clearly, these are not priorities for the President and the Unity Party-led administration in the first place.  What seems to concern the President and the officials of the Unity Party’s regime are personal aggrandizement and self-fulfillment as shown by their corruption fellowship.    

In addition to these built-up failures, Liberia is in a deep crisis constitutionally, economically, socially and politically.  Moreover, there is an overriding national security undertone to Liberia’s mess, especially so when Boko Haram and other regional terror groups in Mali and Libya are exerting vast influence in the West Africa region.  

Even Nigeria, West Africa’s regional superpower finds it hard to dismantle Boko Haram.  Mali is constantly under siege and faces serious threats from these terrorists.

There have been periodic terror activities in Burkina Faso and neighboring Ivory Coast, both of which experienced terrorists’ attacks in recent months.  

All of these attacks are aimed at a wacko idea to establish a caliphate which is opposed by both Liberian Christians and Muslims alike just like how the Constitutional Review Commission’s bad proposal of making Liberia a semi-theocracy is unnecessary.

Quite recently a ship landed on our nation’s shores with no real accountability for those on-board (Ghost Ship Washes up on Liberian Coast with Crew Missing …)

Whether the unknown folks who suddenly disappeared from the ship were ‘guardian angels’ or terrorists remains a mystery to today’s date. Isn’t this a serious challenge? The acclaimed UK’s international group, Global Witness, in their well-regarded and highly researched report “The Deceivers – Global Witness” succinctly highlight Liberia’s real challenge.

And, in spite of all of these challenges, chaos, dangers and threats, our President just does not get it.  It is all ‘me, I and myself merry-go-round.’  I am giving up myself, because I have never prayed for anyone in my life as I have done for this President to succeed so that my country will be better and our people see prosperity.

As Liberians pray for our President to succeed, our President refuses to unveil herself to God in service to us, the people. Rather, she elects to seek global fame why our future as a nation dims.

This is why we must speak up, not because we hate her, but because we have a stake in what is Liberia –– our motherland.  

Our destiny as a people is tied together, for good or for worse, in peace or war, in good times or in bad times, we are all Liberians.

Instead of focusing on how to address the damning report by Global Witness, the President prefers getting on the international public relationship circus with Madam K. Riva Levinson, her longtime Washington DC lobbyist, whose book “Choosing the Hero” chronicles her (Madam Sirleaf’s) path to the Liberian presidency without mentioning the death and destruction of ordinary citizens and people of faith, including five American Catholic nuns from the U.S. state of Missouri that the path to the current Liberian presidency compromised along the way by the launch of the brutal 1989 invasion of Liberia.

The role of Ms. Levinson, who earns thousands of dollars (http://www.fara.gov/annualrpts.html) from the Sirleaf’s regime while Liberian children die from malnutrition and women die from childbirth and preventable diseases, is to promote the President as long as she and her public relations firm get paid from the coffers of a nation classified as under-developed and third world.

So, on Tuesday night, May 31, 2016, the President’s Washington, DC’s PR team arranged, at a hefty price from Liberia’s resources, a promotional forum cum ‘book’ signing event at the Politics & Prose bookstore in DC.  

The event drawn some of the best news reporters and bloggers, including Linda Davidson of The Washington Post to pen a narrative that would boost President Sirleaf’s image to the West and the international community in the midst of the Global Witness’s saga. Below is an excerpts from what seems to be a paid article penned by journalist Linda Davidson and published in the Washington Post:

“Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Washington on Monday. “My coming into leadership gave women much more of their own power,” she said. (Linda Davidson/the Washington Post). Ellen Johnson Sirleaf enters the room quietly.

“Madam President, would you like to sit here?” an aide asks, motioning to a love seat in the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown suite that is serving as a makeshift office for the Liberian leader.

At 77, she still holds herself rigidly upright, head adorned with a regal swirl of fabric. She is President of Liberia, a West African nation roughly the size of Tennessee, and one of the few madam Presidents the world has ever seen.

Elected to the office a decade ago as the first woman to lead an African nation’s government, Sirleaf finds herself “always a bit lonely” at meetings of the continent’s leaders.

“There is not another woman that you can huddle with and plan your strategies with, and certainly you can’t do what the men do,” she says, during an interview between a flurry of Washington meetings. “You’re not going to go out and have beer together – You keep saying, ‘Oh jeez, there are 30 of them, and I alone.’ ”

Her place as one of the few women to attain the presidency has given her a reach far beyond her nation’s 4.5 million citizens. In Liberia she is known as “The Iron Lady” or “Ma Ellen,” but across the globe, Sirleaf has become symbolic of the burgeoning ascendancy of African women, a legacy for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2011, along with two other female leaders.”

At the reading, a man asked Sirleaf what she would tell the next US President when “he takes office.”

“She!” shouted the bookish audience, booing his use of the male pronoun.

Naturally, Sirleaf is interested in the possibility of a woman taking the helm of the most powerful nation in the world.”

While the Davidson’s promotional article about the Liberian President is well-written, it is intriguing and full of few inaccuracies. First and foremost, President Sirleaf is not the first woman head of state in Liberia or Africa.  

In the mid-1990s, Madam Ruth Sando-Perry became Liberia’s and Africa’s first female head of state.  Secondly, President Sirleaf was not given a Nobel Peace Prize because she truly ‘deserves’ it in the actual meaning of the word; it seems to have been given to her, we believe, because her international PR teams in D.C. and Europe did everything to ensure she got that and other accolades.  

If anything, President George W. Bush supposed to be the person to get the Nobel Peace Prize for Liberia because he forced warlord Taylor, a Sirleaf’s surrogate, out of power for Liberians to have peace and security, and for Liberian refugees, including Madam Sirleaf who was in exile in the Ivory Coast, and other refugees to return home.  

In addition, the President Sirleaf’s assertion: “My coming into leadership gave women much more of their own power” is unrealistic and questionable.  

Most women and young people in Liberia strongly believe today that the biggest error Liberians have ever made was voting for Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to become President of Liberia.  This is proven by the level of unpopularity the President has among Liberians of all walks of life in and out of the country.

Students loathe her. Market women, young girls and rural inhabitants have their regrets.  Marginalized urban and rural communities cannot stand her.  

Further proof is, if the President was that popular and liked in Liberia, her beloved son, Robert Sirleaf, would have won the 2014 senatorial election for Montserrado County. Unpopularity has weakened the President who likes to come across as ‘fearless,’ ‘dynamic’ and ‘strong.’

If the President views herself as a very strong and fearless ruler, she has to understand and realize that even the powerful Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, the influential Queen of Sheba and many more knew that no matter how fearless and powerful they were, the need to fear God was a necessitate.   

As such, instead of the President spending millions of dollars on international PR just to make her look good in the eyes of men and women, she is encouraged to fear God and love her fellow human beings, especially Liberians.  

At age 77 going on to 80, what fame does the President want for which she is bent on polishing a global persona when 80% (according to Child Fund) and 60% (according to the UN-WFP) of Liberians live below the poverty line?

Considering all that we know and the distrust we hold for the current corrupt Liberian legislature which has an indicted/accused speaker that sell votes and pass laws for cash, Liberians should rise and oppose any passage or approval of the so-called U.S.$10 million dollars loan agreement requested by the President.

After 11 years of doom and failure, if the President is really serious about a better Liberia and jobs for Liberian youth, she needs to demonstrate to Liberians that she is not only willing to listen, but ready to put in place the relevant technical team with vast knowledge and experience in job creation, workforce development, and small business establishment’s policies.  

The President can begin this process by making Liberia a business friendly nation, by reducing taxes and tariff, by halting corruption, undue cronyism, and influence peddling, etc. The first step must include ensuring that every Liberian government’s employee undergoes on-the-job customer service training, and that our international airport (The Robert International Airport) becomes modernize since it is the nation’s gateway.

All that is required to modernize the airport is to chase after those who have stolen the airport revitalization project’s funds, get rid of selective and artificial contracting arrangements and hold contractors and the project team fully accountable.

Doing all of these things does not and should not require borrowing any loan by the Liberian government.  All it requires is a genuine leadership similar to what is being provided by Rwanda’s President comrade Paul Kagame, a true African leader.

About the Author:
Jones Nhinson Williams, a Catholic educated philosopher and an American trained public policy professional, who initially studied for the Catholic priesthood has since 2003, devoted his life, work and passion to issues of corruption, poverty, refugee flow and forced migration, the environment, job creation and governance, and the rule of law in Africa.  He can be reached at jnw5050@gmail.com

Even if we try to sugar-coat it, the truth is, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s administration is a failure. No doubt about that. So is the entire ruling Unity Party’s government and all those who served and are serving in the current Liberian administration.

Does this failure impact President Sirleaf’s legacy? Of course, it does in many different respects, even though the sycophants, praise-singers, graft beneficiaries and deceptive cohorts in her administration will say otherwise. Not for the President’s benefit, but for their own endgame.  However, the failure of the Sirleaf’s administration is not the only truth when one looks at why Liberia is an international mockery and a depreciating nation with massive poverty, high unemployment, threatening physical and food insecurity, and worsening healthcare and educational sectors.

The second truth is, President Sirleaf is somehow a good person and to some extent, she did some things with the best of intent and the interest of Liberia at heart.  However, she is entangled in a system that is, unfortunately, packed with white collar and petit criminals, indecent characters, traitors and deceptive personalities.  

Sadly, many of these individuals are our lawmakers, policy makers, bureaucrats and influence peddlers.  These questionable personalities have not helped the President at all. Thus, facilitating her failure as leader of Liberia to a larger extent.  Our President would not have failed this miserably if we had many people of reputable characters, integrity, vision and patriotism serving as our lawmakers, policy makers, officials and bureaucrats.

The case of bad characters serving as leaders and members of the legislature is one significant reason why every Liberian should take some responsibility for the fiasco in our land today.  If various constituencies did not elect and re-elect some of the goons we have as lawmakers, there is no way President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf would have failed this miserably.  And, for the record, there are some very good lawmakers in both the Liberian senate and House of Representatives, but that number is overshadowed, out-shined and relegated to silence by the majority and powerful brutes and criminal minds therein.

The third truth is, we have a very weak and disingenuous group of people serving with the President in the Executive Branch of government.  The President does not run the various ministries and autonomous agencies. She appoints Liberians to run these portfolios.  Instead of managing and running the affairs of these domains, these appointees elect to demonstrate poor judgment and bad characters by engaging in unwholesome activities.  

This is why it would be absolutely unfair to only blame the President for the corruption and the failure of the government, particularly for all the funds and resources that were stolen at the ministries of agriculture; public works; finance; justice; health and social welfare; defense; information, culture and tourism; gender and children affairs; internal affairs; and at the various autonomous agencies such as the Forestry Development Authority, National Port Authority, National Oil Company of Liberia and more.

The fourth truth is, the President’s family, both immediate and extended, has not helped her at all.  While there is no law or taboo that prevents a President’s relatives and friends from playing a part in a nation’s political, social, cultural and economic life just because a family member is the head of state, the over-bearing visibility and uncontrolled activities of the clan not only undermined the capacity of our President, it also clouded her vision and threatened her sense of fairness while simultaneously creating an imbalance in her standing to govern with authority and decisiveness.

The fifth truth is, Liberia is not a royalty; we are a nation with a Presidential system of governance. Meaning, we have a President and vice President, both are elected on the same platform.  In Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the President and Joseph Nyuma Boakai is our vice President. If the administration succeeds, Vice President Boakai takes credit with President Sirleaf.  

For example, President Sirleaf, despite our policy differences with her, did extremely well in erasing Liberia’s mounting debts when she took office in 2006.  I am sure the vice President took credit with the President on this.  So why isn’t the vice President taking blame for the widespread corruption in various government agencies or in the entire administration?

Truth be told, we blame President Sirleaf for everything wrong in Liberia since 2006 simply because she is the President, and as such, the ball stops with her just like how she blamed past Presidents because they were the Presidents and the ball stopped with them at the time.  That said, it is our considered reflection that the vice President, within a course of almost twelve years, does not seem to have provided a typical and courageous leadership that would have helped in making Liberia and the Sirleaf’s administration more responsive, transparent, accountable, innovative, visionary and above all, better.

Does the vice President have any excuse(s) for this, especially in a time when he is asking Liberians to give him additional eight years to become President of a failed system that he is a part of?  And for the record, being an integral part of the Unity Party’s failed government does not mean Vice President Boakai is not a good and decent man, because by all accounts, he is an honorable person and a man of strong faith that many of us respect very highly.

However, what is at stake is that Liberians need to know the net effect of leaving from one failure to another potential failure within the course of two decades when our neighbors in the West African sub region are obviously departing from the 21st century to the 22nd century in terms of concrete socio-economic progress, infrastructural development, food security, information technology and more.

The vice President is not alone in this failed Unity Party’s administration’s alumni class.  A good number of folks who served in the administration, both as elected and appointed officials, need to answer similar questions, too. We understand many have or are resigning from the party and the government to jump ship with every conceivable excuse, putting all the failure on the President in hypocritical manners. Of course, this is the old Liberian way in doing politics. It happened to Tolbert, Doe and Taylor.

Even interim heads of state, such as Amos Claudius Sawyer, David Kpomakpor, Wilton Sankawolo, Ruth Sando Perry, and Gyude Bryant faced similar music.  People who served under them laid blames on them when power was long gone.  This too, could soon be the case with President Sirleaf when she leaves office.  

For now, they are all keeping their horses under control. No books or articles are written distancing themselves from the President and all the negative things. But come post 2017, Amazon.com will be packed with Liberian authors with many inside editions, then they will be exhibiting knowledge of the inner workings.  This is the deceit in our culture, and we have to stop it!

The sixth truth is, Liberia does not really have any determined and responsible historical opposition groups.  And by opposition, we do not mean having a political structure where a bunch of weirdos run around as supporters and officials, or where a recycled team of failed politicians seek unending comfort to justify their outlived usefulness. By opposition, we mean people who justify trust, credibility, honesty, integrity and transparency. Instead, we have opposition figures and their supporters acting disorderly, conniving and playing games with the Liberian people for the sake of money, power and undue influence.

Others only become opposition members or activists when they want jobs. Once appointed, they become praise-singers and sometimes some of them turned out to be corrupt as well.  It is also no surprise that some leading members of the Liberian opposition are beneficiaries of financial opportunities offered with the influence of the government.  

Liberia is the only country where the ruling government can influence contracts for leaders of opposition parties, and where leaders of the opposition can serve as business partners or legal counsels and more to the President and others in government.  These games are heartbreaking and it is sad that the lack of education makes our people vulnerable to these schemes.

Having said that, we believe these truths reveal why Liberia’s problems are far bigger than President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.  Does this mean we cannot change Liberia and make it a better nation? No, we can and we can do so by our vote and choice, beginning with the 2017’s Presidential and legislative elections.  Does this also mean that President Sirleaf cannot redeem her integrity and leave an optimistic legacy before leaving office in 2018? Of course, she can, but to do so there are few steps she has to take with immediate effect, and they are as follows:

The President must reassure Liberians that she is a person of character.   In Life, it does not matter what one’s position or title is, if he or she doesn’t do the right things for the right reasons, he or she will fail. History shows that leaders who failed to demonstrate a consistency of character do not create trust, engender confidence and foster real loyalty.

The President must clearly define and communicate her governance vision for the next 15 months.  If there appears to be a bad or no real vision, a flawed vision, or a poorly communicated vision, the blames and responsibility fall directly on the leader, and in this case, it would be the President.  In addition, the President has to make sure that her vision is in alignment with meaningful values, such as honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness, equality, and the rule of law.

The President has to rebrand herself, not to the international community and partners, but to Liberians in and out of the country. Poor branding, as the President has done by relying heavily on international public relations firms in Washington, D.C., New York, Europe, and in other capitals, generally means continuing the failure.  

This also means the President must not abdicate her duties and responsibilities as the leader of all Liberians.  She must deliver on her promises going forward. One example would be ensuring that all those caught or mentioned in the Sable’s corruption triangle and all other past corrupt acts since 2006 face the law without fear or favor.

The President must focus on and ensure that plans and programs are executed.  Ensuring certainty of execution is vital to the success of any leadership. So instead of playing political games or getting bucked down to tricks, the President must start an honest attempt at reconciling Liberians by engaging all sectors and peoples.  Reconciliation is key to bringing Liberians together.

The President must do everything to avoid maintaining poor managers or officials as she moves to reshape her legacy. She must begin to look outside of the box of loyalty and enmity and bring to the table others with vision, expertise and the patriotism to move Liberia forward.  

If the current management team is not getting the job done, it is not the management team’s problem, it becomes the fault of the leadership––the President.  Liberia and Liberians need private sector jobs, and this must be the President’s focus until she leaves office.  Policy wise, we can help her with this, if she so desire.

Instead of relying on poor and self-centered professional advice from inner circles, the President must seek out the best quality advice available to her, near and afar, so that she can make the best decisions.  Reasons being, when a leader refuses to seek the best quality advice, he or she is normally operating within the limitations of their own thinking.

The President must focus on innovation and alternative industries’ development, workforce development, wealth and small business creation rather than a sole reliance on extractive industries.  Leaders are effective when they focus on and create a culture of innovation.  This, again, we can volunteer our expertise and services pro bono to assist if the President is willing.

By empowering Liberians to innovate and establish small businesses that will create jobs and wealth as the President prepares to leave office, it means the President will be forging a renewed interpretation of her legacy, which for now, has been tainted by widespread corruption and Ebola.  Thus, contradicting the illusion by her information ministry’s officials that “her legacy is carved in stones.”

While we believe that the problems in Liberia are bigger than President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, we also vehemently believe that she can and must rebrand her legacy within the scope of the time she has left in office. The starting point would be, the President must listen to unusual voices, mainly those from outside her comfort zone and orbit.  

At the moment, Liberia is going through a dramatic change, one which demands equally dramatic transformation in the Liberian government.  Failure to actively and honestly lead our country through these changes would be catastrophic. And the President ought not to do that for the good of Liberia and all Liberians.

About The Author:
Jones Nhinson Williams is a Catholic educated philosopher and American trained public professional. Williams, who initially studied for the Catholic priesthood, has since 2003, devoted his life, work and passion to issues of poverty, refugee flow and forced migration, corruption, the environment, employment and job creation, governance, and the rule of law in Africa. He can be reached at: jnw5050@gmail.com