Add Values To Gold, Etc.: Will Prez Weah, Advisers & Tony Blair?
By J. Yanqui Zaza
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| Tony Blair |
On May 30, 2018, another adviser to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Tony Blair, joined President George Weah government supposedly to help him increase jobs, etc. Mr. Blair had worked with President Sirleaf from 2010 and continues to work with six other African countries, including Sierra Leone.
The question is, will advisers such as Mr. Blair, Mr. Emmanuel Shaw, Charles Bright, etc. help Liberia create jobs or use their advisory role to increase their own wealth? In the case of Mr. Blair, Telegraph, a British paper, stated that the former Prime Minister now owns between $50M and $80M since he left the Prime Minister position and established his philanthropic organization. The Telegraph also reported that the Mongolian government paid millions of dollar for Mr. Blair’s work as an adviser, and his Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) won a $3.3M contract based on a three-year deal with USAID. Further, he (Mr. Blair) is involved in securing business deals for wealthy clients in an African country that he also advised, Telegraph stated.
Unlike critics such as Telegraph, President Weah sees his adviser (Mr. Blair) trustworthy. After the government and Mr. Blair signed the Memorandum Understanding on May 30, 2018, President Weah said Mr. Blair has “…been a strong partner to Liberia in many ways… that the AGI capacity building and technical support initiative will provide an opportunity for the government to develop plans in the interest of the people of Liberia.”
Even if the advisers are honest, what measures are they going to employ and add values to Liberia’s primary products such as rubber, forestry, iron ore, Coffee, cocoa, oil palm etc. as President Weah’s Finance Minister, Mr. Samuel Tweh stated in the United States? Adding value does not only increase government revenue, it creates jobs especially for many former combatants, Mr. Tweh indicated. Okay, who should add values, investors or government? On the one hand, smuggling diamonds and gold outside of the country or importing rice generates more profits for investors than producing rice, for example.
On the other hand, government, as we know, is not a shareholder in the gold, diamond or farming industry; therefore, it cannot dictate to investors how, where or when they should employ their investment. And as long as profiteers remain the only shareholders, they will always protect their profits, even at the expense of society. More so, investors, wishing to make profits, have and continue to propagate the view that government should not play any role in the economy because bureaucrats are incompetent and corrupt.
It is true that government bureaucrats are corrupt, however, private investors also are not only corrupt, but their activity has and continues to increase income inequality. For instance, Mr. Emmanuel Shaw’s former boss, Mr. Stephen Tolbert, (brother of the late President William R. Tolbert) in the 1970s, accumulated wealth in excess of $50 million. Mr. Tolbert maintained residences in Washington, D.C., NYC, London, in Spain, etc. He chaired the Mesurado group of companies, which held ownership in hotels, a rubber plantation, poultry, and meat processing plants, agriculture feed, mining gold and diamond, and a fleet of fishing vessels.
The accumulation of wealth by a few privileged investors has continued in our country even after Liberia changed its economic advisers and punished former leaders. For example, on April 12, 1980, military men killed President Tolbert and thirteen former government officials; rebel leader Charles Taylor took over as President in 2003, and former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf managed Liberia’s economy from 2006 until 2017. Did the limit of government’s role in the economy encourage investors to create jobs? NO.
Government receiving minuscule revenue and decline in employment, primarily due to government’s limited role in the economy, is not limited to Liberia. Just as in Liberia, in Mr. Blair’s country, Great Britain, the government is not an investor; therefore, private investors manufacture goods outside of the country for higher profits. Consequently, with limited revenue, Great Britain is compelled to institute austerity measures such as turning “…assets into cash… closed public swimming pools…Police Stations have been shuttered…17 parks sold to developers, according to Mr. Peter S. Goodman.
Government’s minuscule revenue and a higher rate of unemployment are not the only casualties of a country when government’s role in the economy is limited as Mr. Paul Krugman and David Brooks explained by the April 3, 2018, NY Times. Mr. Krugman stated that political polarization as well economic polarization has increased in the US because the government continues to institute austerity measures in order to make up the shortfalls in revenue.
Additionally, Mr. Brooks stated that the trickle-down economic system has changed the mentality of Americans. They now believe in and practice the theory, which states; “…if you privatized property correctly, the law and order and social cohesion would take care of themselves.” Or to put it another way, he stated that Americans “…put faith in the idea that people know best how to run their own lives and that these individual choices can be woven into a common fabric.” But at the same time, Mr. Brooks added, “…people are, as Machiavelli put it, ungrateful and deceitful, timid of danger and avid for profit. The rivalry is inevitable. Everything is partisan. Anybody or any institution that claims to be objective and above the fray is a liar.”
Does Mr. Brooks’ characterization of Americans mirror Liberia’s? Forget about getting more revenue or increasing employment if government plays a role in the economy. Are Liberians not deceitful, ungrateful, shortsighted, etc.? Are Liberians honoring their Constitution, Laws enacted to minimize conflict of interest or our traditional values? Is everything not seen through partisan or ethnic lenses? Is money not the yard stake family members or friends use to judge someone? So, the government should become a shareholder, not only to add values to our natural resources but also for bureaucrats to reduce the influence of money.