The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
January 7, 2020

Passing on the corruption legacy

It is time for Liberia to ring in 2020 with deep reflection, a sense of profound optimism, and hopes for a better decade after the ritual of ablution and catharsis of the sins of the past decade, e.g., economic and social injustice.   The third decade of the 21st century is here; and, Liberia needs to take stock of the past and begin engineering better governmental institutions, social and economic equality, and renewing aspirations and hopes for greater prosperity, peace, and stability in the new decade.  WE THE PEOPLE of Liberia must make this period the most seminal progressive decade in the history of our Republic by electing competent and patriotic men, and women, fighting corruption, taking back our domestic economy from foreign monopoly and more. 

The second decade (2010s) of the 21st century ended on Tuesday, December 31, 2019. Globally, it was a decade that began with an epic global financial meltdown, the rise of social media, the birth of the Arab Spring on December 8, 2010, the election of two lunatics—one in the United States (Donald Trump) and the other in England (Boris Johnson)—and the Great Awakening of global warming championed by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. The decade is best described by the New York Times Opinion writer, Ross Douthat, as “The Decade of Disillusionment.” 

For Liberia, it was the decade of UN “Trusteeship,” Chinese hegemony,  the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf presidency (the first woman president on the African continent), the black death of Ebola, the great economic divide (between the new political elites – the autochthonous and their brothers and sisters), endemic corruption, and the election of a football (soccer) star as president.   The 2010s decade is best described as “The Lost Decade of Opportunity for Human Capital Development, institutional building, and physical infrastructure.” 

Liberia entered the second decade of the 21st century from the city of Tartarus and Dante’s Inferno.  Tartarus and Dante’s Inferno best described our 1989 Christmas gift given to us by Charles Taylor.  On Christmas Eve, 1989, Liberia descended into the “Heart of Darkness” and remained there for 15 years.  With the help of the international community (especially ECOWAS), darkness was moved from the surface of the deep and the light of Providence was upon us again.  This cataclysmic event brought the greatest outpouring of sympathy and compassion from the international community.  They poured in billions of dollars to begin building a new nation.  But, like the 1960s, we squandered the economic opportunity (Growth Without Development) to develop our human capital and build a new Athens in Africa.

The third decade of the 21st century is upon us and our Republic is still a fragile and enfeebled nation.  Our institutions are extremely weak and riddled with incompetence.  Charles Taylor’s war ended in 2003. That is 16 years ago, yet we have made very little progress in terms of our human capital development and building better political institutions to serve our people.  Above all, the worst sin our leaders have committed since 1944 is the government’s continuous sanctioning of a foreign monopoly of our domestic economy—a policy that continues to exacerbate the poverty of the masses.

Terminal cancer that brought death to the Americo-Liberian oligarchy in 1980 after 133 years of rule is still with us.  It is even worse this time because it is a malignant brain tumor. The severity of this disease calls for political laser surgery; without that, we are doomed again.  In view of where Liberia has been in the last four decades (1980 to 2020), it seems that we have been encaged in an age of discontent and disillusionment with our successive governments’ failure to free us from poverty and disease or to provide equality of opportunity for all under the rule of law.  We can make this cage our permanent abode or we can break free (guaranteed by the constitution) to sail the ocean of freedom, economic and social equality, and the rule of law, and prosperity for all.  Well, three centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson gave mankind the answer when he wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men…that when that government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it.”  WE THE PEOPLE of LIBERIA are the Masters of our destiny and the Captains of the ship of our Republic.  We must take the oars and helm of our Republic in this new decade and build a new Athens. 

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands…,” WE THE PEOPLE OF LIBERIA are at such a momentous period in our history.  The preamble of our constitution begins with this reverence phrase: WE THE PEOPLE of the Republic of Liberia... should take hold of this decade and make it our defining moment in the history of Liberia to change its course toward the North Star of justice, equality, and fraternity.  Before the end of this decade on December 31, 2029, we must achieve the following:

On January 1, 2030, let us hope that Liberia has functioning institutions serving the PEOPLE, a domestic economy that is now largely Liberian-owned, a Court of Arms that is inclusive, and a constitution that was ordained by the PEOPLE.  As Abraham Lincoln said, we can truly say that we have a Government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, and for the PEOPLE.

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