Subscribe via RSS Feed

Archive for February, 2012

Alcohol is a burden that kills teenagers

By Clemente Ferrer

 

The Galician Health Service has launched a campaign with the goal of preventing alcohol consumption among teenagers. This initiative was adjudicated last year following the celebration of a public contest, which was provided with a budget of 1 million Euros.

There have been various ad campaigns against alcohol consumption with some of the following slogans: “alcohol fills up empty spaces”, “talk with your children, information is prevention”, “drink with moderation, it is your responsibility”, and, “enjoy responsible consumption”. These initiatives are examples of how to invigorate and promote good behavior against abusive alcohol consumption. www.youtube.com

Alcohol was responsible for more than 12,000 deaths last year. The abuse of alcohol generates more health problems than those caused by the abuse of drugs. The Spanish Government has invested more than 20 million Euros for the execution of projects against drugs, within which alcohol is emphasized.

The Red Cross’ Foundation for Help Against Drug Addiction affirms that one third of teenagers spend about 90 percent of their money in alcoholic drinks. The consumption of such drinks has become a principal cause for deaths among the youth. It is estimated that 60 percent of deadly nighttime car accidents, mainly during the weekend, are due to alcohol consumption.

When it comes to alcohol abusers in the European Union, Ireland is the country with the highest number of immoderate drinkers, while Bulgaria is the one with less.

According to a study conducted by the University of Heidel and Standford University, since women develop neural paralysis at a faster pace, alcohol consumption is more prevalent among women than among men. www.stanford.edu

A plenary held at the main room of the Supreme Court has ordered Bacardi to remove all of its “White Label” billboard ads. These ads were denounced by the Association of Communication Users.

Promoting alcohol is one of the most debated and polemic issues faced by advertisement legislation. It is true that ad prohibitions are justified by policy-makers in order to protect public health and security. They aim to prevent alcohol abuse through legislation.

Has it been noticed that advertising campaigns tend to increase alcohol consumerism rather than reduce it? Alcohol is probably one of the most vicious attacks that society has had to endure. Even though its consequences spread throughout all social classes, its main victims are teenagers; that delicate portion of society that represents a possible hope for a better future. (Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez Moretti).

Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.

[email protected]

February 27, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Analysis of Liberia's 2010/11 Budget

By Nyankor Matthew

The proposed budget for 2010/11 fiscal year is quite voluminous when compared to budgets from prior fiscal years, and contains detailed information than previous budjgets.

The theme for the 2010/11 budget is the “Lift Liberia Development Strategy” budget, which according to government financial managers is focused on the Poverty Reduction Strategy priorities, and job creation.

The PRS is structured in a four-pillar framework. The pillars are: Peace and Security, Economic Revitalization, Governance and Rule of Law, and Infrastructure and Basic Services. According to budget documents, the 2010/11 fiscal year is the final year for the PRS implementation.

For the 2010/11 fiscal year, the government’s work force is projected to increase from 54,603 employees in 2009/10, to a proposed 56,722 employees for the 2010/11 fiscal year; an increase of 2,119 employees. The proposed revenue for fiscal year 2010/11 is $369.4 million, a 0.68% or $2.5 million decrease from fiscal 2009/10. The President’s Budget Message indicated that the slight decline in revenue when compared to the last fiscal year is due to the initial impact of the tax reduction.

For the fiscal year under review, an initial base budget of US$347.1 million was adjusted by US$16.8 million of additional revenue validated by the Ministry of Finance and the General Auditing Commission; $2.5 million from BHP Billiton second installment signature bonus; and $3.0 million of additional revenue due to LRC. According to the Budget Act, the Liberian government expects additional revenue during the course of the fiscal year of not less than US$25.0 million from the Western Cluster MDA, V/BSGR MDA, and Chevron withholding.

Revenue Composition

For the 2010/11 fiscal year, total revenue including grants is projected at US$369.4 million. The proposed revenue is funded by anticipated tax revenue of $231.4 million, which makes up 62.6% of total revenue; other revenue of $67.1 million or 18.2% of total revenue, and grants of $63.4 million or 17% of total revenue.

Taxes on International Trade remain the largest component of tax revenue accounting for 26.7% or $95.6 million of the total projected revenue, and have declined by 6.6% or $6.3 million when compared to fiscal 2009/10. The second major contributor to tax revenue is taxes and duties on imports, which accounts for 25.5% or $91.4 million, a decrease of 4.51% or $4.30 million when compared to fiscal 2009/10. The third largest contributor to tax revenue is taxes on income and profits, which accounts for 16.9% or $60.6 million, and has increased by 11.75% or $6.4 million when compared to last fiscal year. In the “other revenue” category, the government is anticipating rental income of $59.6 million, an increase of 184.8% or $38.7 million when compared to last year.

The fourth major contributor to revenue is taxes on goods and services, which accounts for 16% or $57.5 million of total tax revenue, and has declined by 2.06% or $1.2 million, when compared to last fiscal year. Direct Budget support Grants account for 17% or $63.4 million. The growth in taxes on incomes and profit is an encouraging indication that economic activities in the formal sector have rebounded from last fiscal year, and that the gov ernment’s continued tax administration and tax awareness activities may have gained some traction.

The Ministries receiving the largest budget allocations are: Ministry of Finance, $38.1 million; Public Works, $33.3 million; Ministry of Education, $30.1 million; Ministry of Internal Affairs, $26.4 million; Ministry of Health, $24.9 million, and Ministry of Justice with $21.1 million.

Total domestic debt reported as of June 30, 2010, is $284.94, and projected domestic debt service payment for the year is reported at $18.08 million. Total external debt reported as of June 30, 2010 is $281.13 million, external debt service payment for the fiscal year is projected at $7.97 million for a combined projected debt service payment of $26.04 million for the fiscal year under review. As of June 30, 2010, total public debt stands at US$566.07 million.

Expenditure Composition

The proposed 2010/11 budget is comprised of four functional sectors or expenditure categories: Public and Administrative Services Sector (PASS), Rule of Law and Public Safety Sector (RLPS), Social and Community Services Sector (SCSS), and Economic Services Sector (ESS).

In terms of expenditure composition, the public and administrative Service Sector is projected to receive the largest share of the budget at $156.1 million, and makes up 42.3% of total proposed spending. Spending in this sector has increased by 67.96% or $63.2 million when compared to last fiscal year. The second largest expenditure sector is the social and community Services sector, which is projected to receive $91.1 million, and accounts for 22.9% of total spending. Spending in this sector is projected to increase by 13.53%. The third largest spending category is the Economic Services Sector, which is projected to receive $70.2 million, and makes up 18.9% of proposed spending. Spending in this sector is projected to decrease by $2.3 million or 3.23% when compared to last year’s Budget. Projected spending for the Rule of Law and Public Safety sector is $51.9 million, and accounts for 17.5% of total spending. Spending in this sector is projected to grow 8.04% when compared with last y ear’s approved budget.

Budget Summary by major budget objects

Wages/personnel costs make up 38% or $139.0 million of the total proposed budget, an increase of 7% when compared to the last fiscal year. The category of “goods and services”, which consist of line items such as: Fuel and lubricants for vehicles, vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs, residential property rental and lease, domestic daily subsistence allowance, office materials and services, etc., accounts for $80.2 million or 22% of total budget, a decrease of 2%. Grants account for 17% or $63.4 million of the total budget, followed by consumption of capital at $60.8 million or 16% of total proposed budget.

Core Budget and Project Budget

Government financial managers must be applauded for structuring the budget into two parts; a Core Budget, which reflects those revenues government expects to materialize – that will be used to pay for spending on core government priorities and recurrent activities or operations; and a Project Budget funded by uncertain revenues such as expected payments from donors, and concession payments that will be used to finance projects if and when such revenues materialize. It is anticipated that the Project Budget will help target and focus government’s spending on key, specific Poverty Reduction undertakings. The end goal for the project budget is to avoid making ongoing spending commitments that government may not be able to fund.

For the 2010/11 budget year, the Government budgeted $332.1 million to the Core Budget, and US$37.3 million, (which includes contingent revenue and concessional borrowing) to the Project Budget. Core revenues will finance the Core Government Budget, and contingent revenues will finance the Project Budget; where the start date of projects will be determined by the receipt of funds. Of the $37.3 appropriated for the Project Budget, $17.7 million is projected to be used for construction in various sectors.

While government financial managers should be applauded for a more focused budget, law makers should ensure that monies allocated for specific projects are actually spent on those projects in a transparent and prudent manner. Our legislators must increase their oversight of the capital budget by ensuring that projects included in the budget are properly approved, and that feasibility studies are conducted on all projects before they are undertaken or funded.

Projected Aid Flow to Liberia for FY2010/2011

Projected Aid disbursement for FY 2010/2011 is US$464.2 million. Of this amount, $268.7 million (57.9%) is projected to be disbursed for non-GOL executed projects, and $23.7 million (5.1%) for GOL executed projects. $58.5 million is projected for direct budget support to the government, which is captured in the budget, $103.6 million is projected to be disbursed to the Trust Fund, and $9.7 to the Pooled Fund.

The three pooled funds in health, education, and infrastructure are co-managed by the Government and development partners. The health sector pooled fund supports implementation of the National Health & Social Welfare Plan, while the education sector pooled fund supports the Liberia Primary Education Recovery Program. The Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund (LRTF) provides support for meeting national infrastructure priorities as defined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). According to budget documents, the $464.2 aid does not include UNMIL funding and other sources of Aid from private NGOs and some bilateral partners.

Direct donors’ budget support to the government has increased from $2.7 million in fiscal 2006/7 to $58.5 million, an increase of 2,037%. Direct Aid support now makes up 17% of the National Budget. Total estimated aid flow to Liberia has also grown by 3% when compared to the last fiscal year. It is significant to note that projected Aid flow of $464.2 exceeds the current budget by $98.8 million. Due to the unavailability of data, I am unable to report the total amount of aid received from fiscal 2006/7 to the current fiscal year. My analysis of IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank documents indicate that aid flow to Liberia for the five fiscal years have exceeded $1.5 billion dollars.

I am aware that Liberia is a post- conflict country that needs donor assistance to rebuild infrastructure and resuscitate the Liberian economy. However, I fear that the continued growth in foreign aid could lead to dependency, which may lead to compliancy on the part of policy makers and financial managers in finding innovative means to generate domestic revenues to finance the budget and maintain infrastructure and other long term programs currently being created and funded by foreign aid. Policy makers should also be cognizant of the massive short term aid being used to build infrastructure and create long term programs. It is no secret that aid revenue is not permanent; as su ch government financial managers as well as policy makers should at least start thinking on how to maintain the long term programs being created by aid money, as well as the infrastructure being built from these short term funding.

Budget to Actual Revenue Performance

When budget to actual revenue is compared for the past four fiscal years, Liberia’s budget has yet to reach the three million dollar mark, despite the rosy GDP statistics and the billions of aid money. In 2006/7, projected revenue was $134.9 million and actual revenue came in at $148.3, including grants of $2.7 million. For FY07/08, a draft national budget in the amount $182.5 was submitted to the National legislature for approval in May of 2008. However, the legislature approved the revised projection to $199.4 million; actual revenue for that year was $206.9 million, including grants of $5.69 million.

The draft budget for fiscal year 2008/09 was approved in the amount of $276.8, however an adjusted amount of $298.1 million was approved, and actual revenue came in at $234.9. In fiscal 08/09, actual revenue was 21 percent below the approved adjusted projection of US$298.1. When grants of $23.5 million are excluded, actual revenue was 274.6. For fiscal 2009/10, a total of $371.9 was projected in revenue, and actual revenue ca me in at $287.7 million including grants of $25.5 million. Actual revenue was 84.2 million less than the projected amount. When the $25.5 million direct budget support (grants) is excluded, actual revenue was $262.2 million.

While it is true that revenue has shown a consistent upward trend considering the amount of aid money pouring into Liberia; and the rosy commentaries on the economy by the administration, actual revenue performance has been dismal, and does not reflect the GDP statistics that are often quoted.

Some of the important Highlight of the 2010/11 Budget

General allowance continues to increase and has increased from $26.8 million from last fiscal year, to $33.2 million for this fiscal year. Special allowance has also increased from $13.9 million from last fiscal year to $14.9 million for this fiscal year.

I don’t understand why our government has refused to get rid of the general and special allowance scheme, which not only provides an opportunity for corruption, but breeds corruption. Special allowance is a US dollar salary scheme that is reserved for ministers and agency heads, and general allowance is a second US dollar payment scheme that is used at the discretion of ministers and agency heads. Why is the government so afraid to pay government officials and political appointees a fixed salary, regardless of the currency? Ministers and agency heads should not be giving the opportunity to manipu late salaries. The government needs to get rid of the special and general allowance payment scheme, and pay civil servants and political appointees a fixed salary.

Office building rental and lease has increased from $1.9 million from last fiscal year to $2.0 million this fiscal year. Take a walk around central Monrovia, and you will see a city littered with abandoned and unfinished government buildings, yet the government seems to have adopted an unspoken policy of renting over renovating existing buildings.

Fuel and lubricants for vehicles has increased from $9.9 million from last fiscal year to $12.3 million for this fiscal year. It should also be noted that transport equipment/vehicle purchase has declined from $12.9 million from fiscal 2009/10 to $8.4 million for this fiscal year. Again, I encourage my fellow Liberians to take a walk around a few government Ministries, and you’ll see fancy and expensive cars parked at those ministries. As I stated in last year’s analysis, the government should not be in the business of subsidizing ministers, deputy ministers, directors, etc. Too much is being sp ent on cars, and car- related expenditures such as gas, lubricants, maintenance, etc. We can’t build a nation when thirty plus percent of our budget goes to non- productive expenditures.

Police materials and supplies received a budget of $100,000, while $1.7 million is budgeted for catering services. The condition of police stations in this country are deplorable! Many of the police stations lack basic supplies and equipment, yet the government has told the Liberian people through the budget that catering services in government is more important than police materials and supplies.

Educational materials and supplies received a budget of $207,189, while Honorarium gets a budget of $3.5 million. What is honorarium you may ask? It is nothing more than a fee for service provided by those working either in government or outside of government. I should note that under the expenditure category for the compensation of employees, the government has a line item called “professionals”, which has a budget of $5.1 million for this fiscal year. This set up seems to be nothing more than a scheme for government officials to line their pockets. Money that should be spent on social services are being spent on vague professional services.

The budget for textbooks for the entire Ministry of Education is $20,000, while government employees’ ID cards received a budget of $120,402, and employee awards has a budget of $126,418. Based on the above numbers, one can conclude that if foreigners don’t donate books to our school system, the government would be unable to do so due to the lack of priority placed on the purchase of textbooks. It should also be noted that free and compulsory education received a budget of $116,967, while food stuffs gets a budget of $901,004.

The government claims that this budget is a ” job creation budget,” yet the amount budgeted for job training programs don’t reflect that. The Liberian population is young and unskilled, so instead of the government spending millions on vague professional services and expensive cars some of that money should be directed to job training programs to prepare the young people of this nation to answer the call of nation building. Be that as it may, vocational training programs got a budget of $82,162, while residential property rental and Lease got a budget of $3.1 million. Vocational job programs got a budget of $96,400, while transport reimbursem ent allowance got a budget of $2.7 million.

Overly Optimistic Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

It is common for any administration to present financial and macro-economic information in a positive light and hope for the best. While GDP growth is optimistic, I remain professionally skeptical of the optimistic projections. It would be disingenuous and unprofessional of me to continue to propagate the oft- quoted 85% unemployment rate in Liberia. While I do not believe the nation’s unemployment rate is still 85%, I think it is in the upper seventy percent range, which is not much better, and has yet to be disclosed to the Liberian public the drivers of GDP growth. Because GDP measures activities in the formal sector, activities in the informal sector are not captured. As such, GDP is not a reliable measure of economic well-being of the Liberian society, especially in a society where over seventy percent of economic activities takes place in the informal sector. GDP growth does not necessarily translate into poverty reduction, because growth in GDP can occur with little to no job creation. Economists refer to such a growth as a “jobless” growth, which is where Liberia currently finds itself.

If according to the president’s budget message “Liberia’s GDP growth has averaged 7.2 percent over the last four years (2005 to 2009), remaining well above the global average of 3.4 percent, and the Sub-Saharan Africa regional average of 5.5 percent over the same period”, the proposed budget certainly does not reflect the growth discussed in the president’s budget message, nor does revenue performance, or the CBL’s statistics on the consumer price index (CPI). The purchasing power of the national currency is weak and few Liberians have access to the U.S currency, which currently makes up about 85% of the broad money supply.

My analysis of the CBL’s statistics on the consumer price index (CPI), from January 2008 to April 2010, indicates that the average Liberian is paying more for food, gas, clothing, health, transport, etc. The only two categories where Liberians are paying either the same or less are education and communication, respectively. While it is true that the Liberian economy as well as its budgets have improved steadily over the last five years, the current proposed budget does not reflect the overly optimistic growth discussed in the Budget Message. Either, government financial managers are being overly conservative by understating the budget and the economic growths discussed in the president’s budget message.

How is it that the budget for the current fiscal year is smaller than then last year’s budget, considering that the fiscal 2009 budget was put together in the midst of the global economic slowdown, which adversely impacted Liberia’s growth and fiscal performance? Government officials cannot speak of growth when the unemployment rate is still very high, and average income for the average Liberian is still less than $3 U.S. dollars a day. While is true that the current administration should be commended for the physical facelift, it must be translated into economic growth and sustainable employment opportunities that would increase the purchasing power of the Liberian people.

I am of the opinion that the 2010/11 “job creation” budget lacks clear indicators on how many jobs will be created, and how such jobs will be created. The administration presented no proposal supported with any framework for job creation success. On job creation, the government does not have a focus, as there are no indicators in the president’s budget message or the budget framework paper as to how many jobs the government anticipates will be created from this “job creation” budget.

As I stated in last year’s analysis, the government needs to curb spending on unproductive expenditures. A budget that claims to be a job creation budget allocated $96,400.00 for vocational training, while at the same time allocating $2.7 million for transport reimbursement. A job creation budget that allocates $82,162 to Vocational training programs, yet allocates $3.5 million for Honorarium is not much of a job creation budget, because clearly, some of the most critical priority areas relating to job creation have been under funded.

One can only hop e that next year’s budget (2011/12), will lift the average Liberian a step above where they currently find themselves.

Ms. Nyankor Matthew holds Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a specialization in Public Administration, and a Master’s degree in Public and Environmental Affairs (MPA), with a specialization in Public/Government Finance. She can be reached at [email protected].

February 27, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Analysis of Liberia’s 2010/11 Budget

By Nyankor Matthew

The proposed budget for 2010/11 fiscal year is quite voluminous when compared to budgets from prior fiscal years, and contains detailed information than previous budjgets.

The theme for the 2010/11 budget is the “Lift Liberia Development Strategy” budget, which according to government financial managers is focused on the Poverty Reduction Strategy priorities, and job creation.

The PRS is structured in a four-pillar framework. The pillars are: Peace and Security, Economic Revitalization, Governance and Rule of Law, and Infrastructure and Basic Services. According to budget documents, the 2010/11 fiscal year is the final year for the PRS implementation.

For the 2010/11 fiscal year, the government’s work force is projected to increase from 54,603 employees in 2009/10, to a proposed 56,722 employees for the 2010/11 fiscal year; an increase of 2,119 employees. The proposed revenue for fiscal year 2010/11 is $369.4 million, a 0.68% or $2.5 million decrease from fiscal 2009/10. The President’s Budget Message indicated that the slight decline in revenue when compared to the last fiscal year is due to the initial impact of the tax reduction.

For the fiscal year under review, an initial base budget of US$347.1 million was adjusted by US$16.8 million of additional revenue validated by the Ministry of Finance and the General Auditing Commission; $2.5 million from BHP Billiton second installment signature bonus; and $3.0 million of additional revenue due to LRC. According to the Budget Act, the Liberian government expects additional revenue during the course of the fiscal year of not less than US$25.0 million from the Western Cluster MDA, V/BSGR MDA, and Chevron withholding.

Revenue Composition

For the 2010/11 fiscal year, total revenue including grants is projected at US$369.4 million. The proposed revenue is funded by anticipated tax revenue of $231.4 million, which makes up 62.6% of total revenue; other revenue of $67.1 million or 18.2% of total revenue, and grants of $63.4 million or 17% of total revenue.

Taxes on International Trade remain the largest component of tax revenue accounting for 26.7% or $95.6 million of the total projected revenue, and have declined by 6.6% or $6.3 million when compared to fiscal 2009/10. The second major contributor to tax revenue is taxes and duties on imports, which accounts for 25.5% or $91.4 million, a decrease of 4.51% or $4.30 million when compared to fiscal 2009/10. The third largest contributor to tax revenue is taxes on income and profits, which accounts for 16.9% or $60.6 million, and has increased by 11.75% or $6.4 million when compared to last fiscal year. In the “other revenue” category, the government is anticipating rental income of $59.6 million, an increase of 184.8% or $38.7 million when compared to last year.

The fourth major contributor to revenue is taxes on goods and services, which accounts for 16% or $57.5 million of total tax revenue, and has declined by 2.06% or $1.2 million, when compared to last fiscal year. Direct Budget support Grants account for 17% or $63.4 million. The growth in taxes on incomes and profit is an encouraging indication that economic activities in the formal sector have rebounded from last fiscal year, and that the gov ernment’s continued tax administration and tax awareness activities may have gained some traction.

The Ministries receiving the largest budget allocations are: Ministry of Finance, $38.1 million; Public Works, $33.3 million; Ministry of Education, $30.1 million; Ministry of Internal Affairs, $26.4 million; Ministry of Health, $24.9 million, and Ministry of Justice with $21.1 million.

Total domestic debt reported as of June 30, 2010, is $284.94, and projected domestic debt service payment for the year is reported at $18.08 million. Total external debt reported as of June 30, 2010 is $281.13 million, external debt service payment for the fiscal year is projected at $7.97 million for a combined projected debt service payment of $26.04 million for the fiscal year under review. As of June 30, 2010, total public debt stands at US$566.07 million.

Expenditure Composition

The proposed 2010/11 budget is comprised of four functional sectors or expenditure categories: Public and Administrative Services Sector (PASS), Rule of Law and Public Safety Sector (RLPS), Social and Community Services Sector (SCSS), and Economic Services Sector (ESS).

In terms of expenditure composition, the public and administrative Service Sector is projected to receive the largest share of the budget at $156.1 million, and makes up 42.3% of total proposed spending. Spending in this sector has increased by 67.96% or $63.2 million when compared to last fiscal year. The second largest expenditure sector is the social and community Services sector, which is projected to receive $91.1 million, and accounts for 22.9% of total spending. Spending in this sector is projected to increase by 13.53%. The third largest spending category is the Economic Services Sector, which is projected to receive $70.2 million, and makes up 18.9% of proposed spending. Spending in this sector is projected to decrease by $2.3 million or 3.23% when compared to last year’s Budget. Projected spending for the Rule of Law and Public Safety sector is $51.9 million, and accounts for 17.5% of total spending. Spending in this sector is projected to grow 8.04% when compared with last y ear’s approved budget.

Budget Summary by major budget objects

Wages/personnel costs make up 38% or $139.0 million of the total proposed budget, an increase of 7% when compared to the last fiscal year. The category of “goods and services”, which consist of line items such as: Fuel and lubricants for vehicles, vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs, residential property rental and lease, domestic daily subsistence allowance, office materials and services, etc., accounts for $80.2 million or 22% of total budget, a decrease of 2%. Grants account for 17% or $63.4 million of the total budget, followed by consumption of capital at $60.8 million or 16% of total proposed budget.

Core Budget and Project Budget

Government financial managers must be applauded for structuring the budget into two parts; a Core Budget, which reflects those revenues government expects to materialize – that will be used to pay for spending on core government priorities and recurrent activities or operations; and a Project Budget funded by uncertain revenues such as expected payments from donors, and concession payments that will be used to finance projects if and when such revenues materialize. It is anticipated that the Project Budget will help target and focus government’s spending on key, specific Poverty Reduction undertakings. The end goal for the project budget is to avoid making ongoing spending commitments that government may not be able to fund.

For the 2010/11 budget year, the Government budgeted $332.1 million to the Core Budget, and US$37.3 million, (which includes contingent revenue and concessional borrowing) to the Project Budget. Core revenues will finance the Core Government Budget, and contingent revenues will finance the Project Budget; where the start date of projects will be determined by the receipt of funds. Of the $37.3 appropriated for the Project Budget, $17.7 million is projected to be used for construction in various sectors.

While government financial managers should be applauded for a more focused budget, law makers should ensure that monies allocated for specific projects are actually spent on those projects in a transparent and prudent manner. Our legislators must increase their oversight of the capital budget by ensuring that projects included in the budget are properly approved, and that feasibility studies are conducted on all projects before they are undertaken or funded.

Projected Aid Flow to Liberia for FY2010/2011

Projected Aid disbursement for FY 2010/2011 is US$464.2 million. Of this amount, $268.7 million (57.9%) is projected to be disbursed for non-GOL executed projects, and $23.7 million (5.1%) for GOL executed projects. $58.5 million is projected for direct budget support to the government, which is captured in the budget, $103.6 million is projected to be disbursed to the Trust Fund, and $9.7 to the Pooled Fund.

The three pooled funds in health, education, and infrastructure are co-managed by the Government and development partners. The health sector pooled fund supports implementation of the National Health & Social Welfare Plan, while the education sector pooled fund supports the Liberia Primary Education Recovery Program. The Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund (LRTF) provides support for meeting national infrastructure priorities as defined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). According to budget documents, the $464.2 aid does not include UNMIL funding and other sources of Aid from private NGOs and some bilateral partners.

Direct donors’ budget support to the government has increased from $2.7 million in fiscal 2006/7 to $58.5 million, an increase of 2,037%. Direct Aid support now makes up 17% of the National Budget. Total estimated aid flow to Liberia has also grown by 3% when compared to the last fiscal year. It is significant to note that projected Aid flow of $464.2 exceeds the current budget by $98.8 million. Due to the unavailability of data, I am unable to report the total amount of aid received from fiscal 2006/7 to the current fiscal year. My analysis of IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank documents indicate that aid flow to Liberia for the five fiscal years have exceeded $1.5 billion dollars.

I am aware that Liberia is a post- conflict country that needs donor assistance to rebuild infrastructure and resuscitate the Liberian economy. However, I fear that the continued growth in foreign aid could lead to dependency, which may lead to compliancy on the part of policy makers and financial managers in finding innovative means to generate domestic revenues to finance the budget and maintain infrastructure and other long term programs currently being created and funded by foreign aid. Policy makers should also be cognizant of the massive short term aid being used to build infrastructure and create long term programs. It is no secret that aid revenue is not permanent; as su ch government financial managers as well as policy makers should at least start thinking on how to maintain the long term programs being created by aid money, as well as the infrastructure being built from these short term funding.

Budget to Actual Revenue Performance

When budget to actual revenue is compared for the past four fiscal years, Liberia’s budget has yet to reach the three million dollar mark, despite the rosy GDP statistics and the billions of aid money. In 2006/7, projected revenue was $134.9 million and actual revenue came in at $148.3, including grants of $2.7 million. For FY07/08, a draft national budget in the amount $182.5 was submitted to the National legislature for approval in May of 2008. However, the legislature approved the revised projection to $199.4 million; actual revenue for that year was $206.9 million, including grants of $5.69 million.

The draft budget for fiscal year 2008/09 was approved in the amount of $276.8, however an adjusted amount of $298.1 million was approved, and actual revenue came in at $234.9. In fiscal 08/09, actual revenue was 21 percent below the approved adjusted projection of US$298.1. When grants of $23.5 million are excluded, actual revenue was 274.6. For fiscal 2009/10, a total of $371.9 was projected in revenue, and actual revenue ca me in at $287.7 million including grants of $25.5 million. Actual revenue was 84.2 million less than the projected amount. When the $25.5 million direct budget support (grants) is excluded, actual revenue was $262.2 million.

While it is true that revenue has shown a consistent upward trend considering the amount of aid money pouring into Liberia; and the rosy commentaries on the economy by the administration, actual revenue performance has been dismal, and does not reflect the GDP statistics that are often quoted.

Some of the important Highlight of the 2010/11 Budget

General allowance continues to increase and has increased from $26.8 million from last fiscal year, to $33.2 million for this fiscal year. Special allowance has also increased from $13.9 million from last fiscal year to $14.9 million for this fiscal year.

I don’t understand why our government has refused to get rid of the general and special allowance scheme, which not only provides an opportunity for corruption, but breeds corruption. Special allowance is a US dollar salary scheme that is reserved for ministers and agency heads, and general allowance is a second US dollar payment scheme that is used at the discretion of ministers and agency heads. Why is the government so afraid to pay government officials and political appointees a fixed salary, regardless of the currency? Ministers and agency heads should not be giving the opportunity to manipu late salaries. The government needs to get rid of the special and general allowance payment scheme, and pay civil servants and political appointees a fixed salary.

Office building rental and lease has increased from $1.9 million from last fiscal year to $2.0 million this fiscal year. Take a walk around central Monrovia, and you will see a city littered with abandoned and unfinished government buildings, yet the government seems to have adopted an unspoken policy of renting over renovating existing buildings.

Fuel and lubricants for vehicles has increased from $9.9 million from last fiscal year to $12.3 million for this fiscal year. It should also be noted that transport equipment/vehicle purchase has declined from $12.9 million from fiscal 2009/10 to $8.4 million for this fiscal year. Again, I encourage my fellow Liberians to take a walk around a few government Ministries, and you’ll see fancy and expensive cars parked at those ministries. As I stated in last year’s analysis, the government should not be in the business of subsidizing ministers, deputy ministers, directors, etc. Too much is being sp ent on cars, and car- related expenditures such as gas, lubricants, maintenance, etc. We can’t build a nation when thirty plus percent of our budget goes to non- productive expenditures.

Police materials and supplies received a budget of $100,000, while $1.7 million is budgeted for catering services. The condition of police stations in this country are deplorable! Many of the police stations lack basic supplies and equipment, yet the government has told the Liberian people through the budget that catering services in government is more important than police materials and supplies.

Educational materials and supplies received a budget of $207,189, while Honorarium gets a budget of $3.5 million. What is honorarium you may ask? It is nothing more than a fee for service provided by those working either in government or outside of government. I should note that under the expenditure category for the compensation of employees, the government has a line item called “professionals”, which has a budget of $5.1 million for this fiscal year. This set up seems to be nothing more than a scheme for government officials to line their pockets. Money that should be spent on social services are being spent on vague professional services.

The budget for textbooks for the entire Ministry of Education is $20,000, while government employees’ ID cards received a budget of $120,402, and employee awards has a budget of $126,418. Based on the above numbers, one can conclude that if foreigners don’t donate books to our school system, the government would be unable to do so due to the lack of priority placed on the purchase of textbooks. It should also be noted that free and compulsory education received a budget of $116,967, while food stuffs gets a budget of $901,004.

The government claims that this budget is a ” job creation budget,” yet the amount budgeted for job training programs don’t reflect that. The Liberian population is young and unskilled, so instead of the government spending millions on vague professional services and expensive cars some of that money should be directed to job training programs to prepare the young people of this nation to answer the call of nation building. Be that as it may, vocational training programs got a budget of $82,162, while residential property rental and Lease got a budget of $3.1 million. Vocational job programs got a budget of $96,400, while transport reimbursem ent allowance got a budget of $2.7 million.

Overly Optimistic Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

It is common for any administration to present financial and macro-economic information in a positive light and hope for the best. While GDP growth is optimistic, I remain professionally skeptical of the optimistic projections. It would be disingenuous and unprofessional of me to continue to propagate the oft- quoted 85% unemployment rate in Liberia. While I do not believe the nation’s unemployment rate is still 85%, I think it is in the upper seventy percent range, which is not much better, and has yet to be disclosed to the Liberian public the drivers of GDP growth. Because GDP measures activities in the formal sector, activities in the informal sector are not captured. As such, GDP is not a reliable measure of economic well-being of the Liberian society, especially in a society where over seventy percent of economic activities takes place in the informal sector. GDP growth does not necessarily translate into poverty reduction, because growth in GDP can occur with little to no job creation. Economists refer to such a growth as a “jobless” growth, which is where Liberia currently finds itself.

If according to the president’s budget message “Liberia’s GDP growth has averaged 7.2 percent over the last four years (2005 to 2009), remaining well above the global average of 3.4 percent, and the Sub-Saharan Africa regional average of 5.5 percent over the same period”, the proposed budget certainly does not reflect the growth discussed in the president’s budget message, nor does revenue performance, or the CBL’s statistics on the consumer price index (CPI). The purchasing power of the national currency is weak and few Liberians have access to the U.S currency, which currently makes up about 85% of the broad money supply.

My analysis of the CBL’s statistics on the consumer price index (CPI), from January 2008 to April 2010, indicates that the average Liberian is paying more for food, gas, clothing, health, transport, etc. The only two categories where Liberians are paying either the same or less are education and communication, respectively. While it is true that the Liberian economy as well as its budgets have improved steadily over the last five years, the current proposed budget does not reflect the overly optimistic growth discussed in the Budget Message. Either, government financial managers are being overly conservative by understating the budget and the economic growths discussed in the president’s budget message.

How is it that the budget for the current fiscal year is smaller than then last year’s budget, considering that the fiscal 2009 budget was put together in the midst of the global economic slowdown, which adversely impacted Liberia’s growth and fiscal performance? Government officials cannot speak of growth when the unemployment rate is still very high, and average income for the average Liberian is still less than $3 U.S. dollars a day. While is true that the current administration should be commended for the physical facelift, it must be translated into economic growth and sustainable employment opportunities that would increase the purchasing power of the Liberian people.

I am of the opinion that the 2010/11 “job creation” budget lacks clear indicators on how many jobs will be created, and how such jobs will be created. The administration presented no proposal supported with any framework for job creation success. On job creation, the government does not have a focus, as there are no indicators in the president’s budget message or the budget framework paper as to how many jobs the government anticipates will be created from this “job creation” budget.

As I stated in last year’s analysis, the government needs to curb spending on unproductive expenditures. A budget that claims to be a job creation budget allocated $96,400.00 for vocational training, while at the same time allocating $2.7 million for transport reimbursement. A job creation budget that allocates $82,162 to Vocational training programs, yet allocates $3.5 million for Honorarium is not much of a job creation budget, because clearly, some of the most critical priority areas relating to job creation have been under funded.

One can only hop e that next year’s budget (2011/12), will lift the average Liberian a step above where they currently find themselves.

Ms. Nyankor Matthew holds Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a specialization in Public Administration, and a Master’s degree in Public and Environmental Affairs (MPA), with a specialization in Public/Government Finance. She can be reached at [email protected].

February 27, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Mayor Mary Broh and the Parking Controversy

By Ralph Geeplay

Monrovia City Mayor, Mary Broh, this week met with members of the Liberian Assembly regarding the institution of parking tickets her city council introduced last year to skeptical lawmakers who questioned the fees motorists would pay if they are caught violating the city’s parking ordinance.

The meeting, however, took a strange turn when Representative Thomas Koom who sits on the committee, complained that his sister’s business was losing money because she was paying too much money in parking fees.
Representative Thomas Koom fumed that the L$500.00 and LD$50.00 his sister pays per hour for parking daily totaled about $150.00 to park her vehicle in front of the shop she rents in Central Monrovia, when he hardly brings in that amount monthly from her business.
Another member on the committee, Representative Steve Carven also remarked that citizens would end up paying more in parking fees annually than their vehicles are worth, adding, “The fact that “John Brown” has a used car he bought for $1,000 does not mean he should spend $1,800 annually in parking fees.
Mayor Mary Broh and her city council last year contracted City Park Management (CPM), co-owned by Barku Tubman, an enterprising Liberian entrepreneur and entertainment impresario to collect $50 per hour at strategic streets within the city center.
Mayor Broh also told committee members that her office based the ordinance on a proposal to regulate traffic, and also as a way to introduce the ticket parking system in the City of Monrovia.
According to Mayor Broh, portions of the proceeds will go toward youth employment, street maintenance, and the remaining funds will be retained by the city.
It is widely believed that some lawmakers were unenthusiastic about the venture because of the Mayor Broh’s failure to brief them about the parking fees, and were also concerned about how she arrived at the amount she’s charging motorists.
However, because of Mayor Broh’s failure to brief lawmakers about the parking ordinance, they therefore suspended the collection of parking fees for two weeks pending investigation.
Presidential spokesman, Jerelinmick Piah, addressing the controversy said President Sirleaf would revoke the decision, and had spoken to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex Tyler about this issue. Mr. Piah also said “the president simply informed the speaker that she has reversed the decision, and it was not intended for him and his colleagues to agree.”
Piah must have misspoken because a Liberian president cannot reverse the decision of the legislature in the absence of a veto, because a veto would constitute a binding resolution from both houses.
February 22, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Mandingoes Born in Liberia are Liberian Citizens

By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

The truth is: Mandingoes born in Liberia to a Mandingo parent or parents are Liberians, period! So what’s the debate about, and where’s it going? Intellectual or “jawbone” exercise?

That Mandingoes who were born in Liberia, grew up in Liberia, and attended public and private schools there are not Liberian citizens? Are these individuals who are spewing these venoms in the name of discourse are also saying that even if a Mandingo was born in Liberia, but attended school and grew up elsewhere is not a Liberian citizen?

The same way Liberians living overseas expect their children who were born there, say, in the United States to be American citizens, is the same as other nationals who gave birth to their children in Liberia.

Does it have to be in the Constitution as some are insinuating? Is it written in the Liberian constitution when the indigenous names of native Liberians who once lived with the Americo-Liberians were changed to reflect the western heritage of the freed slaves from the United States?

Is it written in the Liberian constitution to arrest innocent people seen walking when the Liberian flag is being hoisted in the morning? Ok, is it also in the Constitution when Liberian police officers stakeout the streets or highways to harass motorists for bribes? The truth is, not everything is in the Liberian Constitution.

Is it right to hate, discredit and attempt to uproot hundreds of thousands of Mandingoes and their children who grew up with us, went to school with us, played with us when we were growing up, and whose ancestors toiled the fields and also called that country home? Let’s be serious, folks, where are we heading?

This is not the time to hate anybody, Mandingoes and other minorities in Liberia. Whether it is about land dispute between Mandingoes born in Nimba County and the Gios and Mano people in that county, and Gay rights, the right thing to do as human beings and as Liberians is to speak unequivocally and be on the side of justice, equality and fairness.

Remember now that indigenous Liberians were once despised, enslaved and hated by the Americo-Liberians because of their heritage. Do we also have to hate others to prove our patriotism?

However, as political activists, community activists and human right activists, are we not supposed to advocate and respect the individual and collective rights of all? Are we not supposed to embrace those that don’t act and live like us?

The recent hiring by President Sirleaf of the impressive and highly qualified Amara Konneh as Minister of Finance, and the hiring of other prominent individuals of Mandingo descent to play a leading role in her administration has certainly elevated the hate-filled rhetoric in Liberian chat rooms, as if Mandingoes are sub-humans who were picked from outer space to occupy a space reserved for those Liberians living somewhere here on Earth.

Where were these critics when Amara Konneh was appointed by President Sirleaf to serve the same President Sirleaf during her first term? Did she have any problem with him then? These critics are not only suspicious of Mandingoes making a mark on the national political scene, but are paranoid that their “Motherland” is being invaded by people who are as educated as they are, and are contributing significantly to a nation we all called home.

It is not that Amara Konneh is unqualified to occupy the government position he was appointed to fill. The problem derives from his heritage, which is not a reason to attempt to disqualify him from accepting a presidential appointment, especially if it is proven that he is a Liberian citizen, and not a criminal or a warlord.

One would think Liberians would learn from their past – the bloody and shameful past that continues to define whom we are; knowing the rugged roads our loved ones and our beloved country traveled over these years to be where they are today.

The long journey that turned a once quiet and upward bound country into a broken one; and totally transformed its people – our people, friends, loved ones and neighbors into beggars, and made them to look older and sickly as if they are from another planet, should be a lesson for all.

It is bad politics when we turn our nationalism into hatred and intolerance, and also unproductive when Liberians who claimed to be so patriotic are not in the forefront of working together, or working with others in a constructive way to effect the change they want so much for their people and country.

With the vestiges of the civil war still haunting a once vibrant people, and a country also struggling to rise to its pre-civil war era of resilience and tolerance, are reasons to avoid the reckless and divisive politics that continues to keep our people and country in a perpetual mode of poverty, division and backwardness.

 

February 18, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Mayor Mary Broh and the Parking Controversy

By Ralph Geeplay

Monrovia City Mayor, Mary Broh, this week met with members of the Liberian Assembly regarding the institution of parking tickets her city council introduced last year to skeptical lawmakers who questioned the fees motorists would pay if they are caught violating the city’s parking ordinance.

The meeting, however, took a strange turn when Representative Thomas Koom who sits on the committee, complained that his sister’s business was losing money because she was paying too much money in parking fees.
Representative Thomas Koom fumed that the L$500.00 and LD$50.00 his sister pays per hour for parking daily totaled about $150.00 to park her vehicle in front of the shop she rents in Central Monrovia, when he hardly brings in that amount monthly from her business.
Another member on the committee, Representative Steve Carven also remarked that citizens would end up paying more in parking fees annually than their vehicles are worth, adding, “The fact that “John Brown” has a used car he bought for $1,000 does not mean he should spend $1,800 annually in parking fees.
Mayor Mary Broh and her city council last year contracted City Park Management (CPM), co-owned by Barku Tubman, an enterprising Liberian entrepreneur and entertainment impresario to collect $50 per hour at strategic streets within the city center.
Mayor Broh also told committee members that her office based the ordinance on a proposal to regulate traffic, and also as a way to introduce the ticket parking system in the City of Monrovia.
According to Mayor Broh, portions of the proceeds will go toward youth employment, street maintenance, and the remaining funds will be retained by the city.
It is widely believed that some lawmakers were unenthusiastic about the venture because of the Mayor Broh’s failure to brief them about the parking fees, and were also concerned about how she arrived at the amount she’s charging motorists.
However, because of Mayor Broh’s failure to brief lawmakers about the parking ordinance, they therefore suspended the collection of parking fees for two weeks pending investigation.
Presidential spokesman, Jerelinmick Piah, addressing the controversy said President Sirleaf would revoke the decision, and had spoken to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex Tyler about this issue. Mr. Piah also said “the president simply informed the speaker that she has reversed the decision, and it was not intended for him and his colleagues to agree.”
Piah must have misspoken because a Liberian president cannot reverse the decision of the legislature in the absence of a veto, because a veto would constitute a binding resolution from both houses.
February 17, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

President Sirleaf's Inaugural Address Should Be About Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs

By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

The one and only time I ever had a summer job was in 1975, when as a teenager, I was hired to work briefly with other students at the Ministry of Information in Monrovia.

I believe the late Edward B. Kesselly was Minister at the time, and we worked as a team retrieving and binding printed materials on the lower floor of the Ministry until it was time to go home, which was always a struggle.

It was my first job that prepared me for the twists and turns I would later encounter in life, and to work with other teenagers who shared similar goals of making money, hanging out, and preparing to go back to school after the break was an experience that prepared and exposed me to the joy of working to earn my own money.

The constant struggle for me was not the job or my colleagues picking on me, but finding a cab or bus in the morning to take me from my residence in New Kru Town to Camp Johnson Road; and getting home in the afternoon was even difficult than it was in the morning.

It was a task I dreaded but I had to get to work every morning, anyway, to earn that monthly $75.00 paycheck the Liberian government of President Tolbert promised to pay me/us but was actually disbursed the third month, which was the end of the vacation assignment.

I don’t really know what the disbursement procedure is in Liberia today, how summer or vacation jobs are allotted, and I don’t even know when and how students are being paid. One thing I know is that we got paid as promised, and never had a reason to take to the streets to destroy properties and national infrastructure to make a point that would later paint us as unrudely.

However, I was never told the reason or reasons for the delay in disbursing our paychecks, but it was customary for students working summer jobs not to receive their paychecks until it was time to go back to school.

After working that vacation job for three months, I finally got a lump sum of $275.00, which was a lot for me at the time.

The rushing, fighting and running all over the place to get to work weekdays was like a day’s work. It was bruising and tiring, and it took a lot of patience and determination to hold on to a job I wasn’t getting paid for until after a three-month period.

Even though I was able to brave Monrovia’s hot temperatures to get to work and home daily, I have only my parents to thank for making my trips possible; because without their generous financial support, getting those daily bus and cab fares would have been impossible.

I was fortunate. Some of my vacation job colleagues were not as fortunate as I was, and perhaps experienced their own issues with transportation and fares, while others probably had their parents or other family members around that assisted them in their time of need.

In 1978, a year after I graduated high school, I was hired permanently in January as Cadet in the Press Bureau of the same Ministry of Information that introduced me to the dignity of working to earn a living, for which I am extremely grateful. I however, left the Ministry in November 1978 to pursue other goals elsewhere.

I just can’t wait to share my story after reading about those young people who reportedly engaged in acts of violence all across Monrovia during the holiday season, when they did not receive their paychecks at the time specified by the Liberian government.

Those kids probably are like some of my former teenage colleagues who had problem getting to work because of the lack of bus or cabs fares, and were clueless about where their next meals would come from the next hour or day.

It is not unusual to read or hear stories about hungry school age kids, adults and struggling students who go to bed hungry. It is not unusual either to see or hear stories about poor and unemployed students dropping out of school or class because they cannot afford bus/cab fares, tuition, and instructor-inspired make-up fees.

This is happening because there are no jobs, no opportunities and social services in Liberia that helps and gives poor people and poor students the chance to study or work to move up in life.

The story resonates because it occurs too often in Liberia, a difficult and uninspiring place where the nation’s imperial and corrupt presidents and well-to-do Liberians rather provide assistance only to their children, wives, girlfriends, cronies and extended family members than provide meaningful assistance to others (with no strings attached) in need.

This is happening in a country where any hint of political unfairness and inequality can be explosive.

However, with unemployment and poverty way too high, and young people often showing their collective frustration at a callous and corrupt post-war political system that just experienced an explosive electoral crisis can be explosive, especially for President Sirleaf, who is still struggling to gain legitimacy as a leader of all Liberians.

That is why it is imperative that President Sirleaf, who is once again staging a very costly January coronation in the midst of hunger and abject poverty include in her inaugural address an aggressive strategy for creating jobs, jobs and more jobs, and also announce a progressive plan that creates jobs and programs for young people to stay out of trouble and not think violence is the only way forward.

The Sirleaf administration cannot claim to be caught off guard by this crisis, because the jobs issue that ignited this latest riot is a Liberian crisis that occurred on the president’s watch; and ignored by her predecessors once everything was under control and their despotic regimes were deemed safe – courtesy of the state’s armed and brutal security forces.

The seasonal politicians and wannabe presidential candidates are to be blamed also, because some are only interested in running for president and not concerned or interested in the plight of those they claimed they want to lead.

The graphic and rhetorical images of violence and destruction, and the public relations nightmare that followed after the recent student riot are reasons to question the Executive Mansion’s domestic policy agenda and public relations competence; because it seems the Sirleaf administration does not have a domestic policy agenda but reacts only when there is political fire burning somewhere in Liberia that threatens her regime.

This is not intended to glorify the terrible behavior of those students who obviously did not behave like students, when they took to the streets and destroyed everything in their paths. They acted child-like and played into the stereotype that often lumps Liberians and Liberian students into the categories of rebels and rogues waiting to kill or steal to own something that does not belong to them.

It is a well-known fact that Liberians are suffering and are also frustrated because of the lack of jobs to take care of their families and their basic needs. Poverty and unemployment cannot be eradicated, but can be controlled by sound fiscal/domestic policies.

It is believed President Sirleaf’s looming inauguration will cost that impoverished nation (Liberia) and its poor people over $1million dollars, the same amount it costs during the president’s first inauguration in 2006.

My phone has been ringing off the hook daily, and at times weekly because family members and friends are calling and crying for financial assistance to buy food, school supplies, or are begging for money to pay their kid’s school fees.

This is the time to prioritize, and the Sirleaf administration cannot continue to be insensitive to the suffering of the Liberian people.

 

 

February 5, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

President Sirleaf’s Inaugural Address Should Be About Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs

By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

The one and only time I ever had a summer job was in 1975, when as a teenager, I was hired to work briefly with other students at the Ministry of Information in Monrovia.

I believe the late Edward B. Kesselly was Minister at the time, and we worked as a team retrieving and binding printed materials on the lower floor of the Ministry until it was time to go home, which was always a struggle.

It was my first job that prepared me for the twists and turns I would later encounter in life, and to work with other teenagers who shared similar goals of making money, hanging out, and preparing to go back to school after the break was an experience that prepared and exposed me to the joy of working to earn my own money.

The constant struggle for me was not the job or my colleagues picking on me, but finding a cab or bus in the morning to take me from my residence in New Kru Town to Camp Johnson Road; and getting home in the afternoon was even difficult than it was in the morning.

It was a task I dreaded but I had to get to work every morning, anyway, to earn that monthly $75.00 paycheck the Liberian government of President Tolbert promised to pay me/us but was actually disbursed the third month, which was the end of the vacation assignment.

I don’t really know what the disbursement procedure is in Liberia today, how summer or vacation jobs are allotted, and I don’t even know when and how students are being paid. One thing I know is that we got paid as promised, and never had a reason to take to the streets to destroy properties and national infrastructure to make a point that would later paint us as unrudely.

However, I was never told the reason or reasons for the delay in disbursing our paychecks, but it was customary for students working summer jobs not to receive their paychecks until it was time to go back to school.

After working that vacation job for three months, I finally got a lump sum of $275.00, which was a lot for me at the time.

The rushing, fighting and running all over the place to get to work weekdays was like a day’s work. It was bruising and tiring, and it took a lot of patience and determination to hold on to a job I wasn’t getting paid for until after a three-month period.

Even though I was able to brave Monrovia’s hot temperatures to get to work and home daily, I have only my parents to thank for making my trips possible; because without their generous financial support, getting those daily bus and cab fares would have been impossible.

I was fortunate. Some of my vacation job colleagues were not as fortunate as I was, and perhaps experienced their own issues with transportation and fares, while others probably had their parents or other family members around that assisted them in their time of need.

In 1978, a year after I graduated high school, I was hired permanently in January as Cadet in the Press Bureau of the same Ministry of Information that introduced me to the dignity of working to earn a living, for which I am extremely grateful. I however, left the Ministry in November 1978 to pursue other goals elsewhere.

I just can’t wait to share my story after reading about those young people who reportedly engaged in acts of violence all across Monrovia during the holiday season, when they did not receive their paychecks at the time specified by the Liberian government.

Those kids probably are like some of my former teenage colleagues who had problem getting to work because of the lack of bus or cabs fares, and were clueless about where their next meals would come from the next hour or day.

It is not unusual to read or hear stories about hungry school age kids, adults and struggling students who go to bed hungry. It is not unusual either to see or hear stories about poor and unemployed students dropping out of school or class because they cannot afford bus/cab fares, tuition, and instructor-inspired make-up fees.

This is happening because there are no jobs, no opportunities and social services in Liberia that helps and gives poor people and poor students the chance to study or work to move up in life.

The story resonates because it occurs too often in Liberia, a difficult and uninspiring place where the nation’s imperial and corrupt presidents and well-to-do Liberians rather provide assistance only to their children, wives, girlfriends, cronies and extended family members than provide meaningful assistance to others (with no strings attached) in need.

This is happening in a country where any hint of political unfairness and inequality can be explosive.

However, with unemployment and poverty way too high, and young people often showing their collective frustration at a callous and corrupt post-war political system that just experienced an explosive electoral crisis can be explosive, especially for President Sirleaf, who is still struggling to gain legitimacy as a leader of all Liberians.

That is why it is imperative that President Sirleaf, who is once again staging a very costly January coronation in the midst of hunger and abject poverty include in her inaugural address an aggressive strategy for creating jobs, jobs and more jobs, and also announce a progressive plan that creates jobs and programs for young people to stay out of trouble and not think violence is the only way forward.

The Sirleaf administration cannot claim to be caught off guard by this crisis, because the jobs issue that ignited this latest riot is a Liberian crisis that occurred on the president’s watch; and ignored by her predecessors once everything was under control and their despotic regimes were deemed safe – courtesy of the state’s armed and brutal security forces.

The seasonal politicians and wannabe presidential candidates are to be blamed also, because some are only interested in running for president and not concerned or interested in the plight of those they claimed they want to lead.

The graphic and rhetorical images of violence and destruction, and the public relations nightmare that followed after the recent student riot are reasons to question the Executive Mansion’s domestic policy agenda and public relations competence; because it seems the Sirleaf administration does not have a domestic policy agenda but reacts only when there is political fire burning somewhere in Liberia that threatens her regime.

This is not intended to glorify the terrible behavior of those students who obviously did not behave like students, when they took to the streets and destroyed everything in their paths. They acted child-like and played into the stereotype that often lumps Liberians and Liberian students into the categories of rebels and rogues waiting to kill or steal to own something that does not belong to them.

It is a well-known fact that Liberians are suffering and are also frustrated because of the lack of jobs to take care of their families and their basic needs. Poverty and unemployment cannot be eradicated, but can be controlled by sound fiscal/domestic policies.

It is believed President Sirleaf’s looming inauguration will cost that impoverished nation (Liberia) and its poor people over $1million dollars, the same amount it costs during the president’s first inauguration in 2006.

My phone has been ringing off the hook daily, and at times weekly because family members and friends are calling and crying for financial assistance to buy food, school supplies, or are begging for money to pay their kid’s school fees.

This is the time to prioritize, and the Sirleaf administration cannot continue to be insensitive to the suffering of the Liberian people.

 

 

February 5, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

Can Ellen Turn Inaugural Rhetoric into Reality?

By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

Monday, January 30, 2012

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made a clarion call for peace and democracy during her historic inauguration in January – the second for her this decade, and in the presence of many she also called for true reconciliation, hope, equality and opportunity for all.

Sirleaf was right to call for peace and genuine reconciliation at a gathering where many assembled to hear not only those words, but other lofty goals coming from a president known for her uncompromising toughness and no holds barred approach to governance, which often wins her admiration and criticisms from Liberians abroad and those residing in the country.

Even though she said those same words during the previous six years of her administration, there is ample evidence in and around the country that the Sirleaf administration failed to deliver, because it is one thing to say you are serious about ending or solving a problem; and it is another thing when nothing is done to genuinely remedied what agitated the problem in the first place. Unfortunately, President Sirleaf failed to implement the latter in her first term.

However, if this president is sincere this time about creating jobs to put Liberians back to work, is serious about genuinely seeking peace and reconciliation, and is serious about implementing sound and effective domestic policies to improve lives; and not just talk to appeal to the inaugural crowd, her words, like the statement below certainly can make a huge difference. But can she turn her rhetoric about jobs, reconciliation and equality into reality?

“The cleavages,” the president said,“ that led to decades of war still run deep. But so too does the longing for reconciliation - a reconciliation defined not by political bargaining or by an artificial balance of power by tribe, region, religion or ethnicity but by the equality of opportunity and a better future for all Liberians.”

The President is right when she said Liberians are ‘longing for reconciliation,’ and wish she also made the case about jobs eloquently in the same sentence and the same way she spoke convincingly about the need for reconciliation.

What Liberians want from President Sirleaf now are all the above and the ability to revise the trend of poverty and unemployment by implementing bold, visionary and humane policies that put people and nation first.

No one said it was going to be easy to completely solve a centuries old crisis that continues to undermine growth, development and prosperity in a country as bad off as Liberia is in modern times.

Sirleaf’s inaugural speech, however, echoes the growing challenges that looms across the nation, and seems to admit that even though these nagging problems continue to look her straight in the face, there is a renewed sense of optimism that her administration will address those issues to make a difference in the lives of Liberians.

It is a fact as the president eloquently stated that the war created division in all of Liberia. The problem is further exacerbated when men, women, and teenagers, as helpless as they are cannot find employment in a society where former and current government officials, family members of government officials, and cronies often flaunts their stolen wealth and taxpayer-funded amenities to live like kings and queens, while others cannot make it past the next day.

That’s why it is imperative that President Sirleaf and her team work hard to at least achieve (if not all) some of the promises she made to the Liberian people in her inaugural speech on that day in January.

The verdict out there is that something good has to happen to bring relief to those thousands of unemployed Liberians lingering in despair. And for things to change for the better, President Sirleaf, whose re-election efforts almost brought the Liberian nation closer to another civil unrest, and also left the opposition politicians bitter in defeat must find a better way – a practical way to at least create some jobs.

Some of us read her inaugural speech or listened when President Sirleaf said: “Let us go forth from this Inauguration Day to roll up our sleeves, to make the sacrifices necessary for our continued growth and development: economic, educational, moral and spiritual. Let us resolve that our pride in our Liberian nation, and in our tradition and heritage, will be manifested in a new commitment to the democratic processes that we mark on this solemn occasion.”

It can be said with no hesitation that the Liberian people did rolled up their sleeves and sacrificed it all during the president’s first term, and expects something in return during her second term – not freebies, of course, but something that moves them from “mat to mattress” to realize the Liberian dream.

In a pre-inaugural column, I wrote about the need for the president to put young people to work – to keep those teenagers busy with vacation jobs or permanent jobs so as not to repeat the violence that erupted right after the 2012 presidential election.

I am unsure whether President Sirleaf or any of her aides read my piece that suggests that she find employment for Liberia’s teenagers. Whether it was by coincidence or not I am glad she mentioned the critical issues of youth employment in her inaugural address, when she said the following.

February 4, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post

The Giving Away of our Ancestral Land to Multinational Corporations

By E. Quilly Boyoue

There have been persistent reports about the expropriation of rural land, and the increasing dispossession of its inhabitants by the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. For example, on January 20, 2012, the New York Times published an article detailing how the government has been giving away tracks of ancestral land to foreign corporations without any consultation or the consent of their indigenous owners. It is believed 70% of indigenous land is said to have already ceded to these multinational corporations.

The inhabitants of these giveaway tracks of ancestral land have been deeply concerned about the degradation of their environment and the looming threat to their subsistence.

I would like to add my voice to the unheeded cries of these indigenous Liberian victims, and would like to call on the Sirleaf government to stop mortgaging the Liberian people’s land. I am particularly calling on President Sirleaf and her profits-driven foreign friends to stay clear of Rivercess. I must point out to her that Rivercess is the ancestral home of the Bassa people. It is not for sale. Hands off Rivercess!

The trouble is, president Sirleaf is doing business as usual. In her ingrained insensitivity and her shameless defense of these multinational corporations, she has been chastising these rural folks instead of empathizing and reasoning with them. She’s invariably serving the business interests of foreigners instead of the interest of the nation.

“When your government and the representatives sign any paper with a foreign country”, she reportedly told some aggrieved villagers in Grand Cape Mount County, “The communities can’t change it.” She added: “You are trying to undermine your own government. You can’t do that. If you do so, all the foreign investors coming to Liberia will close their businesses and leave; then Liberia will go back to the old days.”

Is doling out other people’s land the same as signing government-to-government agreements called treaties? I would have imagined, no. The president’s power to sign a “paper” with foreign countries does not cover snatching away people’s means of subsistence production, and dashing it to some profits-driven foreigners. The history of Liberia is replete with how these so-called investors in collusion with Liberian government officials have dispossessed and uprooted indigenous Liberians, depleted their mineral resources, and polluted their waters with nothing to show for their investments. Does the name ‘Bomi holes’ rather than Bomi Hills ring a bell to anybody?

No, I am not against foreigners investing in my country. I am thinking of Nyanboland taken over by Firestone and other companies in Maryland County, the depleted rainforest of River Gbe in what is now River Gee County, Margibi land awash with rubber trees, the depleted Goland, etc. Sirleaf should be stopped from snatching land from our people. I for one strongly advise her to stay clear of Rivercess. That part of Liberia is not for sale!

I am a native of Gbokon, Borh Section, and Rivercess County. Far before I was born, my father like many young men of his generation migrated to present-day Margibi to work for the Firestone Rubber Company. Working in outrageous conditions, he earned a $1 a month. He later met my mother who soon realized that they could not survive on the meager income. My mother thus persuaded my father to return with her to Gbokon.

Yes, when Firestone, an American investor, could not provide sufficient income for my parents, they turned to Gbokon, the land of my ancestors in Rivercess. They gave birth to me and my siblings there and were able to raise us without the help of the Liberian government whose officials occasionally showed up to extort money from them in the name of taxes. It was here we were nourished, clothed and treated of childhood diseases.

Gbokon is part and parcel of Rivercess, an ancestral Bassa land. The land is endowed with dense rainforest crisscrossed by clean rivers, streams and creeks – all adding to the fertile farmland it is. The land has been the main means of subsistence production for the inhabitants. For centuries, they have grown rice, cassava (Yucca), eddoes, potatoes and other tropical crops on it in abundance. They have hunted, fished and subsisted on whatever nature serves up. For recreation and leisure, they have simply roamed the dense forest, swum in the unpolluted rivers, streams and creeks. They have even befriended animals. They trained and are still training their children in Poro and Sande schools.

Rivercess is therefore the heritage of the Bassa or Kwa-speaking people. It has been handed to them by their venerated ancestors who spilled their blood for it en mass. It has provided shelter, food and even clothing for generations of Bassa people. The land is part and parcel of their existence. The Rivercess people, and only the Rivercess people have the authority over their land – not Sirleaf and her so-called representatives. As did our ancestors and generations before mine, my generation should be able to pass it on to our posterity. I would rather die then to see foreigners take over Rivercess through the instrumentality of a government in Monrovia.

Neither President Sirleaf nor the so-called representatives can decide how our ancestral land can be used. Such decision ultimately lies with the traditional authority, the sole custodians of the land.

 

February 4, 2012 | 0 comments | View Post