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.

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?

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.