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.