Conmany's Missed Opportunities 

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

     Conmany Wesseh is a political icon whose mere presence at any event often brings out the curious who wants to hear him speak (at least not for the duration of the occasion as it was weeks ago), when he ungraciously took over the occasion intended for the entertainment of all. Then again, there are also those individuals who just want to meet him, shake his hand, chat with him, have fun and don’t want to hear him speak at all.  

    Wesseh was in the middle of those two opposing camps with dissimilar interests on the night of June 12, dubbed by organizers as a “sip” hosted by the local chapter of the River Gee Association of Georgia to raise funds for their association, when the unbelievable happened. Before the event commenced, Wesseh, who was visiting the area at the time was asked politely by the group’s leader to briefly introduce himself, since he was the highest ranking government official in the audience and one of their own.

    The courtesy extended Wesseh later proved to be a mistake after he, oblivious to protocol and the sentiments of the audience spoke endlessly for close to two hours, leaving many to question their reasons for attending the event in the first place.

                                             Amb. Conmany Wesseh

     Conmany Wesseh, I want to believe thought the occasion was planned purposely for him to speak, or was meant to honor him since he’s the politically famous son of River Gee. However, the mistakes he made that evening and continues to make throughout his transition from being a dissident student politician in his previous life to one who is now actually engaged in major league, non-student politics are gaffes and clumsy remarks, aloofness, a penchant to misread and miscalculate the other side, his constituents and events, a condescending nature, naked arrogance, and a tendency to be out of touch with reality.

     Vagueness, indifference and being detached will not win it either. To be competitive and taken seriously, however, Wesseh also must genuinely show humility and embrace his people, be personable, understand their plight and collective pains, and must also learn to leave the comfort of Monrovia and wherever he’s stationed to spend some quality and constructive time with his people in order to win their hearts, their trusts and confidence.

      As a former dissident student leader who played a historical role in the Liberian democracy movement, Wesseh made name for himself by talking tough and capitalizing on the collective hatred of a despotic regime. That toughness made headlines and catapulted Wesseh et all to near-Messianic status during a heinous period when most Liberians dared speak about prevailing political issues, or risked going to prison.

     That period landed many in prison, including Wesseh, who since has found fame and fortune, did a 360 degree turn and took off his political activist robe for a chance to work prominently in the administration of the democratically elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in high-profiled ambassadorial posts including his current post to the European Union.

     The one job that has since eluded Conmany Wesseh so far is a chance to represent his home county, River Gee in the Liberian Senate; a position he ran for twice, and on one of those occasions was soundly defeated in 2009 by the current senator Nathaniel Williams.

     Twice a candidate for senator, and twice defeated for a position widely believed by some he should have won because of his name recognition and national prominence, should have awakened Wesseh from his stupor. It is now believed also by many observers that Wesseh is once again contemplating a third attempt to run for the singular position that has eluded him since he entered national politics years ago.

     Wesseh cannot win that coveted senatorial seat unless he understands the fact that it takes more than rhetorical skills, name recognition and national historical prominence to win a countywide seat such as the Liberian senate.

     Conmany Wesseh must learn how to choose his words carefully, must learn to accept defeat graciously, and cannot blame his next senatorial defeat (if he happens to run again in 2011) on the “ignorance and lack of education” on the part of the voters, as he was quoted as saying after his last defeat in 2009.

     During the June 12 sip in Lawrenceville, which he hijacked, Wesseh naively made a statement about his senatorial defeat that honestly portrays him as not politically savvy enough to understand the political realities on the ground. “Everyone knew that I was the best candidate in the race, but the people of River Gee decided to vote for another person whom they knew was not qualified,” he said. Who said he was the "best qualified" candidate, anyway? Other than claiming to be the "best qualified" candidate, Conmany Wesseh however, never offered contrasting ideas or vision as to how he’s the most qualified, how he would tackle the high illiteracy rate in River Gee, and also ignored the fact that intelligence has nothing to do with how much education one is blessed with, and that people have their own God-given intelligence that enables them to distinguish between right and wrong.

     Wesseh admits River Gee County has one of the highest “illiteracy rates in the county” with only four teachers with Bachelor’s degrees, and shockingly revealed that 25 years after he left River Gee for Monrovia, the elementary school he left behind remains the same after he returned there. Why did he not help to renovate/rebuild the school he left behind all those years? Why didn’t Conmany Wesseh, this prominent and politically connected son of River Gee give back to the county, the schools and the neighborhoods that made him and prepared him for his future journey?

    Wesseh wasn’t kind to the Liberian media at home and the US-based Liberian media (web magazines), either, and showed his dislike by discrediting their impact because the information they often gathered, according to him are “distorted and not gained from direct sources.” He even derided the media at home for poor grammar and for trying to “destroy the reputation of individuals whom they dislike.”

   On being a progressive, Wesseh admits that “progressives” are perceived by the Liberian people as being part of the problem in the country, which led to the 14-year civil war. He argues that the term is “meaningless,” and that progressives need to form alliances with other political groups to be more relevant.

     Regarding corruption and auditor-general John Morlu, Conmany Wesseh did not hide his dislike of the man and the commission he claimed are in Liberia to destroy good people. “The auditing commission and Morlu are out to destroy the good reputation of others,” and made reference to how Tom Kamara’s New Democrat’s newspaper and Morlu falsely reported a story on May 21, 2010, that accused he (Wesseh) and his wife of embezzling $186,000.00 of development funds allocated for Grand Gedeh County. He claimed that he challenged both the New Democrat and John Morlu to substantiate their story by producing evidence, which they have not done, adding, “I am weighing my options including filling a lawsuit if they don’t comply,” he said.

     The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations, according to Wesseh “are not based on the law,” and cannot see how those recommendations could be implemented. He cited a group, International Transitional Justice that has since condemned the report. However, when he was reminded of reputable organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as supporting the report, Wesseh then had no response.

     Conmany Wesseh finally fired some of his criticisms at southeasterners – those from the southeastern part of Liberia whom he said boasts more PhDs per capita, but are the poorest in the country in terms of development. He further said that southeasterners ought to spend more time on other things such as farming to help in the development efforts in their counties.

    Conmany Wesseh seemed to have problem with individuals who question his dealings, his loose utterances, his family and a political career he desperately wants to protect. To protect that career and a reputation that is taking constant pounding, which is affecting his image from a public relations perspective, he prefers to cherry pick issues and individuals in order to be politically expedient, which is not helping him at all.

  The June 12 occasion in Lawrenceville, Georgia and other venues are ideal events where he could have presented his kindler-gentler and skillful political side to make a credible case for himself. So far, it was a missed opportunity.