FrontPageAfrica is my favorite Online magazine. It has landed on the ground in Liberia and now the people are going gaga about the print version now being produced there. The other news that some people tried to burn down the new facility of FrontPageAfrica, has me feeling a bit frustrated:
I am happy to hear that FrontPageAfrica now has a print version in Liberia. Imagine thirty pages of FrontPageAfrica news for the Liberian people. Wow! My happiness, though, is shattered by the news that some people decided to burn down the new facility at which this wonderful milestone is being carried out. Thank God the plan was miraculously foiled.
The elation being felt by your reading public is the same exhilirating feeling I felt in the 80s when the Daily Observer first hit the news stand. My wife and I almost went our separate ways whenever she forgot my paper at her office where my copy of the Observer was delivered. To end the bad blood, I instructed the carrier to deliver my copy of the Daily Observer to the Central Office mailroom in Harbel.
The office of the Daily Observer was shut down on many occasions during the period of military rule. Those shut downs really hurt those of us who depended on this publication for real news. To know that this new day in the country’s existence would produce people with the mentality of the 80s is indeed troubling. As I said when I first got introduced to the online version of FrontPageAfrica, your paper is my Liberian CNN. I hope the readers in Liberia will feel the same as they browse through those thirty pages of excellent news coverage.
There will always be obstacles as we all try to give a helping hand to the development of our country. Should we get discouraged, fold our hands, and do nothing? Should we be cowards, pack our bags and leave for another place that hardly knows us? The answer has to always be no. We must continue to follow our dreams and to do what is best for society, even with gasoline in plastic bags, tied to ropes.
Congratulations to FrontPageAfrica. Congratulations to the people of Liberia. In fact, as I am writing this piece, I am still going through the 92-page Sunday Edition of the Washington Post, a newspaper that had me looking funny when I was first introduced to it in 1990.
Let us all get on the FrontPageAfrica band wagon and help the government fight corruption.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A Personal Ordeal
Some food in Africa has to be fetched from trees, using all means necessary. When I was young I was led into an open brush where my male cousins confronted me with the idea that it was my turn to climb a palm tree and make available a bunch of palm nuts for the evening meal. My ordeal follows:
With a sharp spear attached to a stick and with a cutlass, boys and men climb the palm trees, using a very craftily made, locally manufactured rope or tree belt made from rattan. My older cousins constantly tried to force me to carry out this dangerous feat of climbing a tree palm nut tree. I always refused, for I felt it was dangerous and might get injured, even though I admire greatly what they were able to do with that rope made from rattan.
My cousins, who were older than I was, were very persistent. I too was adamant not to succumb to their wits and strange ideas. You see, I was born in Firestone and in Firestone, climbing tall palm trees was not what I and some of my friends did during our leisure time. We kids of Firestone found a lot of pleasure in making and playing ganga ball, a type of rubber ball made of latex from the rubber tree.
One afternoon I followed my cousins to fetch cassavas for the evening meal. After digging the cassavas, as always, my cousins decided to look around for palm nuts. They found a palm tree that had two bunches of red, matured palm nuts. They did not bring the climbing rope along, but nearby was a long, dried reed or bamboo stick about 15 to 20 feet long. The bamboo stick had alternate branches that had been cut short to be used for climbing. "Cooper, today is your day to cut those two palm nuts from the tree you see over there," my cousins demanded as they surrounded me. I had no idea that a plot against me had been hatched and was unfolding right before my eyes. Had anyone hinted me that such was the wicked thinking of the people I knew as blood relatives, I would have never ventured into the bush, far away from my friends. "I don't know how to use any stick to go up that tree to cut palm nuts," I replied. "Well, well, well." Someone jumped in. "Until you bring down those palm nuts, we will all remain here until the sun goes down." My monster cousins sounded more ominous than I imagined. Finally and reluctantly, I tremblingly climbed the palm tree, carrying with me one of the cutlasses we had used to dig the cassavas from the soil.
What if a snake was up there? I kept thinking to myself. I couldn't wait to reach home to report these rascals to my father. I mustered courage and finally climbed to where the two bunches of ripe palm nuts sat hidden among thorny palm branches. It was an awkward and terrible day for me.
I began to cut the branches from around one of the bunches of palm nuts. Getting one bunch cut was one thing; going around to reach the second bunch on the other side was a complete disaster for me. I look down from where I sat in the sky and saw my cousins all laughing at me, as if this was something I had volunteered to do.
Climbing palm trees was not my favorite past time and these cousins of mine, who lived with us at the time, had observed this weak side of me. So, they plotted to corner me one day and force me to do what they were proficient at. Looking down at them from the top of the tree, I despised them and hated what they were putting me through. Sitting on those palm branches, high in the sky and scared to death, I wonder why such a nightmare for me would have been initiated by people whom I thought were my true relatives and who, otherwise, would go out of their ways to protect me. I struggled with the irony but yet became creative as I tried to cut my first bunch of palm nuts.
To stabilize myself as I stood on the dried bamboo, I had to first trim the thorns off a few palm branches. Those were the ones I held on to as I tried to cut my way to my target.There were about four branches that I had to cut very close up so that the neck of the bunch of palm nuts was visible. The cutlass I took with me may have lost its sharpness, for my hand was getting bruised from the long time it took me to cut one branch. By this time, the thought of a snake welcoming me into its domain and the fact that I could slip and fall 20 to 25 feel below, had me sweating profusely.
As I laboriously tried to cut my way toward the target..the bunch of palm nuts..I realized that a few loosed nuts were beginning to drop to the ground below. I stopped. Effortlessly, I grabbed a few and began to bite into their succulent flesh. The impatience from my haters below was obviously becoming unbearable. Shouts of disapproval of my lack of speed in performing the task before me were so loud that birds that had come to witness my ordeal began to fly away. Finally, and for the first time in my life, the first bunch of palm nuts, fetched from a palm tree from my own efforts, fell to the ground below with a huge boom-a boom that I had never heard before.
The cheers from below were mixed. As the loosed, scattered nuts on the ground were being collected by one group, I saw the others picking up the bags of cassavas and the bunch of palm nuts, and began heading home. I was about to make my way to the second bunch of palm nuts when I noticed that there was more in store for me. I saw someone pulling away the bamboo that I had used to climb the palm tree, leaving me stranded with no other way of climbing down from the tree. With this new development it became obvious that my work had come to an abrupt end and the punishment meted to me by my own cousins for my lack of experience in the survival arena, was just beginning to manifest itself.
I began to wonder how in the world I would get myself down from the palm tree. My cousins had constantly complained that I always acted as if I was the "civilized" one in the family. I was in the habit of refusing to do what they demanded of me. I was more interested in going with my friends to make and play ganga balls (crude soccer ball made from rubber) while they went out hustling for food. This ordeal was punishment for what they thought was the gorilla-work-monkey-draw attitude that I had developed in the you-don't work, you-don't eat environment in which we lived.
Well, as I sat in that palm tree with no means of climbing down, I had to get creative. It's the human nature. I sat in the tree for a while with a lot going on through my mind. Jumping from such a height was not an option. I could not wait it out until someone decided to come and rescue me. If I had cornered a snake during my invasion of its domain, it was now clear in my mind that my imaginary victim had me cornered also. That thought played in my mind consistently and increased the awareness that I needed to find a way to get down, and to get down as quickly as possible.
With the cutlass I began to cut at the base of one of the palm branches. I made sure that the cut was not too deep to cause the branch to sever away. I then used my right foot to force-bend the branch toward the ground. The palm branch was not long enough to reach as close as I wished, but it did give me some leeway to try something. Making the ultimate move and holding the cutlass in one hand, I grabbed the palm branch and began slowly sliding down. From the end of the hanging branch to earth was about 10 feet.
At this point of my journey..considering where I was a moment earlier.. the choice was obvious: After taking a deep breath and closing my eyes with a silent prayer, I let go of the branch. Gravity was kind to me. I landed up right with a riveting jolt..a jolt that I continue to remember to this day.
I survived my ordeal with no broken body parts. I went home feeling deserted and lonely. In the end I was able to climb down and find my way home. I was not amused and I did not tell my father what I had gone through. As we all know, abuses are rarely reported in our culture. One is left to helplessly live to tell the story in a future life.
I never climbed a palm tree again. My cousins and I continue to laugh about what happened that day. My laughter, as you can imagine, continues to be sheepish and with clenched teeth.
With a sharp spear attached to a stick and with a cutlass, boys and men climb the palm trees, using a very craftily made, locally manufactured rope or tree belt made from rattan. My older cousins constantly tried to force me to carry out this dangerous feat of climbing a tree palm nut tree. I always refused, for I felt it was dangerous and might get injured, even though I admire greatly what they were able to do with that rope made from rattan.
My cousins, who were older than I was, were very persistent. I too was adamant not to succumb to their wits and strange ideas. You see, I was born in Firestone and in Firestone, climbing tall palm trees was not what I and some of my friends did during our leisure time. We kids of Firestone found a lot of pleasure in making and playing ganga ball, a type of rubber ball made of latex from the rubber tree.
One afternoon I followed my cousins to fetch cassavas for the evening meal. After digging the cassavas, as always, my cousins decided to look around for palm nuts. They found a palm tree that had two bunches of red, matured palm nuts. They did not bring the climbing rope along, but nearby was a long, dried reed or bamboo stick about 15 to 20 feet long. The bamboo stick had alternate branches that had been cut short to be used for climbing. "Cooper, today is your day to cut those two palm nuts from the tree you see over there," my cousins demanded as they surrounded me. I had no idea that a plot against me had been hatched and was unfolding right before my eyes. Had anyone hinted me that such was the wicked thinking of the people I knew as blood relatives, I would have never ventured into the bush, far away from my friends. "I don't know how to use any stick to go up that tree to cut palm nuts," I replied. "Well, well, well." Someone jumped in. "Until you bring down those palm nuts, we will all remain here until the sun goes down." My monster cousins sounded more ominous than I imagined. Finally and reluctantly, I tremblingly climbed the palm tree, carrying with me one of the cutlasses we had used to dig the cassavas from the soil.
What if a snake was up there? I kept thinking to myself. I couldn't wait to reach home to report these rascals to my father. I mustered courage and finally climbed to where the two bunches of ripe palm nuts sat hidden among thorny palm branches. It was an awkward and terrible day for me.
I began to cut the branches from around one of the bunches of palm nuts. Getting one bunch cut was one thing; going around to reach the second bunch on the other side was a complete disaster for me. I look down from where I sat in the sky and saw my cousins all laughing at me, as if this was something I had volunteered to do.
Climbing palm trees was not my favorite past time and these cousins of mine, who lived with us at the time, had observed this weak side of me. So, they plotted to corner me one day and force me to do what they were proficient at. Looking down at them from the top of the tree, I despised them and hated what they were putting me through. Sitting on those palm branches, high in the sky and scared to death, I wonder why such a nightmare for me would have been initiated by people whom I thought were my true relatives and who, otherwise, would go out of their ways to protect me. I struggled with the irony but yet became creative as I tried to cut my first bunch of palm nuts.
To stabilize myself as I stood on the dried bamboo, I had to first trim the thorns off a few palm branches. Those were the ones I held on to as I tried to cut my way to my target.There were about four branches that I had to cut very close up so that the neck of the bunch of palm nuts was visible. The cutlass I took with me may have lost its sharpness, for my hand was getting bruised from the long time it took me to cut one branch. By this time, the thought of a snake welcoming me into its domain and the fact that I could slip and fall 20 to 25 feel below, had me sweating profusely.
As I laboriously tried to cut my way toward the target..the bunch of palm nuts..I realized that a few loosed nuts were beginning to drop to the ground below. I stopped. Effortlessly, I grabbed a few and began to bite into their succulent flesh. The impatience from my haters below was obviously becoming unbearable. Shouts of disapproval of my lack of speed in performing the task before me were so loud that birds that had come to witness my ordeal began to fly away. Finally, and for the first time in my life, the first bunch of palm nuts, fetched from a palm tree from my own efforts, fell to the ground below with a huge boom-a boom that I had never heard before.
The cheers from below were mixed. As the loosed, scattered nuts on the ground were being collected by one group, I saw the others picking up the bags of cassavas and the bunch of palm nuts, and began heading home. I was about to make my way to the second bunch of palm nuts when I noticed that there was more in store for me. I saw someone pulling away the bamboo that I had used to climb the palm tree, leaving me stranded with no other way of climbing down from the tree. With this new development it became obvious that my work had come to an abrupt end and the punishment meted to me by my own cousins for my lack of experience in the survival arena, was just beginning to manifest itself.
I began to wonder how in the world I would get myself down from the palm tree. My cousins had constantly complained that I always acted as if I was the "civilized" one in the family. I was in the habit of refusing to do what they demanded of me. I was more interested in going with my friends to make and play ganga balls (crude soccer ball made from rubber) while they went out hustling for food. This ordeal was punishment for what they thought was the gorilla-work-monkey-draw attitude that I had developed in the you-don't work, you-don't eat environment in which we lived.
Well, as I sat in that palm tree with no means of climbing down, I had to get creative. It's the human nature. I sat in the tree for a while with a lot going on through my mind. Jumping from such a height was not an option. I could not wait it out until someone decided to come and rescue me. If I had cornered a snake during my invasion of its domain, it was now clear in my mind that my imaginary victim had me cornered also. That thought played in my mind consistently and increased the awareness that I needed to find a way to get down, and to get down as quickly as possible.
With the cutlass I began to cut at the base of one of the palm branches. I made sure that the cut was not too deep to cause the branch to sever away. I then used my right foot to force-bend the branch toward the ground. The palm branch was not long enough to reach as close as I wished, but it did give me some leeway to try something. Making the ultimate move and holding the cutlass in one hand, I grabbed the palm branch and began slowly sliding down. From the end of the hanging branch to earth was about 10 feet.
At this point of my journey..considering where I was a moment earlier.. the choice was obvious: After taking a deep breath and closing my eyes with a silent prayer, I let go of the branch. Gravity was kind to me. I landed up right with a riveting jolt..a jolt that I continue to remember to this day.
I survived my ordeal with no broken body parts. I went home feeling deserted and lonely. In the end I was able to climb down and find my way home. I was not amused and I did not tell my father what I had gone through. As we all know, abuses are rarely reported in our culture. One is left to helplessly live to tell the story in a future life.
I never climbed a palm tree again. My cousins and I continue to laugh about what happened that day. My laughter, as you can imagine, continues to be sheepish and with clenched teeth.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Signs Of The Time
Harry Greaves has been a serious thorn in the flesh of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the president who promised in her inaugural address, to fight corruption with tooth and nail. I just heard that the thorn has been retrieved from the flesh not of the president, but from the flesh of the suffering people of Liberia. Harry has been fired! A day before the news of the demise of the Harry Greaves' mystique, I sent the letter below to FrontPageAfrica. Am I a reader of palms or what? Can I tell what the future will bring?
My mouth is full, as we say in Liberia . To hear that Mr Harry Greaves of all people was able to tape record a colleague who was trying to extort $300,000 during a deal making, is indeed an amazing feat for a man who has been dubbed the mother of deal making and poor accountability. For this one, I want to say, Harry, you are the man!
I mentioned many months ago that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf needed to equip her corruption-fighting crew (mini monsters) with camera phones and easily-hidden gadgets to listen in and report corrupt deals going on in her government. For there is no way you can accuse a crook without visual evidence, especially in Liberia. And as we all know, it takes a crook to turn in a crook.
The challenge right now, if corruption is enemy numero uno, is who is going to turn in Harry Greaves for past and present acts unbecoming a managing director? Who is going to turn in the guy who forged the president’s signature in one of those “by directive of the president” memos? Who in Liberia will be brave enough to turn in any of the many recycled ministers who, one time or the other, misappropriated funds in their care or extorted money from others but could not be prosecuted because of a lack of proof; or, because there was no voice-recorded evidence?
The weakest link in the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government is the inability of the government to fight corruption with all the ammunitions in its arsenal. Stories of inner-circle personnel misleading the president, is another headache. If she can minimize these road blocks and keep fighting for the common folks, the Liberian people will give her another chance –even with the shadow of the TRC recommendations hanging over her every move.
What makes corruption or stealing painful is how it takes away the basic necessities of life from the majority of the people of Liberia . For example, furniture for the entire EJS Public School in Zuawein, Margibi County cost $4000, according to news report. For instructional materials, $1400 was spent. Just imagine how much could be done for the children of Liberia if government was able to recover the many $300,000 or more that are constantly being snatched away from government coffer by those who, a few years ago, were ready to take up arms against corrupt practices by people in power.
Just imagine how much can be done with the many stolen $300,000 or more to replace the many monkey bridges that most of the folks in the interior parts of the country have to cross in order to take their sick love ones to clinics miles and miles away.
I heard this story the other day and felt good that there are some good men in the present government who mean well for the country and its people. And if we had 10 good men like John Morlue, the Auditor General,Liberia will surely climb the ladder of progress at the twinkle of the eye. Here is what I heard:
The usual thing in Liberia is that during major holidays like Christmas, offices of ministers and other big shots are swarmed with business people carrying largess and other types of best wishes. This particular minister came to his office one morning and saw that his space had been over run with boxes and boxes of gifts from business people.
The story continues that when the minister saw that he could not get to his desk because of the many boxes, he frustratingly called his secretary for explanation. After being told that the boxes were from business people who had come to bring his “Christmas,” the minister got extremely angry and asked the secretary to send the boxes back to wherever they came from.
I was elated when I heard this story, for this is the type of corruption that has discredited our leaders and kept the country down since 1847. Any Liberian who can show a tiny sign of integrity should be praised. Such a small gesture means a lot to those of us whose families continue to struggle to make ends meet while a few others continue to enrich themselves.
And finally, I just read that a new Capital City Bill by the House of Representatives is about to be forwarded to the Senate for concurrence. I wonder when the construction of the new Capital City will begin. I wonder what the new name will be. If I had to choose between road construction and the construction of a new Capital City, I would do the roads first. For you see, I will feel terrible if it takes me seven hours to drive from Toe Town in Grand Gedeh County to the new Capital City. I would feel miserable if while traveling from Zorzor in Lofa County , I had to get out my car, walk over a makeshift bridge, and watch villagers push my car through a knee-deep, muddy swamp to the other side.
Oh, before I forget, most of our people would love to call the new Capital City , Dukor.
My mouth is full, as we say in Liberia . To hear that Mr Harry Greaves of all people was able to tape record a colleague who was trying to extort $300,000 during a deal making, is indeed an amazing feat for a man who has been dubbed the mother of deal making and poor accountability. For this one, I want to say, Harry, you are the man!
I mentioned many months ago that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf needed to equip her corruption-fighting crew (mini monsters) with camera phones and easily-hidden gadgets to listen in and report corrupt deals going on in her government. For there is no way you can accuse a crook without visual evidence, especially in Liberia. And as we all know, it takes a crook to turn in a crook.
The challenge right now, if corruption is enemy numero uno, is who is going to turn in Harry Greaves for past and present acts unbecoming a managing director? Who is going to turn in the guy who forged the president’s signature in one of those “by directive of the president” memos? Who in Liberia will be brave enough to turn in any of the many recycled ministers who, one time or the other, misappropriated funds in their care or extorted money from others but could not be prosecuted because of a lack of proof; or, because there was no voice-recorded evidence?
The weakest link in the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government is the inability of the government to fight corruption with all the ammunitions in its arsenal. Stories of inner-circle personnel misleading the president, is another headache. If she can minimize these road blocks and keep fighting for the common folks, the Liberian people will give her another chance –even with the shadow of the TRC recommendations hanging over her every move.
What makes corruption or stealing painful is how it takes away the basic necessities of life from the majority of the people of Liberia . For example, furniture for the entire EJS Public School in Zuawein, Margibi County cost $4000, according to news report. For instructional materials, $1400 was spent. Just imagine how much could be done for the children of Liberia if government was able to recover the many $300,000 or more that are constantly being snatched away from government coffer by those who, a few years ago, were ready to take up arms against corrupt practices by people in power.
Just imagine how much can be done with the many stolen $300,000 or more to replace the many monkey bridges that most of the folks in the interior parts of the country have to cross in order to take their sick love ones to clinics miles and miles away.
I heard this story the other day and felt good that there are some good men in the present government who mean well for the country and its people. And if we had 10 good men like John Morlue, the Auditor General,Liberia will surely climb the ladder of progress at the twinkle of the eye. Here is what I heard:
The usual thing in Liberia is that during major holidays like Christmas, offices of ministers and other big shots are swarmed with business people carrying largess and other types of best wishes. This particular minister came to his office one morning and saw that his space had been over run with boxes and boxes of gifts from business people.
The story continues that when the minister saw that he could not get to his desk because of the many boxes, he frustratingly called his secretary for explanation. After being told that the boxes were from business people who had come to bring his “Christmas,” the minister got extremely angry and asked the secretary to send the boxes back to wherever they came from.
I was elated when I heard this story, for this is the type of corruption that has discredited our leaders and kept the country down since 1847. Any Liberian who can show a tiny sign of integrity should be praised. Such a small gesture means a lot to those of us whose families continue to struggle to make ends meet while a few others continue to enrich themselves.
And finally, I just read that a new Capital City Bill by the House of Representatives is about to be forwarded to the Senate for concurrence. I wonder when the construction of the new Capital City will begin. I wonder what the new name will be. If I had to choose between road construction and the construction of a new Capital City, I would do the roads first. For you see, I will feel terrible if it takes me seven hours to drive from Toe Town in Grand Gedeh County to the new Capital City. I would feel miserable if while traveling from Zorzor in Lofa County , I had to get out my car, walk over a makeshift bridge, and watch villagers push my car through a knee-deep, muddy swamp to the other side.
Oh, before I forget, most of our people would love to call the new Capital City , Dukor.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Liberians Have Serious Problems
I had no idea that many Liberians, especially those in power, have forgotten so quickly all that have transpired from April 12, 1980 up to today. It continues to appear as though nothing worth remembering ever happened in that West African State. For some like me, we must relentlessly continue to remind our leaders of the terrible past that will haunt us for ages.
The situation in Liberia continues to give me all kinds of headache, even as Secretary of State Clinton of the United States of America is visiting the country and speaking out loudly about the same endemic problem of corruption.
What really caught my attention was that the same day Secretary Clinton arrived in Liberia, it was the same time news came flashing about Harry Greaves and the President’s brother being partners and having part-ownership in a Gold Mining Company named AmLib. I also read that the same company dished out money to Liberian Legislators who are supposed to be fighting day and night for the people who elected them in the first place.
The people of Kokoya District in Bong County are incensed and frustrated that since AmLib began prospecting for and actually mining gold in their area, no sign of a single development project has been seen. This reminds me of the Delta Region of Nigeria where oil is produced and yet, the people of the area are as poor as ever. It also reminds of the road from Bong Mines to Kakata where the money for that project was squandered by some politician of old; and, the news of impropriety reminds me of the Liberian Mining Company, a company that operated in Bomi Hills for years and left only a pile of dirt over-shadowing a camp that one day caused an avalanche, burying more than 200 Liberians in its wake. The whole thing replays in my mind and reminds me over and over again how bad the memories of those in power can instantly deteriorate.
How come I am able to remember vividly the past, yet the people in power will allow the wicked past to be wiped away from the recesses of their minds? How come our Legislators are giving each other hi-fives in the chambers of the House because some company doled out money to them? I keep thinking: Wasn't this the same rampant corruption and misuse of power that the Master Sergeant talked about on the morning of April 12, 1980?
I thought this type of hi-fives was the reason why the lives of 13 men were put to an end by a firing squad in 1980. I thought 250,000 Liberians made the ultimate sacrifice and many, many more scattered around the world because a few thought that this would clear the way for democracy, transparency, and the end of corruption. I thought “In the cause of the people, the struggle continues” was meant for the people who continue to remain destitute with no end to an impoverished life-style that has burdened them since 1847, 162 long and arduous years.
I thought history was not expected to repeat itself after 1980, 1989, 1997, 2003, and 2006. Oh yes, I thought Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf promised the Liberian people that corruption was enemy number one and that she would fight it with tooth and nail. I thought those who ran away from Liberia in 1980 and 1985, 1990 to 2000; I thought those whose lives were spared from the carnage in Liberia and were able to return to “help rebuild” the country…I thought for sure that these people would have learned the lessons of life and humbled themselves to the fact that they would do better than any other group of Liberians before them.
What continues to twist my mind is the idea that we keep committing the same error over and over again. Liberians with the opportunity to change the way our people live and to build a country that has seen no progress since 1847, continue to gobble up everything for themselves, leaving the nation and its people in the same quagmire and zero development every generation has had to endure.
I understand that in Botswana the money from every piece of gold or diamond that is extracted from the country’s soil, a portion of that money is invested in roads and hospitals and electricity and health care and schools and other infrastructures for the people of Botswana.
I also understand that Liberia is endowed with an abundance of the minerals mentioned above and many, many other natural resources. Just imagine the country’s share of every cent made from rubber being put into the construction of hospitals for Liberians. Just imagine Liberia’s share of the money made from forestry and agriculture being put into the building of roads and dams for the people of the country. Imagine for just one minute Liberia's share of the money from diamonds, gold, and iron ore being set aside for the construction of schools and colleges and universities for the future of the country. I mean, just imagine how boastful Liberians would be if for just one minute our leaders were to conjure up such a vision for our country.
If after 162 years our leaders are still waiting for outsiders to come into Liberia to tell them what is so obvious, then there is definitely something terribly wrong with us.
Sanniquellie, Liberians have problems!
The situation in Liberia continues to give me all kinds of headache, even as Secretary of State Clinton of the United States of America is visiting the country and speaking out loudly about the same endemic problem of corruption.
What really caught my attention was that the same day Secretary Clinton arrived in Liberia, it was the same time news came flashing about Harry Greaves and the President’s brother being partners and having part-ownership in a Gold Mining Company named AmLib. I also read that the same company dished out money to Liberian Legislators who are supposed to be fighting day and night for the people who elected them in the first place.
The people of Kokoya District in Bong County are incensed and frustrated that since AmLib began prospecting for and actually mining gold in their area, no sign of a single development project has been seen. This reminds me of the Delta Region of Nigeria where oil is produced and yet, the people of the area are as poor as ever. It also reminds of the road from Bong Mines to Kakata where the money for that project was squandered by some politician of old; and, the news of impropriety reminds me of the Liberian Mining Company, a company that operated in Bomi Hills for years and left only a pile of dirt over-shadowing a camp that one day caused an avalanche, burying more than 200 Liberians in its wake. The whole thing replays in my mind and reminds me over and over again how bad the memories of those in power can instantly deteriorate.
How come I am able to remember vividly the past, yet the people in power will allow the wicked past to be wiped away from the recesses of their minds? How come our Legislators are giving each other hi-fives in the chambers of the House because some company doled out money to them? I keep thinking: Wasn't this the same rampant corruption and misuse of power that the Master Sergeant talked about on the morning of April 12, 1980?
I thought this type of hi-fives was the reason why the lives of 13 men were put to an end by a firing squad in 1980. I thought 250,000 Liberians made the ultimate sacrifice and many, many more scattered around the world because a few thought that this would clear the way for democracy, transparency, and the end of corruption. I thought “In the cause of the people, the struggle continues” was meant for the people who continue to remain destitute with no end to an impoverished life-style that has burdened them since 1847, 162 long and arduous years.
I thought history was not expected to repeat itself after 1980, 1989, 1997, 2003, and 2006. Oh yes, I thought Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf promised the Liberian people that corruption was enemy number one and that she would fight it with tooth and nail. I thought those who ran away from Liberia in 1980 and 1985, 1990 to 2000; I thought those whose lives were spared from the carnage in Liberia and were able to return to “help rebuild” the country…I thought for sure that these people would have learned the lessons of life and humbled themselves to the fact that they would do better than any other group of Liberians before them.
What continues to twist my mind is the idea that we keep committing the same error over and over again. Liberians with the opportunity to change the way our people live and to build a country that has seen no progress since 1847, continue to gobble up everything for themselves, leaving the nation and its people in the same quagmire and zero development every generation has had to endure.
I understand that in Botswana the money from every piece of gold or diamond that is extracted from the country’s soil, a portion of that money is invested in roads and hospitals and electricity and health care and schools and other infrastructures for the people of Botswana.
I also understand that Liberia is endowed with an abundance of the minerals mentioned above and many, many other natural resources. Just imagine the country’s share of every cent made from rubber being put into the construction of hospitals for Liberians. Just imagine Liberia’s share of the money made from forestry and agriculture being put into the building of roads and dams for the people of the country. Imagine for just one minute Liberia's share of the money from diamonds, gold, and iron ore being set aside for the construction of schools and colleges and universities for the future of the country. I mean, just imagine how boastful Liberians would be if for just one minute our leaders were to conjure up such a vision for our country.
If after 162 years our leaders are still waiting for outsiders to come into Liberia to tell them what is so obvious, then there is definitely something terribly wrong with us.
Sanniquellie, Liberians have problems!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Becoming A Blue-Dog UNICCO Member
The people from Nimba County living in America have become so divided that if many of them had their own way, a war would be the only thing to demonstrate who is who. The organization that brings these people together for development has become a political football. And playing this game seems to be a passion for many. At times, I get very frustrated and and begin to express my innermost feelings:
Nimbaians: As a member of the Board that assembled in New York in May of 2007 to hear the argument why Mr Andrew Wongeh should or should not be impeached, I have an obligation to remain walking a fine line when it comes to my personal opinion about the future of UNICCO. After almost two and a half years of exchanging tough verbiage and sometimes heated rhetoric, it's become clear that all of the wrangling from both sides of the aisles has done nothing but divided us more.
I must admit that there are moderates on both sides that are willing to vomit blood, even becoming anemic inorder for UNICCO to get back on its feet of glory. There are also the conservatives in UNICCO who don't really care what others feel. Their dog in this fight, they believe, must come out the winner, no matter how long it takes. I have never been a conservative in the sense that it's either my way or the highway. Now I understand what it means when it is said that UNICCO is a family organization.
A few weeks ago I was in Philadelphia. I was there upon an invitation to be part of the celebration of Mr Andrew Wongeh's birthday and his graduation from Graduate School. Our small Town, Siaplay, does not have a lot of book people. I have been and continue to be showered with praises for being the first from Siaplay to have graduated from College some 100 years ago! So, my presence was another opportunity to waste it on me, again. I am happy that the torch has been passed and Siaplay can now boast of many, many college graduates.
Even though Wongeh is my cousin, entering the hall that night felt like entering enemy territory. Besides the Siaplay people present and Dahn Dennis whom I have seen on many occasions at Maryland functions, I knew no one else. I felt odd because Philadelphia is where two local UNICCO chapters exist. And again, strangely enough, my other cousin, Romeo Dahn, leads the other side. There is something peculiar about Philadelphia and my Siaplay cousins.
As the celebration went on in full gear, a gentlemen walked up to me, extended his right hand and introduced himself: "Hello, Mr Kweme," he said. " I am Clarence Gono." Clarence and I have exchanged some serious writings. That night was the first time I had seen him. We shook hands and hugged. The next thing I knew, I was being introduced to Joana Toweh by Mr Wogbeh. Then there was Miamen from Chicago. Ordinarily, I would have passed these people on the streets like June passes by July. Seeing Clarence and Joana and Miamen; inviting Sunwabe, Jr for a GB dinner in Maryland; seeing Sam Kpahn and Lurlay at the Tapita Meeting in Silver Spring, all of these strange meetings have given me a different perspective about being a part of a divided group. It hurts my heart to see Nimbaians fighting each other they way they do.
If the proposed project from the North Carolina conference is to be undertaken big time, we need the participation of all Nimbaians. That includes, Wogbeh, Joana Toweh, Drs Taryor, Wonkeryor, Boayue, Flomo, Gonpue, Siaway; Ms Sendolo Belleh, Romeo Dahn, Tony Fele, Wongeh and Keita; Sam Koaloe, Dahn Dennis, Hendrix and Tom Grupee; Kokeh, Barbel, Diama, Miamen and Wopea; Mai Yuan, Victoria Zarkpah, and all the wonderful Nimba women of Nimba County who have been caught in this sad episode in our history.
If the proposal from Chicago regarding the setting up of a special, Eminent Group to bring the two groups together, then the notices being disseminated about a Minnesota Conference and a Chicago Conference in September and October of 2009, respectively, should be put on hold until this Eminent Group comes up with a statement.
I am tired and fed up with two groups of UNICCO and two conferences. I am tired and continue to be confused and baffled about the main court case and now the new court case. The withdrawal of the main court case that has drained our resources, must be done immediately. The withdrawal of the Minnesota court case is so necessary. The timing of this one is just wrong. As I said before, I think my stance on the issues in UNICCO carries a moderate tone.
As I moan and groan over the predicament we face, I am beginning to transform my mentality to that of a Blue Dog UNICCO member. The former Vice President, Mr Paye, I believe, is a Blue Dog UNICCO Member. A Blue Dog member is that member who emerges from within a group of conservative UNICCO members, who believe wholeheartedly, that the future of this organization must be put on hold. We need more Blue Dog members to catapult this persistent conservative mindset of keeping this organization divided, year in and year out.
Nimbaians: As a member of the Board that assembled in New York in May of 2007 to hear the argument why Mr Andrew Wongeh should or should not be impeached, I have an obligation to remain walking a fine line when it comes to my personal opinion about the future of UNICCO. After almost two and a half years of exchanging tough verbiage and sometimes heated rhetoric, it's become clear that all of the wrangling from both sides of the aisles has done nothing but divided us more.
I must admit that there are moderates on both sides that are willing to vomit blood, even becoming anemic inorder for UNICCO to get back on its feet of glory. There are also the conservatives in UNICCO who don't really care what others feel. Their dog in this fight, they believe, must come out the winner, no matter how long it takes. I have never been a conservative in the sense that it's either my way or the highway. Now I understand what it means when it is said that UNICCO is a family organization.
A few weeks ago I was in Philadelphia. I was there upon an invitation to be part of the celebration of Mr Andrew Wongeh's birthday and his graduation from Graduate School. Our small Town, Siaplay, does not have a lot of book people. I have been and continue to be showered with praises for being the first from Siaplay to have graduated from College some 100 years ago! So, my presence was another opportunity to waste it on me, again. I am happy that the torch has been passed and Siaplay can now boast of many, many college graduates.
Even though Wongeh is my cousin, entering the hall that night felt like entering enemy territory. Besides the Siaplay people present and Dahn Dennis whom I have seen on many occasions at Maryland functions, I knew no one else. I felt odd because Philadelphia is where two local UNICCO chapters exist. And again, strangely enough, my other cousin, Romeo Dahn, leads the other side. There is something peculiar about Philadelphia and my Siaplay cousins.
As the celebration went on in full gear, a gentlemen walked up to me, extended his right hand and introduced himself: "Hello, Mr Kweme," he said. " I am Clarence Gono." Clarence and I have exchanged some serious writings. That night was the first time I had seen him. We shook hands and hugged. The next thing I knew, I was being introduced to Joana Toweh by Mr Wogbeh. Then there was Miamen from Chicago. Ordinarily, I would have passed these people on the streets like June passes by July. Seeing Clarence and Joana and Miamen; inviting Sunwabe, Jr for a GB dinner in Maryland; seeing Sam Kpahn and Lurlay at the Tapita Meeting in Silver Spring, all of these strange meetings have given me a different perspective about being a part of a divided group. It hurts my heart to see Nimbaians fighting each other they way they do.
If the proposed project from the North Carolina conference is to be undertaken big time, we need the participation of all Nimbaians. That includes, Wogbeh, Joana Toweh, Drs Taryor, Wonkeryor, Boayue, Flomo, Gonpue, Siaway; Ms Sendolo Belleh, Romeo Dahn, Tony Fele, Wongeh and Keita; Sam Koaloe, Dahn Dennis, Hendrix and Tom Grupee; Kokeh, Barbel, Diama, Miamen and Wopea; Mai Yuan, Victoria Zarkpah, and all the wonderful Nimba women of Nimba County who have been caught in this sad episode in our history.
If the proposal from Chicago regarding the setting up of a special, Eminent Group to bring the two groups together, then the notices being disseminated about a Minnesota Conference and a Chicago Conference in September and October of 2009, respectively, should be put on hold until this Eminent Group comes up with a statement.
I am tired and fed up with two groups of UNICCO and two conferences. I am tired and continue to be confused and baffled about the main court case and now the new court case. The withdrawal of the main court case that has drained our resources, must be done immediately. The withdrawal of the Minnesota court case is so necessary. The timing of this one is just wrong. As I said before, I think my stance on the issues in UNICCO carries a moderate tone.
As I moan and groan over the predicament we face, I am beginning to transform my mentality to that of a Blue Dog UNICCO member. The former Vice President, Mr Paye, I believe, is a Blue Dog UNICCO Member. A Blue Dog member is that member who emerges from within a group of conservative UNICCO members, who believe wholeheartedly, that the future of this organization must be put on hold. We need more Blue Dog members to catapult this persistent conservative mindset of keeping this organization divided, year in and year out.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Molding A New Generation Of Patriots
Liberia is 162 years old. From all indications, the country, like humans, seems to be deteriorating with age. There is a shortage of everything imaginable. Corruption is not lessening at all and the illiteracy number continues to climb. Sometimes it's difficult saying the same thing over and over again with no effect. But this is what is necessary to keep people's feet to the fire!
We in the Washington, DC Area celebrated our 26 on Saturday at the Liberian Embassy. It was the best I have witnessed since I have been going there. If I am not mistaken, there were more people than the food could handle. That's a first.
Each of the 15 counties had a booth to showcase its ware and cultural artifacts. I visited the Sinoe booth and was able to take a glance at the Constitution of the Sinoe County Association. I saw the River Gee County booth and the Grand Bassa County booth. I expected to purchase a bowl of rice and tor-bor-gee at the Lofa County booth, but that was not to be.
For my own reason, I have decided to curtail the eating of chicken. I just feel that I have eaten too much of this particular type of birds in my life time. So, when I did not find tor-bor-gee at the Lofa County booth, I began thinking: Where will I go to find a real good bowl of rice and smoked-fish gravy? This dish is prepared in all counties in Liberia, but when you think about serious dry rice and smoked-fish gravy, I believe Montserrado County takes this one, hands down. So off to the Montserrado County booth I went.
Between the booths of Bong County and Bomi County was the Montserrado County booth. Not much was happening in Bong and Bomi. Without much fanfare, I hurriedly proceeded directly to my destination. I was not disappointed. There was no split peas and pig feet; there was no smoked-fish gravy; but there was dry rice mixed with smoked-fish and SPAM with some real Goba Town palm oil; not the funny-tasting, diluted palm oil we are used to buying in this country.
After eating what I desired and being the patronizing person I am, I decided to take a tour of the Embassy grounds. The place was jammed packed. It was like being down Waterside. Like I said earlier, I have not seen that many vendors and customers on these grounds in many years.
Dorzon and his family, one of Liberia's best food catering groups in our area, was at its usual best. What surprised me though was the killer prices. A plate of rice and cassava leaves was $5.00 last year, This year, it was $10. With the economy this tough and with the number of people I saw, if the Liberian food vendors didn't get rich on this 26 Day celebration, then I just don't know when these people will ever get rich!!!! I ran away from the Montserrado booth just because a small piece of fried fish tail was being sold for $2.50. A man!
When I was a little boy there was no way I would go near a dancing Gbetu or even near a long Devil. Even a Liberian Santa Clause used to make my heart pound. But at the Embassy, Liberian-American children were running after the Gbetu and pulling at its straw attire. As for the long Devil, cell phone cameras were flashing from every close-up angle imaginable. The long Devil was having fun too, tapping little kids and obviously frightened grown ups on the heads with its fleece. These dancing Devils had so much fun, they cared less whether their attendants were close by or not.
I saw placards and posters imploring Liberians to unite, for diversity is obviously the strength we need to survive in that country. Most countries that we know have gone through hell. Yet, they were able to pick up the pieces and move on with the most important thing humans can boast of: Life.
The reconciliation and punishment we seek are not a guarantee that life for us will be all rosy. If punishment, for example, was all that, then rampant corruption and the unending stealing we see in Monrovia would be a thing of the past, especially after the incident of April 12, 1980 and its aftermath. It's a terrible thing to do an over kill in meting out justice just to regret the action a year or two later.
As we celebrate 162 years of underdevelopment, illiteracy and war, Liberians need to pick up a lot of broken pieces and look to the future with the goal of molding a new nation of people with a high sense of patriotic attitude. It is a must that we use this year's celebration to begin charting this new path for our children and their children.
We in the Washington, DC Area celebrated our 26 on Saturday at the Liberian Embassy. It was the best I have witnessed since I have been going there. If I am not mistaken, there were more people than the food could handle. That's a first.
Each of the 15 counties had a booth to showcase its ware and cultural artifacts. I visited the Sinoe booth and was able to take a glance at the Constitution of the Sinoe County Association. I saw the River Gee County booth and the Grand Bassa County booth. I expected to purchase a bowl of rice and tor-bor-gee at the Lofa County booth, but that was not to be.
For my own reason, I have decided to curtail the eating of chicken. I just feel that I have eaten too much of this particular type of birds in my life time. So, when I did not find tor-bor-gee at the Lofa County booth, I began thinking: Where will I go to find a real good bowl of rice and smoked-fish gravy? This dish is prepared in all counties in Liberia, but when you think about serious dry rice and smoked-fish gravy, I believe Montserrado County takes this one, hands down. So off to the Montserrado County booth I went.
Between the booths of Bong County and Bomi County was the Montserrado County booth. Not much was happening in Bong and Bomi. Without much fanfare, I hurriedly proceeded directly to my destination. I was not disappointed. There was no split peas and pig feet; there was no smoked-fish gravy; but there was dry rice mixed with smoked-fish and SPAM with some real Goba Town palm oil; not the funny-tasting, diluted palm oil we are used to buying in this country.
After eating what I desired and being the patronizing person I am, I decided to take a tour of the Embassy grounds. The place was jammed packed. It was like being down Waterside. Like I said earlier, I have not seen that many vendors and customers on these grounds in many years.
Dorzon and his family, one of Liberia's best food catering groups in our area, was at its usual best. What surprised me though was the killer prices. A plate of rice and cassava leaves was $5.00 last year, This year, it was $10. With the economy this tough and with the number of people I saw, if the Liberian food vendors didn't get rich on this 26 Day celebration, then I just don't know when these people will ever get rich!!!! I ran away from the Montserrado booth just because a small piece of fried fish tail was being sold for $2.50. A man!
When I was a little boy there was no way I would go near a dancing Gbetu or even near a long Devil. Even a Liberian Santa Clause used to make my heart pound. But at the Embassy, Liberian-American children were running after the Gbetu and pulling at its straw attire. As for the long Devil, cell phone cameras were flashing from every close-up angle imaginable. The long Devil was having fun too, tapping little kids and obviously frightened grown ups on the heads with its fleece. These dancing Devils had so much fun, they cared less whether their attendants were close by or not.
I saw placards and posters imploring Liberians to unite, for diversity is obviously the strength we need to survive in that country. Most countries that we know have gone through hell. Yet, they were able to pick up the pieces and move on with the most important thing humans can boast of: Life.
The reconciliation and punishment we seek are not a guarantee that life for us will be all rosy. If punishment, for example, was all that, then rampant corruption and the unending stealing we see in Monrovia would be a thing of the past, especially after the incident of April 12, 1980 and its aftermath. It's a terrible thing to do an over kill in meting out justice just to regret the action a year or two later.
As we celebrate 162 years of underdevelopment, illiteracy and war, Liberians need to pick up a lot of broken pieces and look to the future with the goal of molding a new nation of people with a high sense of patriotic attitude. It is a must that we use this year's celebration to begin charting this new path for our children and their children.
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Problems We Face As Liberians
Liberians are fighting each other so much on the listservs that I get frustrated at times and know not what to do. To satisfy myself, I jot down a few lines, especially when I see others pumping money into Liberia to help our people:
I don't hear a lot of brouhaha about this kind of thing. I don't even hear people saying, oh, dog, thank you ya for our people.There have been about a billion or so words keyed on these listservs by Liberians since January this year. If all of us who contribute literally to the many topics put forth could decide on a particular pet project that we can all agree on to sponsor in Liberia, I think our yoyo and blah, blah, blah would mean a lot more to the people of Liberia.
Besides other people downgrading us, we ourselves are not good to us. We have all become a confused people, looking for a way out of our national dilemma. Liberians have become their own nightmare. We need some serious international help, from psychiatric help to self-esteem boosting.
I don't hear a lot of brouhaha about this kind of thing. I don't even hear people saying, oh, dog, thank you ya for our people.There have been about a billion or so words keyed on these listservs by Liberians since January this year. If all of us who contribute literally to the many topics put forth could decide on a particular pet project that we can all agree on to sponsor in Liberia, I think our yoyo and blah, blah, blah would mean a lot more to the people of Liberia.
Besides other people downgrading us, we ourselves are not good to us. We have all become a confused people, looking for a way out of our national dilemma. Liberians have become their own nightmare. We need some serious international help, from psychiatric help to self-esteem boosting.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
What The Paramount Chief Will Say On July 26, Liberia's Independent Day
Liberia's 162nd Independence Day celebration will be most unique this year: A Paramount, for the first time in the country's history, will be the national orator. What the Paramount Chief should tell the nation and its people is the topic of the feelings in my gut right now:
According to the Daily Observer Online, July 13, 2009 edition, the orator for July 26 this year will be a Paramount Chief from Bong County . Whoever thought about this must be given a bow, for as Tibelrosa Summoh Tarponweh wrote in a commentary published by FrontPageAfrica on July 14, 2009, “What does changing national symbols like the flag, and renaming cities and streets has to do with the callous disregard of laws by state functionaries and neglect of the governed?” So, for the 162nd anniversary of Liberia ’s Independence, the Paramount Chief from Bong County should focus on other things that will really bring change to his county and country.
The paramount chief should start off by saying that after 162 years, the people of Liberia are tired of crossing monkey bridges to get their sick love ones to clinics or hospitals miles and miles away. After getting a rousing ovation for this, the Paramount Chief should tell the Liberian people, the majority of whom are just like him…that they are tired of not being able to take their farm produce to market because of the deplorable condition of the roads in the country.
After those two statements, the Paramount Chief will have to interrupt the applause by going on further and telling his distinguished audience that the majority of the people of Liberia now know that they were left out from fully participating in their country’s development by keeping them as illiterate as possible. “We hear that to keep the majority of us from seeing the light,” the Paramount Chief will continue, “our leaders took all the money that was generated from Bong Mines, Lamco, the Sarpo National Forest, LMC, the Oil Palm Companies, LAC, B F Goodrich, Firestone and many other money-generating entities, to send their children to schools in America and Europe, leaving us here in Liberia to struggle and fend for ourselves.” The Chief must make it clear that this kind of inequality and divisive and discriminatory attitude must be abolished from our national polity.
The Paramount Chief knows that there is a lot of tension in the country at this time, especially, since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission put out its report. He has to address this, for without peace in the country and the people united, none of the things he just mentioned can be implemented. The Chief must remind the Liberian people that the war that killed so many of his people was a useless war. “Where are Generals Bush Shaking, Snake In The Grass, Peanut Butter, and Rambo today? All those who brought so much pain and suffering to us during the 14 years of war, where are they?” The Paramount Chief must ask. The Chief must again remind his very attentive audience that those who once pointed guns in their faces, raped their wives and children are right here in Liberia, amongst us; some begging for mercy while some are just too big for their britches to even admit that they did some terribly wrong and inhumane things to us, their own people.
The Paramount Chief will not want to keep his listeners sitting in their uncomfortable seats for too long in the hot auditorium; he will want his speech to be short and concise; a speech that will be remembered for generations to come. So, he will turn his attention to the President of Liberia: “Madam President,” he will say. “You are our only woman President, democratically elected, that our country has had since we declared to the world our Independence , 162 years ago. Almost 69% of those who voted in 2005 felt that you were the best qualified to lead us, even though we knew that you carry on your back a kinjah with a lot of questionable stuff in it. We also voted for you so that when push comes to shove, you, Madam President, will stand strong, like a patriotic Commander-in-Chief, to unite the people of this land.
The Paramount will tell Liberians and foreigners witnessing the Independence Day Celebration that our own Liberian men have over the years bamboozled the country. Besides keeping majority of the citizens oppressed and suppressed, all the Liberian men who have been in leadership, have destroyed this country from greed, immorality, and a vision that has been extremely nearsighted.
This Kpelle Paramount Chief will tell Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that if she has never worked harder for her country, now was the time for her to demonstrate to the Liberian people that she is ready to work for them. She must use all the energy and means at her disposal to bring peace and unity to Liberia . She must rally her people and make them to understand that in this dog-eat-dog world of politics, she was able to play hardball just like those who were advanced in the game, from Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Charles Ghankay Taylor, and was able to survive to become their first female president in the whole of Africa . "Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Madam President," the Chief will continue, "you must come out, braver than ever before and confess to your people how you agonized day and night when you saw that things were not going right as planned."
The Paramount Chief will end his speech by calling on all of his fellow chiefs to join him and the president of Liberia in galvanizing the people and encouraging them to see the need for genuine reconciliation. For without genuine reconciliation, equal opportunity for all Liberians, and love and respect for one another, there will be no unity and of course, a doomed Liberia.
Amidst a thunderous applause, the Chief will end by saying in Kpelle: Kwa gana; ku kelay kwa pa, kwa gbeteh. Interpretation: We've destroyed it; all of us must come to together, to fix it.
According to the Daily Observer Online, July 13, 2009 edition, the orator for July 26 this year will be a Paramount Chief from Bong County . Whoever thought about this must be given a bow, for as Tibelrosa Summoh Tarponweh wrote in a commentary published by FrontPageAfrica on July 14, 2009, “What does changing national symbols like the flag, and renaming cities and streets has to do with the callous disregard of laws by state functionaries and neglect of the governed?” So, for the 162nd anniversary of Liberia ’s Independence, the Paramount Chief from Bong County should focus on other things that will really bring change to his county and country.
The paramount chief should start off by saying that after 162 years, the people of Liberia are tired of crossing monkey bridges to get their sick love ones to clinics or hospitals miles and miles away. After getting a rousing ovation for this, the Paramount Chief should tell the Liberian people, the majority of whom are just like him…that they are tired of not being able to take their farm produce to market because of the deplorable condition of the roads in the country.
After those two statements, the Paramount Chief will have to interrupt the applause by going on further and telling his distinguished audience that the majority of the people of Liberia now know that they were left out from fully participating in their country’s development by keeping them as illiterate as possible. “We hear that to keep the majority of us from seeing the light,” the Paramount Chief will continue, “our leaders took all the money that was generated from Bong Mines, Lamco, the Sarpo National Forest, LMC, the Oil Palm Companies, LAC, B F Goodrich, Firestone and many other money-generating entities, to send their children to schools in America and Europe, leaving us here in Liberia to struggle and fend for ourselves.” The Chief must make it clear that this kind of inequality and divisive and discriminatory attitude must be abolished from our national polity.
The Paramount Chief knows that there is a lot of tension in the country at this time, especially, since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission put out its report. He has to address this, for without peace in the country and the people united, none of the things he just mentioned can be implemented. The Chief must remind the Liberian people that the war that killed so many of his people was a useless war. “Where are Generals Bush Shaking, Snake In The Grass, Peanut Butter, and Rambo today? All those who brought so much pain and suffering to us during the 14 years of war, where are they?” The Paramount Chief must ask. The Chief must again remind his very attentive audience that those who once pointed guns in their faces, raped their wives and children are right here in Liberia, amongst us; some begging for mercy while some are just too big for their britches to even admit that they did some terribly wrong and inhumane things to us, their own people.
The Paramount Chief will not want to keep his listeners sitting in their uncomfortable seats for too long in the hot auditorium; he will want his speech to be short and concise; a speech that will be remembered for generations to come. So, he will turn his attention to the President of Liberia: “Madam President,” he will say. “You are our only woman President, democratically elected, that our country has had since we declared to the world our Independence , 162 years ago. Almost 69% of those who voted in 2005 felt that you were the best qualified to lead us, even though we knew that you carry on your back a kinjah with a lot of questionable stuff in it. We also voted for you so that when push comes to shove, you, Madam President, will stand strong, like a patriotic Commander-in-Chief, to unite the people of this land.
The Paramount will tell Liberians and foreigners witnessing the Independence Day Celebration that our own Liberian men have over the years bamboozled the country. Besides keeping majority of the citizens oppressed and suppressed, all the Liberian men who have been in leadership, have destroyed this country from greed, immorality, and a vision that has been extremely nearsighted.
This Kpelle Paramount Chief will tell Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that if she has never worked harder for her country, now was the time for her to demonstrate to the Liberian people that she is ready to work for them. She must use all the energy and means at her disposal to bring peace and unity to Liberia . She must rally her people and make them to understand that in this dog-eat-dog world of politics, she was able to play hardball just like those who were advanced in the game, from Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Charles Ghankay Taylor, and was able to survive to become their first female president in the whole of Africa . "Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Madam President," the Chief will continue, "you must come out, braver than ever before and confess to your people how you agonized day and night when you saw that things were not going right as planned."
The Paramount Chief will end his speech by calling on all of his fellow chiefs to join him and the president of Liberia in galvanizing the people and encouraging them to see the need for genuine reconciliation. For without genuine reconciliation, equal opportunity for all Liberians, and love and respect for one another, there will be no unity and of course, a doomed Liberia.
Amidst a thunderous applause, the Chief will end by saying in Kpelle: Kwa gana; ku kelay kwa pa, kwa gbeteh. Interpretation: We've destroyed it; all of us must come to together, to fix it.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Blowing The Whistle On Liberia's Crooks
The alarm being sounded in the market place of discontent in Liberia is corruption. People are siphoning the country's revenue as if it was an inheritance. The outcry is huge. Why should I be sitting on the fence?
I really wanted to write about Firestone this week, but the stealing and rumors of stealing that keep coming out of Monrovia continue to prompt me to keep sounding the alarm in the market place of discontent. To those in high positions from Margibi County where Firestone is located, or those born in Firestone who are now in government, it is time that the name Firestone Plantations Company be erased or eliminated from the minds of our people and the books of Liberia .
Like Morris’s Farm, Cooper’s Farm, Mount Barclay …all Rubber Estates, Firestone Rubber Estate should be more appropriate a name in Liberia . Plantation is synonymous to slavery and I don’t like it one bit, for it legitimizes slavery in a country whose majority has over the years, been treated with inequality by ironically, people who were once themselves slaves.
Now, let me begin to make more noise about the unabated news of stealing and the shameless behavior of say, 60% of those Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf brought into her government. How accurate is the percentage? I don’t know, but when Ellen’s government is now known to be three times more corrupt than Gyude Bryant’s government, of all governments, then any figure will carry the day.
I, like many others who support Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, am running out of ammunition to fight the doomsday preachers and prognosticators. Every social gathering in the Diaspora talks about one thing and one thing only: The rampant corruption and misuse of power in the present government of Liberia . We endeavor with all our might to point out some of the positive things going on in Liberia . Nothing overshadows progress more than corruption in high places. And to shift those whose misdeeds are so glaring from one ministry to another entity, to even the less-sophisticated minds, is nothing but amazing.
The competition for dubious activities by Harry Greaves and Morris Saytumah has become historical in the annals of corruption in the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government. If Greaves is not suing the Legislature of Liberia, Saytumah is soliciting money, By Directive of the President, to take sick newspaper editors for medical treatment in other countries. Murphy’s Law has taken hold of the Oldma’s government. And lo and behold, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been condoning this thing by allowing compassion and sympathy to send her legacy to hell.
Excuse ye the expression, for Sarah Johnson appeared in my dream: “Tell my daughter,” she told me, “that a good name is far better than silver or gold. Keeping dishonest people in her government will ruin her. She must demonstrate the fiduciary discipline for which she is known. The Liberian people will not forgive her if she continues to tolerate the dishonesty of her friends and relatives in government. Nothing should come between her and her country.”
The only Minister I heard of who agrees with John Morlue, the Auditor General, is Ngafuan, the Minister of Finance. Even the Legislators, who at first could not stand Mr. Morlue, are now soliciting his advice on the country’s financial mishaps. Many more honest cabinet minister need to come out of their shells and help shine the light on the evil that is keeping our people poorer and our country a hundred years backward.
I am tired, and I know many more concerned Liberians are fed up, with the way things are in our country. Liberia and majority of its people have seen no progress in almost 161 years of existence. Our people continue to live in huts and zinc shacks. Some are drinking water from creeks chemically polluted by big industries that care less for the human condition.
Majority of our people continue to be without health care, with as many as possible walking barefooted. The revolution was about serving the people and improving their lot. The people continue to remain victims of the revolution. In a sense, it was all a gimmick; it was all a big, self-aggrandizing lie.
The people’s struggle must be fought by a new generation of patriots, for as James Russell Lowell wrote, “time makes ancient good uncouth.” And of course, people born to parents of ancient ideas and myopic thoughts will not succumb to the banishment of the status quo.
Liberians from all walks of life must begin to sound the alarm on uncouth behaviors…behaviors that bring harm to the nation and its people. Liberians must not relent in voicing their displeasure not only with the president but also with those who claim to carry the banner of patriotism and nationalism on their bosoms but yet, are mired in the mud pit of corruption.
I really wanted to write about Firestone this week, but the stealing and rumors of stealing that keep coming out of Monrovia continue to prompt me to keep sounding the alarm in the market place of discontent. To those in high positions from Margibi County where Firestone is located, or those born in Firestone who are now in government, it is time that the name Firestone Plantations Company be erased or eliminated from the minds of our people and the books of Liberia .
Like Morris’s Farm, Cooper’s Farm, Mount Barclay …all Rubber Estates, Firestone Rubber Estate should be more appropriate a name in Liberia . Plantation is synonymous to slavery and I don’t like it one bit, for it legitimizes slavery in a country whose majority has over the years, been treated with inequality by ironically, people who were once themselves slaves.
Now, let me begin to make more noise about the unabated news of stealing and the shameless behavior of say, 60% of those Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf brought into her government. How accurate is the percentage? I don’t know, but when Ellen’s government is now known to be three times more corrupt than Gyude Bryant’s government, of all governments, then any figure will carry the day.
I, like many others who support Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, am running out of ammunition to fight the doomsday preachers and prognosticators. Every social gathering in the Diaspora talks about one thing and one thing only: The rampant corruption and misuse of power in the present government of Liberia . We endeavor with all our might to point out some of the positive things going on in Liberia . Nothing overshadows progress more than corruption in high places. And to shift those whose misdeeds are so glaring from one ministry to another entity, to even the less-sophisticated minds, is nothing but amazing.
The competition for dubious activities by Harry Greaves and Morris Saytumah has become historical in the annals of corruption in the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government. If Greaves is not suing the Legislature of Liberia, Saytumah is soliciting money, By Directive of the President, to take sick newspaper editors for medical treatment in other countries. Murphy’s Law has taken hold of the Oldma’s government. And lo and behold, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been condoning this thing by allowing compassion and sympathy to send her legacy to hell.
Excuse ye the expression, for Sarah Johnson appeared in my dream: “Tell my daughter,” she told me, “that a good name is far better than silver or gold. Keeping dishonest people in her government will ruin her. She must demonstrate the fiduciary discipline for which she is known. The Liberian people will not forgive her if she continues to tolerate the dishonesty of her friends and relatives in government. Nothing should come between her and her country.”
The only Minister I heard of who agrees with John Morlue, the Auditor General, is Ngafuan, the Minister of Finance. Even the Legislators, who at first could not stand Mr. Morlue, are now soliciting his advice on the country’s financial mishaps. Many more honest cabinet minister need to come out of their shells and help shine the light on the evil that is keeping our people poorer and our country a hundred years backward.
I am tired, and I know many more concerned Liberians are fed up, with the way things are in our country. Liberia and majority of its people have seen no progress in almost 161 years of existence. Our people continue to live in huts and zinc shacks. Some are drinking water from creeks chemically polluted by big industries that care less for the human condition.
Majority of our people continue to be without health care, with as many as possible walking barefooted. The revolution was about serving the people and improving their lot. The people continue to remain victims of the revolution. In a sense, it was all a gimmick; it was all a big, self-aggrandizing lie.
The people’s struggle must be fought by a new generation of patriots, for as James Russell Lowell wrote, “time makes ancient good uncouth.” And of course, people born to parents of ancient ideas and myopic thoughts will not succumb to the banishment of the status quo.
Liberians from all walks of life must begin to sound the alarm on uncouth behaviors…behaviors that bring harm to the nation and its people. Liberians must not relent in voicing their displeasure not only with the president but also with those who claim to carry the banner of patriotism and nationalism on their bosoms but yet, are mired in the mud pit of corruption.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Our Sad Interconnection
The dilemma Liberia faces is punishing those who brought havoc upon the people and country. We are so interconnected that it is near impossible to harm one and not cause a wave of bad feelings from other connected parts of the chain. My gut feeling is that those who revelled in humiliating our people and destroying our country, these people should be handled by the international community. Fragile Liberia has no place to accommodate our killers and tormentors.
I am sitting at my desk at work and thinking about all the good and the bad things that are happening in Liberia. I do not have all the information I need to pin point exactly these good and bad things. But from reading here and there I hear that $87 Million will soon be pumped into the country’s economy by an investment company to build houses in Virginia, Brewerville, and on Robertsfield highway for low as well as middle income citizens.
Since Monrovia is so congested, why wasn’t the Kakata area, say near Todee junction, selected for this project? If I can remember, Kakata is like 40 miles from Monrovia. I drive 40 miles one-way to work everyday. Anyway, that is a good thing; for when I finally come home, I will be able to live somewhere comfortably until I can build my own house.
Later on, my mind took me to the civil war that started on December 24, 1989. Charles Taylor was all over the radio waves. President Doe was also all over the radio waves. Majority of Liberians did not know who else was pushing Mr Taylor. What many of us knew was that Charles Taylor once worked for President Doe and the big news was that Taylor had sold a plane or something and had duped the President. Money is one of those things that spoil friendship!
The race to reach Monrovia to capture President Doe was intense. News began to filter out from the front line that Prince Johnson, one of Charles Taylor’s top guns, had defected. Not many people knew who Prince Johnson was; but the news was that the guy was fierce. From America I heard that Prince Johnson had a stool that he sat on, in the middle of the road. Enemy soldiers traveling on roads where Prince Johnson controlled had no chance. I believe, Senator, the people of Liberia deserve to hear your war-years stories in book form.
A lot of Johnsons took part in our civil war. From America, one Ellen Johnson was leading a group. From Camp Johnson Road, a Roosevelt Johnson was making his name, protecting his people, as we heard. Roosevelt Johnson, we also learned, was also a fierce warrior. oh yes, Koboi Johnson would have made an awesome foursome!
Even though Ellen Johnson is one of us, Gola father, Kru grandmother, she was brought up with and influenced by the Congau people. My thinking is if Ellen’s intention was to protect or fight for anyone, the fight would be for the Congau people. Roosevelt Johnson was fighting to protect his tribal Krahn people. And Prince Johnson was there to fight for and protect his people from Nimba County.
For the Gola, Kru and Congau people, Ellen Johnson was there for you. For the Krahn people, Roosevelt Johnson and the President of Liberia, Samuel Doe, Amos Gbon, George Boley, and many other prominent fighters were there to protect your interest. For the Mandingo, Gio, Mano, Gbi, and Krahn people of Nimba County, Prince Johnson was the son who was destined to protect you. Many other counties were now vulnerable. They had no one to fight for them. Bong, Lofa, Maryland, Cape Mount and a few other counties needed to be represented in the war. Tom W was there to fight for the people of Bassa and Rivercess Counties. Oh, there was another Johnson who got ambushed in Grand Bassa County during the early stage of the war. I wonder from which county he came.
Because of this vulnerability, a son of Lofa County, Alhaji Kromah, got into the fray. He too was expected to fight for and protect the Kissi, Mandingo, Lorma, Belle, and Gbandi people of Lofa County. From this picture, it is now clear that a full-blown civil war was in the making. The people of Liberia were in for a long and devastating period, never before experienced.
My wife’s paternal grandmother, a Belle, who lived in Gwellita in Lofa County, was forced to walk miles and miles into the Belle forest. Because of her age, she died during her ordeal. Her village was burned and none of us know where she was buried. When we heard the news, we knew that Mr Kromah was not in Lofa County to protect all of its population.
My sister in-law and her husband, Stephen Konah, lived in Bong Mines. The family had a small clinic they operated near one of the gates leading into the compound of the company. Stephen Konah was from Nimba County. When Prince Johnson and his fighters reached Bong Mines, It was impossible to ignore the new Sherriff in town.
Mr Konah and his family cooked for and did all they could to accommodate Mr Johnson and his group of fighters. The fierce warrior from Nimba County did nothing to protect and save Mr Konah. Mr Stephen Konah was brutally murdered in front of his family by those who were supposed to protect him. The reason: The group was not sure whether Mr Konah was a spy for government forces or a genuine supporter of Mr Johnson.
What was the war about if it did not save the lives of the innocent? Why did many refuse to admit to the atrocities they committed against their own people? Why were some people fighting to save their people why others were gleefully killing their own? Why are we crying about the untold destruction and the=2 0backwardness of our country when we know within ourselves that we did the damage?
It is a difficult thing for the common person like me to decide who, amongst our killers, should be sent to the gallows, incarcerated or set free. To know that these killers of men are roaming the streets of our towns and villages makes for a chilling feeling. To know that men we once feared are now making our laws and teaching our people; to know that the same people who once killed innocent people and stole our money are now deacons in churches and Imams in mosques, carrying the Bible and Koran on their chests in broad day light; to live with these terrible feelings everyday, is indeed frightening, stressful and heartbreaking.
The international community needs to help us Liberians decide what to make of the results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. All those who played major roles in our civil conflict must be made to face the consequences. Whatever list is out there that is already causing concerns should be given due process, for justice must be done to all men and women.
There is just no jail in Liberia to keep Prince Johnson or Conneh or Alhaji Kromah or Senator Dolo. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has become larger than life. Is there a jail house in Liberia where she can be incarcerated because she started off this thing with $10,000? Are the women of Liberia, her greatest strength, our mothers and sisters who voted her into the presidency, are these women ready to see their idol in hand cuffs?
Our situation is so pitiful and interconnected. I hit a huge wall whenever I think about the dilemma Liberians face in doling out justice to those who killed us. Like Charles Taylor, I just wish these big Whigs were all somewhere else as we decide from the comfort of our cities, towns and villages what to do with them. If our tormentors were somewhere else, far, far away from Monrovia, my call would be: Let those people stay right where they are.
How in the world will the baby Jesus be sent from Egypt when King Herod is still roaming the streets of Nazareth?
I am sitting at my desk at work and thinking about all the good and the bad things that are happening in Liberia. I do not have all the information I need to pin point exactly these good and bad things. But from reading here and there I hear that $87 Million will soon be pumped into the country’s economy by an investment company to build houses in Virginia, Brewerville, and on Robertsfield highway for low as well as middle income citizens.
Since Monrovia is so congested, why wasn’t the Kakata area, say near Todee junction, selected for this project? If I can remember, Kakata is like 40 miles from Monrovia. I drive 40 miles one-way to work everyday. Anyway, that is a good thing; for when I finally come home, I will be able to live somewhere comfortably until I can build my own house.
Later on, my mind took me to the civil war that started on December 24, 1989. Charles Taylor was all over the radio waves. President Doe was also all over the radio waves. Majority of Liberians did not know who else was pushing Mr Taylor. What many of us knew was that Charles Taylor once worked for President Doe and the big news was that Taylor had sold a plane or something and had duped the President. Money is one of those things that spoil friendship!
The race to reach Monrovia to capture President Doe was intense. News began to filter out from the front line that Prince Johnson, one of Charles Taylor’s top guns, had defected. Not many people knew who Prince Johnson was; but the news was that the guy was fierce. From America I heard that Prince Johnson had a stool that he sat on, in the middle of the road. Enemy soldiers traveling on roads where Prince Johnson controlled had no chance. I believe, Senator, the people of Liberia deserve to hear your war-years stories in book form.
A lot of Johnsons took part in our civil war. From America, one Ellen Johnson was leading a group. From Camp Johnson Road, a Roosevelt Johnson was making his name, protecting his people, as we heard. Roosevelt Johnson, we also learned, was also a fierce warrior. oh yes, Koboi Johnson would have made an awesome foursome!
Even though Ellen Johnson is one of us, Gola father, Kru grandmother, she was brought up with and influenced by the Congau people. My thinking is if Ellen’s intention was to protect or fight for anyone, the fight would be for the Congau people. Roosevelt Johnson was fighting to protect his tribal Krahn people. And Prince Johnson was there to fight for and protect his people from Nimba County.
For the Gola, Kru and Congau people, Ellen Johnson was there for you. For the Krahn people, Roosevelt Johnson and the President of Liberia, Samuel Doe, Amos Gbon, George Boley, and many other prominent fighters were there to protect your interest. For the Mandingo, Gio, Mano, Gbi, and Krahn people of Nimba County, Prince Johnson was the son who was destined to protect you. Many other counties were now vulnerable. They had no one to fight for them. Bong, Lofa, Maryland, Cape Mount and a few other counties needed to be represented in the war. Tom W was there to fight for the people of Bassa and Rivercess Counties. Oh, there was another Johnson who got ambushed in Grand Bassa County during the early stage of the war. I wonder from which county he came.
Because of this vulnerability, a son of Lofa County, Alhaji Kromah, got into the fray. He too was expected to fight for and protect the Kissi, Mandingo, Lorma, Belle, and Gbandi people of Lofa County. From this picture, it is now clear that a full-blown civil war was in the making. The people of Liberia were in for a long and devastating period, never before experienced.
My wife’s paternal grandmother, a Belle, who lived in Gwellita in Lofa County, was forced to walk miles and miles into the Belle forest. Because of her age, she died during her ordeal. Her village was burned and none of us know where she was buried. When we heard the news, we knew that Mr Kromah was not in Lofa County to protect all of its population.
My sister in-law and her husband, Stephen Konah, lived in Bong Mines. The family had a small clinic they operated near one of the gates leading into the compound of the company. Stephen Konah was from Nimba County. When Prince Johnson and his fighters reached Bong Mines, It was impossible to ignore the new Sherriff in town.
Mr Konah and his family cooked for and did all they could to accommodate Mr Johnson and his group of fighters. The fierce warrior from Nimba County did nothing to protect and save Mr Konah. Mr Stephen Konah was brutally murdered in front of his family by those who were supposed to protect him. The reason: The group was not sure whether Mr Konah was a spy for government forces or a genuine supporter of Mr Johnson.
What was the war about if it did not save the lives of the innocent? Why did many refuse to admit to the atrocities they committed against their own people? Why were some people fighting to save their people why others were gleefully killing their own? Why are we crying about the untold destruction and the=2 0backwardness of our country when we know within ourselves that we did the damage?
It is a difficult thing for the common person like me to decide who, amongst our killers, should be sent to the gallows, incarcerated or set free. To know that these killers of men are roaming the streets of our towns and villages makes for a chilling feeling. To know that men we once feared are now making our laws and teaching our people; to know that the same people who once killed innocent people and stole our money are now deacons in churches and Imams in mosques, carrying the Bible and Koran on their chests in broad day light; to live with these terrible feelings everyday, is indeed frightening, stressful and heartbreaking.
The international community needs to help us Liberians decide what to make of the results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. All those who played major roles in our civil conflict must be made to face the consequences. Whatever list is out there that is already causing concerns should be given due process, for justice must be done to all men and women.
There is just no jail in Liberia to keep Prince Johnson or Conneh or Alhaji Kromah or Senator Dolo. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has become larger than life. Is there a jail house in Liberia where she can be incarcerated because she started off this thing with $10,000? Are the women of Liberia, her greatest strength, our mothers and sisters who voted her into the presidency, are these women ready to see their idol in hand cuffs?
Our situation is so pitiful and interconnected. I hit a huge wall whenever I think about the dilemma Liberians face in doling out justice to those who killed us. Like Charles Taylor, I just wish these big Whigs were all somewhere else as we decide from the comfort of our cities, towns and villages what to do with them. If our tormentors were somewhere else, far, far away from Monrovia, my call would be: Let those people stay right where they are.
How in the world will the baby Jesus be sent from Egypt when King Herod is still roaming the streets of Nazareth?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Ending The Blame Game
With general elections around the corner, manipulators of the Liberian people are coming out en masse with the same old divisive ideas of blaming one group of people for the country's demise. Mentally and psychologically, majority of the Liberian people were kept down by a small group of freed slaves, for 133 years. Morally and physically, our people and the country were destroyed when the majority finally took the rein of power.
To rebuild Liberia and unite its people, something new has to happen. The blame game, however, must end. That is my gut feeling:
The population of Liberia is now 3.4 million people. Does this amount include Liberians living outside of the country? I am just curious.
On April 12, 1980, Liberians woke up to the voice of Master Sergeant Samuel K Doe of the People’s Redemption Council. MSGT Doe told us, the Liberian people that 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule had ended; that years of rampant corruption and misuse of power were over. There was dancing in the streets of Monrovia and in towns and villages all across the country. 95 percent of the people were rejoicing because 5 percent had controlled the helm of power for too long a time.
The beneficiaries and gravy seekers of 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule were obviously and understandably saddened by the incident of that memorable morning. Although a few had been killed, many Americo-Liberians and their surrogates left the country; many of the same people remained in the country. Some became Ministers and big shots in the new government.
It was not long after the celebration that it became clear that after 133 years of inequality imposed upon 95 percent of the population, after 133 years of separation of Liberians into two groups---Congo and Country, the people of Liberia were about to witness a nightmare never before experienced in the country’s 133 years of independence.
What did I expect when the coup occurred and the True Whig Party was dislodged? What did I expect when Samuel Doe and the PRC announced that they were now in power in Liberia and that rampant corruption and misuse of power had come to a screeching halt? I expected the doors that had been closed for so long to majority of the people of Liberia to now be opened to all Liberians. I expected to see the government of Liberia to look like Liberia. I expected more schools and especially more universities. I felt it was just wrong for students in Harper or in Voinjama to come all the way to Monrovia to attend the only University in the country. Of course, I expected a lot more from the new majority government in Liberia.
It was good to see citizens from all the counties in the country, including Congo people, in the new government. I could not understand why it was so difficult to appoint a citizen from Nimba County Vice President of the country when the Congo people were in charge? After all, James E Green from Sinoe County had been Vice president. Why was it always a Congo person or a surrogate who had to be President or Vice President of a country that belongs to all Liberians? What was it that made Americo-Liberians so afraid of their own people whom they had lived with for more than a hundred years? People living in Lofa, Grand Gedeh, Nimba, Bong, Bomi counties were Liberians too, right?
As I was saying, I expected a lot from the PRC and Samuel Doe. I wanted to see unity amongst the soldiers who had taken over. I wanted them to be united in their efforts to demonstrate to the Americo-Liberians that we were all in this boat together. Oh how wrong a path on which my thoughts were leading me! As I was looking at the bright side of the coin, the surrogates and gravy seekers of our new government were hatching something else---something more sinister and devastating than any of us could foretell.
The demonic thoughts and dark-alley manipulations by the surrogates and gravy seekers of the new government started a domino effect that began with General Quiwonkpa’s transfer from the Army Barracks to being Secretary General of the PRC. The killing of General Weh-Syehn and other soldiers who announced the change on the morning of April 12, 1980, was a big set back for unity. I did not like the verbal presentations of those who were now in power, but I felt assured that our country would never be the same again. I felt that with an equal playing field, Congo and Country people would compete fairly for a slice of the nation’s pie. We would all be unanimous in our efforts to finally build the Liberia of our collective liking.
133 years of Americo-Liberian rule may have educationally paralyzed 95 percent of our people, but when 95 percent of the people were given the chance to redeem all of us of this past evil, a small group of manipulators and gravy seekers derailed the golden opportunity handed to us through the sacrifice of a few brave men.
We can continue to blame those who kept us down for 133 years. We can say that Americo-Liberians were or are a mean set of people who thought and continue to think that they were or are better structured by God to rule the rest of us. We can lay the underdevelopment of our country squarely in their laps. But when it comes to our turn to demonstrate to the world and our people what we did then and what we are doing now with the given opportunity, there is actually nothing meaningful that the representatives of 95 percent of the people can show. Whereas Americo-Liberians mentally and psychologically killed the majority, representatives of the majority have made sure they physically destroyed those who were their strength. Physically destroying or killing members of the majority was the one recipe needed to bring the country to what it is today.
There is no question, Liberians will have to reconcile if we want to live together in peace. The burden is on all of us to tell the truth…to tell each other why we were so mean to each other and to give each other the assurance that such evil will not be allowed to come our way again.
Because one evil led to another evil, those who were vicious and who became law and gospel will have to face some retribution for such vicious crime against humanity. For we know that burning the bridges behind you after killing your own people did not suffice; for here you are, coming back to the same villages you destroyed…coming back to the survivors of those you killed in your hours of excitement.
We need to come up with bold, new and transformational ideas to build the country and unite our people. The blame-game will have to end if we must move forward.
To rebuild Liberia and unite its people, something new has to happen. The blame game, however, must end. That is my gut feeling:
The population of Liberia is now 3.4 million people. Does this amount include Liberians living outside of the country? I am just curious.
On April 12, 1980, Liberians woke up to the voice of Master Sergeant Samuel K Doe of the People’s Redemption Council. MSGT Doe told us, the Liberian people that 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule had ended; that years of rampant corruption and misuse of power were over. There was dancing in the streets of Monrovia and in towns and villages all across the country. 95 percent of the people were rejoicing because 5 percent had controlled the helm of power for too long a time.
The beneficiaries and gravy seekers of 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule were obviously and understandably saddened by the incident of that memorable morning. Although a few had been killed, many Americo-Liberians and their surrogates left the country; many of the same people remained in the country. Some became Ministers and big shots in the new government.
It was not long after the celebration that it became clear that after 133 years of inequality imposed upon 95 percent of the population, after 133 years of separation of Liberians into two groups---Congo and Country, the people of Liberia were about to witness a nightmare never before experienced in the country’s 133 years of independence.
What did I expect when the coup occurred and the True Whig Party was dislodged? What did I expect when Samuel Doe and the PRC announced that they were now in power in Liberia and that rampant corruption and misuse of power had come to a screeching halt? I expected the doors that had been closed for so long to majority of the people of Liberia to now be opened to all Liberians. I expected to see the government of Liberia to look like Liberia. I expected more schools and especially more universities. I felt it was just wrong for students in Harper or in Voinjama to come all the way to Monrovia to attend the only University in the country. Of course, I expected a lot more from the new majority government in Liberia.
It was good to see citizens from all the counties in the country, including Congo people, in the new government. I could not understand why it was so difficult to appoint a citizen from Nimba County Vice President of the country when the Congo people were in charge? After all, James E Green from Sinoe County had been Vice president. Why was it always a Congo person or a surrogate who had to be President or Vice President of a country that belongs to all Liberians? What was it that made Americo-Liberians so afraid of their own people whom they had lived with for more than a hundred years? People living in Lofa, Grand Gedeh, Nimba, Bong, Bomi counties were Liberians too, right?
As I was saying, I expected a lot from the PRC and Samuel Doe. I wanted to see unity amongst the soldiers who had taken over. I wanted them to be united in their efforts to demonstrate to the Americo-Liberians that we were all in this boat together. Oh how wrong a path on which my thoughts were leading me! As I was looking at the bright side of the coin, the surrogates and gravy seekers of our new government were hatching something else---something more sinister and devastating than any of us could foretell.
The demonic thoughts and dark-alley manipulations by the surrogates and gravy seekers of the new government started a domino effect that began with General Quiwonkpa’s transfer from the Army Barracks to being Secretary General of the PRC. The killing of General Weh-Syehn and other soldiers who announced the change on the morning of April 12, 1980, was a big set back for unity. I did not like the verbal presentations of those who were now in power, but I felt assured that our country would never be the same again. I felt that with an equal playing field, Congo and Country people would compete fairly for a slice of the nation’s pie. We would all be unanimous in our efforts to finally build the Liberia of our collective liking.
133 years of Americo-Liberian rule may have educationally paralyzed 95 percent of our people, but when 95 percent of the people were given the chance to redeem all of us of this past evil, a small group of manipulators and gravy seekers derailed the golden opportunity handed to us through the sacrifice of a few brave men.
We can continue to blame those who kept us down for 133 years. We can say that Americo-Liberians were or are a mean set of people who thought and continue to think that they were or are better structured by God to rule the rest of us. We can lay the underdevelopment of our country squarely in their laps. But when it comes to our turn to demonstrate to the world and our people what we did then and what we are doing now with the given opportunity, there is actually nothing meaningful that the representatives of 95 percent of the people can show. Whereas Americo-Liberians mentally and psychologically killed the majority, representatives of the majority have made sure they physically destroyed those who were their strength. Physically destroying or killing members of the majority was the one recipe needed to bring the country to what it is today.
There is no question, Liberians will have to reconcile if we want to live together in peace. The burden is on all of us to tell the truth…to tell each other why we were so mean to each other and to give each other the assurance that such evil will not be allowed to come our way again.
Because one evil led to another evil, those who were vicious and who became law and gospel will have to face some retribution for such vicious crime against humanity. For we know that burning the bridges behind you after killing your own people did not suffice; for here you are, coming back to the same villages you destroyed…coming back to the survivors of those you killed in your hours of excitement.
We need to come up with bold, new and transformational ideas to build the country and unite our people. The blame-game will have to end if we must move forward.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Stealing of the country's money has become a way of life for those entrusted with the lifeline of Liberia. Employees and government officials are knee deep in keeping our people backward and promoting the failed-state status of our homeland. When I read that members of the president's family were also busy sucking our country dry of its diversity by taking lucrative positions in this government, I had to jump in with my gut feelings:
When I am not writing to the Editor of FrontPageAfrica, I am busy on the Internet, on Liberian listservs, fighting other Liberians who believe in their hearts that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is somehow transforming into the worst president Liberia has ever had. The frustration out there is amazing. Supporting Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf now a day is becoming a daunting endeavor for many of her staunch supporters. I wonder whether she is hearing any of the thousands of criticisms coming her way.
About a month ago I read that FrontPageAfrica was being denied access to certain areas in the Ellen Government. I don't know how far this has gone, but it seems from your daily output that the doors to these restricted areas are being gradually opened for you to peep in. Keep peeping in, for there is nothing more exhilarating than to see and report to the people some of the evils that go on behind closed doors and in dark alleys.
Some people are extremely mad that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf wrote her memoir while she is still occupies the presidency of Liberia. Some even say that the title: This Child Will Be Great is egotistical and a bluff. Because of what some old man said near her bed side when she was about a day or two old, these people argue, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf did not rest until she became great by becoming President of Liberia. She did everything in her power to fulfill that prediction.
Our people are tough and when they get on your back, it's like white on rice. My counter argument to this book brouhaha is that if someone told me that I would be great, I would do everything in my power to do the best I can to fulfill the dream of greatness. And if my greatness benefited society, there would be no reason for regrets. I told the story of my Eleventh Grade Teacher who wrote on the back of my Report Card at the end of the year that: Cooper Would Be An Excellent College Student.
I took that comment very seriously. No one had ever come to our school to tell us about any college. After high school in Liberia, many, many students are left to fend for themselves. Potential Doctors and Lawyers and Engineers and Writers are left to rot on the dryer of inequality. When it seemed to me that I was slowly becoming a bad statistics, I remembered the comment of my Eleventh Grade Teacher. Those words gave me the push I needed to enter the University of Liberia. Like Ellen, I wish all Liberians could find some words said by some stranger to make them move forward in a positive way.
I don't know what has become of the $508,000 confiscated from the Nigerian Businessman by the security forces of Liberia. I heard an argument on Star Radio via the Internet between the Justice Minister and a Member of the House of Representatives. The well-spoken Justice Minister who was once Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, I believe, seemed baffled by the persistence of the Representative's inquiries. If I were grading the arguments, I would give the Minister a D and the Rep an A. The FOC in this case was used in a dubious and hasty manner. Why couldn't these smart people people keep that money in the bank until a thorough investigation was completed? Is there a comprehensive break down of how this money was so hastily spent? What is going on, my people?
History is repeating itself in Liberia. And the band wagon is getting loaded with history makers. Those who vilified John Morlu for saying that the EJS government was three times more corrupt than the previous governments are hanging their heads in shame. How will the people of Liberia benefit from the resources of their country when one day $1 Million is deposited into a bank and the next day 10 strangers will go and begin withdrawing the same money from the bank? Who are these bankers? Are they part of the syndicated group of corrupt Liberians and foreigners?
Looking at those 13 officials of the Liberian Government who were executed in April of 1980, I would think that such a scene would remind the president and her family of those dark days in the history of our country. It is a shame and a big disgrace that we as human beings are so quick to wipe from our minds the evil of the past. I hate to think that the same thought of Liberia being the farm of the Tubmans and the Tolberts when they were in power, those same thoughts are popping up again in the minds of Liberians.
Someone who just left Liberia was saying in a gathering that there would be a coup if the United Nations took its troops from Liberia today. Why would anyone want such a thing to happen to us again? Why is Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf falling into the same trap that Tolbert and Doe and Taylor did everything to fall into? What is it about government that makes fools out of great men and women?
I did not like when the whole of Grand Gedeh left the East and settled in Monrovia when President Doe was in power. I did not like when Frank Tolbert and Steve Tolbert and all the Tolberts sat in those lucrative positions when William Tolbert was in Power. For 27 years, Cape Palmas was all over the Liberian people because William Tubman was president of Liberia.
Today, the whispers about the Sirleafs and their cousins and their sons and daughters and their in laws are all over the place. Those who, by the skin of their teeth, not the love of God, were able to escape the incident of 1980, are back and more prepared to steal everything in their path and again, run away to far-away lands to bury their loot. Every president of Liberia brings a baggage that leaves a worthless legacy behind. Our first female president seems to be falling into this strange web of doom. And I don't like it. This ship is heading toward a precipice. Friends of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf need to tell her the God truth.
Since the norm is that history must repeat itself and there are those who are bent on making history by carrying on the same thievery that continues to keep our people down and our country a failed state, the future of Liberia looks bleak. For no matter who comes next as president of this country, nothing will be different. The whole of Sinoe County will migrate to Monrovia if the next president comes from that part of the country.
This vicious cycle is never-ending.
5/20/09
When I am not writing to the Editor of FrontPageAfrica, I am busy on the Internet, on Liberian listservs, fighting other Liberians who believe in their hearts that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is somehow transforming into the worst president Liberia has ever had. The frustration out there is amazing. Supporting Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf now a day is becoming a daunting endeavor for many of her staunch supporters. I wonder whether she is hearing any of the thousands of criticisms coming her way.
About a month ago I read that FrontPageAfrica was being denied access to certain areas in the Ellen Government. I don't know how far this has gone, but it seems from your daily output that the doors to these restricted areas are being gradually opened for you to peep in. Keep peeping in, for there is nothing more exhilarating than to see and report to the people some of the evils that go on behind closed doors and in dark alleys.
Some people are extremely mad that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf wrote her memoir while she is still occupies the presidency of Liberia. Some even say that the title: This Child Will Be Great is egotistical and a bluff. Because of what some old man said near her bed side when she was about a day or two old, these people argue, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf did not rest until she became great by becoming President of Liberia. She did everything in her power to fulfill that prediction.
Our people are tough and when they get on your back, it's like white on rice. My counter argument to this book brouhaha is that if someone told me that I would be great, I would do everything in my power to do the best I can to fulfill the dream of greatness. And if my greatness benefited society, there would be no reason for regrets. I told the story of my Eleventh Grade Teacher who wrote on the back of my Report Card at the end of the year that: Cooper Would Be An Excellent College Student.
I took that comment very seriously. No one had ever come to our school to tell us about any college. After high school in Liberia, many, many students are left to fend for themselves. Potential Doctors and Lawyers and Engineers and Writers are left to rot on the dryer of inequality. When it seemed to me that I was slowly becoming a bad statistics, I remembered the comment of my Eleventh Grade Teacher. Those words gave me the push I needed to enter the University of Liberia. Like Ellen, I wish all Liberians could find some words said by some stranger to make them move forward in a positive way.
I don't know what has become of the $508,000 confiscated from the Nigerian Businessman by the security forces of Liberia. I heard an argument on Star Radio via the Internet between the Justice Minister and a Member of the House of Representatives. The well-spoken Justice Minister who was once Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, I believe, seemed baffled by the persistence of the Representative's inquiries. If I were grading the arguments, I would give the Minister a D and the Rep an A. The FOC in this case was used in a dubious and hasty manner. Why couldn't these smart people people keep that money in the bank until a thorough investigation was completed? Is there a comprehensive break down of how this money was so hastily spent? What is going on, my people?
History is repeating itself in Liberia. And the band wagon is getting loaded with history makers. Those who vilified John Morlu for saying that the EJS government was three times more corrupt than the previous governments are hanging their heads in shame. How will the people of Liberia benefit from the resources of their country when one day $1 Million is deposited into a bank and the next day 10 strangers will go and begin withdrawing the same money from the bank? Who are these bankers? Are they part of the syndicated group of corrupt Liberians and foreigners?
Looking at those 13 officials of the Liberian Government who were executed in April of 1980, I would think that such a scene would remind the president and her family of those dark days in the history of our country. It is a shame and a big disgrace that we as human beings are so quick to wipe from our minds the evil of the past. I hate to think that the same thought of Liberia being the farm of the Tubmans and the Tolberts when they were in power, those same thoughts are popping up again in the minds of Liberians.
Someone who just left Liberia was saying in a gathering that there would be a coup if the United Nations took its troops from Liberia today. Why would anyone want such a thing to happen to us again? Why is Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf falling into the same trap that Tolbert and Doe and Taylor did everything to fall into? What is it about government that makes fools out of great men and women?
I did not like when the whole of Grand Gedeh left the East and settled in Monrovia when President Doe was in power. I did not like when Frank Tolbert and Steve Tolbert and all the Tolberts sat in those lucrative positions when William Tolbert was in Power. For 27 years, Cape Palmas was all over the Liberian people because William Tubman was president of Liberia.
Today, the whispers about the Sirleafs and their cousins and their sons and daughters and their in laws are all over the place. Those who, by the skin of their teeth, not the love of God, were able to escape the incident of 1980, are back and more prepared to steal everything in their path and again, run away to far-away lands to bury their loot. Every president of Liberia brings a baggage that leaves a worthless legacy behind. Our first female president seems to be falling into this strange web of doom. And I don't like it. This ship is heading toward a precipice. Friends of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf need to tell her the God truth.
Since the norm is that history must repeat itself and there are those who are bent on making history by carrying on the same thievery that continues to keep our people down and our country a failed state, the future of Liberia looks bleak. For no matter who comes next as president of this country, nothing will be different. The whole of Sinoe County will migrate to Monrovia if the next president comes from that part of the country.
This vicious cycle is never-ending.
5/20/09
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Liberia does not have an effective lobbying group in the US Congress. The stigma of slavery of our own people and constant mistreatment of our people by us are all reasons why the friendship between Africa and the blacks in America remains lukewarm. The debate continues:
When all things are spoken and placed in their right perspective, it is believed that most African Americans would prefer associating themselves with South Africa or Kenya or Ghana rather than being associated with Liberia. On page 296 of Ellen's Book, This child Will Be Great, she writes:
"Moreover, I believe there is a segment of black Americans who want to distance themselves from the settlers of Liberia, because of what the settlers did in forming this land. They left the land of bondage and oppression and came here to impose another form of colonialism on the people already here. Who wants to be associated with that? The whole stigma of slavery and oppression that Liberia represents...that Africa represents...to many black Americans is precisely what they want to distance themselves from."
As we can see, African Americans may not have copiously checked many of the misconceptions and falsehoods about Africa. They have, however, seen and continue to witness the atrocities Africans have committed against their own people. Things will never be as rosy for them in America. Yet, they have no other alternative; they have nowhere to run to. Germans and French can move to America with ease. Africa is a whole different story for black people around the world!
In a nutshell, Africans have been mean to themselves. And as far as we are concerned, we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot.
Cooper Kweme
5/12/09
12:00 AM
When all things are spoken and placed in their right perspective, it is believed that most African Americans would prefer associating themselves with South Africa or Kenya or Ghana rather than being associated with Liberia. On page 296 of Ellen's Book, This child Will Be Great, she writes:
"Moreover, I believe there is a segment of black Americans who want to distance themselves from the settlers of Liberia, because of what the settlers did in forming this land. They left the land of bondage and oppression and came here to impose another form of colonialism on the people already here. Who wants to be associated with that? The whole stigma of slavery and oppression that Liberia represents...that Africa represents...to many black Americans is precisely what they want to distance themselves from."
As we can see, African Americans may not have copiously checked many of the misconceptions and falsehoods about Africa. They have, however, seen and continue to witness the atrocities Africans have committed against their own people. Things will never be as rosy for them in America. Yet, they have no other alternative; they have nowhere to run to. Germans and French can move to America with ease. Africa is a whole different story for black people around the world!
In a nutshell, Africans have been mean to themselves. And as far as we are concerned, we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot.
Cooper Kweme
5/12/09
12:00 AM
Monday, May 4, 2009
Being Positive For Once
Many detractors and frustrated individuals are bent on destroying what little is being accomplished in Liberia. From criminal to the worst of names, these detractors are vilifying the President, the first lady president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. I can't stomach the venom being spewed. When one of these detractors challenged me to be more expansive in my criticism of the men who have ruled our country, I made it brief:
I don't have to be analytical about this. But look. From Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Charles Taylor....all these men presidents, have one way or the other, ruined our country. From 1847 to 2006....159 years, Liberia saw nothing but a period of underdevelopment, mayhem and chaos! Whose name do you hear of more often stealing the people's money? I think it's mostly men, right? Besides Aisha Conneh, I did not hear the names of a lot of women war lords during our 15 years of conflicts. In this new dispensation I do not hear the names of women in the stealing business.
The crazy notion is that because one has the right to be critical, rude and inconsiderate of one's leader, those who believe in change for the better should just lay back and read incendiary, rhetorical nonsense. For it is extremely obvious, and we all know this, that if Liberia had a Gbanapekin or a Flomolon as its leader, the people of Liberia would not have been better off than they were 3 years ago. Chaos, tribalism and you know what would have been the order of the day.
The venom being spewed by most men against Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on these listservs represents the frustration that has saturated their inner self. When the opportunity presented itself for 159 years, the men squandered and misused such opportunity. If the Liberian women were given at least 50 years to run the country, I am sure as sure can be that Liberia will be the Liberia that our children can all be proud of.
The "criminality" of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is news to the Liberian people who voted for her. And who can be more justified for what occurred in November of 2005 than the people of Liberia?Stop insulting the intelligence of our people. And, stop it now!
There are so many fake names on these listservs that it is difficult to know whose rhetoric is being responded to. What I try to do, however, is to be consistent, no matter who tries to touch my hot button.
Finally, people should stop this " in-the-cause-of-the-people, the-struggle-continues thing." That is just rhetoric. President Doe said the same thing. We know what happened to the people. President Taylor was a mother of an advocate for the people. The outcome: 250,000 plus of the Liberian people died as a result of his fake exuberance.
We all can help build Liberia by giving good advice to the president. She will not be president forever. If road construction is your passion, talk to her about it. If schools and hospitals are your main concerns, write her and let her know. Be positive for once in your life. This is the most open government Liberia has ever had.
It's just difficult for me to be so negative knowing that just a few years ago, 250, 000 of our people died for me to have this opportunity to be positive.
Cooper Kweme
5/4/09
I don't have to be analytical about this. But look. From Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Charles Taylor....all these men presidents, have one way or the other, ruined our country. From 1847 to 2006....159 years, Liberia saw nothing but a period of underdevelopment, mayhem and chaos! Whose name do you hear of more often stealing the people's money? I think it's mostly men, right? Besides Aisha Conneh, I did not hear the names of a lot of women war lords during our 15 years of conflicts. In this new dispensation I do not hear the names of women in the stealing business.
The crazy notion is that because one has the right to be critical, rude and inconsiderate of one's leader, those who believe in change for the better should just lay back and read incendiary, rhetorical nonsense. For it is extremely obvious, and we all know this, that if Liberia had a Gbanapekin or a Flomolon as its leader, the people of Liberia would not have been better off than they were 3 years ago. Chaos, tribalism and you know what would have been the order of the day.
The venom being spewed by most men against Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on these listservs represents the frustration that has saturated their inner self. When the opportunity presented itself for 159 years, the men squandered and misused such opportunity. If the Liberian women were given at least 50 years to run the country, I am sure as sure can be that Liberia will be the Liberia that our children can all be proud of.
The "criminality" of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is news to the Liberian people who voted for her. And who can be more justified for what occurred in November of 2005 than the people of Liberia?Stop insulting the intelligence of our people. And, stop it now!
There are so many fake names on these listservs that it is difficult to know whose rhetoric is being responded to. What I try to do, however, is to be consistent, no matter who tries to touch my hot button.
Finally, people should stop this " in-the-cause-of-the-people, the-struggle-continues thing." That is just rhetoric. President Doe said the same thing. We know what happened to the people. President Taylor was a mother of an advocate for the people. The outcome: 250,000 plus of the Liberian people died as a result of his fake exuberance.
We all can help build Liberia by giving good advice to the president. She will not be president forever. If road construction is your passion, talk to her about it. If schools and hospitals are your main concerns, write her and let her know. Be positive for once in your life. This is the most open government Liberia has ever had.
It's just difficult for me to be so negative knowing that just a few years ago, 250, 000 of our people died for me to have this opportunity to be positive.
Cooper Kweme
5/4/09
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The Oldma Had Good Intentions For Liberia
About 400 International guests, mostly women, will be arriving in Monrovia in March, 2009. Besides the massive corruption and inefficiency of some of the President's cabinet members, there is news that Mulbah Morlue, a human rights activist, is calling for a massive demonstration to let the guests know that the President of Liberia is a war criminal and should face a War Crime court.
Liberians know by now that the President of Liberia contributed to to the destruction of her country and the killing of hundred of thousands of its citizens. Her role, she told the people, was minimal. She was remorseful for what she participated in in order to usher in a better day for the people of Liberia. She was elected on what she told her people. I am convinced that she told the truth and that her original intentions to join the group to free Liberia were good. I couldn't wait to join in the conversation:
My son woke me up at 5:30 this morning to ask whether I was going to work. Between dreaming and wondering why would this guy wake me up so early, I answered in the affirmative. "Get up and look out side," he demanded. I get up, part the window blinds, and look outside. The entire neighborhood is covered in snow...three to four inches.
Getting to work today will not be easy. I will have to first clear the snow from the steps leading to my truck whose cargo bay is almost filled with snow. I will then remove the snow from the windshield and the windows and the top of the truck. I will then shovel snow from around my truck to make way for easy passage onto the street in our neighborhood that has not yet seen the snow-removing and street-treating vehicle that usually comes around during days like this one.
What I just described is what most Liberians who left their sunny country go through all the time, whenever it snows in the cities where they live. Many of us are tired going through this. We have had enough of this wonderful experience of living in America and in Europe. Many of us who have experienced the sweetness of real freedom want to go home and share our experiences with a people who have known hard times all the days of their lives.
Our country was shaken at its core in 1979 when the rice riot occurred. The world really got to know Liberia when the coup happened in 1980. All these occurrences, many thought, would have brought fundamental change to Liberia. Nothing fundamentally new happened. In fact, fear and insecurity took over the daily lives of Liberians. Then came December 24, 1989.
Those who had not left Liberia by then were elated that at last, a new day was dawning. People could not wait for the liberators to enter Monrovia. The liberators of the 80s had become vicious tormentors. Liberians were hopeful that the beginning of the 90s would bring relief and civilization to their country.
Most Liberians had no idea who the new liberators were. One thing they knew: Charles Taylor was the leader. The air wave carried the voice of the man who would free our country from the evil that had encapsulated our people. Those who were not happy then and who were vehemently opposed to this new era that was ushering in, were those who benefited from the chaos that had engulfed the country. Those who were preparing to throw their lappas and country gowns on the ground for the new liberators to walk on, were those who were being threatened with death and considered enemies of the state. Oh yes, many of us could not wait for Charles Taylor and the freedom fighters to liberate us and our country from the claws of tyranny.
I will never know what the gut feelings were of all those who started the Charles Taylor Liberation Movement. After assessing my own gut feelings and turning things over in my mind, I am of the strong opinion that even though Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was part of the movement to change the way things were being done in Liberia, her intention was not to come and eliminate 250,000 of her people in order to be President of Liberia.
These gut feelings of mine continue to lead me to think that among the hundreds who wanted to liberate Liberia the second time around, the only one who was fit and qualified to bring fundamental change to our people was and is still, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Those who were part of the Movement and whose intentions were embedded in corruption are all around for all to see. It is not difficult to pin point those so called liberators who came intentionally to prop up the status quo and to continue with the old ways of doing things in Liberia.
If the United Nations, after all the analyses and gut feeling of its members, decided to support Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, if the UN decided to send troops to Liberia to help bring the freedom Liberians have craved for for so long, why can't Liberians of all persuasions and stripes join in and help liberate our people and country, once and for all?
I think it is time to look forward and stop being mean to ourselves. Like someone said: We should not foolishly continue to wash our dirty laundry in front of strangers.
Liberians know by now that the President of Liberia contributed to to the destruction of her country and the killing of hundred of thousands of its citizens. Her role, she told the people, was minimal. She was remorseful for what she participated in in order to usher in a better day for the people of Liberia. She was elected on what she told her people. I am convinced that she told the truth and that her original intentions to join the group to free Liberia were good. I couldn't wait to join in the conversation:
My son woke me up at 5:30 this morning to ask whether I was going to work. Between dreaming and wondering why would this guy wake me up so early, I answered in the affirmative. "Get up and look out side," he demanded. I get up, part the window blinds, and look outside. The entire neighborhood is covered in snow...three to four inches.
Getting to work today will not be easy. I will have to first clear the snow from the steps leading to my truck whose cargo bay is almost filled with snow. I will then remove the snow from the windshield and the windows and the top of the truck. I will then shovel snow from around my truck to make way for easy passage onto the street in our neighborhood that has not yet seen the snow-removing and street-treating vehicle that usually comes around during days like this one.
What I just described is what most Liberians who left their sunny country go through all the time, whenever it snows in the cities where they live. Many of us are tired going through this. We have had enough of this wonderful experience of living in America and in Europe. Many of us who have experienced the sweetness of real freedom want to go home and share our experiences with a people who have known hard times all the days of their lives.
Our country was shaken at its core in 1979 when the rice riot occurred. The world really got to know Liberia when the coup happened in 1980. All these occurrences, many thought, would have brought fundamental change to Liberia. Nothing fundamentally new happened. In fact, fear and insecurity took over the daily lives of Liberians. Then came December 24, 1989.
Those who had not left Liberia by then were elated that at last, a new day was dawning. People could not wait for the liberators to enter Monrovia. The liberators of the 80s had become vicious tormentors. Liberians were hopeful that the beginning of the 90s would bring relief and civilization to their country.
Most Liberians had no idea who the new liberators were. One thing they knew: Charles Taylor was the leader. The air wave carried the voice of the man who would free our country from the evil that had encapsulated our people. Those who were not happy then and who were vehemently opposed to this new era that was ushering in, were those who benefited from the chaos that had engulfed the country. Those who were preparing to throw their lappas and country gowns on the ground for the new liberators to walk on, were those who were being threatened with death and considered enemies of the state. Oh yes, many of us could not wait for Charles Taylor and the freedom fighters to liberate us and our country from the claws of tyranny.
I will never know what the gut feelings were of all those who started the Charles Taylor Liberation Movement. After assessing my own gut feelings and turning things over in my mind, I am of the strong opinion that even though Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was part of the movement to change the way things were being done in Liberia, her intention was not to come and eliminate 250,000 of her people in order to be President of Liberia.
These gut feelings of mine continue to lead me to think that among the hundreds who wanted to liberate Liberia the second time around, the only one who was fit and qualified to bring fundamental change to our people was and is still, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Those who were part of the Movement and whose intentions were embedded in corruption are all around for all to see. It is not difficult to pin point those so called liberators who came intentionally to prop up the status quo and to continue with the old ways of doing things in Liberia.
If the United Nations, after all the analyses and gut feeling of its members, decided to support Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, if the UN decided to send troops to Liberia to help bring the freedom Liberians have craved for for so long, why can't Liberians of all persuasions and stripes join in and help liberate our people and country, once and for all?
I think it is time to look forward and stop being mean to ourselves. Like someone said: We should not foolishly continue to wash our dirty laundry in front of strangers.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mary Broh, The New Sheriff In Town
The Liberian people are a clean people. Up country, our people get up early in the morning and sweep their living quarters. There is no hala hala whatsoever. In Monrovia, Liberia's Capital City, the place of more than a million people, Liberian people from all 15 counties, it is a tug of war keeping the city clean. People seem not to understand why cleanliness is such a big deal.
Recently, a few zinc shacks were torched to make way for a cleaner environment where the food the people eat is purchased. Many are outraged about this. "Our poor people should not be treated this way," is the argument. Mary Broh, the lady clothed to bring cleanliness next to Godliness, is being pommeled for taking actions to keep the city of Monrovia clean. With information scarce, I did not take too long to find favor with the broom used to begin the process:
Sometime ago when I heard that Mary Broh was doing extremely well at the Passport Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I suggested in one of my letters to FrontPageAfrica that it would be nice if she were sent to the Free Port of Monrovia where dee dee-ba and "hustling" were rampant. It wasn't long after my suggestion that I heard that Ms Broh was given a huge broom to go across the bridge and do some sweeping at the National Port Authority. I got a few calls telling me that my wish had come true. There was no gloating on my part, for what happened way in Monrovia was just a coincidence.
I went online and goggled www.monroviacityhall.com. The result took me to the City of Monrovia in California. I felt terrible because I wanted to read about what previous warnings had been put out there by our Monrovia City Hall concerning the building of zinc shacks as market stalls by people doing business down Waterside. If such information is not out there, Monrovia City Hall, Liberia, needs to establish a web site where Liberians everywhere can go and get news about their city. I went to other web sites like MICAT and others. I wasn't impressed. Maybe I've lived in America too long and cannot live without clicking and getting real results. The government needs to start putting some serious money into technology. I want to be able to get online, click on the Ministry of Agriculture and read some serious stuff about Agriculture and its impact on the nation's population. Googling further, I tried Monrovia City Corporation. I was taken to the Daily observer Online where Ophelia Hoff-Saytumah was being pummeled for doing nothing to keep Monrovia clean.
I had no idea that Mary Broh had been snatched from the Free Port of Monrovia and appointed to head the Monrovia City Corporation. The outcry on the Internet from the incident at Waterside is amazing. Nevertheless, workers at GSA are begging for Mary to visit their work site.
I remember some time ago when marketers were selling their wares on every street corner in Monrovia. Getting these sellers from those sites was a tug of war. Now I hear that the streets of Monrovia are passable and cars and sellers no longer compete for space.
Malaria tablets are my worst enemies. They are too bitter for me; but if I want to get well from the bites of mosquitoes, I have to take those bitter pills. If our environment is to meet the minimum of standards, cleaning and getting rid of zinc shacks, especially in areas where our food is sold, is a dire necessity. Making tough decisions is a way of life. Those who don't understand this must continuously be told why certain decisions have to be taken, even if these decisions seem a bit out of the norm.
Details are scarce, but if the project at Waterside was a duty-before-complain exercise, I hope those affected will be relocated to new sites where making ends meet will be done without the uncomfortable intervention by City Hall.
Why is Mary Broh alone so good at making things happen? The reactions from some here in America about the actions taken by Mary Broh are scared. Some want her to be charged with arson. "She is burning Monrovia down," some are saying. "Mary Broh should not be confirmed by the Senate, for she has become an enemy of the State." Those are the tongue lashings I am reading. These are criticisms from people who could be paying $1000 just for dropping a piece of paper on the street in Philadelphia or the street in Silver Spring, if the police saw them committing such a horrendous crime! These are people who are helping to build Liberia from far off.
If things begin to change for the better at MCC, Madam Elen Johnson-Sirleaf, please send Mary Broh to GSA and then later, bring her right near you, in your office. Let her take care of the one computer your family members seem so obsessed with. Let Mary Broh be responsible for looking over all those contracts that boy Willie had so much access to and that are now being handled by people who really care less about why 250,000 Liberians died.
Mary Broh needs to have a serious meeting with those close to the President whose names keep popping up because of corruption and other bad behavior and misdeeds. Mary Broh has become the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf serious Liberians longed to see in action. Mary Broh is the most serious sheriff in town.
I like that.
Recently, a few zinc shacks were torched to make way for a cleaner environment where the food the people eat is purchased. Many are outraged about this. "Our poor people should not be treated this way," is the argument. Mary Broh, the lady clothed to bring cleanliness next to Godliness, is being pommeled for taking actions to keep the city of Monrovia clean. With information scarce, I did not take too long to find favor with the broom used to begin the process:
Sometime ago when I heard that Mary Broh was doing extremely well at the Passport Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I suggested in one of my letters to FrontPageAfrica that it would be nice if she were sent to the Free Port of Monrovia where dee dee-ba and "hustling" were rampant. It wasn't long after my suggestion that I heard that Ms Broh was given a huge broom to go across the bridge and do some sweeping at the National Port Authority. I got a few calls telling me that my wish had come true. There was no gloating on my part, for what happened way in Monrovia was just a coincidence.
I went online and goggled www.monroviacityhall.com. The result took me to the City of Monrovia in California. I felt terrible because I wanted to read about what previous warnings had been put out there by our Monrovia City Hall concerning the building of zinc shacks as market stalls by people doing business down Waterside. If such information is not out there, Monrovia City Hall, Liberia, needs to establish a web site where Liberians everywhere can go and get news about their city. I went to other web sites like MICAT and others. I wasn't impressed. Maybe I've lived in America too long and cannot live without clicking and getting real results. The government needs to start putting some serious money into technology. I want to be able to get online, click on the Ministry of Agriculture and read some serious stuff about Agriculture and its impact on the nation's population. Googling further, I tried Monrovia City Corporation. I was taken to the Daily observer Online where Ophelia Hoff-Saytumah was being pummeled for doing nothing to keep Monrovia clean.
I had no idea that Mary Broh had been snatched from the Free Port of Monrovia and appointed to head the Monrovia City Corporation. The outcry on the Internet from the incident at Waterside is amazing. Nevertheless, workers at GSA are begging for Mary to visit their work site.
I remember some time ago when marketers were selling their wares on every street corner in Monrovia. Getting these sellers from those sites was a tug of war. Now I hear that the streets of Monrovia are passable and cars and sellers no longer compete for space.
Malaria tablets are my worst enemies. They are too bitter for me; but if I want to get well from the bites of mosquitoes, I have to take those bitter pills. If our environment is to meet the minimum of standards, cleaning and getting rid of zinc shacks, especially in areas where our food is sold, is a dire necessity. Making tough decisions is a way of life. Those who don't understand this must continuously be told why certain decisions have to be taken, even if these decisions seem a bit out of the norm.
Details are scarce, but if the project at Waterside was a duty-before-complain exercise, I hope those affected will be relocated to new sites where making ends meet will be done without the uncomfortable intervention by City Hall.
Why is Mary Broh alone so good at making things happen? The reactions from some here in America about the actions taken by Mary Broh are scared. Some want her to be charged with arson. "She is burning Monrovia down," some are saying. "Mary Broh should not be confirmed by the Senate, for she has become an enemy of the State." Those are the tongue lashings I am reading. These are criticisms from people who could be paying $1000 just for dropping a piece of paper on the street in Philadelphia or the street in Silver Spring, if the police saw them committing such a horrendous crime! These are people who are helping to build Liberia from far off.
If things begin to change for the better at MCC, Madam Elen Johnson-Sirleaf, please send Mary Broh to GSA and then later, bring her right near you, in your office. Let her take care of the one computer your family members seem so obsessed with. Let Mary Broh be responsible for looking over all those contracts that boy Willie had so much access to and that are now being handled by people who really care less about why 250,000 Liberians died.
Mary Broh needs to have a serious meeting with those close to the President whose names keep popping up because of corruption and other bad behavior and misdeeds. Mary Broh has become the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf serious Liberians longed to see in action. Mary Broh is the most serious sheriff in town.
I like that.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
We Must All Condemn Bad, Uncouth Behaviors
The old ways and frisky attitude are showing their ugly heads again in the new Liberia. Not many people want anything new in a country that is witness to the killing of more than 250,000 of its people and the destruction of the entire nation.
The Auditor General that is trying to bring a sense of accountability to a nation riffed with corruption and care-free pillage is being ganged up on by the Deputy AG and a host of mean friends. This sort of thing should never be allowed to take root in a civilized society. The rule of law must prevail, even if the culprit is a Tubman or an Obama.
The gangster behavior of Matu Tubman on the person of John Morlu, her boss, ticked me off. I had to react after a long hiatus:
For some reason I am realizing everyday that I have an opinion on every issue that affects our daily existence, especially those issues concerning the way things are being done in Liberia, the country in which I was born.There is a constant war between two great entities waging inside of me. One entity is adamant and very supportive of my intention of keeping the feet of our leaders to the fire of progress and meaningful change. The other entity is also as adamant and very forceful in trying to convince me to let up on my insistence that our leaders be held accountable for the many missteps that continue to keep the country and people of Liberia at the mercy of the few elites and at the lowest end of the progress ladder.
When there is a long period of silence when an opinion from me is nowhere to be heard, it dawns on me that I am being weighed down by that entity that wants me to mind my own business and let the stealing, insults and assaults and unaccountability continue unabated. When this war is reaching a feverish pitch, my whole life becomes miserable and I feel as if I am being deprived of a special kind of oxygen. And because I want to keep living and fighting against the injustice and inequity that continue to befall the people to whom I belong, I will no longer tolerate or condone any suggestion from that entity that is stubbornly bent on trampling upon my desire to keep living for justice. And so, with that inalienable desire to keep fighting and scratching and screaming, until a new dawn shows its face in the land of liberty, here I go.
The first thing on my agenda is the story about that computer in Ma Ellen's living room that is so accessible to every Tommy, Kerkula and Finda. You mean to say well-to-do people would leave their homes and go to the president's house to transact the country's business on one computer? And who is this Finda Koromah of Sierra Leone who has sworn to God that she was never in Liberia and who even tried to deny that she is a friend of our president? That story has me scratching my head and wondering: What was EJS thinking.
The next thing I want to touch on is Counselor Estrada Bernard. He has been trying to reintroduce himself to the Liberian people. I don't know whether he had to do what he did. Telling the Liberian people where he was born, where he went to school, how he helped to build the Mount Coffee Hydro Dam, and how he has worked and continues to work so hard to build Liberia; all his remaking of himself has nothing to do with the $600,000 and the scratch card money. I strongly feel and will like to suggest that the president's sister's husband, Counselor Estrada Bernard, should be retired for the wonderful services he rendered the country. His present position in the Mansion should be given to someone else. When you are the head of a government, not everyone that says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Your own friends will try to drag you under, Madam President.
And my last thing for now is the news that the Deputy Auditor General, Matu Tubman, along with her best friends, decided to assault and insult her boss, John Morlu. It is true that the president is setting up an investigative team to look into the matter. But the mere fact that a Tubman would be beating on the Auditor General of Liberia is bad news for the government. After 27 years of a Tubman being in the Mansion, after 27 years of paving the road from Monrovia to Totota, wouldn't it be wise for Matu Tubman to play it cool especially if her father is the head of the National Port Authority and she is Deputy Auditor General of Liberia? How in the world will the audit report from NPA be without flaws? This nepotism thing in Liberia needs to stop.
It seems that Mr Morlu has a lot of enemies in Liberia. Even some Legislators, the people who are supposed to make the laws for the country, are saying things that could endanger the life of this young son of the land. How will the country ever be built if transparency and accountability are seen as enemies of the state? Why, when the people of America complain about their leaders who are corrupt and don't pay taxes, these leaders will quickly pay those taxes and sometimes resign their posts? Why are corrupt Liberian leaders so shameless and will continue to remain in government no matter what the people think of them? What happened to self dignity and self pride?
The ultimate sacrifice of 250,000 plus Liberians must never be forgotten. What is going on in Liberia and the negative reactions from those who should know better do not fare well for the country. And those who are the culprits are those who were praying and lamenting day and night for Liberia to be better. Living in foreign lands for these people was a nightmare. Now that Liberia is slowly coming back to normal, see what is happening.
If our country is ever to prosper and if the people are to ever benefit as true citizens, then we must all condemn the crazy and uncouth behaviors of those who want nothing but to see a second collapse and total destruction of an already ruined state.
The Auditor General that is trying to bring a sense of accountability to a nation riffed with corruption and care-free pillage is being ganged up on by the Deputy AG and a host of mean friends. This sort of thing should never be allowed to take root in a civilized society. The rule of law must prevail, even if the culprit is a Tubman or an Obama.
The gangster behavior of Matu Tubman on the person of John Morlu, her boss, ticked me off. I had to react after a long hiatus:
For some reason I am realizing everyday that I have an opinion on every issue that affects our daily existence, especially those issues concerning the way things are being done in Liberia, the country in which I was born.There is a constant war between two great entities waging inside of me. One entity is adamant and very supportive of my intention of keeping the feet of our leaders to the fire of progress and meaningful change. The other entity is also as adamant and very forceful in trying to convince me to let up on my insistence that our leaders be held accountable for the many missteps that continue to keep the country and people of Liberia at the mercy of the few elites and at the lowest end of the progress ladder.
When there is a long period of silence when an opinion from me is nowhere to be heard, it dawns on me that I am being weighed down by that entity that wants me to mind my own business and let the stealing, insults and assaults and unaccountability continue unabated. When this war is reaching a feverish pitch, my whole life becomes miserable and I feel as if I am being deprived of a special kind of oxygen. And because I want to keep living and fighting against the injustice and inequity that continue to befall the people to whom I belong, I will no longer tolerate or condone any suggestion from that entity that is stubbornly bent on trampling upon my desire to keep living for justice. And so, with that inalienable desire to keep fighting and scratching and screaming, until a new dawn shows its face in the land of liberty, here I go.
The first thing on my agenda is the story about that computer in Ma Ellen's living room that is so accessible to every Tommy, Kerkula and Finda. You mean to say well-to-do people would leave their homes and go to the president's house to transact the country's business on one computer? And who is this Finda Koromah of Sierra Leone who has sworn to God that she was never in Liberia and who even tried to deny that she is a friend of our president? That story has me scratching my head and wondering: What was EJS thinking.
The next thing I want to touch on is Counselor Estrada Bernard. He has been trying to reintroduce himself to the Liberian people. I don't know whether he had to do what he did. Telling the Liberian people where he was born, where he went to school, how he helped to build the Mount Coffee Hydro Dam, and how he has worked and continues to work so hard to build Liberia; all his remaking of himself has nothing to do with the $600,000 and the scratch card money. I strongly feel and will like to suggest that the president's sister's husband, Counselor Estrada Bernard, should be retired for the wonderful services he rendered the country. His present position in the Mansion should be given to someone else. When you are the head of a government, not everyone that says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Your own friends will try to drag you under, Madam President.
And my last thing for now is the news that the Deputy Auditor General, Matu Tubman, along with her best friends, decided to assault and insult her boss, John Morlu. It is true that the president is setting up an investigative team to look into the matter. But the mere fact that a Tubman would be beating on the Auditor General of Liberia is bad news for the government. After 27 years of a Tubman being in the Mansion, after 27 years of paving the road from Monrovia to Totota, wouldn't it be wise for Matu Tubman to play it cool especially if her father is the head of the National Port Authority and she is Deputy Auditor General of Liberia? How in the world will the audit report from NPA be without flaws? This nepotism thing in Liberia needs to stop.
It seems that Mr Morlu has a lot of enemies in Liberia. Even some Legislators, the people who are supposed to make the laws for the country, are saying things that could endanger the life of this young son of the land. How will the country ever be built if transparency and accountability are seen as enemies of the state? Why, when the people of America complain about their leaders who are corrupt and don't pay taxes, these leaders will quickly pay those taxes and sometimes resign their posts? Why are corrupt Liberian leaders so shameless and will continue to remain in government no matter what the people think of them? What happened to self dignity and self pride?
The ultimate sacrifice of 250,000 plus Liberians must never be forgotten. What is going on in Liberia and the negative reactions from those who should know better do not fare well for the country. And those who are the culprits are those who were praying and lamenting day and night for Liberia to be better. Living in foreign lands for these people was a nightmare. Now that Liberia is slowly coming back to normal, see what is happening.
If our country is ever to prosper and if the people are to ever benefit as true citizens, then we must all condemn the crazy and uncouth behaviors of those who want nothing but to see a second collapse and total destruction of an already ruined state.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Freeing Ourselves From The "Plantation" Mentality
The history of slavery in America is not a new story. Liberia was founded by those who felt that the black man's place was in Africa. Those blacks who found themselves going back to Africa, encouraged their former slave owners to transplant in Africa, especially Liberia, the Plantation vibe, in one color or the other. The Firestone Rubber Plantation is one of the many inheritances that the new settlers in Liberia never felt obligated to dislodge from their memory. Sometime I wonder whether this was a punishment for the hardship endured on Southern Cotton Plantations.
My gut feelings about the tough living conditions I experienced as a kid on the rubber plantation and how, after 82 years, things are slowly beginning to change; this gradual change for the better, prompted me to write the below account:
Your piece on the Firestone Rubber Company in Liberia which appeared in FPA on January 6, 2009 was indeed wonderful. This photo showing new residential homes of the workers was eye-catching. It is good to know that finally, Firestone in Liberia has come to the realization that those who sweat the most to make the millions of dollars that keeps the company viable and profitable deserve some kind of decent living, especially after more than 80 years of great prosperity. I feel the joy that emanated from the Public Relations Manager, Mr Rufus Karmorh as he carried your reporter around the various divisions to showcase the progress that is taking place on the Plantation.
I started of this letter by mentioning Firestone Rubber Company. The Estate Department in Firestone is responsible for the main aspect of what Firestone is all about: The production of latex and block rubber from the mature rubber plants. Firestone has been very helpful to the economy of Liberia and its people. From what we are seeing happening in Harbel right now, it is clear that with the right government in place, companies operating in the country will be constantly reminded of their obligation to those who are the backbones of their operations.
As most would know by now, I was born on the Firestone Plantation. My father worked for more than 40 years, moving up the ranks from rubber tapper to Overseer. As a kid on the plantation, I did not have the luxury of living in buildings as seen in that photo. My mom and dad and us kids all slept in one big open space of a mud unit with two tiny windows. The outside latrines in the camps had two entrances with cement slabs on which we squatted to do our thing.
Life for the tappers and their kids was indeed difficult. Food was never sufficient for a household. Our extra curricular activities were spent farming in rice or cassavas. To augment the $30 or $60 per month that was paid most of the workers, sugar cane farming was the next alternative.
After school, the kids would proceed to the various farms to help their parents make ends meet.Whenever our parents could not stand the hardships and resorted to sit ins, the government would send the army to force our parents to go to work.
I am grateful to Firestone and the government of Liberia for recognizing the importance of those who work and toil for little or nothing, under horrendous conditions. What would really please me at this time in our history, however, is for Firestone to sever from its name the word PLANTATION. Slavery and Plantation are inseparable. Firestone Rubber Estate, Firestone Rubber Company, Bridgestone-Firestone Rubber Industry are all names that make sense in the 21st century.
It is time for Liberians to stop living in work places called plantations. And the government should recognize that Liberia, founded by slaves owners, has the right to sever relationship with the "plantation" mentality.
Good job Firestone. I hope that Division 21, where I was born, will be connected to the Kakata-highway electricity line. After 82 years of prosperity, the tappers and workers of Division 21 deserve a break. I also hope that the Public Relations Manager, who might have been born in Duside, on the Plantation and who had the luxury of electricity, will take me on a tour when I come to Firestone sometime in the near future.
My gut feelings about the tough living conditions I experienced as a kid on the rubber plantation and how, after 82 years, things are slowly beginning to change; this gradual change for the better, prompted me to write the below account:
Your piece on the Firestone Rubber Company in Liberia which appeared in FPA on January 6, 2009 was indeed wonderful. This photo showing new residential homes of the workers was eye-catching. It is good to know that finally, Firestone in Liberia has come to the realization that those who sweat the most to make the millions of dollars that keeps the company viable and profitable deserve some kind of decent living, especially after more than 80 years of great prosperity. I feel the joy that emanated from the Public Relations Manager, Mr Rufus Karmorh as he carried your reporter around the various divisions to showcase the progress that is taking place on the Plantation.
I started of this letter by mentioning Firestone Rubber Company. The Estate Department in Firestone is responsible for the main aspect of what Firestone is all about: The production of latex and block rubber from the mature rubber plants. Firestone has been very helpful to the economy of Liberia and its people. From what we are seeing happening in Harbel right now, it is clear that with the right government in place, companies operating in the country will be constantly reminded of their obligation to those who are the backbones of their operations.
As most would know by now, I was born on the Firestone Plantation. My father worked for more than 40 years, moving up the ranks from rubber tapper to Overseer. As a kid on the plantation, I did not have the luxury of living in buildings as seen in that photo. My mom and dad and us kids all slept in one big open space of a mud unit with two tiny windows. The outside latrines in the camps had two entrances with cement slabs on which we squatted to do our thing.
Life for the tappers and their kids was indeed difficult. Food was never sufficient for a household. Our extra curricular activities were spent farming in rice or cassavas. To augment the $30 or $60 per month that was paid most of the workers, sugar cane farming was the next alternative.
After school, the kids would proceed to the various farms to help their parents make ends meet.Whenever our parents could not stand the hardships and resorted to sit ins, the government would send the army to force our parents to go to work.
I am grateful to Firestone and the government of Liberia for recognizing the importance of those who work and toil for little or nothing, under horrendous conditions. What would really please me at this time in our history, however, is for Firestone to sever from its name the word PLANTATION. Slavery and Plantation are inseparable. Firestone Rubber Estate, Firestone Rubber Company, Bridgestone-Firestone Rubber Industry are all names that make sense in the 21st century.
It is time for Liberians to stop living in work places called plantations. And the government should recognize that Liberia, founded by slaves owners, has the right to sever relationship with the "plantation" mentality.
Good job Firestone. I hope that Division 21, where I was born, will be connected to the Kakata-highway electricity line. After 82 years of prosperity, the tappers and workers of Division 21 deserve a break. I also hope that the Public Relations Manager, who might have been born in Duside, on the Plantation and who had the luxury of electricity, will take me on a tour when I come to Firestone sometime in the near future.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Cultural Hot Button
Culture and tradition are a vital part of our Africanness. There are those who strongly feel our culture and tradition should not be touched or modified in any way or form. There are some, however, who strongly feel that some aspects of what we live with and admire as Africans, Liberians in particular, need some discontinuation or dismantling. One of such practices is Female Genital Mutilation (FMG).
This practice which is carried out on little girls and some grown-up women, to many, is despicable and inhumane. Those who are staunch advocates of the practice compare it to kids attending preschool in the Western culture. This is far from the truth and so terribly a misinformation. A stunning revelation I got from a personal friend made me to understanding that if she had to do it all over again, she would definitely do it and even take her American-born daughter to experience this cultural phenomenon. I am not convinced. Before our discussion, I had written my disapproval of the practice of FGM:
I knew it. I knew it. As soon as the topic came up this morning, the first thing I thought was, wherever Ngee is hiding, he would be out immediately. FGM is a topic he loves to promote even after all the horror stories that are being told by African women on the Tyra Banks and other shows.
I definitely won't mind sending my daughter to "bush school" to learn how to cook and how to respect her peers and elders. Children are the same all over the world. To compare sending your kids to western preschools with what happens to children in Liberia whose parents find it entertaining to send their kids to "Grebo Bush", the comparison here is beyond insane.
I love our culture. I love the various tribal traditions of Liberia. We will still be human beings if this particular cultural practice is discouraged and discontinued. With the inquisitive children we have these day, I would be caught in a jam trying to explain the whys to some of the things that go on in the "bush school."
I can't wait for the day when the advocates of FGM announce via these listservs the return of their daughters from "bush schools" in Liberia. Until then, we have the right to make all the noise we can make, knowing fully well that none of us is prepared to take the first step to sending our daughters to Liberia to undergo this most educationally cultural experience.
Happy New Year, Nathaniel Gbessagee!
This practice which is carried out on little girls and some grown-up women, to many, is despicable and inhumane. Those who are staunch advocates of the practice compare it to kids attending preschool in the Western culture. This is far from the truth and so terribly a misinformation. A stunning revelation I got from a personal friend made me to understanding that if she had to do it all over again, she would definitely do it and even take her American-born daughter to experience this cultural phenomenon. I am not convinced. Before our discussion, I had written my disapproval of the practice of FGM:
I knew it. I knew it. As soon as the topic came up this morning, the first thing I thought was, wherever Ngee is hiding, he would be out immediately. FGM is a topic he loves to promote even after all the horror stories that are being told by African women on the Tyra Banks and other shows.
I definitely won't mind sending my daughter to "bush school" to learn how to cook and how to respect her peers and elders. Children are the same all over the world. To compare sending your kids to western preschools with what happens to children in Liberia whose parents find it entertaining to send their kids to "Grebo Bush", the comparison here is beyond insane.
I love our culture. I love the various tribal traditions of Liberia. We will still be human beings if this particular cultural practice is discouraged and discontinued. With the inquisitive children we have these day, I would be caught in a jam trying to explain the whys to some of the things that go on in the "bush school."
I can't wait for the day when the advocates of FGM announce via these listservs the return of their daughters from "bush schools" in Liberia. Until then, we have the right to make all the noise we can make, knowing fully well that none of us is prepared to take the first step to sending our daughters to Liberia to undergo this most educationally cultural experience.
Happy New Year, Nathaniel Gbessagee!
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