THE WISH CENTER WISHES TO COMMEND THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE LIBERIAN JOURNAL FOR ITS LEVEL OF SUPPORT TO THE COMMUNITY

(L-R) Edmond Gray (The Wish Center), Abdullah Kiatamba (TLJ Publisher), Al-Jerome Chede

The Wish Center would like to thank the Editorial staff and management of The Liberian Journal for its impartial and selfless support to the Liberian and other communities worldwide. Since its founding nearly five years ago, TLJ has not only exemplified itself as a medium for and of the people, it has unselfishly presented the issues without fear or favor. In times like these, when politicians and political institutions are finding mouthpieces to selfishly articulate their ambitions, TLJ, by our standards, has live above reproach, and continues to demonstrate to the world, its true non-partisanship affiliation. We wanted to commend you for the good work and urge you to keep it up.

In the same vein, the Center will like to acknowledge Mr. Al-Jerome A. Chede, for his steady service to his people. If anyone deserves to earn an award for humanitarian service, yours to mankind, is one that merits such recognition.

Lastly, the Center wants to take the opportunity to thank the Liberian government in advance for its achievement of "83%" of all its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) goals. Meanwhile, the Center will seek to undertake its own due diligence, by undertaking a documentary tour of all fifteen counties of Liberia, to ensure the validity of the claim. This is amazing, in less than twelve months since it was lastly reported by the Minister of Planning, that the PRS had accomplished only 26% of all its goals, today that result has quadrupled itself.

As one of the oldest universities in Africa, the University of Liberia should be leading the way in conducting meaningful researches that showcase Liberia and its people. However, contrary to that, the UL has never once, conducted research work to fact-check progress on the PRS, and other dire economic and social enterprises in Liberia. Once registered as a local nonprofit organization in Liberia, Watch International for the Security of Humanity Center (The Wish Center) will seek to undertake meaningful national research endeavors, designed to present Liberia to the rest of the world.

This press release was sent out by the Wish Center, an international human rights nonprofit think-tank organization. On the web, it can be reached on http://www.wish-center.org, and by email: info@wish-center.org. We blog on http://thewishcenter.blogspot.com.

ARE SOME LIBERIAN COUNTIES NOT PRIORITIZED BECAUSE OF POLITICKING? By Edmond R. Gray

Many Liberian coastal counties are deteriorating due to heavy rain falls and lack of maintenance. But a number of them could be on their way to recovery if only they were among Madam Sirleaf's immediate national priorities. Presidential Elections are getting closer, therefore, anything away from Madam Sirleaf's reelection bid, is wasteful. Madam has put an indefinite hold on the County Development Fund (CDF). The question is, why should Madam Sirleaf prioritized Maryland, Sinoe, Grand Kru, and even Grand Cape Mount Counties now? What do they have to offer her immediate political quest for reelection? Largely, these places are not as populated as Montserrado, Nimba, Bassa, Bong, Lofa or Magibi are. Besides, with so many sons of those regions taking part in the race, they could vote the other way. 

 

No one should doubt the fact that, under Madam Sirleaf, national development would be narrowly shifted to bigger political subdivisions, where she enjoys or battling to garner large political support. And for that reason, roads and bridges linking places like Grand Kru, Maryland, and others will remain in the back-burner, despite the claim by the Ellen Policy Chief, Sebastian Muah, that Grand Cape Mount primarily failed because of my ineptitude. Hahahaha!

 

Here in the United States, university professors and tenured lecturers are legally privileged to take a leave of absence from their teaching jobs. Hence, sabbatical leave is reserved only for faculty members with deepen educational interests who want to explore and examine new areas of instructional methods to improve the standards of their departments. 

 

According to MCLI, sabbatical leave not only help faculty to grow professionally, it gives them a break from their normal duties. In addition, it enables faculty to engage in study, research, travel, work experience, or other creative ventures that contribute to the academic institution in general. A sabbatical leave is a competitive process awarded to eligible faculty on the strength of his/her application. Funding for this purpose is limited. 

 

I purposefully provided the above info to refute the bogus claim made by Sebastian Muah, Key Policy Chief of Liberia's national development efforts, that as a student of Carnegie Mellon University pursuing Masters, he was placed on a sabbatical leave to serve in his capacity as Deputy Minister of Planning and Policy. Hahahahaha! Nowhere in the American academia are students placed on sabbatical. As a matter of fact, there are requirements and timetables in taking a break from an academic program. You are dropped after a certain length of time. While the claim made by Sebastian is shamefully phony, it serves as a carnal warning that any report on national reconstruction put out by those who lack the moral compos, is worth validating. 

 

Nevertheless, in the American political cycle, there is something called the Bradley Effect. This is a phenomenon characterized by the tendency of non-white political candidates to perform better in opinion polls than they do in actual elections when they are running against white candidates. Those who favor the incumbency of Madam Sirleaf classify my criticisms of her administration as one with a Bradley Effect.  That is, they do very little to shift opinions, than they do to the Madam. My efforts to dig up the social ills of the administration are genuinely founded on many factors. 

 

For instance, in my tenure as County Development Officer in Liberia, Muah was one of those who spearheaded a smear campaign to put me down when I attempted to expose many misgivings within the administration. But if Muah lied on his academic profile, what else can he not say about those he hates? Many Liberians shut their mouths when they gain government appointments. For me, this was an opportunity to identify government's weaknesses. People despise you when you criticize government from within. Muah called it a schizophrenic behavior. In Liberia, it is considered abnormal when you criticize government from within. No wonder the country is the way it is. Everyone complains, but once appointed, he/she zips it up and flow with the tide.

 

I truly believe that those Liberians wishing to serve their country through their national government, must not only do so with honesty, but should be willing to pathways with their friends and personalities once they decide to do it candidly. Most people prefer to keep their acquaintances and characters, hence flow with the tide. This attitude of flowing with the way things are historical done in Liberia, is principally why our nation is far behind today. 

 

A number of sympathizers commend the administration's level of tolerance with its critics. I still believe that the hands of the Sirleaf government are tied behind its back, by the presence of international power brokers.  For most part, Madam Sirleaf has clearly demonstrated her lack of tolerance for opposing views. For instance, when I pointed out to many irregularities occurring within the PRS in our local Liberian newspapers, Madam Sirleaf immediately called on the Civil Service Agency and Minister Konneh to have me fired. This lack of will for opposition has manifested itself in her attempt to play divisive roles in political parties that are against her interests. In recent times, she has engaged in the business of bribing influential figures in other political parties with trips abroad. The removal of Edwin Snowe, as Speaker of the House, was one credited to Madam Sirleaf. Many believe that had Snow rallied behind Madam Sirleaf, chances are he could have remained Speaker today.

 

The United States is among those making the claim that the inability of the Liberian Legislative branch to remain independent is mostly hampered by bribes from the executive branch. Because of diplomacy, the US won't pinpoint, but it is implied that the red cap is a perfect fit for the madam. Prince Johnson and Mobutu Nyempan are among legislators who were threatened by Madam Sirleaf for not being friends of the President. In addition, even her judicial neighbors, led by Chief Justice Johnny Lewis, are kneeling in obeisance to her. Within her own party, the UP, partisans who disagree with Madam Sirleaf, have been sanctioned. The recent removal of Mr. Henry Fahnbulleh from an elected position of Party Secretariat is a dash in this direction. In addition, all of those who walk on the opposite lane of the President are denied jobs in her government. These days, the Madam is scheming to replace those UP members of the House who are not on her side. Madam Sirleaf's vindictiveness is an opened secret. Front Page Africa (FPA) could tell you more.

 

A number of counties which are predicted to look the other way based on ethnic affiliation are struggling to get by under the administration. This too is lack of tolerance. It goes to say that one attitude of Liberian leaders, is their ability to spearhead the development of their native counties. We saw how Harper shined under Tubman. While Bentol flourished under Tolbert. Even Tuzon, in Grand Geddeh, boomed under Samuel Doe. However, areas like Bomi and Sinoe Counties, places Madam Sirleaf claimed to have native connections, have been brushed aside for more populated counties that will bring her bigger votes. These days, the president eats her breakfast in Lofa, brunches in Magibi, lunches in Bong, dines in Nimba, and takes her supper in Grand Bassa. There is a complete shutdown of government. 

 

Others may think that the presence of a Nigerian General as head of our Armed Forces is in itself, a way of playing it safe. The belief is that, in the event of an insurgency, or civil strife, the Federal Republic of Nigeria will commit its troop to quell down any such rebellion. Smart move! However, under international law, there is something called, pacta sunt servanda—this is a Latin phrase, which means that promises or agreements must be kept. It is a private contract which in tandem implies that non-fulfillment of respective obligations is a breach of the pact. From experience, these types of private pacts are normally not fulfilled because prior to execution, both parties have to weigh the financial and human cost into account. Nigeria could execute this decision, if that republic were still under a dictatorship. On the part of Liberia, this pact has never been ratified or approved by our Legislative branch? And because of that, Madam Sirleaf is in violation of our national laws which clearly state that the head of the Armed Forces of Liberia shall be a Liberian citizen commissioned by the Liberian National Legislature. 

 

Under the same international protocol, there is a subsequent law, which excuses parties to these kinds of pacts from execution. Under Clausula Rebus Sic Stantibus—things thus standing: is such that whenever there is a fundamental change of circumstance, which was not anticipated by the parties, other than what existed at the time of the conclusion of the treaty, it is not enforceable.  And unless the change is objectively essential to the obligations of the treaty; and the instance wherein the change of circumstances has had a radical effect on the obligations of the treaty, it does not hold. Under President Tolbert, there was similar pact signed between him and Sekou Toure. What happened in 1980? And were there any Guinean troops on Liberian soil on the morning of April 12, 1980? What occurred in 1980 was not anticipated, that a group of indigenes will high jack state power. Dejavu! 

 

Therefore, the money paid to this Nigerian General and his million-man staff by Madam Sirleaf, and drawn out of our coffers, ranging in the millions, is a complete waste. Are we implying that within one of the oldest countries in the world, no one is that schooled in military administration to head the AFL, such that we have to fetch in a Nigerian? Where in twenty-first century Africa is this possible other than Liberia? Sometimes, I wonder whether we have a legal civil liberty body in Liberia, like the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU). Well, everyone of them wants to be county attorney or judge. 

 

Edmond Gray blogs on http://remiegray.blogspot.com, he is the Founder and President of The Wish Center (www.wish-center.org), a think tank human rights organization that defends the rights of Africans, everywhere. He can be reached at 763-447-1063 or remiegray@gmail.com.

WE ARE SOLICITING A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION FOR THE IMMEDIATE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRC RECOMMENDATIONS

By Edmond R. Gray

In his ‘Theory of Human Motivation’, Abraham Maslow observed in 1943 that human beings are born with certain needs, and a psychological hunger to fulfill those needs. He said that, at the top of our wants, is the sense of urgency to be what we ought to be. According to him, we all desire respect. He went on to name love, safety, in terms of financial, personal, and well being. But there is a fifth set of needs that I find extremely benign for being at the bottom. That is, the needs to breathe fresh air, eat, and live under a shelter. To me, these last three, are more fundamental.

When these levels of wants are threatened, mankind tends to rely on a set of positive emotions. The argument is further made, that no matter our immediate wants—it is possible to be happier in life, feel more satisfied, set your hopes higher, and perhaps laugh and smile more, regardless our situations. Therefore, this attitude of faking laughter when things are bad does increase depression. Like Maslow, we have put our most pressing needs at the bottom our wants. We need to go back and conduct a reality check as to why we militarily engaged each other for fourteen or so years.  To put it bluntly, we did not fight because we wanted Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to be crowned the empress of our nation well into her eightieth birth date.

Let me remind you that our civil war was fought on the pretext that our organic laws and basic ways of life are threatened. Former presidents, up to Samuel Doe, sidelined our constitution, and rule in an autocratic fashion. We guaranteed and swore that he Doe, like others will not have his ways. But this utter disrespect for our basic laws has always been the common practice of all former leaders of Liberia. As you know, Charles Taylor, in his so-called 2024 Vision, was well on his quest to create a sin city, where rule by might was the modus of the day. No need to mention what became of him, and along with his group of gangsters to include the Benjamin Yatem and Chucky Taylor.

Today, we may not have thugs and gangsters in power, but we have a set of people who are passively disrespecting our laws. For instance, millions of tax payers’ money was used to set up and run a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with strict set of mandates. But when the findings and subsequent recommendations seek to punish the likes of Madam Sirleaf, Prince Johnson, and others, this portion of our laws, has been sidelined. You know, it is funny how we soon forget. That those who were shooting their ways with bullets and making pronouncements against authority of the time, like, “even if we have to flatten the Executive Mansion, we will do so…….”, are the ones leading the ways in of dishonoring what the law requires of them today. 

Not only has Madam Sirleaf or Prince Johnson led the campaign to sideline our laws, they are wrestling each other as to who should lead Liberia in 2012. Unlike them, no Liberian will call for their forceful removal from power, but in the next few weeks and months, most of us will be leading peaceful demonstrations and banging on the doors of our international partners in the United States, Europe and others, to ensure that those who brought death and destruction to Liberia yesterday, be excluded from the 2011 elections as suggested by the TRC recommendations. These matches may not generate the level of attention garnered by the Million-Man March of Dr. Martin Luther King, but will have their effects.

As a people, there is the need to be ensured that no more would any of our own try to find ways, or sponsor initiatives that bring death and destruction to our nation for their own selfish aims. Some are making the case that, in a country like Liberia with so many learned people, who is the enviable alternative to Madam Sirleaf? You, me. The only doubtful alternative is the untested one. All civilized nations will seek to reinforce their organic laws over their current and future leaders.  The fact is, once the laws and basic values of a people are strengthened, even an Obama will lead in a predominantly white nation. For instance, many doubted Madam Sirleaf, until she was tested. The rest is yours to determine her leadership ability.

But this fight to restore our laws as enshrined in the TRC Recommendations, is not about people and individual preferences, it is about doing what is just. We can endlessly debate on the futility of the Ellen-led administration. Some will argue that she has made strides with the economy. Yet others will argue that a nation which hooks on international donations is economically abyss. A third may say that Ghana, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast are economically stronger not because of their finesse to scout for international assistance, but largely due to their active engagements in the means of production.

Others may argue that it is not the duty of government to provide jobs for its citizens. Governments of scale, are not only small and efficient, they provide the enabling environment for the private sector to compete. The Nigerian or Ghanaian government does not beat its chest to say how many commissions or agencies it has created to absorb partisans, it brags of how much micro and macro levels and private sector jobs it has created. 

Governments of stronger economies compel private sector investments to improve the standards of life in the community. Hence, they negotiate investment terms that mostly benefit local citizens, and not cronies of the government. I am quite sure that Madam Sirleaf may want to boast of renegotiating or signing investment contracts with the Mittal Steel and others, but may not be able to tell the immediate short term impacts of those investments on the economy. For instance, here is how one eloquent pundit traced the Sirleaf investment cronyism:

In subsequent posting, attempts would be made to trace the real beneficiaries of all the so-called investments made in Liberia under Madam Sirleaf. Stay tuned.

The Liberian Government Must Implement TRC Report

Socrates (469-399 BC) is an enigma who is largely credited for the founding of Western philosophy (Kofman, 1998). Classical Greek mythology also credited him for the development of ethics. If one takes a closer look at what is obtaining in Liberia today, it has some semblance to the Socratic era. Instead of holding the status quo and accepting the immorality and corruption of his time, Socrates posited himself as the gadfly of the political establishment. This is a sort a sting fly, if you will. Justice for him was more important than serving in cabinet or ministerial position in the government of his time. He was wealthy in ideas, yet financially poor. But this man never crawled or sought after political power from the corrupt government of his time.

Unlike him, Liberians who favor the current political establishment led by Madam Sirleaf are somewhat angry with those pushing for the implementation of the TRC Recommendations. Like the epoch of Socrates, partial justice, is injustice. A just Liberia is one where laws are respected over names or people. On May 19, 2010, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two parent human rights organizations added their voices to the many, calling on Madam Sirleaf to demonstrate leadership, and facilitate the speedy implementation of the TRC Recommendations (Story Link). For us, this key provision is far too important, than even the holding of a 2011 General and Presidential Elections. Furthermore, we are of the opinion that any success void of bringing to justice, those who in the pursuit of their own ambitions, nurtured death and destruction in Liberia, is a crooked victory. 

Like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the Wish Center (Watch International for the Security of Humanity), wishes to add its voice, in calling on President Sirleaf, Prince Johnson, and those responsible for the implementation of the TRC Recommendations, to look beyond their personal ambitions, and put Liberia first. The triumph of Samuel Doe, who could not put his country first, by stepping down, is the closest reference to cite? Where is he? The fight of giving up one’s ambitions for the good of the public is an old but durable struggle.

Socrates, for instance, could have contested or simply avoided his execution. However, he did not. As an architect of the Athenian justice system, he had to comply with the decision of the legal body, which handed him his death sentence. Needless I mention the historical demystification that surrounded his conspiracy. The question is why should a society which was enjoying enormous freedom and democracy than any the world had ever seen; would a seventy-year-old philosopher be put to death for what he was teaching? Indeed, what could he have said or done that prompted a jury of 500 of his countrymen and women to send him to his early death a few years before his natural death?     

Growing up in this bastion of liberalism and democracy, Socrates had somehow developed a set of values that put him at odds with most of his fellow kinsmen and women. A number of us fit in this historical context of Socrates. Because at a time when many of our own are belly crawling behind the establishment of the day, with the hope of getting jobs, we are preaching the sermon of justice for one’s country. For us, being rewarded with silver, gold, or power is not only meaningless in a country fraught with impunity, but a blatant disservice to justice everywhere. The ploy to keep rewarding those who have hurled death and destruction against the very justice system, they continue to perpetuate, is a rubberstamp legacy that advocates further impunity. Justice was not only meant to protect the few; but all, including the destitute, in an equitable just fashion.

Those who favor the Ellen-status quo, for whatever reasons, believe that the implementation of the TRC recommendations is not only unimportant, but doing so is contrary to those commissioners or parties of the Liberian conflict, who have not endorsed all, or some portion of the recommendations. Rubbish. Firstly, one common practice with august bodies is the use of simple majority. This ancient democratic practice is used in the Supreme Court, Houses of Senate and Reps, even in the Knesset and the chaotic British House of Commons.

 In politics, there are unintended consequences. One Liberian soccer icon used to compare the unintended results in football matches to the breaking of crackers. It breaks off where one does not intend it to break. Let us imagine for a minute, a Liberia under a President Prince Johnson, or a Benjamin Yatem. But is a President Prince Johnson not as good, as a President Johnson Sirleaf? One paid for the destruction that the other carried out. Is this not a good reason why they all should be punished for their roles in the Liberian Civil War?

In order to discern some of the uninformed excuses that sympathizers alike have been lollygagging about, subsequent publication by the Wish Center, will look at the terms of reference of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. To debate is synonymous with Liberians. Everyone thinks he/she has something to debate about; even the hood-winkled thinks he/she too has a point. Below is the basis of our future debate.

In addition to truth-telling processes, it will be essential to consider appropriate justice mechanisms to ensure that perpetrators of serious human rights violations be held accountable and to dissuade would-be violators from committing future abuses.”

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Kyung-wha Kang,

concluding a visit to Liberia, 9 May 2008¹⁴⁷

It was mandated that government should provide the TRC with necessary funding and logistics needed to carry out its work adequately and fully; government should establish the independent national human rights commission as a matter of priority; facilitate a transparent national consultation to develop a long term comprehensive action plan to address past human rights violations and guarantee that victims fully enjoy their rights to truth, justice and reparations. The action plan should include a persecution policy and a reparation policy. In close cooperation with the international community, the Liberian government should adopt effective steps to ensure that all alleged perpetrators of crimes under international law are investigated, and if enough admissible evidence is gathered, prosecuted in accordance with international law and standards, and others.

Author’s Note: This publication was sanctioned by the Wish Center, a human rights organization that defends the rights of Africans everywhere. On the web, it can be reached at: http://www.wish-center.org. On Facebook: www.facebook.com/thewishcenter , on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thewishcenter. If you have further questions and concerns, please forward same to info@wish-center.org. We are a donor driven initiative. ®

Observation on the Performance of the Ellen J. Sirleaf Administration By Edmond R. Gray Part III

Madam Ellen Sirleaf on many instances told the world of how much she despises those national governments which engage in reckless spending. According to her, back in 1973, while serving as Assistant Minister of Finance under President Tolbert, a very junior post, she resigned after getting into a disagreement about spending (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf). 

History accounts also that in 1979, as Minister of Finance of Liberia, Madam Sirleaf spearheaded the move to curb the mismanagement of government finances. It was at least, my hope that as President of Liberia, she will do more. There is a saying that success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out (Robert J. Collier). Oscar Wilde, on the other hand, expresses grief that biography lends to death a new terror. For most of us, terror lies in the two sided-images that President Sirleaf has reflected in the global public mirror. One image frowns on financial mismanagement of the past, while another condones corruption in the present. It’s called double standards.

What is the Problem?

Liberians are not the only ones complaining of how corrupt the government of Madam Sirleaf is. In its annual human rights report of 2009, the government of the United States declared in very stronger terms, “that corruption is endemic in Madam Sirleaf’s government”. Looking further, the lenses of Transparency International, Forbes, and www.nationmaster.com, entities that collect financial activities and data of countries around the world, have not only ranked Mother Ellen’s government among the world’s most corrupt regimes, they classified it as a pseudo democracy. Wherever corruption is endemic, it is also systemic and pervasive. Under Ellen’s Liberia, when audit findings reveal the incoherence of large sums of money amounting to millions of dollars, government shamelessly terms it as ‘funds used for security operations’.

This is a country with over ten thousand foreign troops from the United Nations. But such was the classification given to the half a million dollars seized from a Nigerian national who was illegally trafficking it into Liberia, God alone knows for what. At some point, Meredith DeKalb Miller, a former FBI forensic expert was called in, paid by the minutes with taxpayers’ money to verify, that the signatures used to withdraw a total of $1.1 million by an unknown person(s) from government’s account situated at ECOBANK Liberia Ltd, were not the authentic signatures of Madam Sirleaf, and other key officials of her government. Evidence surrounding this issue shows that, on May 29, 2009, Auditors Winsley Nanka, Deputy Auditor General, Hanason Kollie, Audit Manager and Friday Buddy-Tamba, Audit Manager met with Dr. Edward McClain, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Chief of Office Staff at the Executive Mansion with the hope of understanding the Ministry’s role in the transfer of this money from GOL’s account. Although it was established that the signature of the President and others were allegedly forged, whatever happened to that money, remains a mystery today. In separate incidences, Larry Bropleh, Dr. Christopher Toe, Willie Knuckles, Harry Greaves along with his $25 million shady deal with Zakhem International, and to include a number of present and former protégés of Madam Sirleaf who were said to have engaged in wanton corruption, are freemen out there today. The plundering of our nation’s wealth is not only taking place among her loyalists within the stupefied walls of President’s Sirleaf, it is prevalent among those without in counties such as Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, River Gee, Grand Gedeh, Grand Bassa, Rivercess, and you name them.  For instance, the Assistant Superintendent for Development of Grand Cape Mount County was dismissed for allegedly converting US$110,000 of that county’s Development Funds to his private use or on bogus companies.

Recently, the Superintendents of Montserrado and River Gee were replaced for matters amounting to corruption. There are loud cries coming out of Grand Geddeh regarding shady and corrupt actions of its Superintendent, please visit (http://www.liberiacorruptionwatch.org) for follow-ups on these and tons of others. It is quite interesting that all of these vexing situations have not led to the resignation of this very Madam Sirleaf, who in the past separated with other governments, because in her own words, ‘they were corrupt’. On the contrary, she is requesting a carte-blanche and a damning second chance of presidency. Here in the US, we sometimes laugh or giggle at the stupidity of some American electorates for their choices of presidential characters they put into the Whitehouse every four years or so. May be a number of Liberians need to examine themselves before laughing at others. We refer to Ghanaians, Ivoirians, and fellow West Africans who enjoy lofty modern state infrastructures in their respective countries, as green. Yet, in our smartness, we cheer on when few potholes within our very upbeat and dusty old Capital City are mended. We haul criticisms at others, when we are applauding and praising others to our perils.    

Why should I take this matter so personal?

Someone may incline to say, oh, this guy must be very angry with the old woman. I believe that public servants must intend and resolve to put the public good above private advantage for anyone-self, family, friends, political allies, factions, or interest groups. Therefore, public servants are obliged to identify the public good, and to serve it impeccably. Trusting someone is a serious matter, since it gives other people the power to effect by their words and actions, our feelings, interests, and well-being. Because of that, we choose our friends, husbands, and wives, who we believe we can trust. Mostly, our intimate bonds to others are forged by many things-chemistry, affection, shared interest, common ideals-but trust is always present. We may enjoy the company of rogues, or sexually involved with people we may not trust. Howbeit, lust and mere companionship are far from the genuine intimacy that joins our lives to the lives of others. Betrayal thus causes deep resentment, anger, and heartache. Trusting others therefore, is to believe that they won’t forsake us. Oops, sorry for drifting from the focus of this analysis.

May be a number of you have easily forgotten that the price Liberia has paid to get Madam Sirleaf into the Executive Mansion as President, is far too heavy than what she has repaid her in return. Under her stewardship, over two hundred fifty thousand Liberians lost their lives; Liberia saw a destruction that reels it as far back as a hundred years. I hate to sum up the cost, but it was a very, very heavy price. In return, Ma Ellen has repaired few bullet riddled streets in Monrovia, condones the idea that those who helped her fulfill this lifelong ambition of becoming President of Liberia, must without any disturbances, filled their pockets with tax payers money. This was a griming hope she summed up in her memoire, ‘This Child will be great’. A number of these protégés who have become accustomed to converting lump sums of Liberian taxpayers money for their private use, will in few days, lead a high power delegation to a city near you. Armed with a projector to show you a power point slide of where Liberia was before Madam Sirleaf became president, where it is today, and where it will be if you re-elect her. One can only wish that such a slide tilts slightly backwards to the era of Samuel Doe, an era, which in her own estimation and words, was an “Armageddon”.  There is the need to compare and contrast the Armageddon of Samuel Doe with the Paradise of Ellen Sirleaf. Liberians, this is the 21^st Century, and you should be very glad that yours is the age where the computer has made man’s life, very easy. Please take a close look at events in Liberia as they stand right now, under Madam Sirleaf’s government.

A Glimpse of the PRS 

The Peace Building Funds (PBF), a key UNDP peace initiative in Liberia acknowledges the fact that corruption is a key obstacle to the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS). Moreover, PBF did not only say that corruption was the central hurdle to the development and political legitimacy of Liberia’s immediate past, it also confirms that corruption could very well incapacitate existing efforts of development and peace in Liberia, if it is not addressed (View as HTML). In neighboring Sierra Leone, under President Kabbah, a 30 year veteran of the United Nations, and a closed friend of Madam Ellen Sirleaf, that country was plagued by corruption. The problem was solved after Kabbah was replaced by a much younger generation of honest Sierra Leoneans. This younger generation of Sierra Leoneans came to the realization that the building of their nation is not only the sole duty of their seventy-year-olds like Madam Sirleaf and Kabbah, but to younger generations of Sierra Leoneans as well. In Liberia, a much younger generation of voters understand now that being old does not necessarily amount to wisdom.

This class of Liberians seems very determined to replace anything stale or outdated that appears in an electoral race. The recent election of Geraldine Doe-Sheriff amidst plenty of spending by a rival UP makes the case. The political situation in Liberia today is even frightening. A number of young people, who cast their votes in the 2005 Presidential Election, believe or hold this myth that someone other than Madam Sirleaf won that election. This time, they profess, ‘we will wipe Liberia off the global map if anyone tries to cheat us again’. There is also a second myth that the ‘international community’ is more passionate about the prolongation of an Ellen administration. That myth holds that even if someone other than Madam Sirleaf wins the 2011 elections, victory will be granted to Madam Sirleaf. Such myths are not only nonsensical, but are daring to the destiny of a group of people who are only exercising their natural rights to self-determinism.  I can only factor such outburst, as a displaced anger of trust against older generation of Liberians like Madam Sirleaf, who promised to fight corruption with tooth and nail, but have instead, done otherwise.

The root of state corruption

In addition, a number of U4 Helpdesk Query, centered mainly on corruption in nongovernmental and international nongovernmental agencies, and to clarify the bureaucracy on how donor funds are channeled to benefiting countries, has clearly put these administering organizations at the center of corruption ( Part I , Part II , and Part III ).  These studies have shown that most civil society organizations (CSO), and international agencies like the United Nations, could be penetrated by corrupt government officials, or serve as staging grounds for rogue officials to take advantage of donor funds. These studies also warn that donor practices can, oddly enough, encourage corruption. For instance, when donors think of, say the rebuilding of the Waterside Bridge. They include it in a specified output indicator as part of an approved limited timeline budget. The Liberian National Poverty Reduction Strategy (Final PRS) has a timeline that starts from July 2008 to June of 2011. In view of this, every county has a set of priorities it wants to see complete within this specified period ( Bomi County Development Agenda , RiverGee County Development Agenda ,Rivercess County Development Agenda , Nimba County Development Agenda , Montserrado County Development Agenda , Maryland County Development Agenda , Margibi County Development Agenda , Lofa County Development Agenda , Grand Kru County Development Agenda , Grand Gedeh County Development Agenda , Grand Cape Mount County Development Agenda , Grand Bassa County Development Agenda , Gbarpolu County Development Agenda , Bong County Development Agenda , Sinoe County Development Agenda ). What donors cover is only an above the line expenses of a project. For example, if a loaf of bread costs 2 cents. You are given the two cents, but how you get to and from the store is not covered. Donors normally will not cover the overhead expense of those CSO partners they team up with. In essence, “an NGO manager who works in the real world with people who exist before and after projects, and who wants his or her organization to exist beyond a project, has to find ways to spend donor funds to cover his or her real costs while only reporting fund expenditure to the donors in ways that are acceptable to the donor. In other words he/she starts to lie (Holloway 2001)”.

Quarterly PRS Reports

Reports under the SES are done on a quarterly basis. Usually three calendar months mark one quarter. Because of the rambling over logistics to facilitate the smooth execution of CDOs’ functions within the counties, as reference on Part I of this analysis, projects highlighted in every county agenda also fell behind. In Grand Cape Mount County where I worked, absolutely nothing was in place by March 2009. The Steering Committee which coordinates the business of PRS was not formed. This all important body was created under my tutelage. Usually, a number of pillar meetings are held and decided upon at steering committee meetings. Please refer to Part I & II of this paper for references on most of these languages. Under the PRS, strategic decisions, follow-ups on project executions, project stalls, land appropriations for constructions of county facilities that are identified in the CDA or National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS), are discussed during steering committee meetings. In the counties, these meetings are termed county development and steering committee (CDSC) meetings.

Minutes from these meetings are disseminated via channel to various oversight agencies, and including the Liberia Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC). This office in technical terms falls under the Ministry of State without Portfolio, which has presidential oversight. LRDC has since been transferred to the Ministry of Planning. There are also sub-sectional meetings held prior to the CDCS. These are meant to constructively engage various line ministries and civic organizations that are involved with local development issues. For instance, under the infrastructure and Basic services pillar (IBS), the Ministries of Health, Education, Public Works, LRRRC, etc tell you what sort of projects they are undertaking within the district or clan levels, types of conditions hampering their projects, and others. In short, these meetings are intended to provide updates. All of these meetings are coordinated by the County Development Officer.

 Why Monitor

 To ensure that projects have been implemented as claimed by these line ministries, the CDO through its monitoring and evaluation officers, and field monitors must verify to ensure the quality of work done, authenticity of projects, and others. Within the district or clan levels, these projects were earmarked to be situated in remote terrains, a number of which are inaccessible till the construction of farms to market roads, identified in the CDA or PRS. Most of these sites require 4X4 vehicle verifications. These are the pressing logistics that the Ministry of Planning under Amara Konneh who is scheduled to come to a location near you, has said his ministry lacks the funds to provide. Knowing the importance of this piece of commitment, Minister Amara Konneh turned down a UNDP offer in which that agency of the United Nations were to provide vehicles for CDO’s operations, so long MPEA will ensure their upkeeps and maintenance. Every effort to empower CDOs were either thwarted or stepped on by the MPEA.

At the legislative level, funds were approved under MPEA for CDO’s operations in fiscal years 2008 and 2009. Nothing has been done to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation part of the PRS. What that means is that the MPEA and the government of Ellen can make any claims without independent verification. The funds are there. The numerous heavily accompanied trips abroad by Minister Konneh and delegates, speaks to the availability of such funds. At the county level, the CDO recommended that local citizens be educated about the PRS after it was discovered that only a hand full of people knew what the PRS/CDA were all about. We needed this informative piece to be aired on local radio stations, town hall forums, etc. No one honored this simple proposal. Don’t be fooled, the Liberian elections are right around the corner. Amara Konneh, Augustine Ngafuan, etc, are cabinet ministers today because of there various roles played in 2005 to get Ellen elected.  Up until this moment, most of the projects within the CDA/PRS have not been touched, phased out, or funding shifted somewhere else. Based on donor requirements, conditions for HIPIC qualification, demands were made to submit reports on the implementation of these projects whether verified or not. By auditing standards, it’s called cooking the books. But according to Minister Konneh, less than 18% of all PRS projects were so far completed by the end of fiscal year 2009. My estimation will advise you to reduce the Konneh’s estimation by half. This should only tell you that absolutely, nothing substantial was achieved. Furthermore, there was an independent commission, headed by Mr. Sam Jackson, appointed to verify the implementation aspects of these projects which also concluded that most projects under the PRS are either abandoned, or not available for verification. One key policy recommendation made by Mr. Jackson’s committee was that GOL should reassess its PRS.

 Partial report from Grand Cape Mount County

 For instance, take this very small portion of my 2009 Annual Report on Grand Cape Mount County for your assessment on (STATEMENT ON OUTSTANDING ACTIVIITIES FOR THE YEAR INCLUDING MEASURES TAKEN TO REALIZE OUTSTANDING QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES. The issues of health and education continue to claim the attention of the CDO. Because of this, interest was taken on the delivery of health and education. Few of these projects were captured in picture. However, currently, there are 33 health facilities including 01 hospital, 01 health post, 01 health center and 30 clinics of which 32 are functional except Zaway clinic in Garwula. Of these facilities 08 is run by the County Health Team (CHT), 09 by African Humanitarian Agency, 10 by International Medical Corps (IMC) 05 by Medical Teams International (IMC) and 01 by Guthrie Management.  This indicates that over 70% of the health facilities are still run by INGOs. A public awareness campaign was facilitated under the tutelage of the CDO on communicable diseases. More needs to be done. The human resource capacity of the sector shows that there is 1 Physician, 13 Physician Assistants, 27 Registered Nurses, 11 Licensed Practical Nurses in training or trained, 1 Nurse Anesthetist, 30 certified midwives, 34 Nursing Aids, 34 Dispensers, 22 Vaccinators and 02 Laboratory Technicians. However, additional manpower is required especially for midwives, Physicians, Physician Assistants, dispensers and Nurses. The CDO also teamed up with the NRC and the County Education Heads to ensure the following: increased presence within the County. The entire education sector personnel lack logistics to enable them discharge effective and efficient monitoring and supervision of schools.

The recent provision of vehicle and bikes to DEOs has largely capacitated that sector. The shortage of qualified teachers especially for Junior and Senior High schools persist, insufficient learning and teaching materials, lack of libraries and science laboratories are affecting students performance. There is lack of science teachers in the senior high school in Robertsport. A recent assessment based on recommendation from the CDO saw some improvements in the area. All unlicensed teaching assistants were dropped while others recommended for additional capacitating. The stealing of school feeds by school officials stopped well before it was ended. This was due to reinforced monitoring by field monitors under the supervision of the CDO. NRC reported of low attendance in schools after the conduct of the census. Mobilizing teams have been set up by NRC to mobilize students to go to school.

 Summary of major issues under the PRS

 One of the good things that came to Liberia was the hiring of Mr. John Morlue as head of the General Auditing Commission (GAC). Had it not been for Mr. Morlue, a number of the shady deals that have so far been uncovered today would have gone unnoticed. Aside from that, most of what the government of Madam Sirleaf is hoping to showcase for its success is summarized as this:

1. On power generation, key locations around Monrovia enjoy power ration (electricity). However, what you won’t get is the statistic of privately run generators within those key locations, and the number of health hazards they posed. On the prospect of a durable national power supply, GOL will attempt to scuff you with adequate rhetoric on how Liberia will be the first country to become the first biomass economy in the world. This is a proposal in which unproductive rubber trees will be used to energize an estimated $150 million power plant to be constructed by a Netherland based company (http://www.energyboom.com/biofuels/rubber-trees-provide-electricity-liberia).  Don’t get confused, these are only white paper proposals (http://www.buchananrenewables.com/) that will take generation to complete. So far, nothing concrete has come out of this experiment. Liberia is still a very dark country. In a bid to address the issue, Madam Sirleaf visited Brazil few weeks ago. This also has resulted in a second proposal in which Brazil will extract Liberia’s Iron ore in exchange for building a hydro plant (http://www.netnewspublisher.com/brazil-to-support-liberia%E2%80%99s-electricity-development/). This only tells you that Liberia is back to square one on the issue of energy. However, in nearby Sierra Leone, an energy project at Bumbuna which dates as far back as the Siaka Stevens’ era was only completed by the current administration under its PRS program (Download (178K) Print (2 pages)Plain HTML). Prior to this new and energized Sierra Leonean leadership, made up of mostly young Sierra Leoneans, the administration under Kabbah obtained funding from donors for this very project, but was divvy up or redirected to other private use. 
2. A key HIPIC qualification requirement in which Liberia is to establish a financial management system saw the setting up of a Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS). This is a system in which bio-data of civil servants under the Civil Reform initiative will be integrated with a Ministry of Finance system, known as, Information Financial Management Integration System (IFMIS). This was required mostly to address key issue of financial transparency, duplicity of civil servants on multiple government payrolls.  In a sense, this was very good for Liberia. Such systems mainly led to the recent uncovering of a wave of financial mismanagement amounting to $5 million from the Ministry of Finance by the General Auditing Commission (GAC).
3. The Liberian government constructed no new roads with the exception of the Borpolu highway which is just at its starting phase. However, key primary roads in Monrovia were reconditioned following years of neglect as the result of the war. The main road leading to the North and South Eastern Regions via Kakata is still under rehabilitation. In Sierra Leone, there is increasing focus on the construction of new and bigger freeways, which do not only address the issue of modernization, but improve the standard of living of its citizens as well.
4. GOL will boast of a radical increment of civil servants pay structure. However, what it won’t tell you is that this small nation which should be able to establish a national welfare system that will cater to all Liberians regardless whether employed, or not, and based on the nation’s wealth, has salary disparities in which some civil servants make US$15,000, where others in the same line of work, are making less than US$100.
5. On Security, the government has made very little strides. Most of Liberia’s borders are porous. In Grand Cape Mount County for instance, there are about 49 border crossings that are unmanned or poorly manned. What that means is that someone can literally walk with swinging hands into enter Liberia without being questioned by anyone. As a matter of fact, there exist a large number of communities, especially around the Congo-Mano areas that are cutoff from Liberia through natural disasters, such as erosion. The AFL is struggling to sustain its 2000 manpower, or one brigade size army. The national police are poorly trained as stated on Part II of this paper. As a matter of fact, both the Liberian Police Commissioner, his deputy for Administration (103) and a host of higher-ups have no backgrounds in policing or general security aside from one or two workshop credits. Morale in the police force is very low. In fact, recent State Department Human Rights report on Liberia states that police officers could be a source of problems for visitor (Liberia)
6. Since the lifting of the Kimberly restriction, the Mining sector continues to extract meaningful gem stones and gold dust through nonindustrial methods. However, there is no transparency system setup to capture vital information on this all important sector. Officials of the mining sector are required to only report to the Minister of LME.
7. On Agriculture, some 86% (WFP) of the nation’s farming population is still engaged in subsistence farming. Within the PRS, there is an underachievement in this sector. Efforts to provide farming seeds and equipment were frustrated by large presence of disparities. In fact, the passing of seeds by the World Food Program (WFP) to famers is mostly late. Those seeds are sometimes converted into household meals by farmers and their families.
8. On education, a number of classrooms that were constructed by UNICEF and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), especially in those remote parts of Liberia’s rural areas, are abandoned. The food for school program sustained by donor funds, and which mainly attracted students and teachers, has been discontinued.
9. Liberia’s basic healthcare system is poor. The Clinton Foundation on HIV/AIDS prevention, the Malaria prevention unit, and key other programs are managed with foundation funds. Infant mortality rate is relatively higher; life expectancy is low at 48 years. Here is how it is summarized in a US State Department report:  Hospitals and medical facilities in Liberia are very poorly equipped and are incapable of providing many services.  Emergency services comparable to those in the U.S. or Europe are non-existent, and the blood supply is unreliable and unsafe for transfusion.  Americans with serious medical problems travel or are medically evacuated to the United States, Europe or South Africa. Medicines are scarce, often beyond expiration dates, and generally unavailable in most areas.  As there is neither an effective garbage removal service nor a functioning sewer system, the level of sanitation throughout urban areas is very poor, which increases the potential for disease.  Upper respiratory infections and diarrhea are common, as well as more serious diseases such as typhoid and malaria.  All travelers to Liberia must be vaccinated against yellow fever and should carry a supply of all prescription medication, including anti-malaria medication, adequate for their entire stay.  A typhoid vaccination is also recommended.
10. Conclusion pending.

Contact: Edmond Remie Gray, email: remiegray@gmail.com, Tel: 763-447-1063. Why don’t you connect with me on Tweeter and Face Book to talk some national issues?

CAN MADAM ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF TRULY BOAST OF ENCOURAGING POLITICAL DISSENT?

CAN MADAM ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF TRULY BOAST OF ENCOURAGING POLITICAL DISSENT?

By Edmond R. Gray

Political dissent is one of the milestone accomplishments that the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration brags about. The question remains, that being one of the oldest independent republics in the world, 163 years actually, does its citizens truly coexist as a people alongside their political differences? Our temperament as a people does suggest that we are still, deeply divided. Firstly, those who believe that political dissent has been achieved under Madam Sirleaf are only doing so to beef up their self-esteems. In retrospect, as a people, we still don’t have the guts to stand those who disagree with our political choices. We pursue those who are opposed to our sides in politics.  

Firstly, it is difficult to measure the political temperament of a government, which is largely protected by the guns of the United Nations. Among the canal reasons for the creation of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), is to encourage the rule of law, sustain the peace process, through the protection of freedom of political opinions. Most of us do not take this noble responsibility of the UN into account, when we measure the so-called accomplishment in Liberia. No need to mention how much whipping the UN took for sitting by in D. R. Congo, while over 5000 women were repeatedly raped.  

The truth is, in the midst of a UN observer’s mission in Liberia, no one can truly test the validity of the freedom of opinions in Liberia. It can only be tested when the UN departs. The UN has always intervened on occasions when the Morlues and Cephases were locked up for falling on the wrong side of the administration. Aside from that, what we imagine to be divergent of political views is a false sense of hope that is rooted in our quest for freedom as a nation. It is a false sense of hope that has its basis in our phony start as a so-called colony of the United States of America, or the church group, the ACS. 

Little should I mention the fact that, as a people, we have not established those political institutions to nurture our unreal democracy into a real democracy? For instance, a number of Liberians have not been educated of their political and individual rights. Nor have the strategies for the creation of these institutions, which educate Liberians of their rights, been created. Most Liberians don’t even know what their rights are. As a people, our preoccupation has largely been, making the case for nation-statehood. Those who preceded us as forefathers and mothers, wrestled among themselves, as to who was truly Liberian. Some believed that the atypical coloration of their skins made them more Liberians than others. One group defined Liberian citizenship as one who was born in the US, or by people of American descent. That system plagued us as a people, till, 1980.

Then we saw ourselves in a debilitating system of tribal bigotry. And no need to dwell on the nihilistic war, which devastated us a people in search of a unique identity. A number of middle age Liberians cannot account for a decent upbringing that was not marred by the fight for political powers. And if history has it straight, people like Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf are some of the generic makeup of our nation’s political identity. It is ironic that these same aging politicians, who wrestled with each other four or so decades ago, are still competing for political powers, well into this new millennium. 

Some argue that our organic laws have not restricted anyone from participating in Liberian politics based on age. True. But those same laws have given us the guidelines for retiring from public service. As a people, if we are to find a way forward, we must respect the rights of all Liberians to freely participate in exercises that are guaranteed by our laws. Therefore, Madam Sirleaf has the right to run for political office for as long as she sees fit. 

My contention with the exercise of Madam Sirleaf’s rights is one suffocated by moralism. It is one that says if we are to be taken seriously, as adult, we must abide by our promises made to others. You see, I hail and respect Comrade Nelson Mandela, who for all reasons, could have held on to the power that sent him to Robin Island for the brunt of his productive life as a citizen of the Zululand. However, his words are his bond. He is aware that if we are to be taken seriously, we must abide by what we professed today. Like Madam Sirleaf, he promised to run for one term, and despite many appeals to rerun, he never allowed himself to be lowered to political chicanery. My word, is my bond, he told his sympathizers in straight Ndebele but rhetorical accent. “Our true democracy as South Africans can only be tested, when others are granted the opportunities to lead”, Mandela said.  

Political dissent is only permeable through political will. However, in Liberia, the ability for people to hold on to their positions is stifled by presidential gifts or favors and personal integrity. For instance, during her recent visit to the UN General Assembly in New York, a number of well meaning opposition figures were requested by the president to accompany her on that trip. In orthodox terms, no one in their right mind will turn down an offer from the president of an African nation. But in essence, this is not only a violation of one’s fundamental freedom of association as guaranteed by the Liberian constitution; it is a despicable act that comes with a clear motive. The fact is, in the midst of poverty, only few people can truly exercise dissent. But who pays for those trips. Are those paid for with tax payer’s money, or from the personal purse of the president? This is a public policy concern that must be addressed. I truly believe that every veteran Liberian politician that survived the wrath of Tubman and Doe must have a compelling reason to sustain our fragile democracy. But some believe that we are well on our way to a one party system.

Whatever the motives for her rerun, one wonders if Madam Sirleaf’s age and health will give her the luxury to successfully serve a second term, if she wins? If this is the case, is she contesting to hand over power to an establishment that will foster her personal welfare? If the latter is true, is that a genuine reason to reward her with power for a second time? Besides, running for political office is all this woman ever understands; the question is would she want to be remembered as the first female African president who was defeated in office? Ohm, I doubt it. But let’s wait and see.

Edmond Gray blogs on http://remiegray.blogspot.com, he is the Founder and President of The Wish Center, a human rights organization that defends the rights of Africans, everywhere, www.wish-center.org. He can be reached at 763-447-1063 or remiegray@gmail.com

Observation on the Performance of the Ellen J. Sirleaf Administration

Observation on the Performance of the Ellen J. Sirleaf Administration

Part II

How important is Annex C of the SES Performance Contract?

One of the key functions of the County Development Officer (CDO) is to monitor the full implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS - LIFT LIBERIA). And as indicated in Part I of this analysis, the PRS is one of the primary economic vehicles through which the World Bank (WB), The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bank (ADB), and other donor organizations have adopted for use by Liberia to assist recover from its Civil War destruction. In a way of knowing whether or not the PRS is working, a tracking mechanism, comprising mainly of various indicators was put in place. There was the need to bring in a set of neutral watch dogs to police or track the overall progress of these indicators, and report same to the Project Implementation Committee (PIC). The CDO is one of such watch dogs. Who watch over the watch dogs? There is a Monitoring and Evaluating Office situated at the Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA) that does that. And that M&E office reports to the SES. Included in the watch dogs, is also a team of statisticians from the Liberia Institute of Statistics & Geo-Information Services (LISGIS). What is this? LISGIS is an independent agency created on July 22, 2004, by an Act of the National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA) of the Gyudi Bryant’s interim government. LISGIS is responsible to collect, compile, analyze, and geo-spatially disseminates data (http://www.lisgis.org/). To be candid, LISGIS could by itself watch over the implementation of the PRS. But there exists a potential room for conflict of interest. The Minister of MPEA heads LISGIS’s Board of Directors. These bureaucratic checks and balances are meant to reinforce integrity, a key donor expectation in the process. But they make government big and expensive to run too.

The donors wanted GOL to assume responsibility of the PRS. And to do so, they asked the government to foot a very small portion of the bill. Within the SES, GOL’s responsibilities are clearly spelled out in Annex C of the Performance Agreement. What is Annex C? Under the Aide Memoire, the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Planning, must provide operational vehicles, fuel, maintenance, office supplies, adequate communication facilities, etc. On their part, the CDOs were to perform by their terms of reference (TOR). Before going any further with this analysis, let me forthrightly tell you that the Government of Liberia has done nothing to fulfill this implicit expectation, till date. Now, you tell me whether or not the government of Granny Ellen is serious to develop Liberia through the PRS? But wait till I compare side by side, Liberia’s national economic recovery agenda, with that of Sierra Leone.

The Civil Service Agency of Liberia (CSA), Liberian Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC), Office of the President, Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), and LISGIS, fully endorsed SES’s mandate by emphasizing, that to ensure the effective coordination and implementation of the national development agenda at the county level, structures like the County Development Offices, and the M&E Assistants engaged in the monitoring and evaluation processes, were to be strengthened (Source, Aide Memoire, 2008). Accordingly, the goal was to ensure the successful implementation of the PRS.

Why must Annex C be implemented?

Under the terms of the Performance Contract, the Government of Liberia through its affiliate agency, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs was to fulfill Annex C of the agreement (see SES Performance Contract, 2008). Not only has this important aspect unfulfilled, the failure to do so has now compromised the integrity of the process. The question becomes, is GOL willingly honest to be monitored? GOL assured donor partners that, it will meet its footage of the cost to run the PRS by July 2008, day one of the scheduled implementation of the PRS (July 2008 ends July 2011). Why did GOL consent to a piece of proposal it was not willing to honor in the first place? On the one hand, the Sirleaf’s administration inherited a national debt in excess of US$5 billion, pre-dating to the era of President Richard Tolbert’s. However, over the years, this has been reduced by about US$1.7 billion through debt cancellation. On the other hand, Liberia’s debts hamper its ability to further borrower from the IMF, and its key partners (World Bank AC, ADB, etc). Under HIPIC (highly indebted poor countries initiatives), Liberia could have its remaining debts waived, regained borrowing potentials, but provided she makes impressive benchmark progress toward the complete audit of key government agencies, creation and implementation of a public financial management law, extension of health services and education, nationwide. All of these key conditions are part of the CDO’s monitoring functions. In view of this, CDOs have no vehicles and other means with which to verify the successful implementation of these and other projects stipulated in their terms of reference. The Ellen’s administration failed to meet a key IMF requirement which calls for a year long monitoring of conditions set by IMF for HIPIC qualification. Regardless of this, Antoinette Sayeh, former Minister of Finance under the Ellen’s administration, now IMF’s Regional Director for Africa has given Liberia a-six-months extension to meet these conditions. By June 2010, Liberia through LISGIS should have conducted national account surveys to help establish only an estimated financial data of Liberia’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). IMF visits Liberia in June? The question is, are we there yet?    

 

Why is the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s Government a Big Joke?

Toward the end of the Gyudi Bryant’s government, the pace was set for the Ellen administration to undertake some of the urgently needed recovery programs such as economic governance under the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP). In addition to other short to medium term essentials to move Liberia forward, there was the need for international involvement in revenue generation and economic governance. Others are maintenance of security, reintegration of former combatants, decentralizing government, transitional justice, judicial and legal reform, and especially those aimed at reducing the powers of the executive branch. The distress of Liberia’s security apparatus-army, police, SSS, NSA, etc, being the sources of insecurity and unhappiness for most Liberians in the past, still looms in the air. Security sector reform (SSR) remains largely unattained. Under the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), the issue of SSR is also compelling factor.  Security Pillar under the PRS has obtained mixed results so far. Most Liberians will tell you that they don’t believe the current security apparatus will meet the challenges if the UN pulls out now. The administration is ambivalent on the issue of security sector reform.  There was a bold approach to reform the army toward the end of the Gyudi Bryant interim administration.  This was mainly due to the popular national consent and the presence of the large multinational UN troops. Donors for most part, provided the needed support to sustain the momentum in the reform process, but government continues to show cold feet, enough to kill the hard-worn momentum. Because of this, those benchmarks set for army reform are under achieved. The recent lifting of the arms embargo on Liberia cleared the way for a poorly trained, poorly equipped national police to take the center stage. However the rapid drawdown of UN forces, a vital source of support for the police, underlines a new problem for LNP.

In one of my analyses, I differed with an army reform proposal that calls for an economically feasible army force of only 2000 manpower. I advocated for a substantial force majeure. In other words, you require a force size that represents current postwar realities, where strikes, armed robbery, riot or even war are frequent. Writing on warfare, Carl Von Clausewitz describes in his theory ‘fog of war’, that the uncertainty of whether your strength matches that of the enemy’s capability constantly hunt soldiers.  In any event, nurturing a small sized army to save money should have been measured in tandem with a careful assessment of the probable threats to which the AFL would have to respond. There is a national security strategy in place, but there seems to be a lack of consensus regarding who responds first in the event of a war or threat to national security. The potential for insurgency to arise from discontented groups is there. Recently, UNMIL responded to a riot in Lofa. Rumors also went around that dissatisfied former AFL soldiers were held up in the Sarpo National Forest. A number of land dispute cases remain unresolved. The recently formed Emergency Response Unit (ERU), if capacitated, may have the wherewithal to handle emergency crisis. Nonetheless, recruitment and training within the ERU is slow. Besides, the role of the force is not underlined in the national security strategy.

There seems to be an unexplained interest shown on the National Security Agency headed by the President’s foster son. The agency is heavily funded by the administration. Studies in law enforcement have shown that under the classification of security operations, law enforcement organizations have a way of getting away with corruption. Those studies also show that security agencies serve as transit corridors and hot beds for corrupt individuals (Caldero & Crank 2004; Delattre 2001; Meese and Ortmeier 2004; Miller 2000). Besides, Apostolou & Thibodaux (2003) stated in their work, ‘Why Integrity Matters’, of the difficulties one encounters when auditing security organizations. In Liberia, there are compelling indications that make this issue difficult to ignore. Mostly in Monrovia, a number of commuters get around by way of inferior Chinese-made Scooters, also known as ‘pempem’. Some complain that before the advent of the Ellen administration, her foster son, who now heads the NSA frequently used this medium of transportation, to go after his business. Today, on the surface, the West Point graduate does not only own a farm outside of crowded Monrovia where he goes to cool-off on intervals, he has an exclusively plushy paid-for bungalow that is manned by some of the rarest breeds of dogs, surrounded by a corrugated high perimeter security wall, which grotesquely separates the structure from this community of mostly squatters. He constantly sucks on expensive Cuban Cigars, frequents himself with expensive toys and automobiles. These include a Haley Davidson bike (state of the art), classical cars dating as back as the 50s and 60s, upscale GM-Chrysler vehicles, and others.

Under the Bush administration, the government of Ellen enjoyed enormous financial support while maintaining closer ties with Washington. Not only did Ellen receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, but according to Dana Perino, former White House Press Secretary, the US pumped in money for construction, security, education, disease prevention, etc. A total of more than US$740 million has so far been spent by the US on Liberia. In addition, Bush gave the Ellen government, one million textbooks for a country that has no library for kids; an incredible number of chairs and desks, enough to sit 10,000 school children (USAID). Ellen has received graciously from other donors, but showcases peanuts in return. There are overarching indications that the Obama frugal White House that is keener on putting its own domestic house in order is not so trigger happy to lavish US tax payer money behind a government in which “corruption is systemic (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/af/135961.htm)”. Part III of this analysis compares donations, development, and recovery in Liberia to Sierra Leone. 

The Paris Declaration of 2005 seriously considered the effective use of donations during its deliberations. Problems of economic governance and ineffective use of donor funds, ranging from poor to disconnection with those they are to benefit the most; no coordination between line ministries, failure to harmonize and align programs and policies put out by the poorly funded governance commission. Poorly designed projects, ineffectually monitoring of donor sponsored projects, and others were some of the concerns raised at the conference. The inability of the Ellen’s administration to follow through with the monitoring process, coupled with its indifference to align and follow through with meaningful policies and projects are exactly what the Paris declaration frowned upon. For instance, both the Jallah Town and S.K.D Boulevard road projects were poorly done such that they immediately showed signs of wear and tear after construction. With donor money, the Jallah Town Road project was redone.

And as indicated earlier, while the government was focusing on identifying ghost names on its payrolls, it was preoccupied with creating new and cost effective agencies with overlapping functions. For instance, there is a Ministry of Justice, and there is the toothless Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) that does not provide criminal penalties for corruption.  The Public Procurement Act on its part created the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission, and leaving the GSA up and running. This practice exists in every aspect of government. Such that, the functions of the police are also conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); the narcotic division at the Liberian National Police (LNP) has an overlapping Drug Enforcement Agency partner. Where there is a Criminal Investigation Division, there is the National Security Agency and the Ministry of National Security. The government of Ellen is the largest since the founding of Liberia. In her campaign promises, Ellen emphasized that her administration will see that Liberia is decentralized with a small but effective government. In Liberia, nothing gets done in the other fourteen counties unless it was approved by a minister who sits in Monrovia. To make matters worst, President Sirleaf urged the Liberian Legislature to withdraw from allocating and implementing local development projects contained in the County Development Agenda. The closure of the County Development Funds (CDF) by Ellen has put a complete halt on local county initiatives, a huge pie of the Ellen campaign promises. Such a move on the part of Ellen, and by observers’ account, reclaims centralized edge over county development projects, which for most part have benefitted those county officials who are loyal to Ellen, than reducing poverty. The declaration made by this 74 year old granny to participate in the 2011 Presidential Elections puts all national projects on indefinite hold. No one must scratch the back of their head for a reasonable answer to the awkward move. That is the oldest trick in the book. They will come around to tell you about the future outlook of the PRS, and how granny is the perfect one to end the task. Don’t be fooled, she is not running because of that, but to satisfy the likes of the Morris Seytumah, Charles Clarke, the Estrada Bernard, the Aunt Martha, and so on. She owes it to them and not you. Well let’s see. At least my teenage son has now reached the voting age.

The question is where are these funds?  

The following are the amounts that appeared on GOL Trial Balance Sheet: Out of US$1,099,648,084 total pledges made by donors, a total of US$946,416,402 was received, and US$692,038,915 is the last disbursement figure so far? Source: (http://www.afrodad.org/downloads/publications/Aid%20Mgmt_Liberia_Final.pdf)

The Trial Balance of the Donors indicates the following:

2004: US$363,530,455

2005: US$ 295,744,345

2006: US$407,692,998

2007: US$148,460,000

Total: US$1,216,417,798

Development in Sierra Leone between 2007 and now under the same PRS scheme has outperforms Liberia’s PRS efforts. Stay tuned for Part III