The disgraceful happenings in Zimbabwe with Robert Mugabe continue to pick on my consciousness. The delay on the part of African leaders to condemn this man is appalling and insane. The unstoppable mayhem in other parts of Africa that has taken forever to twig the nerves of Africa's leaders continues to amaze me...and I am mad as hell:
Robert Mugabe has forced his people to go to the polls against their wishes and the wish of the international community. He is twigging his nose at all those in power, especially in Africa. We wait to see those who will point accusing fingers at him at the African Union Summit in Egypt this week.
Mr. Mugabe's logic is that since most of Africa's leaders refuse to give up power, he saw no reason why he, the poster boy, should give up his rule when he has not completed his term of office or has been voted out of power.
Is Mugabe saying that no leader of Africa has the guts to ask him to step down seeing the gravity in the lifestyle of the people of Zimbabwe the agony they are going through both at home and outside it? Is Mugabe telling the world that the Presidential Club in Africa has swore and is bent on seeing the people of Africa suffer forever and ever? Is Mugabe, in his last days on earth, letting the secret of Africa's presidential detente out of the bag?
There was the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Let's call it the organization that kept African leaders in power for ever. Some cases in point: William V.S. Tubman of Liberia; Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea; and Kwame N'Krumah of Ghana. The three sat in a dusty town of Sanniquellie deep in Nimba County, Liberia, and proposed the OAU. The rest of the leaders of Africa agreed to this farce and that organization was born.
Tubman remained in power until death. Sekou Toure remained in power until his death. Our man from Ghana would have been in power today had he not been overthrown by his country's military! What benefits did the Liberian people get from being part of the OAU? One benefit I can think about is this: No Africa country, not even Liberia, should interfere in the internal affairs of another African country. From such well-written agreement, Tubman, Toure and N'Krumah and the rest of the pack were sure to remain in power until hell froze over. If you think I am lying, check out all the African leaders that came into being after the old boys had gone. Conte of Guniea is still hanging in there with a dialysis machine attached to his side.
The OAU has changed to African Union (AU). From the OAU, they have now shortened this acronym to AU. Let's be real here. Isn't this just new wine in an old barrel or old wine in a new barrel? What I realize is that to keep this phenomenon going, the majority of Africa's people must remain illiterate. The more people are illiterate, the more likelihood they would remain at the mercy of the educated.
The Case of Liberia
The majority of the people of Liberia were kept in literacy - darkness for as long as possible - 133 years, give and take. Those in power made sure their offspring got well educated to perpetuate the governing of the state. In order not to be seen to be cruel, wicked and unmindful of the needs of the people, a few lucky ones among the indigenous were chosen and educated through the master-servant setup. It worked but not to the benefit of the country - masses. For today, the Government of Liberia is importing auditors from Ghana and Zambia to do what Liberians should be doing, even after a civil war.
The African Scenario
The world's second largest continent is the least developed. Every other continent is doing better than Africa. We cannot protect our people from our wicked leaders. Check out Sudan. Darfur is an eyesore to the whole of Africa. Look at the Congo. Uganda has been at war since Idi Amin ran away. Somalia is a no-man's land. Listen to the man in The Gambia. By looking at a victim and uttering unintelligible pronouncements, the President of that country can cure HIV/AIDS. What a joke!
Look at South Africa. Even after Mandela, the people of South Africa continue to struggle for black supremacy. The black population has been relegated to townships with little or no amenities; they live in dirt and squalor. Universities in South Africa are still segregated. South Africa leads in frequency of crime upsurge in the world. The country appears to be sitting on time bomb; even worse than what we see in Zimbabwe. This is simply because foreigners have forcefully taken over the land of the indigenes. The dumb policy of seeing wicked things happen and not being able to raise a voice is highly depressing. It leads to sudden and uncontrollable upsurge of civil upheaval.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is now telling African leaders to commit themselves to term limit as they seek the presidency of their countries. It is a big shame that it has to go this far before the people can finally understand that the OUA or AU was never and has never been in the interest of the people. African leaders set this thing up to keep themselves in power indefinitely.
New Breed of Leaders
The next rung of the ladder to Africa's future must be put together by a new breed of African leaders. These leaders must be prepared to see green and call it green, unlike the attitude of their forebears.
The new leaders must see the need to obviate any future upheavals such as what discerning political observers foresee in South Africa and in other places on the continent.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Crisis In Zimbabwe, Etc.
A myriad of things are going on in Liberia and in the minds of Liberians world-wide. The situation in Zimbabwe is shameful and uncivilized. I had to say something:
I will start this letter by asking: What's up Liberia? What's up Liberians? What are we complaining about now? Here are some of what I've been hearing around town:
Mr James Hunder gave a statement at the TRC hearing here in America. As an SSS officer at the Executive Mansion he was assigned to the Post Stockade at BTC in Monrovia after the coup of 1980. Mr Hunder revealed that he was there when General Wehsen and others were killed. He talked about how traumatized he was when these people were killed right before his eyes. As an SSS officer, Mr Hunder also revealed that he used to take messages written on toilet papers from AB Tolbert to some of AB's friends. Mr Hunder was attending one of those errands when he came back to the prison to find out that AB Tolbert and others had been taken away and butchered.
I would be so scared carrying messages from one person to another if I knew that as an SSS officer, I was being watched by members of the People's Redemption Council, who, like Joseph and the new Pharaoh in the Bible, did not know me. I believe Mr Hunder, but many others have doubts about his testimonies. Some are asking: How did Mr Hunder know that AB and others were killed in Schefflin and buried in unmarked graves? Skeptics never sleep!
Another revealing thing at the TRC was a statement given by the American Ambassador, Mr Cohen. Mr Cohen talked about how Prince Johnson was "wild and incoherent" during the period of the civil war when President Doe wanted all his Krahn soldiers to leave the country through the Liberia-Sierra Leone border. Personally, I feel that it is wrong for any President of Liberia to take his entire tribal group out of the country, especially so if the president is supposed to be for all Liberians. Why would Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf want to take the whole of Montserrado County and Gbarpolu County to Ivory Coast after she leaves office?
For his part, Prince Johnson is so mad by the statement of Mr Cohen that he, Senator Johnson, has threatened to expose and tell everything that happened, especially the roles America played in Liberia's civil war. Won't that be wonderful? We have all heard the rumors and they-say about the parts Uncle Sam played to bring us where we are today. Like Ross Perot, I am all ears to hear the Senator from Nimba County. But again, America is our mentor. Liberians love America like nobody business. In the end, with Liberians so in love with America, we can only sit and say: Dat som there. Again, what can water do with rock?
Maybe, not everyone is complaining about the situation in Zimbabwe. I am, and I want Liberia to take a stand. I want Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who has an Award for Freedom, to take a stand for freedom in Zimbabwe. Liberia should condemn President Robert Mugabe in no uncertain terms and call on the International Community to bar this crazy man from traveling outside of the country. If Robert Mugabe is saying that only God can take the presidency from him, then all God-fearing nations of the world should get together and march an army into Zimbabwe and cage this mad, 82-year old tyrant. This is where George W Bush comes in handy.
Lastly, Liberians in America are very skeptical about the security situation in their home land. Besides the police stopping some of us for speeding, we are not used to Senators instigating the massacre of their own people. Senators are law makers and should be law keepers. It is just inconceivable to think that those who are clothed to protect are the ones finding great pleasure in the demise of the innocent.
I remember when armed robbers, on a weekly basis, faced firing squads after the Nigerian civil war and when military coups were a yearly past time for Nigerians. I know people are doing everything to prove that the government of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is out to kill the Liberian people. Senators and armed robbers who are found guilty of their crimes must be given a new home at a new Belle Yalla some where in the Sapo National Forest. This government should not be the one to spill the blood of any Liberian for the six or twelve years of its reign. The temptation to kill those who find pleasure killing others is all over the place. Unity Party must not take the bait. All death penalties must be commuted to life imprisonment. After the killing of 200,000 of our people, it is time that we give ourselves a break.
It is good to know that we are now 3.5 Million people. All during my high school years and many others to follow, our population was always 2.5 Million. I wish the census had asked each household how many family members were killed during the civil war. That would have given something close to the actual number of Liberian lost during our years of destruction and mayhem. Those counties that are least developed need to be given priority. To have a million or so people in Montserrado County, especially in Monrovia, is insane. As serious focus is given to Maryland or Grand Kru or River Gee, people will begin to migrate out of Monrovia. Stealing and armed robberies could be highly reduced.
I will start this letter by asking: What's up Liberia? What's up Liberians? What are we complaining about now? Here are some of what I've been hearing around town:
Mr James Hunder gave a statement at the TRC hearing here in America. As an SSS officer at the Executive Mansion he was assigned to the Post Stockade at BTC in Monrovia after the coup of 1980. Mr Hunder revealed that he was there when General Wehsen and others were killed. He talked about how traumatized he was when these people were killed right before his eyes. As an SSS officer, Mr Hunder also revealed that he used to take messages written on toilet papers from AB Tolbert to some of AB's friends. Mr Hunder was attending one of those errands when he came back to the prison to find out that AB Tolbert and others had been taken away and butchered.
I would be so scared carrying messages from one person to another if I knew that as an SSS officer, I was being watched by members of the People's Redemption Council, who, like Joseph and the new Pharaoh in the Bible, did not know me. I believe Mr Hunder, but many others have doubts about his testimonies. Some are asking: How did Mr Hunder know that AB and others were killed in Schefflin and buried in unmarked graves? Skeptics never sleep!
Another revealing thing at the TRC was a statement given by the American Ambassador, Mr Cohen. Mr Cohen talked about how Prince Johnson was "wild and incoherent" during the period of the civil war when President Doe wanted all his Krahn soldiers to leave the country through the Liberia-Sierra Leone border. Personally, I feel that it is wrong for any President of Liberia to take his entire tribal group out of the country, especially so if the president is supposed to be for all Liberians. Why would Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf want to take the whole of Montserrado County and Gbarpolu County to Ivory Coast after she leaves office?
For his part, Prince Johnson is so mad by the statement of Mr Cohen that he, Senator Johnson, has threatened to expose and tell everything that happened, especially the roles America played in Liberia's civil war. Won't that be wonderful? We have all heard the rumors and they-say about the parts Uncle Sam played to bring us where we are today. Like Ross Perot, I am all ears to hear the Senator from Nimba County. But again, America is our mentor. Liberians love America like nobody business. In the end, with Liberians so in love with America, we can only sit and say: Dat som there. Again, what can water do with rock?
Maybe, not everyone is complaining about the situation in Zimbabwe. I am, and I want Liberia to take a stand. I want Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who has an Award for Freedom, to take a stand for freedom in Zimbabwe. Liberia should condemn President Robert Mugabe in no uncertain terms and call on the International Community to bar this crazy man from traveling outside of the country. If Robert Mugabe is saying that only God can take the presidency from him, then all God-fearing nations of the world should get together and march an army into Zimbabwe and cage this mad, 82-year old tyrant. This is where George W Bush comes in handy.
Lastly, Liberians in America are very skeptical about the security situation in their home land. Besides the police stopping some of us for speeding, we are not used to Senators instigating the massacre of their own people. Senators are law makers and should be law keepers. It is just inconceivable to think that those who are clothed to protect are the ones finding great pleasure in the demise of the innocent.
I remember when armed robbers, on a weekly basis, faced firing squads after the Nigerian civil war and when military coups were a yearly past time for Nigerians. I know people are doing everything to prove that the government of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is out to kill the Liberian people. Senators and armed robbers who are found guilty of their crimes must be given a new home at a new Belle Yalla some where in the Sapo National Forest. This government should not be the one to spill the blood of any Liberian for the six or twelve years of its reign. The temptation to kill those who find pleasure killing others is all over the place. Unity Party must not take the bait. All death penalties must be commuted to life imprisonment. After the killing of 200,000 of our people, it is time that we give ourselves a break.
It is good to know that we are now 3.5 Million people. All during my high school years and many others to follow, our population was always 2.5 Million. I wish the census had asked each household how many family members were killed during the civil war. That would have given something close to the actual number of Liberian lost during our years of destruction and mayhem. Those counties that are least developed need to be given priority. To have a million or so people in Montserrado County, especially in Monrovia, is insane. As serious focus is given to Maryland or Grand Kru or River Gee, people will begin to migrate out of Monrovia. Stealing and armed robberies could be highly reduced.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Life's Starnge Happenings
The country from which I originated seems to be going downhill every day of my adult life. This has weighed me down with great and considerable dismay. The death of 14 individuals on the account of a land dispute has given my mind a task to perform for Liberia:
After 14 years of civil war, most Liberians would think that the killings and mistreatment of their fellow citizens ended when the Peace Accord was signed in Accra, Ghana some years ago. Most Liberians would think that after the country's traumatized people voted war lords and rebel leaders into power, these blood-thirsty individuals would reevaluate their past and thank God that they are in Monrovia and not in the Hague, where the big, big boss presently resides.
My heart is broken to hear that so many people were massacred in Kakata for land business. And to know that the person behind this grotesque act is a Senator, causes chills of despair over my entire being. The entire nation should be outraged, especially now that it is clear to all that mass killings and other acts of brutality ended when the people of Liberia decided to elect their leaders instead of power-hungry individuals imposing their will on them.
I am very depressed and it is just incomprehensible for any normal person to lay their hand on any good reason why rebel leaders were elected Senators and Representatives of Liberia. I thought the days of "you know who I am?" was over. I thought the elections of 2005 were held so that law and order would prevail in a country that had heard all and seen all. I thought rebel leaders who were given a second chance would consider their past wicked ways and change for the general good of society. I thought rebel leaders and war lords had washed their hands clean of the blood of innocent Liberians. I thought war lords and rebel leaders now Senators and Representatives would be calling for peace and reconciliation every day of their remaining days on this earth, especially after what they have done to their own people. O how mistaken I continue to be!
The elimination of 14 innocent Liberians whose only crime was trying to make a decent living, sends an ominous message to the many who plan to come to Liberia to do business to help relief the struggling masses. And the sickening thing about this whole episode is that the perpetrator is a man who is supposed to be making laws to govern the country.
There is something strange about this world that I am still trying to figure out: We are taught to love God with all out hearts and minds and to love our neighbors like we love ourselves. Yet, with all that nice teaching banged into our heads by our pastors and parents, we turn right around and massacre as many of our neighbors as we can...with little or no regret whatsoever. It is just amazing how killing is so easy for so many. Where do we all end up when it all said and done? I wonder where will General "Bush Shaking" go when he finally leaves this world. Will someone else pick up the tab for General "Snake in the grass" when he is no more? At 82, will Mugabe of Zimbabwe continue to be pampered by African leaders until he has killed half of his people who no longer support him?
Life's strange happenings continue to amaze me.
After 14 years of civil war, most Liberians would think that the killings and mistreatment of their fellow citizens ended when the Peace Accord was signed in Accra, Ghana some years ago. Most Liberians would think that after the country's traumatized people voted war lords and rebel leaders into power, these blood-thirsty individuals would reevaluate their past and thank God that they are in Monrovia and not in the Hague, where the big, big boss presently resides.
My heart is broken to hear that so many people were massacred in Kakata for land business. And to know that the person behind this grotesque act is a Senator, causes chills of despair over my entire being. The entire nation should be outraged, especially now that it is clear to all that mass killings and other acts of brutality ended when the people of Liberia decided to elect their leaders instead of power-hungry individuals imposing their will on them.
I am very depressed and it is just incomprehensible for any normal person to lay their hand on any good reason why rebel leaders were elected Senators and Representatives of Liberia. I thought the days of "you know who I am?" was over. I thought the elections of 2005 were held so that law and order would prevail in a country that had heard all and seen all. I thought rebel leaders who were given a second chance would consider their past wicked ways and change for the general good of society. I thought rebel leaders and war lords had washed their hands clean of the blood of innocent Liberians. I thought war lords and rebel leaders now Senators and Representatives would be calling for peace and reconciliation every day of their remaining days on this earth, especially after what they have done to their own people. O how mistaken I continue to be!
The elimination of 14 innocent Liberians whose only crime was trying to make a decent living, sends an ominous message to the many who plan to come to Liberia to do business to help relief the struggling masses. And the sickening thing about this whole episode is that the perpetrator is a man who is supposed to be making laws to govern the country.
There is something strange about this world that I am still trying to figure out: We are taught to love God with all out hearts and minds and to love our neighbors like we love ourselves. Yet, with all that nice teaching banged into our heads by our pastors and parents, we turn right around and massacre as many of our neighbors as we can...with little or no regret whatsoever. It is just amazing how killing is so easy for so many. Where do we all end up when it all said and done? I wonder where will General "Bush Shaking" go when he finally leaves this world. Will someone else pick up the tab for General "Snake in the grass" when he is no more? At 82, will Mugabe of Zimbabwe continue to be pampered by African leaders until he has killed half of his people who no longer support him?
Life's strange happenings continue to amaze me.
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