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Archive for January, 2012

Time to Change Our Politics and Protest Methods


Lovetta Tugbeh


Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
Political demonstrations usually happen when a group of people takes to the streets through a form of grievance to publicly express a viewpoint concerning political, economic and social issues that affects their community and people.

With passion, conviction, and legitimacy, and the numbers (in terms of attendance and message) that backs their cause, the emboldened group now can make their presence felt by demanding change to influence public opinion and policies that benefits the larger society.

The cancelled November 28 demonstration in Liberia, and the subsequent (some would say) poorly attended December 2 demonstration in Washington D.C., are two protest rallies leaders of the two groups hoped would change the course of events in Liberia; in the wake of the recent presidential elections that paved the way for the state of political disillusionment in the country today.

I did not attend the Washington D.C. demonstration because I believe the message was one-dimensional, self-serving, too partisan, and not about issues advocacy and finding practical solutions to solve the nation’s massive problem.

A lady believed to be political activist Lovetta Tugbeh speaks at the Dec 2, 2011 anti-government demonstration in Washington D.C. (courtesy, OLM Listserv, 2011).

My support of issues advocacy, nation building and infrastructure development don’t mean I am an Ellen Johnson Sirleaf supporter, and I will not allow that to affect my desire to continue to fight for democracy and the rule of law in Liberia.

As a lifelong political activist, I’ve led, written extensively, and done my share of political demonstrations in the streets of these United States against throngs of corrupt, autocratic and visionless Liberian presidents. “Been there, done that” and don’t have to prove anything to be recognized, period!

As a pragmatic nationalist, however, I also believe strongly in nation building, coupled with an unwavering devotion to improving the lives of the Liberian people by being practical. As such, I don’t believe demonstrations alone can solve Liberia’s problem, but working with others to build and strengthen political and entrepreneurial institutions as a way to progress and development.

However, what makes these two demonstrations so different from previous demonstrations can be attributed to many factors.

1) Time has changed tremendously and the current occupant in the Executive Mansion is not named Tubman, Tolbert, Doe, or Taylor. 2) Other then the despotic William V. S. Tubman who died before he ever could meet his own violent demise, the other three despised bogeymen also ruined the nation, and their excesses ultimately unified the Liberian people to advocate change in the early 1970s and in subsequent years. 3) Liberia’s allies and the Liberian people don’t see Ellen alone as the problem, and the singular attention focused on her as the problem delegitimizes the protester’s grievance; 5) polarization of politics and the obvious lack of vision and conviction on the part of the politicians and the progressive elites is a turned-off for Liberians, who see the protesters as not serious about genuine change but mere headline grabbers.

Because demonstrations that are held for the sake of demonstrations can hurt a cause, especially when that particular cause is loosely defined and targeted. And when the protesters cherry picks and shields their political favorites from criticisms because of personal friendship, family connections, and party loyalty, can taint the message and undermine the reasons behind the demonstration.

As is widely reported in the press, there were agitations from both the ruling government’s side and also from the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). During a recent gathering organized by the Election Coordinating Committee, Assistant Secretary General Phil Tarpeh Dixon denied CDC’s involvement in the post-election fatality that shocked the nation, but apologized for his party’s alleged involvement. Why apologized if you are innocent of any wrongdoing?

It was also reported that some in the CDC even threatened to oust Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, Representative Edward Forh and others from the party if they did not resign their legislative positions. Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, it is believed, was attacked for her refusal to tote her party’s line.

Instead of demonstrating to put an end to hooliganism from both sides, the demonstrators are busy elevating Winston Tubman to the unaccustomed and laughable role of a political activist, which he is not; because political activism is not a seasonal occupation that comes only when an individual wants to be president, but an ongoing process that stems from a passionate desire to speak for or give one’s life to the welfare of the poor, downtrodden and the oppressed in society.

If the Washington D.C. demonstrators were interested in stopping violence, they would have included in their rally a condemnation of all violence and political killings, and not only target the ruling government.

Well, the elections are over, the presidential candidates participated in the campaign process, and together with their supporters voted in the first round. Who do you blame if the presidential candidates decided at the eleventh hour not to participate in the runoff election? The incumbent who’s seeking her own political interests?

Now that the presidential elections are over, do we dwell on removing a president whom local and international observers certified to have won the race? Do we waste our precious time beating on a dead horse just to hear ourselves talk for the sake of talking?

As one of the oldest countries in Africa, we are far behind in infrastructure development, and also behind in every category to dwell on demonstrations alone to move Liberia forward.

Why not turn our energies into issues advocacy, and focus on packing the legislature with like-minded legislators who will seek our interests and the Liberian people’s interests in nation building? Why not put pressure on Senators and Representatives to enact sensible legislations that improves lives? Why not pressure Representatives and Senators to be a genuine balancing act to the executive branch?

Why are we so preoccupied with the presidency when other burning national issues painfully stares at us daily? Do we want to repeat the same mistakes in 2017, as we did in 2011?

As it is now, the same issues that caused the electoral turmoil in 2011 hasn’t gone away.

The National Elections Commission is still not neutral and independent. The president still appoints the NEC Commissioners. Why not demonstrate to either abolish or drastically change the way the NEC operates?

Corruption is rampant. Unemployment is as high as 85 percent. There are no libraries in all of Liberia. There are no parks and recreational facilities in all of Liberia for kids and adults to exercise and play. Land ownership and the policies regarding land needs to be studied and reformed. Government should begin to get in the land ownership business, and must protect wetlands and other valuable natural resources.

There are no running/modern public toilet facilities in many parts of the country. Electricity is scarcely provided to all of Liberia. Garbage/trash collection is either non-existent or poorly collected and disposed. Erosion is burying all of coastal Liberia. The Atlantic Ocean that was once miles and miles away has suddenly reached the mainland and is destroying homes. There is no code enforcement and city planning in all of Liberia. As a result, homes are recklessly built just about anywhere there is land. Why not demonstrate to fix these issues?

Term limits of Legislators needs to be changed. The Constitutions needs to be drastically amended. Why don’t we concentrate on the Legislative branch to effect meaningful change? Why not focus on the Legislators that are considered ineffective, and work to defeat them?

The centralized form of government needs to be abolished, with Mayors, Superintendents, Commissioners and Paramount Chiefs, etc, etc elected, and taxes collected redirected to the various counties for their own use. Liberians in the Diaspora cannot even vote in their own country; non-Negroid (white people) cannot own land and property in Liberia but are legally allowed to take their money and profits with them? Is it fair, and is that policy in the nation’s interest?

The labor laws of Liberia, or the lack of genuine labor laws to protect workers from slave wages and slave labor needs to be addressed. The children of Liberian women born to Lebanese men and others need to be addressed. What become of the children when their fathers leave Liberia? Are there any laws on the books that protect the children and their mother’s emotional well-being when the children are taken away by their foreign fathers?

Why don’t we also demonstrate to advocate these issues?

Removing a president from office without changing existing problems and attitudes will do Liberia no good, but only exacerbates the problem when the new president, who will do no better than the last one repeats the same.

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Ministry of Education on Donor Harmonization Improve

 

Education Minister Othello Gongar

The Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action, two international conventions outlined five basic principles for making aid and service delivery effective for targeted beneficiaries, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa. These include: Ownership, Alignment, Harmonization, Results and Mutual Accountability.

The basis for these five core principles among other things, is to enhance and hold donors and partner countries accountable to their citizens, eliminate the duplication of efforts by donor partners, the alignment of donor activities with partner countries’ strategies, priorities, systems and procedures.

But has this been the case for Liberia, particularly in the education sector? The answer is an understandable no. The argument in favor of the response is that Liberia has been in a decade long conflict. Additionally, the regular justification for the uncoordinated efforts has been the lack of local human capacity to effectively manage the process of aid and service delivery.

But time is changing and so is the structure of dependence. As Liberia transition from a burdened, failed or fragile state to a steady state, donors’ activities must now be in sync with the five spirited principles of the Paris Declaration. And this was just what the Minister of Education declared at a one day donor conference held in Monrovia on November 30.

Education Minister Othello Gongar

Minister Gongar thanked development partners attending the conference for their meaningful and continued assistance in ensuring that the “Liberian Child” receives quality education and market driven skills regardless of his or her socio-economic, religious and geographic standing in society.

Minister Gongar also added. “We are here today to harmonize the various interventions in the education sector, and avoid scattered group and uncoordinated programs.” The Ministry of Education remains the nucleus for the advancement of education from early childhood to tertiary levels in the Country, whether funded by the Government of Liberia or donor partners. International or local interventions in the sector, the Minister asserts, “must be coordinated by the three departments: Administration, Planning and Instruction.”

The new Education Reform Act, signed into law by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf early August of this year, is the most important instrument for effectively managing the education system. The decentralization and management of the sector is a major challenge for the Ministry. The setting up of County School Boards to administer the affairs of the county school system, the disbursement of School Grants, and a well-functioning monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

Interestingly, the Minister seems to be an optimist, and believes that the coming together of development partners suggests a new collaborative effort for the improvement of the sector. The Ministry cannot go it alone and will therefore need help from development partners. The problem is, if their involvement is not regulated or in line with the mandates of the Ministry, not much will be achieved.

According to recent stats, there are over 25 international and 100 local organizations involved in the education sector. With this latest assemblage of development partners including USAID, UNICEF, UNESCO, WB, OSI and others, it is expected that the harmonization and coordination of service delivery will be conducted in line with the mandates of the Ministry of Education.

While there are hopes that the just ended conference will not just be on paper, more needs to be seen on how development partners will begin to align their activities with the Ministry of Education. But more importantly, it is expected that the Ministry will demonstrate its capacity to play a leading role in this new partnership.

The author can be reached at: [email protected]

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

President Sirleaf Promises to Fight Corruption: Will it Hold?

 

Pres. Sirleaf

The global corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), has just released its highly anticipated 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which ranks countries based on a level of perceived corruption within a country, and the results would seem to intimate that the Liberian government has made no headway in the fight to curb corruption in Liberia.

As a matter of fact, if Liberia’s year-on-year CPI score, from 3.3 in 2010 to 3.2 in 2011 is taken at face value, it would more bluntly suggests that the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf performed even worse, albeit marginally, in its professed commitment to curtail rampant corruption in Liberia.

The 2011 CPI report, which was released on December 1, comes in the wake of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf promising Liberians that during her second term in office, her government would more effectively work to end the pervasive corruption that plagued her first term and provoked her political opponents and independent observers alike, to castigate her government for lacking the political will to strangulate the vermin of corruption that has contributed, in no small measure, to stifling the pace of development in the country.

There She Goes Promising Again…

With that backdrop notwithstanding, President Sirleaf has again made another public pronouncement to Liberians that her second term will involve a more effective engagement in the fight to curb corruption in Liberia.

“We will create the environment for Liberian businesses, maintain an open and accountable society, and fight corruption more effectively,” the president was quoted as saying during the National Election Commission’s (NEC) program to certify her on winning the recently held Presidential elections.

But, as Liberians need no reminder this is not the first time that President Sirleaf, caught up in the euphoria of fresh election victory, as the doubting Thomases might say, has proclaimed that ‘hers would be a government that will, in no uncertain terms, raise up its righteous scepter of leadership to crush the obstinate demon of corruption in Liberia.’

A Promise Deferred That Now Festers Like A Sore

And who can blame the doubting Thomases, might I add, SADLY, for taking the President’s renewed pledge with a grain of salt?

For not unlike a jilted lover, quite a number of these doubting Thomases had clung to the words of President Sirleaf in her inauguration speech on January 16, 2006, when she avowed that she would make corruption “public enemy number one,” only to have their hopes of a new Liberian Renaissance of accountability and transparency crushed by the repugnant revelation that “corruption with impunity” across every branch of government persisted under her administration (ref. U.S. State Department 2010 Report on Liberia).

And, with her much-lampooned firing and reshuffling of appointees from her deck of corruption-pockmarked associates; and her failure, some might add to investigate and prosecute officials accused of corruption, despite the over 40 audit reports submitted to her government by the General Auditing Commission would certainly seem to border on gratuitous niceties.

But just as President Sirleaf would have Liberians cast their doubts asunder and accept her word that her record in the fight to clamp down on corruption during the next 6 years will be better than the last six, the 2011 CPI has come as a stark reminder that President Sirleaf’s government is still faltering in its fight to curtail pervasive corruption in Liberia.

With Liberia dropping in its ranking from 87 in 2010, to 91 this year, which the report notes may occur due to an increase in the number of aggregate countries represented in a given report from year to year – and with 183 countries pooled in 2011 compared to 178 countries in 2010 – one could conjecture that a contributing factor to Liberia been bumped down in ranking may as well be due to an increase in the number of countries in this year’s report.

But even given that benefit-of-the-doubt assessment, what remains troubling is the dip in Liberia’s corruption perception score, seemingly marginal as it may be from 3.3 in 2010 to 3.2 this year. And while some may see this downturn as negligible and even an attempt to split hairs, according to an article by Deborah Hardoon, a senior researcher at TI, there is a proportional correlation between a country’s perceived corruption level and its ranking on the UN Human Development Index, which has shown that “where there is perceived to be more corruption, human development outcomes tend to be lower.”

At 182ndplace on the UN Human Development Index, a measure of among other things, life expectancy and poverty in UN member countries, Liberia already ranks as the 6thleast developed country in the world, and we certainly cannot afford to slip any further down that list.

Even more so, what makes this year’s numbers an apparent cause for alarm is that since President Sirleaf took office in 2006, regardless of the fluctuation in the aggregate number of countries pooled, Liberia has always registered an improvement in both its ranking and corruption perception score year-on-year, with this year being the first time that Liberia has buck that trend dropping both in its ranking and corruption perception score.

A Second Chance for the President

President Sirleaf has always spoken of her keen belief in redemption and giving people second chances. A reading of her memoir: This Child Will Be Great is an account of a life of many second chances. And now, the President has been given another chance by the Liberian people to make good on her promise to beat the corruption dog into submission.

President Sirleaf may not have to worry about another re-election, but she certainly has an even weightier burden to bear. At the twilight of her life, the burden of the legacy she will imprint for herself in the history of Liberia – whether she will be remembered as just another mediocre leader or one of the greatest Liberia has ever had – cannot be more pressing. And, for the sake of a new Liberian Renaissance of transparency, accountability, and equality, let us hope that President Sirleaf will choose the latter.

History will be the judge!


Moco McCaulay is a Liberian writer.

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Crisis Management and why Police Organizations Fail to Control Mob Riots

There is a need for Liberia to right size and consolidate all its security agencies under a joint command, and call it “Liberian Homeland Security (LHS).” There is a well-written plan that principally serves as guide for all entities protecting the Liberian nation.

CDC Riot

Although the primary aim of LHS is to secure Liberia from those seeking to disrupt the way of life of all lawful citizens, its mandates also include preparing and responding to national calamities at the full confidence of the people of Liberia. This strategic plan seeks to eliminate waste and ineffectiveness resulting from overlapping of functions, with too many units performing one and the same duties. Being a unified agency, LHS will jointly coordinate its distinctive missions, operations, and activities of various security components.

It requires a cohesively sound managerial know how as the key to realize both the goals of LHS and its various components. Every Liberian of service age must be given the impartial privilege to proportionally serve their country, as long as he or she meets the vetting process. Liberian youths, who are of service age but were previously prevented from serving for not completing high school, must be enrolled in a general education development program under the joint tutelage of LHS and the Ministry of Education. This program will afford participants the ability to earn a General High School Equivalency Diploma (GHSED). A GHSED could also help those Liberians who do not meet the requirements of enrolling in K12. A comprehensive proposal of LHS is inclusive in a strategic national security plan written by the author.

Why police organizations fail to handle riots?

By their nature, crisis situations present moments that test the resolve of the police to preserve standards of ethical behavior (Magers, 2007). Consequently, hooliganism, vandalism, hostage events, and hostile barricaded subjects warrant situations, create real and imaginary need for swift action and resolution. The desire for a quick and often-pressured need for quick resolution creates conditions, requiring expedient measures to obtain a win-win outcome. But, sometimes the consequences to expedient measures are disastrous, and may or may not have been anticipated. Carroll, Ben-Zadok, and McCue (2009, p. 221) argued that, “if bad consequences were anticipated but ignored during implementation of a strategy, to achieve a desired goal, then such acts may have created circumstances where swift action unnecessarily leads to ill-conceived responses to the crisis, which in retrospect, are ethically indefensible.” The recent police actions in Liberia, dubbed “Bloody Monday,” are partly discussed in this analysis.

Nihilistic as it may, the dismissal of the Liberian National Police Chief, Marc Amblard for his handling of the post-Liberian presidential election riot, probably defused the tension, which was increasingly building up by the day. Mr. Amblard may not have been the only police chief hoping that a big crisis like ‘Bloody Monday’ sparks up under his watch. Frankly, crises like Bloody Monday; the recent London riot; and the way the French handled the Paris riots stemming from immigrants few years ago, tests the resolve of police organizations. For instance, following many months of careful planning, former Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper’s handling of a-50, 000 or so strong rioters, which barricaded the City of Seattle to prevent a World Trade Organization (WTO) summit from taking place, ended as a complete law enforcement farce (Wilson, 1999).

Accordingly, the protest activity surrounding the WTO (dubbed “N30 or Battle of Seattle”) since it was scheduled to convene on November 30, 1999, is a regular global confab, which sets the terms of reference of international trades and negations (see Gillham & Marx, 1999, ed.). N30 is recorded as one of the fiercest protests against police presence in the history of law enforcement (SPD Report, 1999). While it could be said that the bulk of protestors were relatively peaceful, few of the 50,000 to 100,000 people who participated in the WTO demonstration resorted to vandalism, looting, throwing of stones, objects, human fesses and urination, Molotov Cocktail, and others (Christian, 2000). This was exactly what ensued during the Bloody Monday protest in Liberia, which later turned violent (Aljazeera, 2011).

One of the many reasons why Liberia should quickly move to unify its security operations under a single body, is to avoid sparse divisional bickering during emergency times among security personnel responding to a crisis. Not only was it unprofessional to see personnel of the LNP being chased around and wrestled down by their international counterparts, it straddles the process of ethical coordination, required for crowd control. Bluntly put, it’s like the left is unaware of what the right is doing. On the contrary, in Seattle, although the exact number of demonstrators is still not known, it has been estimated at 40,000, 50,000 and 100,000, with a-police strength of only 900. But it was the Washington National Guard, which rescued the day. In the United States, the lessons learnt from the 9/11 terrorist onslaught on New York, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, and the Katrina saga were enough to bring all crises response organizations under a unified command. Nonetheless, one crucial thesis question is:

1. When does the use of force against a group of demonstrators some of which are engaged in vandalism, consider excessive?

This analysis further tells some ethical concerns in crises involving barricaded subjects, who may require commanders of crisis situation to consider, before placing themselves in crisis mode. Sometimes, once you are in a crisis mode, the chances of getting out, or contemplate alternative actions, are slim. While legal issues may not be specifically addressed here, but it is recognized that adherence to the law is crucial to ethical conduct. The focus will be the ethical or moral implications as they affect crisis management policy. Ethical concerns in crisis situations are as numerous as the decisions made during the actual event. Anticipating all such ethical decisions and concerns in advance is impossible. In a much broader research, the writer identified and discussed categories of principles and tactics, which are faced by crisis negotiators. These ethical concerns have been found useful in guiding managers trapped in crisis situations. In discussing these ethical concerns three critical questions will be addressed.

1. What are the challenges for police leaders in crisis leadership?

2. What are the ethical issues in hostage/crisis negotiation situations?

3. How do we ethically meet the demands of addressing these issues and meeting these challenges?

What are some of the challenges police officers face in their leadership endeavor?

Simply put, crises consist of a series of dynamically chaotic events (Boin &‘t’ Hart, 2003). Earlier, German sociologist, Ulrich Beck defined a “risky society,” as one where public safety and security are high priorities (p. 545). However, there is a big gap between what the public expects of their law enforcement agencies versus what is truly delivered. So, what does the public expect from their leaders in a crisis situation? One of those popular expectations is that police authorities put the safety of the public first.

However, Magers (2007, p. 10) argued that, “the costs of regulating and maintaining maximum public safety, are politically and economically costly. “ Another popular expectation is that police leaders should prepare for the worst. Research has demonstrated that, a number of government and business leaders are not willing to prepare themselves for their crisis-response roles (Mehrotra, Znati, & Thompson, 2008, p. 14).

Additionally, police leaders are expected to heed to future warnings regarding crisis in waiting. Nevertheless, man-made disasters, such as riots, are mostly preceded by incubation periods—time between planning and the event. Inevitably, during incubation periods, policy makers pretend to have the answers, and are sometimes ignorant of, or simply tend to overlook repeated signs of the danger ahead. The public does expect crisis leader to take full control of the situation, by giving clear directives to crisis-management operations (CMOs). Successful CMOs are polycentric, multi-organizational, trans-jurisdictional, and serve as response network.

CMOs need to be coordinated laterally, not top-down command and control. LNP should have sketched a joint plan with UNMIL, and executed same as a CMO. Because one was not in place, personnel confronting angry demonstrators were left with no alternatives, but fight back. Was there a state of emergency declared? Or was there a curfew in place?

Crisis leaders are expected to be compassionate toward victims of crises. Such understanding should be thoroughly articulated verbally over public announcements (PA), and in deeds. It is the duty of leaders to care for victims, but usually those same leaders become prey to their own unrealistic pledges. They sometime go all-out to learn from their mistakes, but in most times, they allow themselves to get caught in the politics of blaming, which dominates the aftermath of contemporary crises.

Finally, in his doctoral dissertation, the writer argued that, security and counter-terrorism are significant issues for national governments today. To combat this rising global threat, and in the interest of national security, governments must be willing to substantially invest in their security enterprises. In addition to other post-conflict issues on how to reduce the future generational growth of terrorists through good governance and the rule of law, the study sought to understand how and to what degree police organizations improve their internal organizational systems of response to counter-terrorism; how they develop new policies and procedures to meet rising demands imposed by terrorism (Gray, n.d.).

Copyright protected. Excerpt from a national security plan written by Edmond Remie Gray. Please forward all inquiries to [email protected]

Reference

Christian, N. M. (2000-06-04). Police brace for protest in Windsor and Detroit. New York Times.

Colin McDonald (January 30, 2007). “Jury says Seattle violated WTO protesters’ rights”. Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Gillham, P. F., & Marx, Gary T. (1999). Complexity and Irony in Policing: The World Trade Organization in Seattle (ed.) by de Armond, Paul, Netwar in the Emerald City: WTO Protest Strategy and Tactics, pp. 216-217.

Gray, E. R. (n.d.). Reducing the growth of future generational terrorists: Poverty reduction strategy and long-term counterterrorism measure. Criminal Justice, School of Public Policy and Administration.Minneapolis, Minnesota, Walden University. Proposed Dissertation, Doctor of Philosophy: 321.

Mehrotra, S., Znati, T., & Thompson, C. W. (2008). Crisis management. IEEE Computer Society, Pp. 14-17.

Seattle Police Department (1999/11/29). The Seattle Police Department After Action Report: World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference Seattle, Washington November 29 – December 3, 1999, p. 41.

Wilson, K. A. C. (1999/12/07). Embattled police chief resigns. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

 

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

The Marriage: Ellen Sirleaf & Amos Sawyer

This week, Professor Amos C. Sawyer was in Manila, the Philippines to collect the prestigious Gusi Peace Prize. When you consider that the prize received 1,490 nominations annually, from which 10 to 15 recipients are called, you have a sense of appreciation that it is a laudable honor. This year, the erudite former interim president shared the stage with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Amos Sawyer & Ellen

The Manila-based foundation also said: Sawyer “has led numerous missions on peace building and elections observation and has been deeply involved in the strengthening of civil society and the building of African capacity to sustain institutions and processes of democratic governance.” Gusi Peace also paid tribute to him “as a Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an affiliate of NEPAD. The Panel of Eminent Persons, at full strength, consists of seven distinguished Africans.” Amos Claudius Sawyer, 66, is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Centre for Development, and Chair of the Liberian Governance Commission.

 

It is no secret that throughout the 1990s, when Mr. Sawyer served as Liberia’s interim leader, he engaged in a marathon and exhausted process of luring Charles Taylor to the peace table in an effort to find lasting solutions to the Liberian crisis. He was rebuffed by Mr. Taylor, who had the biggest gun, and also held a larger portion of the country and people hostage. Sawyer finally gave up the quest of convincing Mr. Taylor after four years of trying.

However, barely a week after the National Elections Commission certificated her as the winner of the runoff election, President Sirleaf’s first public act was to adorn Mr. Sawyer Grand Master of the Order of Distinction in the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneers, with the grade of Grand Cordon. Besides their political partnership, most of the reforms initiated by the Sirleaf administration came out of the Sawyer’s Governance Commission (GC). Where the Liberian Legislature could not made an impact, it was the Sawyer GC that has been the force drafting laws that the president has forwarded to the Liberian Assembly. The acts that established the Anti Corruption Commission, Law and Land Reform Commissions, Whistle Blower’s Act, Corrupt Offenses Act (proposed) etc, were all executed under his supervision.

The commission has also been busy crafting strategies to decentralized political power to the counties, and also to shrink the powers of Liberia’s age-old imperial presidency. But more than that, both Sawyer and Sirleaf have been stuck in a political marriage for well over 20 years now.

Sawyers have always been good to, and have stood by Sirleaf even when major political players in the country deserted her. Their days date back, according to their friends in the trenches of advocacy when Liberian politicians have had enough of Samuel Doe, and were now ready to give him the taste of his own ‘kanyah pepper’. Having chased many out of the country and into exile, Liberian politicians and the larger community back home felt Mr. Doe had lost his mandate and legitimacy, and decided they would oppose him and bring his government down.

Even ordinary Liberians of all stripes were fed up with Mr. Doe’s excesses. He governed arbitrarily by decrees, and poked his fingers in everybody’s eyes! The Association for Constitutional Democracy in Liberia (ACDL), which was actually based in the United States, was one of such platforms. Together with Dr. Patrick Sayon, they dug their heels lobbying the congress of the United States, while finding other means to fight Doe,” says a former Liberian Ambassador accredited to Washington DC. “Matter of fact, it was Sirleaf’s influence that landed Sawyer at the ACDL, because Sawyer was neither a founding member of the organization, but he brought leadership and insight to its advocacy,” says another Liberian who is familiar with the formation of ACDL.

In 2005 when then-candidate Sirleaf launched her bid for the Liberian presidency, Sawyer, the political wizard was right there by her side. As a co-founder of the Liberian People’s Party (LPP), many observers thought he would support his long time friend in academia and advocacy, Togbah Na Tipoteh. Sawyer went the other way, casting his net with Johnson Sirleaf and took with him many of his young supporters. To a large degree says an observer, Sawyer feels unappreciated at home considering his lifelong struggle for multiparty democracy and human rights in Liberia.

In an interview with FrontPage Africa a year ago, he told reporter Rodney Sieh, that most of the criticisms against him were unfair and untrue. He took pains to explain that he has always been in the vanguard for Liberia’s interest, and that the house he bought in the United States during his IGNU days was purchased with his own money. Some analysts lend credence to Sawyer’s assertion, while others disagree.

Sawyer’s critics say he was a weak interim president who dished out state own vehicles as honorarium to former IGNU officials at the dying embers of his administration. Other charges include halting Nigerian General Joshua Dogonyaro’s onslaught on Taylor’s ‘greater Liberia,’ when Gen. Dogonyaro had the upper hand to have finished Charles Ghankay MacArthur Taylor once and for all.

Whatever the case, Amos Claudius Sawyer is in a position to better articulate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s vision in the president’s second term.

Ralph Geeplay can be reached at [email protected]

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

The Marriage: Ellen Sirleaf & Amos Sawyer

This week, Professor Amos C. Sawyer was in Manila, the Philippines to collect the prestigious Gusi Peace Prize. When you consider that the prize received 1,490 nominations annually, from which 10 to 15 recipients are called, you have a sense of appreciation that it is a laudable honor. This year, the erudite former interim president shared the stage with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Amos Sawyer & Ellen

The Manila-based foundation also said: Sawyer “has led numerous missions on peace building and elections observation and has been deeply involved in the strengthening of civil society and the building of African capacity to sustain institutions and processes of democratic governance.” Gusi Peace also paid tribute to him “as a Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an affiliate of NEPAD. The Panel of Eminent Persons, at full strength, consists of seven distinguished Africans.” Amos Claudius Sawyer, 66, is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Centre for Development, and Chair of the Liberian Governance Commission.

 

It is no secret that throughout the 1990s, when Mr. Sawyer served as Liberia’s interim leader, he engaged in a marathon and exhausted process of luring Charles Taylor to the peace table in an effort to find lasting solutions to the Liberian crisis. He was rebuffed by Mr. Taylor, who had the biggest gun, and also held a larger portion of the country and people hostage. Sawyer finally gave up the quest of convincing Mr. Taylor after four years of trying.

However, barely a week after the National Elections Commission certificated her as the winner of the runoff election, President Sirleaf’s first public act was to adorn Mr. Sawyer Grand Master of the Order of Distinction in the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneers, with the grade of Grand Cordon. Besides their political partnership, most of the reforms initiated by the Sirleaf administration came out of the Sawyer’s Governance Commission (GC). Where the Liberian Legislature could not made an impact, it was the Sawyer GC that has been the force drafting laws that the president has forwarded to the Liberian Assembly. The acts that established the Anti Corruption Commission, Law and Land Reform Commissions, Whistle Blower’s Act, Corrupt Offenses Act (proposed) etc, were all executed under his supervision.

The commission has also been busy crafting strategies to decentralized political power to the counties, and also to shrink the powers of Liberia’s age-old imperial presidency. But more than that, both Sawyer and Sirleaf have been stuck in a political marriage for well over 20 years now.

Sawyers have always been good to, and have stood by Sirleaf even when major political players in the country deserted her. Their days date back, according to their friends in the trenches of advocacy when Liberian politicians have had enough of Samuel Doe, and were now ready to give him the taste of his own ‘kanyah pepper’. Having chased many out of the country and into exile, Liberian politicians and the larger community back home felt Mr. Doe had lost his mandate and legitimacy, and decided they would oppose him and bring his government down.

Even ordinary Liberians of all stripes were fed up with Mr. Doe’s excesses. He governed arbitrarily by decrees, and poked his fingers in everybody’s eyes! The Association for Constitutional Democracy in Liberia (ACDL), which was actually based in the United States, was one of such platforms. Together with Dr. Patrick Sayon, they dug their heels lobbying the congress of the United States, while finding other means to fight Doe,” says a former Liberian Ambassador accredited to Washington DC. “Matter of fact, it was Sirleaf’s influence that landed Sawyer at the ACDL, because Sawyer was neither a founding member of the organization, but he brought leadership and insight to its advocacy,” says another Liberian who is familiar with the formation of ACDL.

In 2005 when then-candidate Sirleaf launched her bid for the Liberian presidency, Sawyer, the political wizard was right there by her side. As a co-founder of the Liberian People’s Party (LPP), many observers thought he would support his long time friend in academia and advocacy, Togbah Na Tipoteh. Sawyer went the other way, casting his net with Johnson Sirleaf and took with him many of his young supporters. To a large degree says an observer, Sawyer feels unappreciated at home considering his lifelong struggle for multiparty democracy and human rights in Liberia.

In an interview with FrontPage Africa a year ago, he told reporter Rodney Sieh, that most of the criticisms against him were unfair and untrue. He took pains to explain that he has always been in the vanguard for Liberia’s interest, and that the house he bought in the United States during his IGNU days was purchased with his own money. Some analysts lend credence to Sawyer’s assertion, while others disagree.

Sawyer’s critics say he was a weak interim president who dished out state own vehicles as honorarium to former IGNU officials at the dying embers of his administration. Other charges include halting Nigerian General Joshua Dogonyaro’s onslaught on Taylor’s ‘greater Liberia,’ when Gen. Dogonyaro had the upper hand to have finished Charles Ghankay MacArthur Taylor once and for all.

Whatever the case, Amos Claudius Sawyer is in a position to better articulate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s vision in the president’s second term.

Ralph Geeplay can be reached at [email protected]

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

CDC to Demonstrate Across Monrovia, November 28; While Miatta Fahnbulleh Wants 50% Women Appointed in New Government

CDC Partisans

Monrovia, Liberia: The Standard Bearer of the Congress for Democratic Change, Winston Tubman, says his party will lead a series of demonstrations across Monrovia, starting November 28.

Addressing his CDC supporters at the party’s headquarters on Monday, Mr. Tubman said the demonstrations are geared toward putting forth their case regarding the recent boycott of the runoff presidential election.

The main opposition party has accused the National Elections Commission of being partial with the electoral process, citing irregularities and fraud during the October 11 Elections that was rated “free, fair and transparent” by local and international observers.

The parade is expected to be peaceful, and will proceed through the principal streets of Monrovia with only UNMIL Nigerian Contingent providing security.

Meanwhile, Miatta Fahnbulleh would like to see more women working in the new Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration.

During an interview with our Monrovia Correspondent, the musical icon noted that it was Liberian women who defied the opposition boycott of the November 8 runoff election and went out to vote for the incumbent.

According to Ms. Fahnbulleh, past Liberian governments have downplayed the issues of women, and since President Sirleaf is already a champion of women’s issues, it was time that women get that much-needed attention from the Executive Mansion.

“If I were to suggest to the president, I would suggest a 50% share of women appointed to the new government, because if a man was president he would appoint 90% men to his administration,” she added.

Ms. Fahnbulleh described as “token” women who were appointed to past governments from Presidents Tubman to Taylor.

She however, acknowledged the historical appointments of Ethel Wright as Defense Minister, Mai Padmore, Minister of Health, and Florence Chenoweth, Minister of Agriculture in both the Tubman and Tolbert administrations.

Moses Owen Browne, Jr., a Monrovia-based correspondent, writes for The Liberian Dialogue. He can be reached at [email protected].

January 21, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

CellCom Drops Calling Rates for Inauguration: New Campaign Intended to Promote Reconciliation

Kimmie Weeks

Liberia-based Cellcom, the winner of the National Excellence Award, and a leading cell phone company announced a drop in its call rates from 15 cents per minute to 1 cent per minute in anticipation of the upcoming inauguration ceremonies in the country. Cellcom’s corporate communications strategist Kimmie Weeks says the reduction in call rates is intended to celebrate the 2012 inauguration, and also to promote unity and reconciliation among Liberians. The youth activist made the disclosure Thursday at Cellcom’s headquarters in Monrovia where he stressed the company’s “WE ARE ONE” new advertising campaign theme, which is in line with Liberia’s peace initiatives intended to unite every Liberian.

The “WE ARE ONE” campaign is part of Cellcom’s long-term effort to make communications affordable, and will also allow Cellcom’s subscribers to be able to call all-day and everyday for the lowest possible rate of 1 cent.

“We are doing it because it is the right thing to do, and because we want to ensure that every Liberian enjoys the inauguration season,” Weeks added.

Mr. Weeks also acknowledged that over the years, Cellcom has launched a series of people-focused advertising campaigns including “We are united”, “1Goal,” and now in 2012 the “WE ARE ONE” initiative to bring Liberians together. Cellcom’s Public Relations Officer T. Max Jarteh said he strongly believed in the new campaign because of its focus to unite Liberians.

Jarteh made it clear that reconciliation is a high priority in Liberia in the next six years, and that Cellcom’s first major campaign in 2012 would be about unification. He has also stated “our prices are not going up but only the strength of our network, that’s why we dropped our price as we want to keep you talking to friends and family, anytime, anywhere.”

Cellcom’s Chief Executive Officer Avishai Marziano, noted however, that maintaining the confidence and trust of the company’s fastest growing base of than 800,000 customers is critical to its growth.

“The Liberian people will always be our #1 priority. We are enormously proud of the positive role we have played in changing people’s past experience of mobile technology, by making quality mobile service accessible and affordable to the Liberian people,” he said.

Moses Owen Browne, Jr., a Monrovia-based correspondent, writes for The Liberian Dialogue. He can be reached at [email protected].

January 16, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Abolish or Drastically Reform the National Elections Commission

Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

The ideal of leading “Liberia in the years to come” will not be an easy task for the presumed winner, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, but a massive political headache for this president until genuine peace talks are held, and also until the National Elections Commission is either drastically reformed or abolished to resolve the electoral crisis.

Putting in place an effective electoral mechanism that is fair to future candidates, the people of Liberia, and the democratic process will send a clear message that Liberians are serious about nation-building; and that running for president alone is not nation-building but a selfish way to enhance one’s resume and the individual’s political career, which does not benefit the nation and its people.

However, when those issues are not resolved and another electoral crisis erupts because the politicians are too busy protecting their political interests rather than the interests of all, the helpless population will always suffer the brunt of the nation’s internecine political crisis.

As always the case with those visionless Liberian politicians, issues such as the recent electoral flub and other contentious national issues that should have gotten their immediate attention and remedied are always pushed under the rugs and forgotten, with the hopes that those issues will never appear again.

And instead of building and reforming institutions that will move Liberia forward from the Dark Age to the Modern Age, the Liberian politicians and their progressive brothers and sisters are focused only on the Liberian presidency, only to later react when things fall apart as they currently are in the aftermath of the recent presidential elections.

Former NEC Chair, James Fromoyan

So why didn’t Mayson, Tubman, Sirleaf, Brumskine, Tipoteh, Fahnbulleh and Weah, etc, etc, etc fight or lobby the national Legislature vigorously to reform the undemocratic ways in which the National Elections Commission is set up to favor a sitting president?

Why did the political leaders not join Weah and the CDC in 2005, when that group raised the issue; but are now reacting to the electoral boycott, the elections’ results, and the deaths of those innocent Liberians who died exercising their constitutional right to assemble?

Because the Liberian people once experienced a similar electoral sham in 1985, when the despotic Samuel Kanyon Doe shamelessly manipulated the presidential elections and the Elections Commission headed by the clownish Emmett Harmon; when he (Mr. Doe) grab that year’s election by force are enough reasons for Liberia’s political, civic and religious leaders to drastically reform the current National Elections Commission.

Now in 2011, the nation and its suffering people are once again caught in a mess created by the National Elections Commission, and are also caught between two angry and competing political camps whom are either claiming victory or are thrashing an election the other camp boycotted and claimed as not legitimate.

From all indication, however, the 2011 presidential elections were controversial from the beginning to the end, because the problems that caused the controversy in the first were never resolved.

The National Elections Commission is a corrupt and troubled institution comprised of unscrupulous bureaucrats and ruthless subordinates who are motivated by job security, partisan politics, and financial gains rather than the nation’s interests.

The idea that a sitting president can appoint the chairman and members of the elections’ commission to conduct and oversee the electoral process while he or she is on the ballot is not only abhorrent but also undemocratic.

It is also believed that the office of the disgraced former Chairman James Fromoyan, who is now on the run “mistakenly” released a mysterious letter he claimed not to have read but signed anyway, which changed the outcome of the (first-round) October 11 results to favor the incumbent, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

That particular letter got the nation’s attention because James Fromoyan and his Commissioners lied to the Liberian people when they led them to believe that President Sirleaf was poised to face the Tubman/Weah team in a possible November 8 runoff election.

With such embarrassing revelation, the most prudent political move would have been for every Commissioner (not only James Fromoyan) to resign, so as not to undermine the integrity of the presidential election and future elections.

However, before the letter in question was even released to the public during the 2011 presidential elections, candidate George Weah and his camp spoke unhappily in 2005 about the political shenanigans of then-Chairlady Frances Johnson Morris, whom the CDC publicly accused of “violating the constitution of the Republic of Liberia and its statues relating to the neutrality and qualification of the election commissioners.”

The Campaign Manager at the time, Jacob Kabokale, speaking at a news conference said Ms. Morris’ behavior “had the effect of corrugating the integrity of the electoral process.”

Of course, Mr. Kabokale is right about the lack of neutrality in the governing structure of the National Elections Commissions (NEC), because such corrosive act undermines the democratic process and certainly exposed the country to chaos and violence.

It is true that George Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change supporters rightfully complained in 2005 (as they also did in 2011) about the corrupt partisan politics of James Fromoyan. Mr. Weah and his party members should have sounded the alarm much louder; and if possible, should have even occupied the streets of Liberia until the NEC is genuinely reformed.

By participating in the first round of the 2011 presidential elections and not participate in the second round, undermines the legitimate grievance the Tubman/Weah team had with the NEC. Had team Tubman/Weah won the elections, most Liberians believe the duo wouldn’t complain about the results or even call for a national boycott.

So where are the adults in the room, or the patriotic politicians when we needed them the most? Becausethe politicians who are now reacting hypocritically to the recent carnage in Liberia, a result of the undemocratic set up of the National Elections Commission lacked the credibility to blame the administration or anyone for the tragedy.

Had the Liberian leaders done their part to advocate reforming the troubled and questionable NEC, things wouldn’t have fallen apart and out of control as they did. The NEC needs a complete and unequivocal overhaul to be taken seriously.

Reform the National Elections Commission and replace its governing body with an independent and neutral citizen’s electoral board!

January 14, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Bloody Monday, November 7: A Mistake to be Corrected

 

Dew Tuan-Wleh Mayson

Following the April 14, 1979 rice rebellion during which the security forces shot and killed over 140 Liberians and jailed hundreds more, Liberians in Monrovia adapted a popular song which they sang everywhere in protest against the atrocities committed by the goons of the Tolbert administration.

It went something like this: “April 14, aye yah, Tolbert mistake, yeah…..”.

Our Government seems to have made its own mistake on Monday, 7th November, when its police and other security personnel attacked and killed unarmed partisans of the CDC and other political parties in front of and on the grounds of the headquarters of the CDC.

The partisans, dressed in white to symbolize the peaceful nature of their rally, had gathered in front of the headquarters of the CDC with the intention to make a peaceful march through the streets of Monrovia.

I was present in a vehicle in front of the CDC headquarters that morning in the company of Counselor Winston Tubman and Ambassador George Weah, the Standard Bearer and Vice Standard Bearer of the CDC, respectively. We were discussing with an UNMIL General who was urging that the partisans return to the grounds of the CDC headquarters. As the conversation progressed, we were surprised when the security forces opened fire with tear gas.All of us then retreated inside the grounds of the CDC.

But this was not enough to stop the blood-thirsty security forces from pursuing us, firing tear gas and live bullets. I saw three dead bodies and three severely injured persons. Other eye witnesses reported seeing other bodies. As in 1979 when Tolbert’s security forces murdered innocent citizens, the partisans were unarmed and well-meaning. The blood spilled on the grounds of the CDC headquarters and tears flowing down the faces of many of those who witnessed the police brutality-all speak of the atrocities visited upon our people by the very security forces who are paid to protect them. Not since the dark days of April 14, 1979 have the security forces in our country acted with so much aggression against unarmed Liberian citizens.

Of course, this was not the first time the security forces have unleashed their cruelty on unarmed Liberian citizens. On March 22nd of this year, the police and other security personnel brutalized students of the Tubman High School and G.W. Gibson High School in Monrovia. The students, in a peaceful demonstration, had taken to the streets to protest the absence from classes their teachers who were boycotting their teaching assignments over demand for an increase in their salaries.

Here again, as in 1979, when unarmed citizens were brutally murdered, the students were non-violent and well-meaning. Even the most hardened of hearts who watches the video of this ugly incident will most certainly be moved to tears by the brutality visited on the students by the security forces. Among the many injured was a handicapped student, Cecelia Parker, who was severely assaulted.

Because civil society and the political parties did not condemn in sufficient terms this act of violence against the people, the security forces seem to have been emboldened, thus repeating on November 7 the same act of atrocity which they launched on 23 March against unarmed students.

Not satisfied with brutalizing and killing our people, the security forces went on to arrest and detain so many of the partisans. Dr. (Mrs.) Cecelia Ndegbe, that Amazon of intellect and commitment, was detained for several hours—without charge. At least 89 others were detained—without charge and in horrible circumstances. Thanks to our intervention, most of them have been released; although we continue to get reports of persons deemed missing since the events of Bloody Monday.

In the days leading to Bloody Monday, our brother, President Obama, issued a statement in which he called on the security forces “to exercise maximum restraint and allow for peaceful protest”. But it seems like only the UNMIL forces read the President’s statement and tried to follow this advice. Indeed, were it not for the UNMIL forces who, for the most part, exercised a degree of restraint, the casualties would have been even higher. In one instance, a trigger-happy Liberian police officer was forcibly disarmed by UNMIL soldiers to prevent him from further killing. All of this is graphically captured on video which is being widely circulated for all to see.

To add insult to injury, the police and the Ministry of Justice have refused to apologize for their illegal and unpatriotic actions and are insisting on making all kinds of asinine justification, including placing blame on the CDC who, as anyone who watches the video will confirm are in fact the victims—not the perpetrators of violence and the abuse of human rights.

In continuation of its campaign of human rights abuse, the Ministry of Justice has, through a most compliant and dependent judicial system, shut down three radio stations which have dared to air the views of those not in support of Government.

The three stations were charged with broadcasting “hate messages”. I ask myself: “And what is being done about Truth FM radio—that station which has positioned itself as the adjunct Ministry of Disinformation, spewing forth all kinds of falsehoods and provoking even the most die-hard pacifist”? Sheer poppycock!

And what reaction do we get from President Sirleaf? After a period of undignified silence, the President went on to issue a statement expressing sadness at the loss of life, but went on to urge citizens to go out and vote in the run-off election the next day which was being boycotted by the CDC and its cooperating parties. The boycott was effective as evidenced by the very low turn-out at polling stations throughout the country. Nevertheless, the National Elections Commission went on to declare the President duly re-elected, and the President has wasted no time in claiming this victory.

But, as even the most incurable idealist (and I use this term in the context of Marx critique of Hegel) knows, our Liberia remains a deeply divided country. The President may have satisfied all the legal requirements for being elected, but as any two-bit lawyer will remind you, what is legal may not always be expedient. We need to unite our country, for without this unity no progress is possible.

Who is best suited to lead this campaign for unity and reconciliation in our Liberia? Nobody but President Sirleaf. In the aftermath of “Bloody Monday” and a most contested and acrimonious election, it is time for the President to use the prestige of her office and the force of her personality to effect reconciliation and peace in our Liberia.

Against the advice of the hawks in Government who think that Presidential magnanimity is a sign of weakness—against the advice of these political Lilliputians—the CDC must be engaged.I repeat: The CDC must be engaged. In the political calculus of our country, the CDC as a party, as a movement of our people—this CDC cannot be ignored or willed away.

Fortunately, the partisans of CDC, stripped of the rhetoric born out of a sense of marginalization and deprivation are indeed patriotic Liberians who desire, as all patriots, to live in a Liberia where there is justice and peace and progress for all our people. With this shared vision for our country, and appropriate measures taken to bind the wounds, we can still establish our Liberia as a “glorious land of liberty” for all our people.

Ambassador (Prof) Dew Tuan-Wleh Mayson is the Standard Bearer of the National Democratic Coalition (NDC).

January 14, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post
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