Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Challenges GOL And Calls On Opposition To Unite
The Liberian economy is in dire straits on all the counts...
debt overhang, unemployment, poverty, poor capacity, underdeveloped
and destroyed infrastructure. More importantly, daily activities
and reports point to increasing moral decadence. To counter these
trends, Liberia needs visionary and exemplary leadership at all
levels throughout the society. We need freedom from fear to challenge
the policies and practices which contribute to these trends.
Taylor's Liberia
Army: "Papay Doc's Tonton Macoutes"? - A
major obstacle to the realization of peace, and therefore stability
in Liberia, is the arrogant decision by the NPP after its victory
to shelf all brokered peace agreements that made its victory
possible. Once in office, Mr. Taylor and company proceeded to
do what they all along had planned to do: rule without any regard
for the organic law of the land, the Constitution.
The rotten carcass,
not the maggots
The grovelling agents of the tyranny have finally awakened from
their indifference and have started to work for the crumbs thrown
their way by their gangster-boss. These maggots, pitiful cannon
fodder in a scheme of plunder, thievery and banditry are the
flotsam oozing out of the rotten carcass that pollutes the seat
of power at the Executive Mansion.
We All Make Mistakes
- All Of Us Except, Of Course, St. Patrick
I don't intend to get into any long drawn out debate with Patrick
over the degrees of blame that should be assigned to various
players in the tragedy that has befallen our beloved country
these past 10 years. History will be the judge of that. I merely
want, for the record, to lay out the facts, some of which he
may be ignorant of because he came into ACDL late in the game
and did not exert himself sufficiently to be in the know about
all its activities.
Liberian Citizenship
and Passport Up for Sale!
Predictably, Liberia's economy and resources are fast being surrendered
to shady international syndicates determined to complete the
cycle of theft and plunder after seven years of the worst ever
recorded looting, massacres and displacement in the country's
history, factors which led to the country's economic decay.
Economic Costs Of Malaria
Are Many Times Higher Than Previously Estimated
Africa's GDP would be up to $100 billion greater this year
if malaria had been eliminated years ago, according to new research
by Harvard, London School and WHO
Debt and Adjustment
under the New Globalization Consensus: Can Africa Still Resist? - Recently, various activist groups backed
by hundreds of supporters converged on Washington D.C. to protest
against the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank.
Setting the Record Straight
- In an interview conducted with Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
and reported in the January/March 2000 issue of The Perspective,
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf is quoted to have said:...
Who Are Col. Quadafi's
"Us" and Mandela's "Self Appointed World Policemen"?
The much-talked about Europe-Africa summit in Cairo, Egypt, has
come and gone, with a stark warning and request from of one Africa's
most controversial and destabilizing agents, Libya's Col. Quadafi.
"Leave us alone as your ideas and cultures differ from ours",
he told European leaders recently.
A Citizen's Advice
to President Charles G. Taylor
Based on the promises that Mr. Charles G. Taylor would bring
economic development, good governance, and accountability to
public service, justice, equality and the rule of law, the Liberian
people elected him in 1997.
How Nigeria Prolonged
Liberia's Horror And Stamped Its Misery
A decade has elapsed since Nigerian troops landed in Liberia
and 4 years since the Nigerians spearheaded the 1997 elections
which propelled Charles Taylor, a declared foe of Nigeria, to
power. Within this period, over 250,000 died out of a population
of barely 2.5 million. The country's economy, already in a sorry
state, was reduced to tartars.
Empty Words, and
No Action
History is about to repeat itself again in Liberia.
As a people, Liberians have a short memory; they have refused
to learn a lesson or two from history. If there is any such thing
as a Liberian mindset, it is complicated and confused and difficult
to understand even among those who considered themselves "civilized."
Book Reviews and
Commentary
In a review of the historical literature on Liberia, there is
a plethora of academic studies geared towards the political and
social, rather than the personal. There is not only a scarcity
but also a glaring absence of memoirs and autobiographical studies,
which emphasize an individual's account or personal experience
of events, scenes and developments as they have occurred.
Capital and Development
in Liberia: Some Critical Issues
Behind the cloud over the issue of lack of development in Liberia,
different attitudes emerge towards the role of international
capital in domestic development. There are those who, unaware
of the current dynamics of international capital, and in their
honest desire to identify the appropriate forces for national
development, are quick to point to the importance of global finance
and investment capital in the development process.
Are Taylor's "Hands
Clean" in Liberia's State-Sponsored Terrorism?
An interesting development which has occurred since the gang-style
closure of Star Radio, is the simultaneous launching of the Liberian
News Agency (LINA) internet website as Taylor's high command
in his "Cyber War."
Pitfalls Of The Liberian
Economy: What Is Liberia's Choice of Economic Management?
- Like other badly run third world economies, the Liberian economic
problems are traced to a set of interrelated problems that are
amazingly taught in every day business school; in this case,
diversify the economy to avert potential stagnation arising from
over-reliance on one or too few primary export products...
Liberia: "One
baby, One Car Government" - The current trial
of human rights campaigner James Torh on charges of SEDITION
is one of the multiple pieces of evidence establishing the fact
that, despite a cruel civil war that killed 10% of the population
in the name of democracy and change, Liberia has receded deeper
and deeper into the terrible, uglier orbit of state sanctioned
terrorism.
LDF's Response To LINA
- The Liberian saga, in all its beastly and horrific dimensions,
continues to travel on a bumpy road, and the search for the truth
behind the launching of a gruesome genocide that saw 250,000
people perish in hails of bullets continues. In this all important
search for the rationale behind the horrors, the institution
and entrenchment of "You kill my ma, you kill my pa I'll
vote for you "political culture," we are getting facts
from unlikely sources.
The UN Report:
Hypocrisy and Containing Africa's Rogue States
The recent report by the United Nations, pointing fingers at
Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Togo, and other African
countries for fueling the ongoing Angolan horrors by arming and
backing the ruthless UNITA rebels in exchange for diamonds, is
a convincing testament of the spreading hypocrisy in Africa about
democratization, peace-building and continental security, while
the continent's political rulers remain active participants in
the trade of death and decay covering Africa.
Investigative Report on
Oriental Timber Corporation
There has been much concern and controversy regarding the role
of the Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC) A Malaysian business
entity that has been operating some of Liberia's most reserved
forests unscrupulously, without any control or regulation by
the government of Liberia.
"You killed My Ma,
you killed my Pa, I'll Vote for you"
"You killed my ma, you killed my pa, I'll vote for you".
This memorable song will continue to depict the psyche of contemporary
Liberians, and there seems to be no hope of discarding it. In
the name of a game called democracy, numbers matter, whether
or not numbers represent the wishes of the wretched of the earth.
Liberia May Dump Taiwan
for PRC
Informed sources within the Liberian government say the country,
desperate for cash for its tattered economy in the midst of international
isolation, may soon end its recognition of Taiwan to embrace
mainland People's Republic in exchange for much needed cash.
Issues In Perspective:
Taylor May Testify in London in Libel Case
President Charles Taylor of Liberia may have to give a personal
testimony in a libel case which his British lawyers have filed
in London against the London Times, disputing allegations that
he personally engaged in cannibalism during the Liberian civil
war that took about 250,000 lives and destroyed the West African
country of 2.6 million.
|