The wretchedness of the inner soul can be determined by our interaction with people, colleagues, acquaintances and friends. There can be no other determinant of the viciousness and crudity of the ‘self’ than the way we relate to those who accept us willingly into their confidence. The vicious man will scheme, lie and pretend, but in the final analysis, he will return to the defining traits of his character and invariably leave a trail of broken relationships, deals of treachery and unconscionable perfidy.
With the wretchedness of the soul comes deceit, hypocrisy, vainglory and that exaggerated opinion of the ‘self’ that bothers on the comical. In this situation, one takes oneself seriously when all others can see the shallowness and pretences. It is this mutilated ‘self’ that cries out for repentance and lashes out at the slightest questioning of its rottenness. It is not only rotten but highly neurotic and the psychological implications are scary. Thus, in trying to understand the symptoms of certain neurosis, one has to deal with specific fixations and go on to extrapolate a definite causality.
First and foremost, we must deal with this individual called Tom Kamara, the ‘self’ that he purports to find and satisfy before examining his trite remarks and comments about ideology, indoctrination and greed. We will try to leave out our own disappointment with the tawdriness of his arguments, the skewness of his logic and his barren assumptions that borders on useless tittle-tattle. The fact of the matter is that the man’s forte is obviously not philosophy and thus his attempt to grapple with the concept of the’ self’ becomes a ridiculous absurdity. The ‘self’ finds fulfillment in individual pursuits that relate to the satisfaction of the ego. It could be in the fields of arts, aesthetics, literature, business, philanthropy, etc., but the primary consideration is projecting the ‘self’ in an area of operation that satisfies certain yearnings. In the area of politics on the other hand, the ‘self’ can only be subordinated to the general will. This is why people in politics must develop public-spiritedness. The art of politics deals with service only to the community. Thus, one enters politics not to satisfy the ‘self,’ but to sacrifice for the general good. This is a simple lesson for those who want to satisfy the ‘self’ by using the resources of the community. This is a negation of politics and for anyone to argue that “what is true is the pre-eminence of the self over the general” in the field of politics, is not to understand the fundamentals of political philosophy as argued and debated from the time of the Greek City States to the modern era!
However, let us come back to Tom Kamara and his obsession with Dr. Amos Sawyer and the interim government in which he (Kamara) served. What is really nagging this fellow that he seems to have lost sense of all rational analysis? It cannot be corruption and greed, because he admits that he is corrupt and greedy. How else can one explain the fact that he accepted a luxury car from the interim government at the end of its tenure for a paltry sum? How else are we to define an individual who at the time when most of the citizens in Monrovia were living in darkness took a room at the Ducor Palace Hotel when he was only a mere functionary in the interim government? I served in that interim government, but did not accept a car nor did I stay at the Ducor Palace Hotel. All during my tenure as Special Presidential Envoy, I managed with the broken taxis on the streets of Monrovia. This was simply because of my principles. The facilities put at the disposal of the interim government were meant for the interim president and his senior officials; but Tom Kamara, who often uses his connections to exploit people and their kindness made use of those facilities because he pretended to be a friend of Dr. Amos Sawyer.
As far back as June 26, 1988, I warned Dr. Sawyer that Tom Kamara was an unscrupulous schemer and an inveterate liar. In a twenty-eight page document to Dr. Ben Sorie Kajue analyzing the developments leading to the abortive invasion of General Thomas Quiwonkpa, I narrated the antics of this rascal called Tom Kamara, from his boisterous confrontation with Isaac Randolph of the Election Commission that landed him in prison in 1984, to the lies he told Archie Williams of the Quiwonkpa group, to his treachery in Accra, and finally to his role in isolating Joe Wylie and dividing MOJA members when he was not even a member of the organization. I tried to explain to Dr. Sawyer and others that Tom Kamara had no conviction; that he was a political leech, moving from one side to the other depending on where he felt he could benefit at the moment; that he was hiding behind the pen as a journalist when in reality he was nothing more than a small time confidence-trickster. It was because of this that I objected to his presence in the MOJA emergency meeting in Accra in 1986 when brothers were ready and willing to allow a non-member to sit in the meeting and objected to Joe Wylie participating in that meeting. This was one of the reasons that led to my resignation from MOJA. I spoke, wrote and argued against allowing this fiendish character with no compunction and no moral decency to undermine the friendship we had built up through years of struggle and sacrifice in Liberia, but the brothers refused to listen. They thought I was harsh in my judgment. They felt that a man like Tom Kamara could change and that with time he would mature. Now they know!
Tom Kamara resents Dr. Sawyer not because of any noble dedication to Liberia but because of his personal tragedy that has been highlighted by the mockery made of him by the boys around Taylor. Can you imagine any dedicated Liberian, brought up on the glorious struggle of the founding fathers and the old patriots like Stephen A. Benson, Edward J. Roye, E.W. Blyden, Juah Nimley, Dr. Morais, D. Twe, David Coleman, Albert Porte, T.R. Bracewell, Kollie Tamba, Edwin Barclay, etc. saying with reference to the issue of the questioning of his nationality that Liberians behave “as if Liberia is such an admired and supreme state whose citizenship is a source of pride and rewarding?” This is the remark of a scoundrel playing at being a nationalist! We leave it at that. The fact that Tom Kamara has a brother by the name of David Kamara who is a Sierra Leonean does not bother us. Liberia is a melting pot and over the years has taken into its beautiful fold many Africans, some of them great, some average, some unscrupulous knaves and others ruthless fugitives from justice. But this is not our concern here. We want to unmask this cub reporter called Tom Kamara, who being bereft of historical knowledge and political ideas throws out stale ideas typical of police informers.
The civil war in our country deformed many of our citizens. Tom Kamara is one such person. This came about not because he was an innocent victim like most of our citizens, but because of treachery, self-promotion and vaulting ambition. He ran into Monrovia before the interim president Dr. Amos Sawyer arrived to take up his office. Before heading into Monrovia, Tom Kamara had loitered around Freetown searching for information and hobnobbing with all and sundry irrespective of political affiliations. He was eager to be a part of anything as long as his past behaviour did not undermine his chances. As soon as Dr. Sawyer settled at the Kariba Hotel in Banjul, The Gambia, waiting with some colleagues to go into Monrovia, Tom Kamara decided to establish his credentials as a loyal follower. The first thing he did was to called Dr. Sawyer’s wife, Comfort, in the United States and lied to her that I had sent commandos into Monrovia to assassinate her husband on his arrival. The sister was distraught. She called Dr. Sawyer and gave him the message from Tom Kamara. I heard about this and traveled to Banjul to see Dr. Sawyer. On arrival I met Bishop Diggs who said he was glad to see that I had come to Banjul. He did not say anything further but I knew what was been said in Banjul. I went to see Dr. Sawyer in his room and waited for him to bring up the subject. I was convinced that he did not believe what Tom Kamara had told his wife and being someone who took his friendship seriously, he did not want to be the cause of any confrontation between his friends. We talked about many things but he did not mention the allegation from Kamara. I left the issue at that!
After ECOMOG arrived in Monrovia, Tom Kamara jumped on the next available ship and entered Monrovia as part of the advanced party. Within a few days of his arrival, three of the brothers from my group who had been discussing with Prince Johnson on the need for a united front against Charles Taylor were executed by Johnson on suspicion that they had been sent by me to assassinate him. These brothers were friends of Prince Johnson and were all from Nimba County. They had been living with Johnson at his base for three weeks prior to the arrival of Tom Kamara in Monrovia. Why did it take three weeks for Prince Johnson to come up with this false allegation? Why would we send only three brothers to assassinate anybody in Monrovia when we were desperate for an alliance to check the NPFL? But this was the same lie Tom Kamara had told Dr. Amos Sawyer and with his arrival in Monrovia and frequent visits to the base of Prince Johnson, three of our brothers, glorious martyrs in the tradition of Thomas Quiwonkpa, Henry Zoe and Robert Sumo were killed in cold blood. They died protesting their innocence. They were innocent! I know it because I sent them. I have refused to meet with Prince Johnson since this occurrence in spite of his many attempts to contact me in Lagos over the years. I mourn for the brothers; for their courageous sacrifice; and for their pitiful death. We know who was responsible. This is another issue for history.
On one of his many trips around Monrovia, Tom Kamara refused to stop at a checkpoint and was shot in the leg by an ECOMOG soldier. The leg developed gangrene and Dr. Sawyer helped Kamara to travel to Europe for treatment. The leg has not been in good condition since then.. Thus for Tom Kamara, only the total defeat of the NPFL and the unquestionable control of power by his ‘friends’ could compensate for his personal tragedy. It pains him when he realizes that the boys around Taylor make fun of him and refer to him as “part of the handicapped community” and this insolence is compounded by the fact that they and their mentors hold supreme power. In his frustration, Tom Kamara blames Dr. Amos Sawyer for everything that went wrong in Liberia. For him, this is a form of catharsis, no matter the agony his neurosis causes Dr. Sawyer. Tom Kamara told me that it was Weade Kobbah who “set him up.” I knew he was lying. Why would Madam Kobbah set him up? Could it have been for the Ministry of Information under the interim government? I know Weade Kobbah very well. She is above that! I know Tom Kamara and what he is capable of doing!! I can only conclude that it was in his desire to promote himself as a ‘big-shot’ in the interim government and his propensity for rudeness and indiscipline that led to his being shot.
Tom Kamara has a mutilated personality. Maybe this is because the ‘self’ is unfulfilled. A childless married man is an anomaly in nature. Man procreates and recreates himself. This is nature’s law. On the other hand, the status of eunuch is unnatural. For those who have observed the behavioural pattern of eunuchs in North Africa, it is said that these mutilated creatures behave like little girls on the verge of puberty. They giggle, gossip and lie about little things. They can also be vindictive at the mere slight. Tom Kamara has to deal with his troubled soul. Frankly, this individual is vicious. Tonie King told me with tears in his eyes of the treachery of this fellow. It was in Abidjan in 1986. Tom Kamara had fled Sierra Leone after the failure of the Quiwonkpa invasion. King and his wife (a daughter of the late William Tolbert) gave Kamara shelter in their home. They fed him and treated him like a brother. He played with their young children who called him “uncle Tom.” For several months, he lived on the Kings, pretending to be a friend and brother. After a few months, Kamara left for Ghana to join other Liberians who were living in exile. After his departure, Tonie King decided to clean the room. On reaching up to one of the windows, he felt an envelope. He opened it and read the contents. It was a letter Tom Kamara wrote Commany Wesseh in Accra that he forgot to post. In the letter, he told Wesseh that he was only using “the Congo people to get by” while in Abidjan and couldn’t wait to get to Accra. King told me he stood dumbfounded. Here was a man he had taken into his home and treated like a brother; a man who played with his children; sat and shared jokes with his family; and yet was so deceitful that he could write such a letter without any remorse.
Today, this conniving fellow, steeped in lies, intrigues and frustration, now says he would rather cast his lot with the old guards because he wants to liberate himself. The fact of the matter is that he is not seeking liberation. He is searching for another anchor; somewhere to attach himself as he goes about his business of skullduggery, propagation of hate, malice and division. Yesterday, he was Dr. Sawyer’s ally, enjoying the facilities of the interim government; traveling to the United States on missions for the interim government; taking medical treatment abroad at the expense of the interim government; grabbing a luxury car from the interim government; lying and scheming his way around Monrovia; and living freely at the Ducor Palace Hotel on the back of the interim administration. Today, he is with Madam Sirleaf, justifying the bankruptcy of the True Whig Party and condemning his erstwhile colleagues in the LPP. But Madam Sirleaf will come to know this ‘news carrier’ and frustrated bigot. I remember what he told me a few months ago about professor Konah Khasu and Madam Sirleaf. But I will leave her to find out for herself the antics of this political chameleon. As he has done to Dr. Sawyer, Tonie King, Joe Wylie and countless others in his drive for recognition and acceptance, so will he do to her. This fellow is an ingrate and has no loyalty to anybody or anything! He is a parasite, a wheeler-dealer, a political prostitute, and an unprincipled fiend.
I dealt with Tom Kamara in the past because I thought this bigot was conversant with ideas, concepts and opinions that shaped our modern world over the past centuries. But reading his piece, I now realize that I was mistaken. It is obvious that his forte is not philosophy. The ideas he conveyed were more reflective of the mind-set of a philistine than that of a journalist in the modern world. In most areas of the word, journalists are respected because they are deep thinkers with sharp intellect. In our case, we have mediocre cub reporters, uninitiated in the great debates that have transformed human society, yet trying to impress that they understand the philosophical ideas that are still at the center of human evolution. I will now deal with some of the ridiculous ideas that Tom Kamara advances in his desire to appear incisive and analytical.
In the first place, I have never been in the same movement or organization with Tom Kamara. I was a member of MOJA for eight years and there was no one in that organization by the name of Tom Kamara. I was never a member of LPP and frankly was never interested in what the likes of Tom Kamara were doing in that organization. I have always had my doubts about an individual who would go to any length to gain recognition. His insults at Isaac Randolph during the attempt of LPP to register, as a political party is a case in point. He is always trying to associate with those at the center of events at any given time. He has a serious personality defect and this shows itself in his chain of broken friendships from Dr. Amos Sawyer to Tonie King to the brothers at The Perspective website. His fear of Taylor and the NPFL has nothing to do with any love for Liberia. I doubt if Tom Kamara can love anything or anybody. His fear has to do with the treachery he demonstrated in Ghana and the agony he caused to so many brothers, all the time scheming and lying to promote his dysfunctional personality. I knew all this and more, but others refused to listen. Now they Know!
Tom Kamara is a pathetic cheat and an unscrupulous propagandist. He plays to the gallery and hopes that by his inane insinuations, people will take his outbursts seriously. In his piece, “Sparking Debate, Getting Liberated,” he is no doubt playing to the American gallery but we will ignore this self-flagellation and concentrate on some of the childish utterances of this political buffoon. He says: “I am striving for liberation through repentance, repentance because the biblical belief was that social change was possible only and only if one was at the head of marching band for political change through parties and groups….” What country is this beast of prey talking about? Doesn’t he know that there have been individuals in the history of our country who single-handedly took on the authorities and impacted greatly on our political, economic and social development? Was the legendary Albert Porte ‘head of any marching band for political change?” What about E.W. Blyden? And to what ‘marching band’ can one ascribe the singular heroism of S. Raymond Horace, Snr., who, by refusing to yield to lies and deception, indicted the entire political machinery of the True Whig Party and endured the barrenness of a prison cell? To which political party or group did the courageous T.R. Bracewell belong in order to express himself and suffer martyrdom at the hands of the True Whig Party oligarchy? Was there a group that embraced the gigantic personality of Dr. Morais? What about Juah Nimley? Who does this little pettifogger Tom Kamara think he is talking to?
In Liberia, like in most other countries, great minds fought great battles alone and by their consistency, perseverance and courage, they changed the focus of humanity and established new agendas. We all knew Albert Porte. We read his pamphlets, listened to his passionate debates on the Constitution and saw this noble man sacrificed himself for the liberty of the Liberian people. Now, at this stage of our history when our people are beginning to understand the necessity of having a country ruled by responsible citizens with public-spiritedness, here comes an imposter, a shady character with a sordid past, conjuring up fiction to gain political relevance. He avers that: “Once you disagree with the cast’s fundamental premise, you are not a member. Under Stalin, Lenin and Mao, you were shot for not believing. In the America of McCarthyism, you went to prison, lost a job and family for not believing.” But we are Africans and not Russians, Chinese or Americans. What happened in Russia, China and America must be analysed in the context of their specific historical developments. We study these historical situations to understand the movement of history in specific contexts. If during the periods of revolutions in Russia, China, Mexico, Algeria, Cuba, etc., people were killed, we want to understand the circumstances that brought about such actions. If during the American war of Independence and the civil war thousands of people were slaughtered, we want to know the defining characteristics that brought about the transformation in people's belief system that led to death and destruction. If during the heat of the cold war, with the frightening emergence of Soviet power in Europe, some Americans turned to witch-hunting of left-wing individuals in their country, we want to understand the dynamics that led a democratic country to develop such psychosis.
The responsibility of men of ideas is to go behind the headlines and interpret the prevailing realities without falling prey to subjectivism. As an African, I have read a little of Russian and Chinese history. I have also read a little of American history. My interpretation of what transpired in Russia, China and the United States at different periods of their history is different from many of my countrymen. But one thing is clear: I am a Liberian. I draw knowledge from many sources. I do not accept jargons and taboos as the ultimate in knowledge. If I quote “a dead German,” it is because I find his comment germane to a particular situation. In the same way I quote Kant, Descartes, Hegel, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hume, Nietzsche, Sartre etc. etc. But tell me, in my piece, I quoted the American Declaration of Independence and referred to Abraham Lincoln, why was I not told that this was a reference to dead Americans? This playing to the gallery will get Tom Kamara nowhere. The most despised man is the obsequious one who comes with the supplication of the slave!
Tom Kamara would have us believe that he stands for the truth. He says: “The yardstick, always, should be the truth. How I interpret the truth is my business and business only.” Thus if lies would suffice, he would spread them and say that was the truth because it would his “business and business only.” Here, in a nutshell is the character of a lousy bigot and a confused opportunist. How can truth be the yardstick and its interpretation becomes “my business and business only.” Does this neophyte think he is making sense? One has to laugh at times when dealing with confidence-tricksters like Tom Kamara, but this is serious business. This man is dangerous, vicious and opportunistic. He is like a maggot that feels on the pus of a rotten sore. He should be exposed for what he is and let people come to know him. For one to argue that interpreting “the truth is my business and business only” and then to pontificate that “the insults one must endure in all this is the constant prescription from self-acclaimed bastions of indisputable knowledge who have ascribed unto themselves the right to determine good and bad, with the arrogance that everyone must enter their self-conceited heads before thinking and writing” is such a play on words that to say this is contradictory verbosity would be an understatement.
This entire grandstanding by Tom Kamara is to create the impression that he has played an important role in recent political developments in Liberia. This uncouth rascal returned to Liberia in 1980 after the military coup. He did not witness the dramatic events leading up to the coup and now wants to apologize to the oligarchy. What did this nonentity do that he has to apologize? He was not in MOJA, PAL or PPP between 1978 to 1980? Why put on yourself an historical burden of which you know nothing? This is like the case of a deranged man who claims knowledge of a crime when he was far away from the scene. This has to do with neurosis. We could be dealing with a psychopath here! His boast that: “During the 1997 presidential campaign as a proud member of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s team, I announced my repentance and departure from ideological politics of the cast and cult. Sorry if I disappointed ‘comrades,’ but this is a personal decision without the need for a party’s politburo’s approval. I quit! I made it clear that as far as I am concerned, we have reached the end of ideology in Liberian politics. It was now time for results - schools, clinics and rural rejuvenation in general.” Is this political leech saying that in 1997, the LPP had an ideological platform? I was not a member of that party but do not remember anybody in that organization harping on the theme of ideology? No party in 1997 dealt with the issue of ideology in the midst of our starving population. This would have been political immaturity. Is Tom Kamara also saying that only Madam Sirleaf understood the need for “schools, clinics and rural rejuvenation” in 1997? Are we to believe that this political scavenger abandoned the LPP because he was convinced that Madam Sirleaf was the best candidate? Is it not that this very mutilated and confused individual saw Madam Sirleaf as the ‘American choice’ and decided to position himself for the Ministry of Information in case she was successful? Remember, he claimed that Weade Kobbah ‘set him up’ and in his little mind, it was for the Ministry of Information!
This is an individual without any principles and he undoubtedly saw a fat job for himself in the event of a victory for Madam Sirleaf. If he had principles, why didn’t he stick with the Alliance that he had endorsed at the beginning? Why did he go along with Madam Sirleaf who had abandoned the Alliance and decided to go it alone? Tom Kamara cannot deceive us! The rubbish about ‘comrades,’ ‘politburo,’ and ‘ideological politics,’ is meant to endear himself to the old guards. But in this case, Tom Kamara does not have to worry. He is where he always wanted to be. Here, history is only being logical by putting him in the slime house of reaction. To call him a right-wing ideologue would be doing a great disservice to those who have conviction of their cause. This man is simply a prostitute, a bigot and a schizophrenic with pathetic inferiority complex. His ridiculous lie that he was asked to learn Kru in an organization must be dismissed as sheer nonsense. I was in MOJA for eight years and no one ever asked me to learn Kru. Why would a Kamara be asked to learn Kru? This is all in line with his antics of dividing people.
Tom Kamara says that: “The dream has failed. Let us admit it and design result-yielding concepts along with the rural population that make sense, since we are incapable of resurrecting Marx and Mao back to life for answers that may not work, and have not worked because we are all greedy.” We always knew Kamara was a greedy and ambitious lout, but we did not know that he was this conceited. What dream is he talking about? Has he ever dreamt about anything noble? And who are the people resurrecting Marx and Mao? What can you do with Marx in a basically agricultural society? How does Mao, the man who teaches about socialism with Chinese characteristics, come into play in Africa with her own distinctive characteristics? In this case, one has to pity Tom Kamara. He frantically wants to make himself a political guru but lacks the intellectual depth. From pretending to have political knowledge, he ends up being a court jester! This gadfly needs to read more before making foolish comments.
The most pitiful absurdity is thrown around like a canine shaking off water from its body. Tom Kamara avers: “So the ‘revolution’ went to the Taylors, Goodridges and the Ureys. They have become the people’s grave diggers while we quote a dead German with illusions the people are still ours. They are not! They are in the SBU (Small Boys Unite) and the ATU (Anti-Terrorist Unit), prepared to shoot, as was the case with Sawyer who narrowly escaped, at Taylor’s command. We have lost them! We failed them, failed them because of inner greed and hypocrisy, and the faster we all admit this without insults and shame, the finer we cleanse our polluted souls.” Who are the ‘we’ that Tom Kamara is here referring to?” Who have lost the people? And this man says he understands the dynamics of historical transformation? Tom Kamara, nobody owns the people and therefore no one can lose them! They make their own history, not to crown anybody but to change conditions for themselves and their families. If they are betrayed in the process, they wait for another opportunity. This is the long-view of history. Did the revolution really go to ‘the Taylors, Goodridges and the Ureys?’ Is violence, banditry or coup a revolution? Did Samuel Doe carry out a revolution or a coup? I thought revolution was a process and not an event? Isn’t there such a thing as counter-revolution in a situation where the people’s consciousness has been transformed from docility to militancy and some people take advantage of the historical volatility?
The Taylors, Goodridges and Ureys have not taken the revolution. There was never any revolution in Liberia to take. There was the developing consciousness that transformed the people from objects to historical subjects. It would have taken much more work, organizational re-ordering and the diffusion of power at all levels of society to initiate the revolutionary process. This was aborted by the military coup of 1980. We realized this then but decided to work within the space provided to continue the process of educating and enlightening the people. However, the counter-revolution from the military was deadly, reckless and barbaric. From this development to the banditry unleashed by the Taylors, Goodridges and Ureys was a short step. Nevertheless, this had to be the logical sequence. A counter-revolution must play itself out for the people to take a different path to their liberation and redemption. And Tom Kamara did not understand this? The question is: what then was this political midget doing in LPP, a party with some of the finest sons who had gone through the baptism of the military counter-revolution and survive for future battles? To say that those in the SBU and the ATU have been lost is not to understand the relativity of history. Samuel Doe and others were in the army protecting the oligarchy. Need I remind you of the dynamic transformation between 1979 and April 12, 1980? In all societies, some of the people serve evil, but this is for a short time. The majority of the Liberian people have voted with their feet. They are not with the tyranny! They are in refugee camps in West Africa; in the United States and Europe; and in the displaced centers scattered around our country. They wish for a better life in security. They do not talk much. They cannot articulate their grievances with fiery words but they live in hope that one day they will return to their villages, town and cities. This angry and distraught humanity belongs to nobody! They will write their own history with or without us; together with others who are courageous and honourable enough to understand that the destiny of the nation awaits the supreme sacrifice from its sons and daughters.
Try not to belittle the heroism and martyrdom of the patriots. It is no shame to keep quiet when you do not know. Your argument that: “There were many young people, amongst them Wee Wee (Wiwi) Debah (Debbah), Wuo Tappia, Momolu Lavala, all executed during the war because of their political affiliation, who died believing the social justice and egalitarianism they walked the streets and went to prison for were real and achievable,” is historical blasphemy. These lies Tom Kamara and others tell will not go unchallenged for they seek to make mockery of the sacrifice of men who were a thousand times their superior in courage and conviction. Brother Wiwi Debbah was not executed. He died fighting with a gun in his hands by the side of fighters of Prince Johnson. This heroic sacrifice took place on Ashmun Street by the Methodist Church. It was a gun battle between combatants of the INPFL and the AFL. Brother Wuo Tappia was executed because of his tribe. He was from Nimba and suffered the fate of many of the sons of that County. Brother Momolu Lavala was executed, not because of his political affiliation but due to the fact that he refused to leave his friend Wuo Tappia to go to the Executive Mansion alone. These were courageous brothers unlike this cringing coward Tom Kamara who refused to accompany General Thomas Quiwonkpa to the border but instead went to Freetown to take over the Liberian Embassy with others.
One final point for Tom Kamara has to do with the indoctrination of students at the University of Liberia. The University was a forum for the germination of ideas. Students played with all kinds of ideas. They were intelligent enough to decipher the various trends in modern political thought and took pleasure in arguing and debating with lecturers. Some of them had left-wing inclination; others were on the right. Some were members of SUP and others were members of ASAP. They argued among themselves, debated issues and took their positions based on informed and intelligent analyses. Some of them are professors today, others are lawyers and yet others are political personalities. Not a single one of them will say that he/she was victimized and given the wrong grade because of his/her political preference. We were mature people at the University. Our students understood this fact and interacted with us as brothers and sisters. Many of my students called me HB or simply Bo. We had no time for titles. These were the halcyon days of fraternal solidarity. The students, like their counterparts around the world, were putting everybody before the judgment seat of reason. For them, there were no sacred cows. This was the spirit. I can say that many of my students were on the right as opposed to me but they were brilliant young chaps with keen analytical minds. Those on the left who took positions at the barricades did so out of personal commitment. One did not need a lecturer to tell you that you were hungry, subjected to disease and infection in the slums of West Point and destined to go the way of your father in poverty and dejection in a system of vast inequality based on birth and connections. These students were reading and they made their own decisions. During the days leading up to the rice riot, some of the students asked me where I would be on April 14. I replied that I would be at the barricades not because I could not afford the new price for a bag of rice, but simply due to the fact that I felt the attempt by the government to increase the price of rice was wrong and I intended to show solidarity with the downtrodden. This was my decision and I am convinced that many of the students at the University and around Monrovia participated in the demonstration because they were convinced of the rightfulness of their stance.
Tom Kamara, before I go, I challenge you to convey to international public opinion one occasion on which I took public funds from any of the ministries I headed. I wager that no one can accuse me of being a lackey of any Lebanese in Liberia or that I have used any public office for self-aggrandisement. I want you to know that some of us have the blood of patriots in our veins. We fight against injustice not for personal benefits but because we believe in a higher calling for the honour and glory of the fatherland. Can you Tom Kamara, a wrecker of relationships, a vicious hypocrite who betrays people’s confidence and a greedy little rodent say the same thing? Tomorrow is yet to come!