The Obedience To The 8th Commandment By Government:  A Necessary Pre-Condition For A Sustained Peace, Happiness & Development

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
December 19, 2021

Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe

Members of the Platform Guests
The Administration of the School
Parents and well-wishers of the Graduates
Other Distinguished ladies and gentlemen

On a day like this when everyone is full of happiness, it is always good to remember those who did not live to see this day. Therefore, I humbly ask all the audience to stand with me for a moment of silence in memory of the members of the School Community and their family members, who were taken away by death, during this year. Thank you and you may be seated.

Today is graduation day and it reminds those of us here who have had the same experiences that members of the graduating class are experiencing today. It is a day that is full of a mixture of happiness for completing high school, the dream of enrolling in a technical or vocational school or a university to obtain a certificate or a degree in some field of study and become a contributor to your family and country.

There is no doubt that both the graduates and their families will be happy today. In fact, the happiness of the graduates started on the day that the students were informed that they met all the requirements for graduation from high school. But graduation from high school is just the beginning of one’s academic preparation for life. This is why graduation is referred to as commencement.

Today is, therefore, not the end, but the beginning for the graduates. But the dreams of obtaining a professional certificate or a degree to qualify the graduates to contribute to the upliftment of their families and the development of Liberia depends on the political will of the government to provide the enabling environment for these dreams to become a reality. But for the government to do so, it must have the resources and it must allocate them properly.   Liberian history has shown that it has been very difficult for the Liberian Government to develop the capacity to meet its obligations to its citizens. The monumental challenge the Government of Liberia has had since 1847 up to this day, has been to obey Commandment number 8 of the Ten Commandments which states, “Thou shall not steal”. Therefore, I will briefly speak to you on the topic: The Obedience To The 8th Commandment By Government:  A Necessary Pre-Condition For A Sustained Peace, Happiness And The Development Of Liberia.

Liberia could have been a much better country than it is today, if the Government of Liberia, from one generation to another had been committed to strictly upholding the 8th Commandment. I strongly believe that the 8th Commandment was not placed in the Holy Book only for the protection of the property rights of individual members of society.

I believe that in God’s infinite wisdom, He made this rule for the protection of the resources that He has made available to His people, not to be stolen by those whom He has placed in charge to govern His people on earth. Therefore, the eighth Commandment is also for the protection of the collective property rights of the people. In countries where the collective property rights of the people are respected and protected by the government, sustained peace, security, progressive development and an appreciable level of happiness of the people becomes the result.

There are countries in Africa where obedience to the 8th Commandment by governments has been noted by their people and the world. Botswana, for example, has been identified in every report of credible international institutions as the least corrupt country in Africa. stop

It means that the Government of Botswana is not stealing the income from the resources that God has made available to the people of Botswana for all of the people of that country. Therefore, Botswana has not experienced any military coup or civil conflict. There are other countries in Africa that are similar to Botswana, such as Tanzania and Rwanda, in obeying the 8th Commandment. In West Africa, the Republic of Ghana has been identified as making great efforts to obey the 8th Commandment.

Since governments do not run by themselves, but by the men and women, elected by the people and those appointed by the elected people to run the government, the credit of obeying the 8th Commandment goes to the men and women who are running the governments of Botswana, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana, especially their presidents. In Botswana, for example, the credit goes to its first president, Sir Seretse Khama.

Botswana under his leadership has been described as less corrupt compared to other African countries. Successive presidents of Botswana have followed the legacy established by its first president. Therefore, there is now a culture of obedience to the 8th Commandment by the Government of Botswana.

Botswana does not have a situation whereby a majority of the people are experiencing poverty and the few citizens who should be protecting the income derived from the resources, are building multiple expensive houses and living a life of luxury, while a majority of the people live in poverty. As a result, Botswana has been very peaceful and has many excellent roads, schools, hospitals, housing, and enough food for all its citizens. That is why we do not hear of frequent civil disturbances such as street protests, violent demonstrations, etc. and there has not been any military coup or civil conflict in Botswana.
Botswana, by every yardstick of measurement, is a better functioning country than Liberia. Yet, Liberia gained independence in 1847, and Botswana became independent on 30 September 1966, 119 years, later. At independence in 1966, Botswana was listed among the poorest countries in the world; but today, due to good governance, Botswana is no more listed amongst the poor countries of the world. It is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

At the time of Botswana’s independence,  it is reported by writers that, Liberia was at the same level as Japan in terms of its gross domestic product per capita.  It is interesting to note that Botswana is a landlocked country and is almost covered by desert, the Kalahari Desert. Liberia on the other hand has a long coastline with several seaports and contains almost half of the forest land in West Africa and plenty of water. God has blessed this country with abundant resources on our land, under our land, and in the waters, including the Atlantic Ocean. But because our government has failed, neglected, and refused to obey the 8th commandment, Liberia is listed amongst the very poor countries of the world today and Botswana is now amongst the rich countries of the world because successive governments of Botswana continue to obey the 8th commandment.

Look within your communities and see how poor the majority of the people are and how fast some people holding government positions, who could not afford to pay rent for a single room, just a few years ago, are now building expensive mansions as if they have money machines in their homes.

The situation in our country is so bad compared to Botswana. The President of Liberia now owns more houses and expensive ones too, than he had before becoming President of our country. Sometimes, one wonders whether our president is running a real estate company or governing Liberia.

A president is required by law to be president twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. His power and responsibilities are not shared with anyone in the government as is done in the legislature and the judiciary. That is the reason why he is immune from any lawsuit, under Article 61 of the Constitution of Liberia.

Some ministers and another high official of governments, too, are building expensive structures in the shortest period of time and our lawmakers whom we elected to seek our interest by appropriating our yearly income for our police, other law enforcement officers, the judiciary, our roads, schools, shelters and health services, amongst other needs, gave themselves US$30,000 each, in the last budget, and they are 103 lawmakers. This means, they took US$ 3,090,000.00 from our money and divided it among themselves.

From what I know, as a layperson about rural development projects, US$15,000 can be used to build a clinic in a village, by mobilizing the people to make laterite bricks and provide sand, with the government supplying the roofing, floor, and other materials.

Therefore, with US$3,090,000, the members of the legislature should have appropriated money for 206 clinics to be built all over the country, thereby reducing the burden of carrying sick Liberian citizens to clinics, many miles away from their homes, with the risk of many dying before reaching to the nearest clinic. Also, these clinics would have provided jobs for our nurses, many of whom are unemployed because of the lack of clinics to place them. Yet, although most citizens of Liberia have criticized the lawmakers for taking US$30,000 each from last year's budget, they are so insensitive that they have decided to divide more than US$30,000 each this year.

Are the Liberian lawmakers representing themselves or the people of Liberia? They call this money legislative engagement money. In order words, they are giving themselves more money in addition to their regular pay, just to meet their people. This is the first time this is happening in Liberia and the only country in the world in which this kind of thing is happening. The worst thing is that this money cannot be accounted for.

Therefore, the General Auditing Commission cannot audit any lawmaker to find out how this huge amount of money was used and if, in fact, it was used at all. I consider this a misapplication of entrusted property, which under our law is stealing. Did we elect the lawmakers to steal from us? The answer is no.

I am asking all citizens of Liberia to join me in demanding that our lawmakers remove the budget item called legislative engagement from the budget and instead equally share the money stated in that budget line between the Ministry of Health and Education. If legislators refuse to do so, then the Liberian people should not vote for them during the next legislative election.

The argument of some lawmakers that members of their constituency often make demands on them for school fees, hospital bills, and other personal needs, is an unjustifiable excuse for stealing our money. If their employers, members of their constituencies, are making demands that they do not like, then let them resign from their positions as Senators and Representatives or let them not seek re-election. Some former lawmakers left the legislature, by not seeking re-election because they were not satisfied with their employers, members of their constituencies. Their actions were honorable.

When I served as Minister of Labor under President Sirleaf and did not like some of the things that were happening under her government, I resigned, instead of remaining in government and complaining. This is how honorable people behave. No lawmaker, political appointee, or employee of government is forced to remain in his or her position. The right to work is a constitutional right that can be exercised by seeking employment, resigning from employment, or not looking for work. Therefore, the excuse of the lawmakers is, legally and morally, unacceptable. If they truly love the people, then let them use their monthly income to legislatively engage them. This is the kind of sacrifice that the ministers and civil servants are making every day in their communities.

Otherwise, pretty soon, ministers and other officials of government and civil servants will ask for additional money for community engagement, given that every government employee in this country receives multiple demands daily, in their communities for the personal needs of their neighbors because of the high level of poverty in Liberia. Ministers and civil servants too are asked to pay school fees of their neighbors’ children, to pay the delivery fees for their neighbors’ wives, to assist their neighbors with the payment of house rents, amongst other demands.

The Government of Liberia does not only steal from the impoverished people of Liberia, it also steals from our development partners. Over a year ago, nine diplomatic missions in Liberia wrote an open letter to the Government of Liberia, accusing it of taking and using their money without their consent. This is stealing. Because of this act, our current government has been shamefully described by United States Congressman Chris Smith as a Kleptocracy, a government run by people who steal.

My question to you graduates, is, do you want Liberia to be developed like Botswana? If yes, then in the 2023 Presidential and Legislative elections, elect credible leaders in the executive and legislative branches of the Government of Liberia who will put Liberia first by making the Government of Liberia to obey the 8th Commandment like the Government of Botswana.

Now, graduates, you are graduating from a mission school in which you were taught to obey the Ten Commandments. The only gratitude that you can show to Reverend Leo Simpson, members of the school administration, and your teachers, who taught you Christian and critical moral values, is to obey all the commandments, especially the 8th Commandment, wherever you work in the future.
When you do so, you will be greatly promoting your, soon to be, alma mater, Haywood Mission Institute. Be good ambassadors of Haywood Mission Institute. You may be seated.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I thank you.