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Liberians
should give the Johnson-Sirleaf administration a
chance
Saturday,
September 23, 2006
By Patrick Fallah Salmolu
In
this brief essay, I will attempt to address some
issues raised by Mr. Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh in an
article that was published by the Liberian Dialogue
web site on August 17, 2006, titled “President
Sirleaf’s leadership style mimics predecessors”.
Mr.
Sungbeh criticizes Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the
President of the Republic of Liberia, for giving to
the public freely under the guise of political
expediency. The president’s actions, he said are
typical of past corrupt administrations, which
lavished resources on selective groups in order to buy
influence.
In his words he states, “the president gives away tons of money and
bags of rice and other items to those she feels need it in a country where someone is always
looking up to another person to give them something
because of existing hardship.”
I
wonder if Mr. Sungbeh fully understands the magnitude
of the devastation the civil war wreaked on Liberia.
The Liberian economy like that of many third world
economies is a dual sector one.
There is no middle class. You either have or
you live in abject poverty. Two decades of civil war
worsened the plight of the have-nots. Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf
has inherited an economy saddled with high
unemployment and high inflation. Liberians have no
jobs and cannot afford the high cost of living. Is
this not the time to come to the rescue of our needy
brothers and sisters?
Mr. Sungbeh goes on to say, “that Liberians will never see the
politics in the President’s actions since it is
about humanity and money changing hands and going to
those in need.”
“And because the recipients are poor, it
might be seen as in bad taste for anyone to even say
anything negative about the President of Liberia for
doing exactly what others failed to do.”
On
the other hand, Liberians are rational people. They will see politics in the
president’s actions and will see “good
politics.” The Liberian people will see that the
presidency encompasses
leadership, inspiration and empowerment as
described by Mr. Sungbeh. They will finally discover
that the presidency is about moral convictions and
leadership during desperate times. A good leader is
task-oriented and getting the job done, but at the
same time, relational-oriented, that is caring about
those whom he/she leads. What qualm will any
sound-minded Liberian have if the president is doing
just that?
I
partially agree to one of Mr. Sungbeh’s statements
that the presidency is not about charity.
However, in order to empower people you must
give them the necessary tools. The equitable
distribution of the wealth of Liberia among the less
fortunate is the best way to empower people.
In term of the prevailing circumstances in
Liberia, I do not imagine any harsh fiscal policy that
will be geared at further prolonging the sufferings of
our poor masses. I hope that nobody misunderstands
this position, because I am not implying that Mrs.
Johnson-Sirleaf should foster a culture of beggars and
panhandlers. Nevertheless, large segments of the
population are left in dire straits as the result of
the savagery and bloodletting waged by wicked men
against the country for over two decades. The
humanitarian cost is catastrophic. Government
intervention is necessary to address the dimensions of
the tragedy and help give hope to Liberians.
Making
a parallel between Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf’s
predecessors and her administration is absurd.
For example:
During the administration of the late
president, Samuel Kanyon Doe, it is well documented
that his government benefited from U.S. assistance up
to the tone of $500 million dollars, the largest aid
ever given by America to any country within the Sub-saharan
region. A
sizable portion of that aid was used to buy
destructive weaponry from Romania just for the sole
purpose of deploying oppressive political tactics in
the country.
Vital
sectors of the nation’s economy including the
development of our human resources were left untapped.
These policies subsequently made him unpopular and led
to his downfall. When one reads the “Social
Contract,” a classical masterpiece written by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau explains clearly that the
existence of government is to protect the welfare of
the subjects (citizens). Nicolo Machiavelli, an
Italian politician, was noted as one of the most
ruthless and deceptive politicians of all times. In
spite of his ruthlessness, Machiavelli often cautions
rulers that after the conquest, the spoils (wealth)
should be divided among the subjects (the poor
masses), because their anger was the worst thing that
any ruler would wish to incur. What then surpasses the
development of a country, other than placing priority
on its indispensable human resources?
Mr. Sungbeh states that, “The president’s Unity Party will benefit
from her generosity, and will also gave her party an
unfair advantage over other financially strapped
political parties…”
The
standard bearer of any political party basks in the
glory of a political victory. And so does the
political party whose platform the standard-bearer
attributes such victory.
So it is the case with Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf and
the Unity Party, whose strategic and tactical planning
led to her election victory. An electoral process is
simply an extension of the marketing concept. The
political candidates are to their parties, as products
and services are to their competitors. The competitor
that therefore has the best marketing plan or the best
product and/or service will dominate the market for
that particular product. So it is within the political
arena including American democracy, which Liberians
love and revere so much. The party that gains an
election victory often gains a lot of clout and in
fact does influence the public policy debate to a
large extent. This is not an “unfair advantage”.
This is politics one-on-one.
Finally, Mr. Sengbeh
talks about the lack of accountability on how Mrs.
Johnson-Sirleaf is spending money.
Moreover, he finally calls on the public for
some social activism.
Mr.
Sungbeh is putting the cart before the horse. If he is
deeply concerned about the way Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf is
spending money, why he cannot go to Liberia, gather
tangible evidence and make his case in the proper
forum? Liberia is now a democratic society and is making strides in
promoting and upholding the rule of law.
Did he request for a legal recourse and was
denied?
The
reason why social activism is not appealing to
Liberians at this time is because many Liberians have
learned the lessons of the past, with shrewd and
insidious politicians pretended to be true supporters
of the people’s causes, just to have their selfish
motives accomplished. And today the poor masses are suffering, while those
politicians are in the foreign parts enjoying
political asylum.
Let
us give peace a chance in Liberia.
Patrick
Fallah Salmolu is a union leader and a criminal
justice major. He lives in Salisbury, North Carolina.
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