When I used to work for Firestone the rumor was that Firestone had a lot of government officials on its payroll. It was difficult for us to prove it, but a lot of times we would see government officials in government cars or their private vehicles getting gas from the Firestone gas station in Harbel. It was a shameful, disgraceful, and embarrassing thing to see cars belonging to the government of Liberia being issued gas from a company that paid taxes to said government.
It became more apparent that those who were supposed to protect the Liberian workers were themselves sucking the life out of companies that hired Liberians.There was no time that I can remember the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Liberia giving credence to any of the many grievances we had against Firestone. Government officials would always remind us to be grateful to Firestone for hiring us. With dried faces, these officials of government would tell us that we were lucky because as staff members of Firestone we made more money than those who worked for the government and so had no reasons to complain. What a group of protectors!
I wished then that these officials knew how hard we worked for Firestone, especially those of us who worked in production. All we wanted was for the company to treat us Liberians fairly. We could not use the assigned vehicles off the plantation after work, but few other Liberians and most of the expatriates could carry their assigned vehicles anywhere they wanted. We wanted the company to purchase vehicles for us and deduct the amounts from our monthly salaries. For the twelve years I worked for Firestone, this dream was never realized. All we did was to swallow our frustration and continue to work.
The news that government officials of Grand Bassa County are on the payroll of LAC is so disgraceful. How do you negotiate fairly with a company that gives you a monthly salary and a few bags of rice? How does the president feel about the war on corruption when those she believes in are undermining her every effort? What do Liberians need to do to end the corruption that continues to make us shame and petty?
With such transparent documentary evidence from LAC, those involved should disgracefully resign and apologize to the workers of LAC and the people of Liberia. And to those government officials on the payrolls of Firestone and Guthrie and Cocopa, just come out of the closet and expose the dee-de-ba.
Like we wonder in Liberia: Ey man, my people, what time your will stop this shameful behavior.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Cherishing America's Friendship
I am very, very happy that President George W Bush and his wife, Laura, along with Condi Rice are visiting Liberia. I know the people of Liberia are also happy to receive the President and his entourage.
In the 90s, the poor reception given the American soldiers by the Somali people in Mogadishu had a devastating effect on the people of Rwanda and the people of Liberia. President Clinton, who was President of the United States then, washed his hands off Africa as genocide took over Rwanda and a massive killing-spree over took Liberia. I also understand that during that same period, Jesse Jackson and Pat Robertson, both men of God, besides hugging Charles Taylor, were negotiating for diamond and gold mines in Liberia, a country at war.
The friendship between Liberia and America has been a bitter-sweet one. Most Liberians would blame America for Liberia's myriad problems. If Liberians were to look at our Constitution before 1980, they would notice that it was written word for word from the Constitution of the United States. The Pledge of Allegiance of both countries is almost identical. Look at the flags of both countries. Liberians somehow wanted to emulate everything American.
America was not the first country to recognize Liberia's Independence, but America has always been there for us. From my own perspective, America would love to do a lot more for Liberia, but our leaders over the years have let the country and people down. Like President Bush just said in Tanzania, America is tired of giving money to countries whose leaders are continuously bent on stealing and using the money for themselves. Liberia's past leaders loved America's Constitution and Flag and Pledge of Allegiance. However, these leaders of Liberia did nothing for their people and country with all of the money America gave.
For 133 years, Monrovia was Liberia. Everything was done in Monrovia: All of the money America gave us was spent in Monrovia and by just 5 % of the population. This small group of the population felt very good that 95% of the country's people were disenfranchised. Today, Liberia lacks Medical Doctors, Engineers, Nurses, etc., etc. Because the leaders of our country failed us by not investing in us, the country is now scrambling for what it did not invest in.
As George Bush comes to Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf needs to promise him that every cent given or promised Liberia will be used for the benefit of all Liberians in every part of the country. America is tired of giving money to countries whose leaders are just waiting to use that money for themselves and their families. Tell Mr Bush, Madam President, that the days are gone when Liberia was just Monrovia and that Liberia is moving in a direction where all its people are considered one people.
If Liberia keeps her promise to the American people, the United States of America will forever remain Liberia's best friend. If Liberia will stop paying lip service to the Flag and Pledge of allegiance and the Constitution of the United States and inculcate the good ideals of this great nation, Liberians will have no qualms whatsoever when it comes to America's friendship.
In the 90s, the poor reception given the American soldiers by the Somali people in Mogadishu had a devastating effect on the people of Rwanda and the people of Liberia. President Clinton, who was President of the United States then, washed his hands off Africa as genocide took over Rwanda and a massive killing-spree over took Liberia. I also understand that during that same period, Jesse Jackson and Pat Robertson, both men of God, besides hugging Charles Taylor, were negotiating for diamond and gold mines in Liberia, a country at war.
The friendship between Liberia and America has been a bitter-sweet one. Most Liberians would blame America for Liberia's myriad problems. If Liberians were to look at our Constitution before 1980, they would notice that it was written word for word from the Constitution of the United States. The Pledge of Allegiance of both countries is almost identical. Look at the flags of both countries. Liberians somehow wanted to emulate everything American.
America was not the first country to recognize Liberia's Independence, but America has always been there for us. From my own perspective, America would love to do a lot more for Liberia, but our leaders over the years have let the country and people down. Like President Bush just said in Tanzania, America is tired of giving money to countries whose leaders are continuously bent on stealing and using the money for themselves. Liberia's past leaders loved America's Constitution and Flag and Pledge of Allegiance. However, these leaders of Liberia did nothing for their people and country with all of the money America gave.
For 133 years, Monrovia was Liberia. Everything was done in Monrovia: All of the money America gave us was spent in Monrovia and by just 5 % of the population. This small group of the population felt very good that 95% of the country's people were disenfranchised. Today, Liberia lacks Medical Doctors, Engineers, Nurses, etc., etc. Because the leaders of our country failed us by not investing in us, the country is now scrambling for what it did not invest in.
As George Bush comes to Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf needs to promise him that every cent given or promised Liberia will be used for the benefit of all Liberians in every part of the country. America is tired of giving money to countries whose leaders are just waiting to use that money for themselves and their families. Tell Mr Bush, Madam President, that the days are gone when Liberia was just Monrovia and that Liberia is moving in a direction where all its people are considered one people.
If Liberia keeps her promise to the American people, the United States of America will forever remain Liberia's best friend. If Liberia will stop paying lip service to the Flag and Pledge of allegiance and the Constitution of the United States and inculcate the good ideals of this great nation, Liberians will have no qualms whatsoever when it comes to America's friendship.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Tom Woewiyu's "Just War"
You know, when the civil war in Liberia first started in December of 1989, Tom Woewiyu, a guy who seems to love writing presidents, should have remained in Philadelphia or Buchanan and prepared himself to write Taylor or the many who became presidents of Liberia in a short span of12 years. He did not do that. Instead, he joined the band wagon of killers for the gravy he saw profusely leaking from it. He recruited young people and made them killing machines. These young human-killing machines did well for Mr Woewiyu and his "just war" agents. When the smoke finally cleared after 14 years, Liberia was a ghost town and 200,000 or more of our people were dead.
I feel terribly eerie living every day with a man like this. Imagine Hitler and the surviving Jews living side by side and competing for space on the same World Wide Web. I think it is time for some people to jump off bridges or fall on swords or voluntarily walk into the office of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and spill their guts.
I am signing off on this eerie and nightmarish dialogue, because every time I imagine the atrocities committed against our people, I get sick in the stomach. But before I do, I want to make one observation: apparently, the threat to demolish the Mansion in Monrovia, to many, sounds more scarier that the threat to bomb and eliminate an entire county and people. The latter scenario, to me, sounded then like genocide in the making.
It's time for war lords of all persuasions to stop the logical and civilized suggestions and start talking to the Liberia people about the crimes committed against them and the country... for 14 long years.
Cooper Kweme
I feel terribly eerie living every day with a man like this. Imagine Hitler and the surviving Jews living side by side and competing for space on the same World Wide Web. I think it is time for some people to jump off bridges or fall on swords or voluntarily walk into the office of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and spill their guts.
I am signing off on this eerie and nightmarish dialogue, because every time I imagine the atrocities committed against our people, I get sick in the stomach. But before I do, I want to make one observation: apparently, the threat to demolish the Mansion in Monrovia, to many, sounds more scarier that the threat to bomb and eliminate an entire county and people. The latter scenario, to me, sounded then like genocide in the making.
It's time for war lords of all persuasions to stop the logical and civilized suggestions and start talking to the Liberia people about the crimes committed against them and the country... for 14 long years.
Cooper Kweme
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Saying No To Another War
“I am a sitting Senator. My people, the Nimba people, will resist any attempt by the TRC to forcibly have me appeared before it to explain circumstances in connection with Doe’s death.” This is a quote from the Senior Senator of Nimba County.
There is an eerie feeling and an ominous shadow that hover over me every time I think about those walking the halls of the Capitol Building in Monrovia. The rooms of these halls are occupied by war lords who committed or gave orders to others to commit despicable atrocities against their fellow Liberians. At the University of Liberia and perhaps Cuttington University are war lords going from class room to class room teaching those whose bothers and mothers and fathers were brutally mimed or killed and left for dead or buried in unknown graves. At the Executive Mansion, as has been confirmed by "General Butt Naked," are secret cells and tunnels where human sacrifices and many other strange occurrences happened. That is why I suggested a few years ago that the Mansion should become a museum. That place has had it share of bad governance and unspeakable human activities.
From every indication, Liberians are living in a land of ghosts and goblins begging for some closure to the unspeakable things that happened to them when they were alive; Liberians are living in a land of evil men and women, masquerading as repented Christians, changed Muslims, and enlightened animalists. These are people, some of whom a few years ago, played religious songs on guitars as dead bodies laid at their feet. How can we forget these things? How can the world of the 21st century forget the evils committed against ourselves?
The quote from the Senior Senator of Nimba County is sad and disingenuous. Why would the people of Nimba County have any problem with Prince Y Johnson explaining to the Liberian people all he knows about the war that has made that county a laughing stock of every Liberian? Wouldn't the Nimba people be happy to know what caused the split from NPFL to INPFL? Doesn't the Senior Senator have an obligation to make more history by going to the TRC and explaining to his people in Nimba and the country as a whole what moved him so passionately to be such a famous or infamous participant in our civil war? If I had the notoriety or compassion of the Field Marshall, I would not hesitate to tell the world the reason for such characterization. I would be happy to know that I was a Robin Hood to some and saddened by my caricature as an Idi Amin or Mobutu Sese Seku or a Charles Julu to many of my own people.
The people of Liberia are weary of war. We have had our share and are now looking forward for better days for our children and their children. Anyone who after 14 years of killing and destruction, will go around invoking the specter of war and trying to incite his people for a bale out is not doing the wise thing. I don't think the people of Lofa County will be coming into the streets of Monrovia to bale out Alhaji Kromah when he's asked to appear to testify to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I am extremely doubtful that the members of any county would want to resort to another war because of the inhuman activities of their son or daughter during those 14 years of nightmare.
Apparently, the greatest crime committed by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was her saying that the Mansion should be leveled. That statement seems to be the greatest evil that many are talking about. I don't know what was more scarier: The wiping out of a whole county or the demolition of one building. All of us have made some serious mistakes in our lives; all of us supported the civil war either morally or financially. In the deepest crevices of our minds we agonize over the fact that something went terrible wrong during the excitement of our various celebrations as we welcomed change. Those who sat in halls across the United States to support Charles Taylor are hitting their heads against the wall, lamenting the results of their desire to change things in Liberia. Their regrets are a burden they will carry to their graves. No manner of prayers can wipe away the tears these supporters of war continue to share for the mayhem that resulted from the quick fix that should have been.
That is why all of us must make peace with each other. That is why we must give the TRC the chance to operate and do what it was mandated to do. That is why everyone who is called should be gladly willing to appear. Saber rattling and dragging your cutlasses on stones for sparks to be seen will not help the reconciliation process. War lords and foot soldiers must be given equal chance to tell their stories, no matter how gruesome and how Robin-Hood like their contributions were.
The final call in this whole saga will come when we all can embrace and ask each other for forgiveness. No matter how hurt we are, we have to do this if we genuinely want to move forward for the sake of Liberia and posterity. Another war is not an option. "You killed my ma, you killed my pa, I will vote for you" was a cry for help from a traumatized people. It was one of the most poignant and humiliating moments in the history of mankind when that song was sung and heard around the world. Those who benefited from such a song should drop their heads in utter shame.
There is an eerie feeling and an ominous shadow that hover over me every time I think about those walking the halls of the Capitol Building in Monrovia. The rooms of these halls are occupied by war lords who committed or gave orders to others to commit despicable atrocities against their fellow Liberians. At the University of Liberia and perhaps Cuttington University are war lords going from class room to class room teaching those whose bothers and mothers and fathers were brutally mimed or killed and left for dead or buried in unknown graves. At the Executive Mansion, as has been confirmed by "General Butt Naked," are secret cells and tunnels where human sacrifices and many other strange occurrences happened. That is why I suggested a few years ago that the Mansion should become a museum. That place has had it share of bad governance and unspeakable human activities.
From every indication, Liberians are living in a land of ghosts and goblins begging for some closure to the unspeakable things that happened to them when they were alive; Liberians are living in a land of evil men and women, masquerading as repented Christians, changed Muslims, and enlightened animalists. These are people, some of whom a few years ago, played religious songs on guitars as dead bodies laid at their feet. How can we forget these things? How can the world of the 21st century forget the evils committed against ourselves?
The quote from the Senior Senator of Nimba County is sad and disingenuous. Why would the people of Nimba County have any problem with Prince Y Johnson explaining to the Liberian people all he knows about the war that has made that county a laughing stock of every Liberian? Wouldn't the Nimba people be happy to know what caused the split from NPFL to INPFL? Doesn't the Senior Senator have an obligation to make more history by going to the TRC and explaining to his people in Nimba and the country as a whole what moved him so passionately to be such a famous or infamous participant in our civil war? If I had the notoriety or compassion of the Field Marshall, I would not hesitate to tell the world the reason for such characterization. I would be happy to know that I was a Robin Hood to some and saddened by my caricature as an Idi Amin or Mobutu Sese Seku or a Charles Julu to many of my own people.
The people of Liberia are weary of war. We have had our share and are now looking forward for better days for our children and their children. Anyone who after 14 years of killing and destruction, will go around invoking the specter of war and trying to incite his people for a bale out is not doing the wise thing. I don't think the people of Lofa County will be coming into the streets of Monrovia to bale out Alhaji Kromah when he's asked to appear to testify to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I am extremely doubtful that the members of any county would want to resort to another war because of the inhuman activities of their son or daughter during those 14 years of nightmare.
Apparently, the greatest crime committed by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was her saying that the Mansion should be leveled. That statement seems to be the greatest evil that many are talking about. I don't know what was more scarier: The wiping out of a whole county or the demolition of one building. All of us have made some serious mistakes in our lives; all of us supported the civil war either morally or financially. In the deepest crevices of our minds we agonize over the fact that something went terrible wrong during the excitement of our various celebrations as we welcomed change. Those who sat in halls across the United States to support Charles Taylor are hitting their heads against the wall, lamenting the results of their desire to change things in Liberia. Their regrets are a burden they will carry to their graves. No manner of prayers can wipe away the tears these supporters of war continue to share for the mayhem that resulted from the quick fix that should have been.
That is why all of us must make peace with each other. That is why we must give the TRC the chance to operate and do what it was mandated to do. That is why everyone who is called should be gladly willing to appear. Saber rattling and dragging your cutlasses on stones for sparks to be seen will not help the reconciliation process. War lords and foot soldiers must be given equal chance to tell their stories, no matter how gruesome and how Robin-Hood like their contributions were.
The final call in this whole saga will come when we all can embrace and ask each other for forgiveness. No matter how hurt we are, we have to do this if we genuinely want to move forward for the sake of Liberia and posterity. Another war is not an option. "You killed my ma, you killed my pa, I will vote for you" was a cry for help from a traumatized people. It was one of the most poignant and humiliating moments in the history of mankind when that song was sung and heard around the world. Those who benefited from such a song should drop their heads in utter shame.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Total and Genuine Reconciliation
Besides the high price of rice that majority of our people cannot afford and the lack of employment, is there any other reason why the people of Liberia would want to go back to fighting a war? After 14 years of complete destruction of our country and the loss of so many innocent lives, I am saddened to hear the Senior Senator of Nimba County invoking the specter of war.
One of the saddest moments in the history of Liberia was when the People poured into the streets of Monrovia singing their hearts out songs like this one: You killed my ma, you killed my pa, I will vote for you. I was sick in the stomach when I heard that song. That song, to me, was a reflection and desperation of a traumatized people. It was a song from a people who had given up on life and were holding on to any straw for survival. No normal human being should put their people through such a poignant and humiliating situation. Those who benefited from that song and were put into power showed no remorse whatsoever. They used that power to plunder, leaving the people destitute and the country a waste land. They used that power from that song for self aggrandizement and self promotion.
There is no question that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and many others supported the war financially. There is no question that Senator Prince Y Johnson was shown on a video tape with President Samuel Doe in one of the saddest scenes in photo journalism. There is no question that Alahaji Kromah and the rest of the war lords in Monrovia benefited big time from the chaos our country and people faced during those 14 years of hell. And there is no question that after the Hague, Charles Taylor will definitely face his share of questionings for the role he played in the killing of more than 200,000 of his own people in Liberia.
The Senator from Nimba County should not threaten the people of Liberia with another war. Alahaji Kromah and the rest of the big fish should not hesitate to explain their roles in the war to their people. We want to know why all of them did what they did. No one person is so indispensable that a people would want to sacrifice their lives again after they have been vilified and used by others to cause untold death and massive destruction to their own people and their country. The Liberian people are fed up with wars that promote individuals, leaving behind nothing but death, lot of enemies, and inexplicable reasons for such devastating escapades.
To hear the Senator from Nimba County saying that he would physically resist going to face the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, send chills down the spines of all peace loving people. For the sake of Liberia, Honorable Senator, please do not invoke fear and threats of another nightmare. If the family of Samuel Doe has reconciled with you, the family of Steven Konah of Bong Mines is still in mourning. That family's story is one of the many stories you have an obligation to talk about, if peace like a river is ever to come your way. Peace with God holds a place for you in heaven; peace with man paves the way to that heavenly bliss.
For all those involved in the destruction of Liberia and the killing of so many our our people, the call for reconciliation must be genuine and across the board. You cannot cherry pick or pick and choose who to reconcile with.
One of the saddest moments in the history of Liberia was when the People poured into the streets of Monrovia singing their hearts out songs like this one: You killed my ma, you killed my pa, I will vote for you. I was sick in the stomach when I heard that song. That song, to me, was a reflection and desperation of a traumatized people. It was a song from a people who had given up on life and were holding on to any straw for survival. No normal human being should put their people through such a poignant and humiliating situation. Those who benefited from that song and were put into power showed no remorse whatsoever. They used that power to plunder, leaving the people destitute and the country a waste land. They used that power from that song for self aggrandizement and self promotion.
There is no question that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and many others supported the war financially. There is no question that Senator Prince Y Johnson was shown on a video tape with President Samuel Doe in one of the saddest scenes in photo journalism. There is no question that Alahaji Kromah and the rest of the war lords in Monrovia benefited big time from the chaos our country and people faced during those 14 years of hell. And there is no question that after the Hague, Charles Taylor will definitely face his share of questionings for the role he played in the killing of more than 200,000 of his own people in Liberia.
The Senator from Nimba County should not threaten the people of Liberia with another war. Alahaji Kromah and the rest of the big fish should not hesitate to explain their roles in the war to their people. We want to know why all of them did what they did. No one person is so indispensable that a people would want to sacrifice their lives again after they have been vilified and used by others to cause untold death and massive destruction to their own people and their country. The Liberian people are fed up with wars that promote individuals, leaving behind nothing but death, lot of enemies, and inexplicable reasons for such devastating escapades.
To hear the Senator from Nimba County saying that he would physically resist going to face the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, send chills down the spines of all peace loving people. For the sake of Liberia, Honorable Senator, please do not invoke fear and threats of another nightmare. If the family of Samuel Doe has reconciled with you, the family of Steven Konah of Bong Mines is still in mourning. That family's story is one of the many stories you have an obligation to talk about, if peace like a river is ever to come your way. Peace with God holds a place for you in heaven; peace with man paves the way to that heavenly bliss.
For all those involved in the destruction of Liberia and the killing of so many our our people, the call for reconciliation must be genuine and across the board. You cannot cherry pick or pick and choose who to reconcile with.
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