Robert Sirleaf’s frivolous and self-serving ‘lawsuit’
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh 
Presidential son Robert Allen Sirleaf never had the Ebola virus, and doesn’t even know how it feels to have the disease in the Liberian society, and eventually be killed by it.
The privileged Sirleaf doesn’t understand suffering, especially when you are a Liberian who has to live day in and day out in a country governed by a lady named Ellen, who happens to be Robert Sirleaf’s mother.
Any individual with good intentions who understands suffering and the deadly effects of Ebola, and the politics surrounding the disease in the Liberian society will not allow his or her personal ambitions to drive the debate as to why the October 2014 mid-term senatorial elections should be cancelled.
While it is so true that Liberians are frustrated with Ebola and the dismal leadership of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Robert’s mom, the object of their frustration is also abject poverty and making it – living from day to day with little or nothing to eat; and not knowing whether their kids will eat or go to school the next day.
Instead of Sirleaf suing his mom (which would have been the right thing to do) for her dismal leadership, her poor handling of the Ebola virus, and her deadly role in the Liberian civil war, he called himself suing for the postponement of the mid-term senatorial elections.
What a joke!
“The Order is discriminatory in that it seeks out only the people of Monrovia for its enforcement when the issue it proposes to cure – the possible transmission of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease – is actually occurring all across the country. It clearly is punitive because it punishes all the people of Monrovia many of whom continue to respect and abide by the Ebola preventive Procedures established by the government and its partners. Obviously, these people do not need to be punished for observing the law. And it undermines the ongoing democratic process,” his statement reads.
From what I know, the mid-term senatorial elections are a nationwide event that pits an incumbent against a possible challenger in counties throughout the country.
Also, from what I read, Madame Sirleaf’s quarantine and executive order are nationwide decrees that are supposed to keep the Liberian people indoors and in their own areas or homes, to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
If for some reasons Mr. Sirleaf feels the Sirleaf administration failed to enforce its executive quarantine and curfew orders in the various regions of the country only to focus on Monrovia, then he ought to sue his mom – the President of Liberia for not doing her job.
Robert Sirleaf cannot use the temporary postponement of the mid-term senatorial elections, which of course is the right call, to pretend as if he cares about the democratic process.
In as much as I have problems with the Supreme Court of Liberia for not being independent and neutral in most cases, and Madame Sirleaf’s inability to create jobs to put a dent in poverty, genuine democracy, upholding the rule of law, corruption and transparency, nepotism and her penchant of flying constantly around the world when she could have stayed at home to run the country, I am with her and the Supreme Court of Liberia on this one.
Because when a country is invaded and overwhelmed with a threat of this kind that killed over 7,000 of its citizens and undermine the integrity, health, safety and daily living of those citizens and the country, it is a national security crisis that shouldn’t play second fiddle to national senatorial elections and Robert Allen Sirleaf’s political ambitions.
Since there are incumbent lawmakers who will still be holding on to their jobs illegally because of the postponement, and there are also appointed Superintendents who were relieved from their jobs by the president because of their respective candidacies, what Mr. Sirleaf can now do is to work with the legislature, civic and political groups and the president to find a legal way to avoid a constitutional crisis.
I wrote not too long ago about the insanity of holding the October mid-term senatorial elections in the wake of Ebola, when the Liberian people are still mourning, hurting and burying their relatives and loved ones. I wrote then that the elections be postponed.
This was when Liberians were told to stay home; when government workers were told to stay home and not bother to show up for work, and businesses partially shut down. This was also the time when a state of emergency was declared by the head of the Ebola Task Force, President Sirleaf.
So when Liberians are told by their president to stay home so as not to spread the Ebola virus, is it wise for those same Liberians to be asked by the National Elections Commission (NEC) to walk to a voting booth with others, to ride in a crowded taxi, or ride in a crowded bus to a voting precinct, to get in line and vote?
In the wake of all these prevailing forces, do you really believe Liberians would have cared anything about national senatorial elections and voting for a candidate? I doubt it.
This is not an advocacy for democracy. This is about Robert Allen Sirleaf trying to make his national mark on the political scene, perhaps for the 2017 presidential elections.
Watch my words!
Category: Editorial, News Headlines
