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What
Are The Candidates Saying? Can They Really Save ULAA?
Tuesday,
May 06, 2008
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
When he
visited Atlanta recently to attend the 25th
marital renewal ceremonies of a mutual friend, Anthony
V. Kesselly, who is running to be the next President
of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas
(ULAA), was courteous enough to call and inform me of
his arrival in Georgia, and wanted the two of us to at
least meet before he departs the state, I guess, to
discuss among other things his presidential campaign
and other critical issues regarding the country the
both of us share as our birth home.
I finally
got the chance to meet with Mr. Kessely on that very
busy day, and am glad we met as I was able to engage
him on many issues; key among them is the granting of
Diaspora Liberians the right to vote in their
country’s general and presidential elections in
2011, and what he is doing to make that legally and
politically possible.
Mariah Y. Seton
However,
because I want to believe he understands the
importance of this issue and knows how important it is
to many Liberians who craves to vote in their
country’s elections, a right that was denied them
during the last general and presidential elections in
2005, Kessely, the politician and former National
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union of
Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), was
quick to endorse the idea and noted that he has always
supported voting rights for Liberians in the Diaspora,
and also acknowledged that he has been talking to
people about this issue, which he said is also a
critical part of his platform.
Since this
issue is part of Mr. Kesselly’s platform as he said,
I am more than happy to know that we are on the same
page on this issue, and want to also know where he
stands on other key issues so that Liberians will have
a broader view of his candidacy. Whether that alone
will determine his political fate is another issue,
since he must be applauded for the good things that
happened on his watch and must also pay the political
price for the other things he couldn’t accomplish
when he served as Chairman of the Board.
I have not
spoken to Kessely’s rival, Mariah Seton about this
issue; and am unfamiliar with her position on any
political issue. However, it will not be a bad idea at
all if Mariah Seton, the presidential candidate would
be kind enough to reveal her position to the public or
to individuals of her choosing, since this will allow
some of us to get a glimpse of what she thinks so as
to write accurately about her position in order to
have a balanced perspective of her candidacy.
However,
since it is widely believed that the out-going
administration of Emmanuel Wettee did not try at all
or was unsuccessful in negotiating the political,
legal and technical details that would have granted
Liberians the right to participate in the political
process the last time, it would be prudent now for the
presidential candidates to immediately jump start the
process by making their case to the Liberian
government, to members of the House and Senate, to the
Liberian people here and at home and the international
community about why it is important that Liberians
living abroad be granted the right to vote in their
country’s general and national elections, and why it
would be wrong for Liberians to be denied the chance
to vote in their country’s elections.
Engaging in
civic duty of this kind is productive because it
potentially can empower Liberians politically and
economically, and could possibly send a patriotic
message that could bring these Liberians closer to a
country many left for years not wanting to be bother
with because of the emptiness that comes with being
detached from all aspects of the society, but would
now pay attention to the country’s politics because
of the electoral decisions they now have to make,
which could also affect a future business decision.
This could
also add to the dynamics a core group of politically
knowledgeable voters, whom, by virtue of their
extensive foreign travels, experience and
sophistication and the little money they acquired from
living overseas would look at things much differently
and critically than their brethrens on the home front,
whom are either harassed or intimidated by a president
seeking re-election, and are often easily influenced
by such things as a bag of rice from a presidential
candidate as is customary in most Liberian elections,
when the incumbent would use rice and the power of
incumbency to illegally influence the outcome of the
electoral process.
Going after
such a high-profile project and securing it could
bolster ULAA’s image as “finally doing
something” for Liberians, and could also win ULAA
the respect and membership the organization continues
to loose year after year. Not doing something about
this issue would disenfranchise hundreds and thousands
of Liberians, and would also deny them the privilege
of doing something noble for their country and people.
ULAA is in
bad shape in terms of membership and finance, coupled
with those historically opportunistic, uninspiring,
and bad leaders who failed the organization, did not
put Liberians or their issues on the front burner, and
often used the organization as a training ground, a
place to enhance their resumes, and a stepping-stone
for future political careers in Liberia.
Membership
is at an all time low because many Liberians believe
ULAA is a failed organization that cares very little
about them. As a result, chapters whose members once
comprised the bulk of ULAA’s due-paying membership
left the organization to fully concentrate their
creative energies and fundraising expertise to their
various ethnic, county, church and school
organizations. As a result, those organizations can
now boast of having record amounts of money in their
bank accounts than the over three-decade old ULAA,
with not even an office space and paid staffers to
conduct its activities.
With such a
declining membership and the obvious lack of funds,
transparency and accountability, ULAA needs not future
career chasers, or as some would say “opportunistic
leaders”, but a daring and a visionary leader who is
willing to work very hard to transform this umbrella
organization from stagnancy to prosperity.
Since ULAA
is a Liberian organization, it has to be fully
representative and inclusive of Liberians living in
all regions of the United States, and not concentrate
nearly all its activities and programs in the
northeastern parts of the country, mainly:
Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, Maryland,
Washington D.C., Rhode Island, and at times Michigan.
The next
leader will have to work even harder to take ULAA to
the people and in all areas of the United States where
Liberian resides. And as a Liberian once suggested,
even the venerable and much anticipated July 26
Independence Day celebration ought to be rotated
annually between the various states, instead of it
being celebrated in Washington DC. What’s wrong with
the southern, western and mid-western states?
I am often
tempted to give up on ULAA because of its failed
policies and bad leaders. ULAA, however, must do
better to win me over and must work much harder to win
other Liberians over.
I don’t
really know whether ULAA’s long time former National
Chairman of the Board, Anthony V. Kesselly is the
right person for the job, even though he has endorsed
the idea of Liberians living overseas to vote in their
country’s national elections and vowed to make that
happen, which I am passionate about. And I just
don’t really know a thing – a whole lot about
Mariah Y. Seton’s leadership abilities to endorse
her.
If
there are any other presidential candidates out there
that I left out in this article, I sincerely apologize
because it is not intentional. If there's ever a
chance to do another piece on the ULAA issue and the
presidential candidates, I will surely be inclusive of
all the candidates and their positions.
From now on,
I will be watching and reading a whole lot about these
individuals to decide and pick my choice for
president. When that happens, this page and my column
will carry that endorsement on The Liberian Dialogue.
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