March 2020

This is why they will rig elections and use brute force to consolidate power. This is a recipe for conflict as patriots will not sit idly for Weah and his henchmen to take ownership of Liberia, loot it vastly while the Liberian people languish in despair. It is a historical dejavu. It is high time the international community comes to ensure electoral reform that will include other stakeholders of the society in the nomination and appointment of the Chairman and members of the Board of Commissioners of the NEC. If not, Liberia will again be a scar in their conscience.

What next shall we do? Forget the Senate, it will confirm Weah’s NEC nominees

March 30, 2020March 30, 2020 admin2Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike, Liberian, Weah0 comment

The Editor, Mr. Weah’s nominee for the Chairmanship of the NEC, Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike, whether native-born Liberian or immigrant will be committed to rigging any future election for the CDC. President Weah must rescind the nomination of Mr. Ndubusi under pressure from the public, civil society, and the opposition. But we expect Mr. Weah will appoint another person who excluding the nationality issue has a similar character trait of Mr. Ndubusi. What next shall we do? Forget the Senate. Mr. Weah will bankroll the gullible majority in the Senate to confirm…

More importantly, life is extremely difficult in Liberia as a result of the devastating and unbearable economic conditions the country is currently experiencing, as such, these indigent marketers, "yana and value boys" are compelled to go to the market grounds and in the streets on a daily basis to fend for daily bread for their impoverished families. If they don't do so, their families will perish from starvation. Most if not all these marketers are poor people who barely live on daily sales (hand-to-mouth in Liberian parlance), which makes the government lockdown totally difficult if not impossible for them to fully grasp. To fully adhere to the government lockdown would literally mean staying home and dying from hunger, as these people have no food and other needed items stocked up at home, for they do not have money to do so. Hence, this becomes a tricky dilemma that requires leadership not brutality.

Op-ed

OPRM: in solidarity with marketeers of Waterside and poor masses

March 30, 2020March 30, 2020 admin2Liberia, OPRM, Rights0 comment

For immediate release[PRESS] (30th March 2020)- The One People Revolutionary Movement(OPRM) condemns in the highest term the report of the use of brute-force against the struggling poor marketeers at the waterside market on yesterday morning. Brute-force, we believe, must be the very last option for State Security Forces. It must exhaust all means of persuasion before reverting to bute-force, at least at ethics demand. More importantly, life is extremely difficult in Liberia as a result of the devastating and unbearable economic conditions the country is currently experiencing, as…

“The composition of the EMB (Electoral Members Board) should be representative of the society. . . Consideration should be given to appointing independent persons known within the society for their integrity. It is recommended that the chair of the commission should be a person who holds or has held high judicial office (a high court or supreme court judge). That is the practice in several countries. (Taken from the Southern African Development Community’s “Principles for Election Management, Monitoring, and Observation in the SADC Region”, as adopted by SADC in Johannesburg 2003.)

Public Policy

Where We Slipped: Choosing Electoral Board Members in Liberia

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020 admin2Elections, Liberia, Public Policy0 comment

Jackie N. Sayegh “ Elections are central to competitive politics. They are central because, ideally, they should provide the opportunity for yesterday’s winners to become today’s losers, and for yesterday ‘ s losers to become today’s winners. The model of democracy on which this theory of elections is based is liberal democratic. The centrality of elections to liberal democratic politics also presupposes the importance, particularly of impartial electoral administration. This is because the indeterminacy of elections the possibility of erstwhile winners becoming losers and erstwhile losers becoming winners-which is an…

Liberia has been looted and turned into a wasteland of neocolonial capitalism. The havoc wrought on the society by Weah is revealing of national neglect and the intense level of contempt Ellen and her cabal must-have for poor and working people to have orchestrated this farce on the fatherland. Weah's actions have angered the people, and they resolved to vote the CDC out at any electoral poll. And here comes the dubious plan Weah has reached. So, we are not astonished upon reading the list which comprises names of familiar stooges.

Op-ed

What kind of government is this? Ndubusi is a bad choice!

March 29, 2020 admin2Elections, George Weah, Liberia0 comment

By Martin K. N. Kollie Nwabudike has miserably failed “The Citizenship Test (TCT)”. His score is too tragic to reveal. He is unfit to even be called for Confirmation Hearing. It will be an affront to our Senators for a con man like Ndubusi to even be called for vetting. I will challenge him in a 20-page argument to be published tomorrow. This academic paper will consider 10 contexts that are mainly intended to render Pres. Weah’s choice for NEC Chairmanship legally flawed and logically inappropriate. Of course,…

Op-ed

IJG: President Weah’s Criminal Enterprise Extend Its Tentacles To The NEC

March 27, 2020 admin2Liberia, NEC, Verdier, Weah0 comment

POSITION STATEMENT THE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE GROUP (IJG) REJECTS THE APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW HEAD OF THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION (NEC) AS NOMINATED BY PRESIDENT WEAH AND DEMAND THAT THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION (NEC) BE REFORMED BEFORE ANY FURTHER ELECTIONS ARE HELD IN LIBERIA UNDER ITS AUSPICES AS THE ELECTORAL GOVERNING BODY WASHINGTON DC March 25, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE REJECTION OF NEW NEC BOSS THE IJG REJECTS THE APPOINTMENT OF CLLR A NDUBUSI NWABUDIKE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF LIBERIA (NEC) AND…

To begin with, Counselor Tiawan Gongloe and his team of learned lawyers at the National Bar Association of Liberia are NOT stupid, and all those yarning for Justice around the country are NOT stupid either; instead, they are farsighted. In his profession as a human rights lawyer, Counselor Tiawon Gongloe has always defended human rights and above all, stood up for the voiceless. He has always fought to see true and fair practices of justice in Liberia. He is a man of excellent moral character and a farsighted dignitary who will never compromise JUSTICE for brown envelopes or bribes.

Op-ed

An Open Letter to Senator Prince Y. Johnson of Nimba County

March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 admin2Liberia, Prince Johnson0 comment

Dear Mr. Johnson, Recently, I came across a couple of videos from you, in which you hurled insults on all Justice Campaigners, including the lawyers under the leadership of Counselor Tiawan Gongloe, labeling them as “stupid”, and you also predicted the intention of President George Manneh Weah to rig the 2023 national presidential elections. Senator Johnson, I have never been more pressured than your continued provocations to make my way into publically discussing national politics for the first time. To begin with, Counselor Tiawan Gongloe and his team of learned…

Op-ed

NEC: Weah is determined to entrench himself in power against the popular will!

March 21, 2020 admin2Elections, Liberia, Weah0 comment

Just when we thought Weah will spare us another political circus because our country has mobilized all efforts on the homeland to fight the killer virus, then George Weah’s obsession with power and his terminal fixation on entrenching himself even amid a viral pandemic sweeping the world and recording innumerable fatalities showed up. Political expediency would force even the wretched of souls to watch national mood before taking political actions— at least that should be the simplest requirement every leader would perform. The death sentence of Liberian…

The Republic continues to footslog in this nightmarish state of shackles and shams. Unless enlightened men and women of courage and conscience stand up in one accord to punctuate these prevailing horrors which are grimly impeding Liberia’s progress, posterity will forever render our generation “inordinatum” (purposeless). In order to avert this injurious legacy, philosophical minds must now begin to boldly detect and detest the debris of jesters and juggernauts whose overriding yearning is to unlawfully annex the sacred corridors of history. In this conscious vanguard, erudite militants, ideologues and cadres who are fortified to gate-keep must respond to reclaim this sacred bequest by castrating misfits and lame zealots.

Op-ed

Fumigating The Debris From An Imbecilic Analogy Against SUP – A Brief Retort

March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 admin2Bill Teaway, Liberia, SUP0 comment

Fumigating The Debris From An Imbecilic Analogy Against SUP – A Brief Retort To A ‘Dum-Dum’ in NPA Managing Director Bill Tweahway Alias Gbekugbeh Jr. – Part 1 The Editor As our nation woefully endures another shattering epoch in human history, there must never be a moment where the venom of nonentities and petit rascals should coerce voices of moral consciousness to bow in cowardice and censorship. These are troubling and tragic times confronting Liberia under an extravagant and ill-ideological footballer – a time where mediocrity and tomfoolery have become…

Although this author’s prediction maybe overdue, it is not a starch, however, to wonder out loud, the potential devastation the COVID-19 pandemic could bring to Liberia’s poorest people. Consequently, it is important that critical policies be formulated and implemented to inform, educate and treat every Liberian. Moreover, is the George Weah-led CDC government prepared to require self-isolation for Liberians, and ready to ban Liberians from leaving their homes except to buy food, essential supplies, and medicines or for work? Every Liberian needs to be better prepared on ways to prevent, tackle and arrest this deadly virus from spreading and killing Liberians, most especially, the innocent. Therefore, it is imperative that all Liberians continue to look out for their fellow countrymen, women and children, especially those in vulnerable groups, and those with fever, headaches, cold, high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Still others to look out for are those in local markets, entertainer and community centers. As a matter of fact, all overcrowded transport centers and busting commercial districts need to be equipped with public mobile hand washing facilities. Finally, President George Weah should not allow corruption to undermine and deepen suspicions among Liberians regarding equal access to medical supplies, equipment, services and treatment.

Op-ed

Is Liberia Prepared To Deal With the Corona virus Pandemic?

March 19, 2020 admin2Corona Virus, Liberia0 comment

By Francis Nyepon The World Health Organization, WHO, has declared Coronavirus, COVID-19, a pandemic, instead of an epidemic. Since the explosion of the COVID-19 in December 2019, the pandemic has been spreading at alarming rates and frightening levels throughout the world. The pandemic has spread to over 100 countries, infecting over 200,000 people, and killing over 7,000. The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the heartland of the West African sub-region. Several countries in the sub-region have already recorded cases of COVID-19. Some of these countries include Togo, Burkina Faso,…

Blyden believed that the underdevelopment of Africa in the ninetieth century was due to historical factors such as slavery and the slave trade rather than race. To Blyden, if equal opportunities were provided for both races, not even the average African could be outsmarted by the White man. Blyden gained prominence in Liberia where he married into a prominent family and had three children with his wife, Americo-Liberian Sarah Yates. They had three children together and he also had five children with Anna Erskine, an African-American woman from Louisiana whom he had a long-term relationship with while living in Freetown Sierra Leone. Before his death on 7 February 1912 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he was buried, Blyden had worked as a journalist, a professor, college president and diplomat serving as an ambassador for Liberia to Britain and France. Araba sam/Face2face

Tributes

Edward Wilmot Blyden: The African Personality

March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 admin2Edward Wilmont Blyden, Liberia0 comment

The phrase “African Personality” was first introduced by Edward Blyden in a lecture titled Study and Race, delivered in Sierra Leone, Freetown on 19th May 1893. African Personality was mainly informed by Blyden’s personal experiences of slavery and racism and also an attempt to challenge racist scientific theories. Edward Wilmot Blyden was born on 3rd August 1832 in the West Indies (St. Thomas of the Virgin Island) to free parents at a time when slavery had not been abolished. In a quest to gain higher education, Blyden attempted to enroll…