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No
more lip service: Give 'decentralization' a chance
Saturday,
July 08, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
One of the issues
widely discussed during the Union of Liberian
Association’s sponsored "All Liberian National Conference" in Columbia, Maryland over a year ago
was ‘decentralization.’
I attended the event out of curiosity after a
rival group with the same name held its own “All
Liberian Conference” in Washington D.C., a month
earlier, espousing everything good about
decentralization; the distribution of resources and
developmental projects, and the idea of electing
County Superintendent and other political office
holders throughout the entire country.
A cross-section of Liberians listening to a speaker
during the 2005 All Liberian National Conference in Columbia,
Maryland.
Even though the pre-convention rifts between
the two groups seemed to have overshadowed the serious
issues discussed during the deliberations, the
choreographed events at both conventions were
impressive by all accounts, with everything said in
favor of decentralization making a whole lot of sense.
That effort prompted the delegates to request
that the recommendations be sent directly and
immediately to the Gyude Bryant’s interim
government, who should have perhaps dealt with it
wisely or tabled it for the incoming elected
government to review and implement.
However, as is the case with most Liberian
events of this kind, there were no practical results
after the fact, which left me with a bitter taste
wondering whether the flamboyant display of
intellectual power did any good, and whether some of
us wasted our precious time and resources when we left
our jobs, families and the comfort of our homes to be
at the summit in the first place.
The mere mention of decentralization engages
Liberians who are in favor of it into passionate and
emotional debates because of the way the political
system, with its centralized structure and absolute
authority in the presidency was set up to be.
The Liberian political system, which is
restrictive was crafted without a vision for growth in
mind, zero opportunities for the poor, zero
participation in decision-making, token control of local
and municipal governments, while developmental funds
were constantly and shamelessly diverted to the
nation’s capital at the detriment of the political
sub-divisions who have no control of their own tax
dollars.
The lack of political participation in the
past, the total abandonment of the political
sub-divisions in favor of Monrovia, the seat of power
where all of the government’s ministries and
projects are sandwiched, (as if there’s a lack of
land in the country), the lack of local control and
self-government, and the lack of developmental funds
often bring out patriotic fervor out of Liberians who
are pro-decentralization, and have seen their own
counties and villages ignored and fall apart by a
policy that don’t make any sense.
That’s why some of us felt a sense of relief
when then-candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf expressed an
interest in the issue and spoke about
decentralization, and the need to spread government
projects throughout the country during the
presidential campaign.
President Sirleaf also echoed those sentiments
after she was elected president, especially during her
visit to Atlanta in May, when she expressed her desire
to see satellite branches of the University of Liberia
and other government facilities in other parts of the
country.
However, it appalls me when the same President
Sirleaf who once spoke highly of the need to
decentralize national services recently appointed
Ophelia Hoff-Saytumah as the new Mayor of the City of
Monrovia, when that particular position should have
been an elected position, complete with elected city
councilmen and women governing and making day-to-day
decisions for the City of Monrovia, which has its own
police force, separate from the national police force.
If the President of Liberia continues to
micromanage local governments, and cannot allow the
City of Monrovia to be self-governed in 2006, 159
years after the Independence of our nation, how in the
world will cities and counties all across Liberia
grow, be self-governed and generate their own tax
dollars to be on their own?
President Sirleaf has complete control of the
bully pulpit to influence and impact critical
decisions in the country. As our modern day elected
president, she cannot allow herself to be intoxicated
by the power of the presidency so much that it
inhibits her from changing the direction of the
country in the most practical and dramatic way ever.
By engaging in this common-sense crusade that
transmogrifies the ancient, visionless and corrupt
political structures of our country, Ms. Sirleaf is
positioned to leave behind a rich and lasting
political legacy that will have a fundamental impact
on the lives of so many people.
This is also the time for the Union of Liberian
Associations in the Americas (ULAA), and its All
Liberian National Conference, together with the other All
Liberian Conference (if both groups are still up and
functioning), to formally present their
‘decentralization’ recommendations to the new
president for review and possible implementation.
This is no time to pay lip service to
decentralization and other crucial issues, but a time
to act immediately!
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