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Ellen's
$1.3m coronation hard to swallow
Wednesday,
January 04, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
The streets in
Monrovia are crowded around this time of year with
revelers celebrating Christmas, the New Year, and
trying to make something of the January 16
inauguration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as President of
Liberia.
Years ago, a gathering of this kind would have
been impossible because of the unbearable conditions
the civil war created for those inside the country and
in refugee camps.
Now that there is some kind of tranquility in
the country, everything possible must be done to keep
the peace, else, we will fall into the same mess that
got us to where we where few years ago.
Like most Liberians I am a bit upbeat about my
homeland because Liberians will finally be able to
celebrate the efforts that got them this far.
In the spirit of goodwill, peace on earth and
the cherished traditions of the holidays, Liberians
joined others in wishing those around them the best of
the New Year, as they joyfully embraced the milestone
of living yet another year.
Pres-elect Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf
As hard as it has been on them, the people of Liberia
were able to rise up to the challenge by sending a
redemptive message at the voting booths to those who
altered their lives. They let their tormentors know
that their votes, and not guns made a difference in
electing a president, and are now ready to take their
country back.
That courageous act elected Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf as the person they believed could possibly
turn things around since, as some would say, “the
male politicians failed the nation” in their efforts
to have a monopoly on the presidency and other
political institutions in the country.
Well, since she was elected president in
November, Ms. Sirleaf has gone from controversial and
arrogant to capable, ruthless and insensitive in
decision-making, and that has got many to wonder
whether she’s any different from the men who ruled
Liberia in the years women were kept away from the
throne.
The president-elect’s pre-inaugural
appointments, which drew the ire of her critics, are
tilted in favor of special interests and individuals
she owes political favors, can be cited as one of many
blunders.
Incompetent, opportunistic and shady figures
with prior or no experience in government head her
list of possible employees. These are individuals
whose terrible records are known by a population still
reeling from years of bad political appointments and
wanton neglect brought on them by the reckless
decisions of her dictatorial predecessors.
And when Ms. Sirleaf is asked to give an
explanation for her decision, she defends her
appointments bluntly by throwing her trademark
Ellenesque’s jabs at those who don’t share the
same passion she has for her friends.
It is one bad political decision after another.
Now in less than two months after she was elected but
not yet inaugurated, we are once again seeing
Ellen’s decision-making skills at work as she first
earmarked reportedly $1.3m for her inauguration
ceremonies, at a time when the average Liberian mother
cannot afford a can of Lactogen or Cow and Gate milk
formula to feed her baby.
This is at a time when the Ministry of Health
in Monrovia cannot afford or failed to put together a
program to assists the many mothers who worked hard to
get Ms. Sirleaf elected president, with breast feeding
programs that will help their babies to grow strong
and healthy.
And also at a time when the government cannot
even afford to pay civil servants, school teachers and
others their monthly salaries and on time; and also at
a time when the entire country is without electricity,
clean drinking water, food, healthcare, housing and
good schools.
A $1.3m inauguration price tag which is not a
moderate one in a country where the average annual
income is $140, unemployment is 85 percent; 80 percent
of Liberians live below the poverty line; inflation is
15 percent, and the external debt is $2.1b, don’t
make any sense.
After enormous public outcries, President-elect
Johnson Sirleaf and her team reduced the amount,
without any explanation to close to $1m, which is
still a whole lot for a country like Liberia with so
many problems a new president must be ready to tackle
immediately after inauguration.
So what’s the purpose of a lavish coronation
when every infrastructure in the country is either
antiquated, dilapidated, defective or not running? Did
the president-elect seek private contributions to fund
her party, or did she secure the funds from the
interim government?
Ellen wants to feed the children of Liberia on
her grand day, is one of the explanations given. So
what will become of the children when the inauguration
is over? Liberian kids will only be fed for just one
day and forgotten?
Ellen and her team also wants to give the
public buildings where the programs will be held a
facelift so that the many visitors expected will be
comfortable. What will become of the other buildings
around the city and country after the inauguration?
What kind of message is this lady sending to
those Liberians who are lying in makeshift shelters
and dying from curable and controllable illnesses such
as diabetes, high blood pressure and malaria,
unavailable to them because of the lack of funds?
No matter how the story about how she
achieved her goal is narrated, it must be said also
that sheer determination, her unwillingness to accept
defeat in the face of terror, and her delight in
seeing others suffer to achieve that goal as
enunciated by Jucontee Woiweuyi, in his letter to
Ellen must be told.
When Ms. Sirleaf leaped from being an
opposition leader to being the first female
president-elect months ago, and the first female soon
to be president of a war-torn country inaugurated to
protect, provide for her people and defend the
Constitution of the land, it placed her in a league of
her own and gave her the moral authority to look out
for the young, old and downtrodden.
It is no joke that the road Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf traveled to get to where she is today has been
a rugged one – a lonely road only Ellen was able to
travel all by herself in her attempt to capture the
Executive Mansion.
A supporter of the president-elected said this
when this was brought up to her attention: “Ellen
have to celebrate and enjoy herself for just that day
because she suffered a whole lot.” ‘She must
celebrate’, I said, ‘but sensibly, and not at the
expense of the Liberian people.’
The road to the Executive Mansion, for Ellen is
still a bumpy one. Just look at the mistakes she’s
making already.
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