Open Letter to President Ellen Sirleaf on Her Stance on the Corruption Fight In Liberia

By Randy Darpoh

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
April 5, 2011

 

Dear Madam President:

I wrote this letter this week to you but I am not sure if you got it because there was no response for acknowledging receipt of my letter from the officer in charge. So I chose this medium that is certain will receive get to you timely. My name is Randy Darpoh (no relation to Rufus or MaClaude Darpoh). I am a Liberian currently living in the USA. Since you were elected President of Liberia, I have been following the success and progress you have made and continued to make on behalf of the people Liberia. In addition to tracking your local success in Liberia, I have also been in contact with Chris Lane, Deputy Division Chief African Department at the IMF who provided a copy of the DMSDR1S - 4361490 - v1 - Liberia - 2010 - Article IV and 5th ECF Review - Staff Report – Version to me. The report shows some progress your government had made, although the IMF expectations were not fully met, but I do understand the timeline rule to recovery are sometimes mirrored to the years of destruction and it is my hope that these goals and objectives find place in every Liberian hearts and minds to re-elect you. Madam President, the first time I saw you, it was in 1985 when you were falsely accused, I was a kid but I fairly remember seeing you on TV, on that day, you were in a black dress with a black head tie. Who would ever think you would be to where you are and doing such great things for Liberia.

Madam President, of all the plan of actions you have implemented as our President, the greatest action I am so proud of is the step you took when you declared war on corruption. Your declaration didn’t come from the usual template of empty promises but it comes from your philosophy of themes, tales, theories, tools, and tasks. You have demonstrated your government commitment to fight corruption with these 4 Ts because you figured that the themes would be your policy subject to fighting corruption. The tales are stories told by Liberians about what corruption has done to progress, the theories are based on what you have heard and seen about corruption, tools and tasks are the strategies you were hoping to utilize to fight corruption.

Madam President, your decision to entrust this task to Mr. John S. Morlu was perfect in that, he has no connection to you, your party and was not known by the Liberian public. Madam President, I don’t know this gentleman, never met him before, but the things I admired of him is the way he utilized the tools to not only fight corruption and expose those who favor and practice it but the ethical standards he employs to approach and fight the virus of corruption in Liberia. His style of approach if continues would be a force that will discourage corruption. Eliminating virus corruption from a corrupt system requires an individual who has empathy and sympathy for his government, country and people. This gentleman (Mr. John S. Morlu) record and performance have shown his commitment to support your goal and objective.



Madam President, as you know Liberia is on a continent that has been described by the IMF and the global communities as a continent that is engulfed with systemic corruption and being the first female President on the continent who publicly declared war on corruption is something I can’t agree with you anymore. As you know Madam President, corruption poses a serious developmental challenge to the success of a government agenda, in the political realm; it undermines democracy and good governance by subverting formal processes, corruption in elections and in legislative bodies reduces accountability and representation in policymaking. In the judiciary system, corruption suspends the rule of law, in the public service, corruption produces unequal provision of services and finally, corruption also undermines economic development by generating considerable distortion and inefficiency.

Madam President, your total success at the end of your second term which I am confident you will get would be judged and measured by Liberians and the International community based on the points mentioned above. Madam President, Mr. John S. Morlu now understands how the virus, corrupt systems and controls operate in Liberia. In so doing, I would appreciate if you could allow him to continue. I am a strong fan of your administration because of the values you stand for and would like to continue to be, but changing a steady team of yours would create a room for more criticism of your philosophy to fight correction.

It takes 200 hundred Liberians to get one perfect one to fight corruption like John. Madam President, when the sun set on your final term, how would society rate and judge your dream to fight corruption? I like you because you earned what you have and who you are.

I sometime tell my daughter bed story about your life and what you are doing in Liberia for her grand mom, father, aunts and uncles. When your term is up, what will I tell her about your administration accomplishment? Will your story be remembered by her as a fairy tale or a shock? Madam President, you are a role model for many people around and that alone makes me proud to be a Liberian. God bless Liberia.

___________________________________________________

Randy Darpoh
Environmental Engineer Technologist & Environmental Policy and Management AnalystEmail address: Monday10d@gmail.com
Ph: 215 475 9088


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