President George Manneh Weah

It may now seem almost a century since December  26, 2017, but still in our subconsciousness George Manneh Weah was set out not to be the normal, seasoned politician or intellect that we anxiously wanted to maintain the status quo. But then soon after January 22, 2018,  we quickly wept away our tears and accepted the fact that Liberia, indeed,  now has a very normal and highly innovative presidency of its time. With only two major speeches to his credit thus far, the new President has shown himself to be a master tactician – he is where nobody expects him.

Here are few examples that I have analyzed to demonstrate the President’s quick adjustment to the stature of a normal and innovative presidency. A presidency that has reawakened our dreams and spirits from a long and nerve wreaking pessimism.

Example N°1- President and Madam Clar Marie Weah: Enviable Executive Model Couple

Truly, it is highly refreshing to see Liberia with an enviable model Executive Couple - humble, energetic father and mother figures – with eyes to see the suffering, ears to hear the cries of helplessness, and the heart to care and comfort a people in distress and loss of direction.

In the footsteps of her husband, Madam Weah has taken on her role - visiting hospitals, orphanages and more to come. But not before then, when Liberians were first introduced to the First Lady on January 22, 2018, the detractors and some media went into a nationality phobia– not any more against a White, but a Black person. That the lady was not a Liberian, but a Jamaican national.  And mind you, she is a pure “Negro” decent and thus eligible to become a citizen of Liberia any minute of the day.

Additionally, we also forgot our history that some of our nation’s most brilliant and great statesmen- the Barclays, Grimes, and others – have their origins from the West Indies, arriving in Liberia from the 1860s. Well, no wonder the topic quickly disappeared, leaving our people to quietly breathe the calm festive air of change.

Please forgive us then, Madam First Lady, and continue with your humility to give and care for our abandoned orphans, the sick and poor elders. God will bless you and give you strength, courage and a long life by the side of our President as his first rampart of support, trust and love as the going gets tough.                

Example N° 2 - A Simple, Short, Precise  Inaugural Speech

Most of us were waiting to hear the President’s inaugural speech – a speech to be in some broken up or colloquial English, but none of that. Instead, it was excellent, short, simple and precise; all the dots, commas, hyphens, spellings, exclamation marks, etc were well in place. And most importantly, the jam-packed SKD stadium with over 40 thousand people heard loud and clear the essential in this simple, correct English speech: “ Pro-poor Governance.” And you must believe it – the entire stadium flew up in hysteria of applause and enthusiasm.

In effect, the President had simply established a major ideological difference from the rest of the Liberian political parties. We all knew the President to have been a populace favorite but never had the slightest idea that the man himself had a deep down populace believe and development agenda. So I dare say that the CDC could well be the de-facto left-wing liberal party that our generation has long awaited to be in total opposition to the conservative right-wing ideology that has ruled Liberia for the past 170 years.

And if my assertion is correct, then this should be a new era for our national body polity – not only for the vitality of our young democracy but also could positively change our perception on the best economic development model to hasting our general national progress. Just imagine how quick some of our financial experts and intellectuals engaged a very enlightened debate on the “Pro-poor Governance” platform. Because of the timing, it left no doubt on anyone’s mind that the platform was not a mere political rhetoric which would have tempted the President’s critics to call him a neo-progressive. Instead, we deduced from our experts that the platform was well thought, timely and tailored to be in direct opposition to the famous “Good Governance” – this bureaucratic invention of the World Bank, IMF & Co. to camouflage their disastrous monetary policies of “profit” - strangulating poor countries into massive debt traps, poverty, and corruption.

In essence, the President was telling the World Financial cartel: “Look, folks, we have now attained our democracy – the absence for which the “Good Governance” was established as a pretext. Let us now focus on the collateral damages - mass poverty and underdevelopment – accumulated in the process.”  A nice way to tell the partners that you definitely want help, but to where it is needed the most.

The other lesson to be learned from President Weah’s humble speech is that the “content” counts the most, and not necessarily the flowery eloquence of presentation. Additionally, he has also shown us the most effective way to teach or interact with our poor and uneducated people with respect and dignity. Because we the so-called “book or civilized people” have a tendency to lower our people by speaking to them in broken up English and making fun or laughing at them at the same time.  This practice puts the poor man or woman always in a position of inferiority, and thus never able to speak English correctly.

In short, the President is saying if we want our poor and illiterate people to learn, understand and speak the English language better, we must communicate too in simple, but very correct English.

Example N°3 - First State Of The Nation Address: A Bombshell

The President’s first State of the Nation Address was another masterpiece of simplicity, but again, the essential was said and clearly heard. By now none of us should have any doubt on the man’s determination to transform Liberia profoundly in this 21st century. And make no mistake; I do not think the President underestimates the enormous challenges and obstacles along his path.

Look, I am fascinated by the President’s moves as a seasoned tactician. He gets to where nobody expects him. Thus no one expected him to have told the Liberian people his ardent intention to lead the nation in straight accordance with our constitution.  And he did not stop there, went further to read in toto the relevant articles of the constitution relative to the “Good Governance” of the state. Of course, at no time did he mention the word “democracy”; and rightly so, because “democracy” is embedded in our constitution.

Frankly then, we Liberians should rejoice that after taking the oath of office to “respect and uphold the constitution”, the President came back to reiterate his commitment to respect this organic law to the letter. Then almost admonished us that if he should default on his commitment, we must hold him fully responsible, and no one else. In other words, no one should be an eye-servant or deceitful to find any excuse for him: “The President is a good man, but that those people around him are spoiling his name.” No, then you are a hypocrite to get out of sight. But if you are honest then tell him where you see the wrong and give your idea on how to correct that wrong.

Further, true to his consistency and sincerity (others may think the contrary), the President told Liberians that as good as the constitution, it also has some serious flaws that taint our nationhood and undeniably impede Liberia’s economic development. And to get the message across, the President lifted the veil on the three main virus that poison our constitution: “Limitation of  citizenship only to Black people”, “Restriction of land ownership exclusively to citizens” and “Dual citizenship.”

Immediately Liberians went into a hysterical debate over any idea of amending their cherished “nationality and land ownership” clauses. But anyone reading keenly the President’s propositions would find out that he gave copious convincing arguments why these articles are obsolete. In other words, it was a well-reflected idea and nothing off head. For this reason, the President did not mince his words on the nationality clause: “…it is my view that keeping such a clause in our constitution is unnecessary, racist, and inappropriate for the place that Liberia occupies today in the  comity of nations.”   It could not have been said any better, Mr. President; I applaud your frankness and farsightedness.

Here is a hypothetical example. A Liberian man or woman married a White person; both worked very hard in Liberia and invested all their savings in land and real estate for their retirement – of course, everything in the name of the Liberian partner. At retirement, the Liberian partner filed for a divorce and took away everything, leaving the White partner in total destitute. Can anyone imagine this degree of a cruel racism and injustice?        But most of us have acquired foreign citizenships since the civil war – with every right to buy and own anything legal that money can purchase in these countries – yet we have the most nationality phobias.

For the thousands of Liberians that line-up before the US embassy every day for visas, I wonder what will they say were the US  to put a visa ban until Liberia scraps that racist clause from its constitution. Or what if those in the US could not become citizens and own a property; I wonder would they give a damn about America.

And you know something; our women are even the collateral victims. Take the Lebanese for example (our bêtes noires), they have no interest in marrying our women who could help them run and develop their businesses in couples. The risk is too high when homes, land and all they should own must be in the name of the woman. So they only exploit our women, and for the same reason also they do not trust us to get into any business partnership. Then we are vexed like hell with them but satisfied to grant them our 50 or 100 years land leases and receive a miserable rent in return.

But mind you, the Lebanese are not the only one to exploit us with our racist constitution. Since Harvey Firestone introduced the 99-year concession lease agreement idea to Liberia from the 1930s, all the other concessionaires  that have come with the same mindset (LMC, LAMCO, NIOC, Bong Mines, and others), built only “mini paradise states” within Liberia; and while we sit idle on the periphery as mere spectators, our hands between our legs, dancing, boozing and playing the big-shots over a massive poverty-stricken people and an under-developed nation.

And how many of these expatriates left the walls of their mini-paradises to marry a Liberian woman or return to Liberia to invest in a country with so many natural resources and opportunities? That is your guess.

Thus the correlation between Liberia’s chronic under-development and its racist constitution is as clear as day to me.  Those 170 years wasted cannot be attributed only to bad governance and corruption.  It is, therefore, the moment that we free our country from its excess baggage carried since 1847.

Thank you, Mr. President; and please stand your ground while the time is still on your side.

Example N°4 - The President And Vice President In Tandem
As we Liberians are inherently sinister people, many had hoped for an immediate collision course between the President and his Vice President. But President Weah believes strongly in the constitution, and this organic law defines clearly the roles of each one serving at the helm of power. Thus the President’s fervent commitment to the constitution has put everybody on their guard –Legislature, Judiciary, Vice Presidency, and all others – to respect the rules of good governance or be an outcast.

So all the pieces of the puzzle are perfectly in place; the VP is in her official role – head of the Legislature, deputizes for the President, Group of 77, attends cabinet meetings, and all other tasks that the President may deem necessary.

Notwithstanding, as the experience from the previous administration has shown, it is not advisable for a dissatisfied VP to distance himself at the last minute from a government to which he was a full and beneficiary participant. The most honorable thing then for a VP to do –instead of keeping a grudge or tortured mind for 6 years – is to resign since the constitution does not permit the President to fire his VP. But having in mind, though, that such a resignation may come at a very high political risk.
So, Mr. President and Madam VP, I beg, please maintain an exemplarity of unity and harmony between our dynamic Executive pair and work assiduously in the interest of our country and people. And the people shall reward you.

Example N°5 – Voluntary 25% Salary Deduction
No one expected the President to have imposed upon himself a voluntary 25% salary deduction. It is a very laudable symbolic gesture, indeed. But let me also remind him that the former French President, François Hollande, did the same at the onset of his administration, but none of the other branches of government ever followed his example.

Thus, Mr. President, I am afraid that if you do not put your foot down and impose some rigorous generalized austerity measures, donors, partners, and even Liberians may not take you very seriously. In fact,  your administration may be subjected to serious blackmail if you have to go around begging to meet an indecent government payroll. Some countries in Europe are still going through stringent austerity cures (reduced salaries, social security, etc to keep their heads above the waters; so why not Liberia?

Example N°6 – A Bilingual President: An Advantage

Most of us ignored that President Weah is bilingual - he speaks French very fluently. Since French was introduced in the Liberian schools probably in the 1960s, I think President Weah could be the first Liberian leader with the ability to chat tête-à-tête with most of the world leaders and attend AU conferences without an official  French interpreter. And it is good news for the national budget, and also reinforces confidentiality and trust between leaders who do not converse through an interpreter. It is also an enormous advantage,  especially when most of the  African countries are francophone. 

Example N°7 – Beware, Foreign Travels
Foreign travels are necessary during this crucial period of “get to know you and your national agenda”. But when that is over, Mr. President,  I hold your foot, please organize quickly and take your pilgrimage forcefully to the Liberian people; then leave the rest to your principal lieutenants to carry on some of the globetrotting.
Well, Mr. President, though the road is still long, but so far, so good. I assure you of my fullest and modest support. If you get it right, I will praise you; if you get wrong, I will share my ideas. Democracy obliged. 

 

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