By R. Wesley Harmon

 

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

September 1, 2004

Reference is herewith made to your article of 31st of August instant, culled from The Forum Newspaper, in which D. Wah Hne, Special Assistant to “House Speaker Dweh” berated the Liberian populace for, what he described as “The ungratefulness of the people of Liberia towards their leaders”. Mr. Hne went on to say that, “this attitude has contributed to the downward trend of the nation in all of its programs”.

I found the statement by Mr. Hne to be very disingenuous and expedient, considering the fact that he is a stooge for a man that is considered one of the most brutal participants of Liberia’s civil conflict, who is credited with taking the lives of many innocent Liberians, the so-called “Speaker”.

I would like to humbly inquire of Mr. Hne to kindly state his and his boss’ claim to fame. Please spell out what you or your boss has done for the Liberian people that they should be so grateful for. In the same vein, what has been the contribution(s) of past leaders to Liberian society in general that the population should be bending over backwards to show gratitude for?

I submit that you, your boss or any of your so-called “leaders” would be very hard-pressed to come up with one iota of gratitude-generating contribution. As a matter of fact, the record will prove that your only claim to fame is the wanton killing of innocent Liberians. You are where you are because your boss proved to be as good at killing innocent Liberians as much as Charles Taylor was. In short the road to his speaker-ship is drenched in the blood of innocent Liberians.

How dare you speak in such derogatory terms of UNMIL, blaming them for denying Liberians “of basic social services and failing to expend the money given it for the intended purpose”. Have you forgotten why UNMIL went to Liberia? If you have then suffice this to be a reminder, UNMIL was dispatched to Liberia to bring an end to the unbridled murder of Liberians by your boss and his rebel organization and the other murderers-for-jobs.

It is not UNMIL’s responsibility to restore social services to Liberia. It is not their responsibility to rebuild schools, renovate hospitals, restore electricity, telecommunications, etc. That’s what governments are for. However, since this government is too busy stealing the people’s resources by the millions, it has renege on its commitment to the people in the interest of buying flashy cars, building fabulous homes and stashing huge sums of money in off-shore accounts.

What is a known fact is that Liberians have generally preferred previous leaders to current ones because the current “leaders” tend to try to surpass the excesses of previous ones thus leaving the population in a quandary, gasping for what they consider the lesser evil of the past. But you are too busy criticizing the people to wonder why that is so.

“O what a tangled web we weave when first we learn to deceive”. As it was in the past, deception is once again the hallmark of Liberian society. Every rebel-turned-politician thinks he has the right to make the Liberian people his foot-stool, forgetting the lessons of the past. They seem not to have learned anything from the lessons of those that preceded them. I would urge them to take a look around. Charles Taylor is being hunted like the common criminal he is; most of his lieutenants are stranded and cannot move about freely, though they may have the wherewithal to do so. Beware Mr. Hne how you treat the people of Liberia. It is you who and your boss that owe a debt of gratitude to the Liberian people for allowing such evil men to preside over their affairs. Don’t forget that ALL POWER IS INHERENT IN THE PEOPLE.

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