Free Rodney Sieh

Photos of human skulls in Bong County and videos of people being executed on a beach front and a sitting president being tortured in Monrovia, should all remind us of the evils that brought about the unspeakable tragedies that our people and the nation had to face for almost two decades.

These images stand as reminders, giving many of us hope that a journalist like Rodney Sieh would never have to go to jail. We expected these reminders to always prick the consciences of those who are elected or selected to power in Liberia. And that those in power would strive to always do the right thing.

We thought that the episodes of 1980 and those of 1989 to 2003 would forever remind Liberians that those evils that brought about the results of our many tragedies, would never again resurface in our new dispensation. We thought human beings in Liberia would always remember the ugly past and endeavor to perfect or even try to improve conditions for a better present and a glorious tomorrow.

That was our hope; that was our greatest expectation.

But apparently, there is an embedded and systemic evil in us human beings that does not remember the past or care about the present or a tomorrow.

In the midst of a preponderance of misdeeds, how can we be "the ones that we've been waiting for" to bring a new and hopeful day to the land and the people of Liberia? How in the world can we erase the notion and perception that what people in JJ Robert's time could not fix, we in this time must live and abide by the same norms?

Will an apology from Sieh to Toe give the GAC reports some credibility? Will an apology stop the miscarriage of justice in Liberia and cause justice to be done to those who have been mentioned in the various audit reports that tax payers' efforts have allowed to occur?

When the government says it's not getting involved in the Sieh-Toe case, what does that mean in the bigger scheme of thing? Did one bad move on the part of government lead to other things that did not auger well for some people?

Should audits be carried out in Liberia at all? Is the whole exercise of auditing government entities just a gimmick?


Kweme
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." Barack Obama

Free Rodney Sieh

The owner and publisher of FrontPageAfrica, Mr Rodney Sieh, has been in jail for almost two weeks now. His crime: He is unable to pay $1.5 Million to the former Minister of Agriculture, Dr Chris Toe, for publishing the results of an audit report that showed that Minister Toe could not give account or show documents for monies under his management. The Daily Observer Newspaper thinks that Mr Sieh should apologize to Dr Toe so that the case may be withdrawn. Here is a part of the Daily Observer suggestion: "The purpose of this editorial is to make it clear to the public and to the international community that this is not at all apolitical case, and that those arguing that it is are doing Sieh a major disservice. The only victims here are the people whose hard-earned reputations have been tarnished.We hope that upon leaving prison, Mr. Sieh will change the way he practices journalism and bring honor to the profession as all journalists are required to do."

With the audit reports clearly pointing to Minister Toe, it is amazing that Mr Sieh is being sued for publishing and exposing what had already been reported. I had to have my take in this one:

I think the editorial staff of the Daily Observer has seriously erred here. The constant and forever-business of apologizing for exposing the evil of society resolves nothing and is sickening.

If the government of Liberia and Chris Toe think that both of them are absolutely clear in conscience and mind, then they should allow Rodney Sieh to rot in jail.

If all the audit reports conducted in Liberia are now considered not credible and a farce, then Rodney Sieh will have to remain in jail; for it is clear that he does not have the $1.5 Million.

The more things change in Liberia(if that is really the case}, the more they remain the same old, same old!


Kweme