Phase III of the Conversation with Rabbi Gbaba Regarding the Issue of Dual Citizenship in Liberia Note: Please read this document very carefully before you make any additional comments which I might not be available to respond to because I have spent much time writing appropriate responses to comments made by my participants. The participation of my readers was overwhelming and very productive and educational. I hope you have learned more about most Liberians think about the legalization of Dual Citizenship in Liberia. I will conclude this series with a response to Joseph Fayiah Borbor Mccabe’s inquiries. Edmund Kloh: Shame on you dual citizenship for what? Rabbi Gbaba: Edmund Kloh, for me personally it is not a shameful thing first of all to engage my fellow compatriots or anyone for that matter in a friendly conversation to exchange views in order to make informed decisions regarding the fate of our native land. I find it a great pleasure to dialogue with you and many others out there who have so eagerly participated in the dual citizenship conversation I started on this forum. Nevertheless, let us demonstrate mutual respect and civility as we disagree to agree. The Holy Bible says: “Ask and it shall be given unto you; seek and ye shall find; and knock and it shall be open unto you. So there is nothing shameful about asking your brother or sister for a favor, especially if your brothers and sisters stand to benefit from the favor you are asking of them. Also, my parents further advised me not to take something that belongs not only to me but that belongs to everyone else without asking for permission. For instance, if you want to take or use a piece of property that belongs to you and your siblings you must first of all consult your siblings to inform them about the benefits they might receive when you start your project on the family property in order to convince them and obtain their consent before you proceed to use that piece of property. Otherwise, you know the balance: hallah-hallah, big commotion, and plenty palava and that is exactly what I am trying to avoid by first asking you what we should do regarding the dual citizenship bill. So, for those of us who show the rest of you respect by putting forth in public a suggestion regarding the possibility of dual citizenship in Liberia should not be regarded by you as “greedy people” or as your “enemies”. Instead you should regard us as your true brothers and sisters that love and respect you. You should regard those who speak the truth your friends no matter what the differences of opinions might be. That is why I am not ashamed to publicly initiate a conversation about dual citizenship because to do so is not a criminal act. Instead, it is a democratic and legal procedure whereby one may obtain the views of the people; permit the people to actively participate in the decision making processes that affect their lives; and thus empower the people to be forerunners of their own destiny. Therefore what I have done is to recognize your inalienable rights as citizens of Liberia because if I did not respect or recognize your constitutional rights I would not have shared with you my suggestion or conversation about the possibility of establishing dual citizenship in Liberia. I also started the conversation on dual citizenship because I know that frankly speaking dual citizenship is illegal in Liberia and the best way to institute it is to legalize it instead of practicing dual citizenship the “gba-gba-tee” way as most of your government officials are doing because they knew if they asked you before accepting ministerial jobs in Liberia your answer would be “No!” So most of the big shots in Liberia who are American citizens went ahead and did their thing the illegal way anyway, knowing that Liberian people only talk but they do not act as a united people, and also because there is no rule of law in Liberia—anything goes— And that is why you Edmund Kloh are paying deaf ears and blind eyes to Americans illegally practicing dual nationality right in front of you and you are allowing them to do so while you scream and shout at me and other proponents of dual citizenship that want to initiate the process legally and the right way. So, if you say you are pineapple, go and show your juice with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her cabinet ministers who have American citizenship but are claiming to be Liberian citizens! After you do that then you can come back to the conversation table to discuss further. Edmund Kloh: “Where will your loyalty lie my friend if you are granted the dual citizenship? One country will become the farm where we deplete and carry to the other... We have and enough of all of you with this dual citizenship saga stealing from Liberia and taking to your place of loyalty... For example just as the ebola started all of your fellow compatriots ran and left the country... Thank God atleast they are away and the US dollar is not stable. This ebola exposed them. Rabbi Gbaba: My loyalty lies with God and the people of Liberia. That is why I am praying hard and I know God will answer my prayer so that we can have dual citizenship in Liberia someday soon because I do not want the people of Liberia to suffer forever due to lack of basic necessities: 1. no safe drinking running water; no electricity—Liberian people have been sleeping in the dark and are being robbed by armed men and women at night since the inception of the rebel incursion in December 1989 to the present; 2. No good schools (teachers are not paid for months and schools are closed at the writing of this article while night clubs are open); 3. No good hospitals (sick patients at the point of death are refused admission into hospitals because of lack of medicines, doctors, health professionals); 4. Bad and unsafe motor roads thus claiming thousands of deaths every year due to deadly motor accidents; 5. no major development in the country; law makers being paid huge sums of money to keep them from approving the TRC recommendations in order to bring to justice Liberian warlords that you support, and so forth. So when you speak of “loyalty” where does yours lie? Does it lie in speaking up against the gross injustices that are being meted out against the Liberian people; or is your “loyalty” just merely to scream and shout at people who want to help Liberians while you befriend those that kill Liberians? Where does you loyalty lie, Edmund Kloh? With those who are enslaving Liberians or with those who want to restore rule of law in Liberia? Edmund Kloh: Where will your loyalty lie my friend if you are granted the dual citizenship? One country will become the farm where we deplete and carry to the other... We have and enough of all of you with this dual citizenship saga stealing from Liberia and taking to your place of loyalty... For example just as the ebola started all of your fellow compatriots ran and left the country... Thank God atleast they are away and the US dollar is not stable. This ebola exposed them. Rabbi Gbaba: If I were granted dual citizenship my loyalty will lie with the people of Liberia and the advanced country of which I am a dual citizen because I would like my advanced country to help develop my underdeveloped native land (Liberia). I will also join other Liberians with dual citizenship to petition our congressmen and women to develop and support a suitable foreign policy toward Liberia and to assure that funds sent to Liberia will not be embezzled by government officials as has been the case over the years; but instead, that funds donated will be used for their intended purposes in Liberia. Also, advanced nations feel free making huge humanitarian contributions to underdeveloped nations if their citizens (meaning Liberians who are also citizens of donor countries) will as well benefit in the long run. Sir, still dwelling on your question as to what I might do if I were granted dual citizenship here are some suggestions or recommendations of mine that I might want to see through: (1) Let us start with the idea of good governance: I would make sure that Liberia have a good and reliable governance structure: I will help to see to it that there will be checks and balances between the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislative branches of government so that no one branch supersedes the others; (2) The Executive Branch: a. The President of the nation must be one who is conversant with the history and culture of the people he or she wants to lead; b. The President must execute the laws of the land and seek legislative approval to decentralize and distribute political power to Liberians in their various political subdivisions to empower them to be independent and competitive; c. That those appointed to high positions of public trust will not only be competent professionally but that they will be productive and creative in the execution of their sacred duties or be dismissed; d. That the government will prioritize education by constructing formidable educational structures and providing the requisite educational and teaching facilities, build more vocational and technical institutions where Liberian youth will acquire skills to become productive citizens of Liberia, inculcate Liberian history and culture in the national curriculum and make it mandatory, teach the Bible and Koran in Liberian schools to introduce Liberian children at an early age to the fear of God and the beginning of wisdom; request advance nations and second nations of Liberia to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of education in Liberia by providing scholarships and grants for Liberian students to undertake advanced studies in advanced countries, and return to Liberia to transform Liberia into a modern nation; and conduct educational research for the expanse of universal knowledge; etc.; e. Improve and modernize the health sector of Liberia; construct more equipped hospitals and clinics; train more Liberian doctors, nurses, health care workers, provide ample medical supplies and equipment and engage in medical research utilizing the combination of traditional and modern medicines to cure diseases and illnesses in Liberia; obtaining grants and scholarships for Liberian doctors to travel abroad and do internships at leading medical institutions around the world; establish more teaching hospitals and facilities, nursing schools, pharmaceutical schools and promote scientific research to develop the skills and acumen of gifted Liberian youth that are scientifically inclined; f. Agriculture: a nation that feeds itself is a self-reliant and self-sufficient nation. So agriculture is of paramount importance in the development and growth of the Liberian economy especially since Liberia is blessed with humus soils and other forms of soils that may grow a variety of food and cash crops to eventually facilitate export and secure our money economy; provide incentives for local farmers by giving them loans and seeds to open up food and cash crops farms; introduce mechanized and large scale farming to empower Liberian to be self-sufficient in its staple diet and other food crops to facilitate export activities; g. communications including paved road networks, farm-to-market roads, more powerful broadcasting facilities that can broadcast information throughout Liberia and Africa and other parts of the world (2) Legislature: a. That the Legislature will enact laws that will defend and protect Liberia’s sovereignty, Liberia’s international borders to make sure that immigrants that come to Liberia are properly documented; b. That the legislature will pass laws prioritizing and supporting Liberian owned businesses; c. c. That the Legislature will pass laws to preserve and promote Liberian history and cultural heritage by instructing the Ministry of Education to include the teaching of Liberian history and culture and traditional languages in Liberian schools from the elementary through college to create self-awareness and national consciousness among Liberians so that they may celebrate their diverse cultures instead of being hateful and jealous of one another but that they may love one another as brothers and sisters should; d. That the Legislature will pass laws prohibiting Liberians from bringing mayhem and mass murder of Liberians into Liberia to avoid the recurrence of what those now in power did to destroy the national fabrics of Liberia; e. That the Legislature will pass laws that will guide the Liberian people against the corruption of their meager resources by those in power; f. That the Legislature will pass laws regulating positions of public trust that Liberians with dual citizenship may hold in Liberia, as well as Laws requiring Liberians with dual nationalities to foster and help establish international economic cooperation and investments in Liberia in the areas of education, agriculture, mining, tourism, pharmaceutical research and production of authentic African/Liberian medicines; (3) The Judiciary: a. That the Judiciary will be provided the necessary resources to interpret the laws of the land to the letter and to make sure that justice prevails for all Liberians; b. That the Judiciary will ensure due process in Liberia and that those accused of crimes may have the right to legal representation and free and fair trial. Augustin Kollie Another stupidity at this time when we should be thinking of helping our people, you here talking selfishness. Dual citizenship or not you can still make a difference if you want to. Rabbi Gbaba: Augustin Kollie, “Koo-meni-ju”? I hope you have by now calmed down and that you are willing to converse with me as your professor and older brother. I understand that sometimes when someone hits us with an idea we are not at the time prepared to discuss, it is common to be upset and sometimes lose your temper and by the time you calm down and realize what you have done then it is too late to take your words back because what comes out of your mouth goes up in the air and spreads throughout the universe and the internet is no exception. However, starting a conversation about dual citizenship is not “stupidity” in my opinion. Rather, I consider it a sensible thing to do because I want to respectfully obtain your point of view and if possible to ask you to join me to promote a very good idea that all Liberians will benefit from. I do not know if you are aware that whether you like it or not there are presently Liberians who naturalized as Americans and nationals of other nations that are working in the Sirleaf government, even though dual citizenship has not been passed into law in Liberia? Is that what you prefer Augustin—for people to disrespect your constitutional rights, defy you and carry out an illegal act right in front of your two eyes because they feel or know that whether you like dual citizenship—“Jacko”—and if you do not like it—“Jacko”! So, Gus, I ask you again: what do you prefer? Do you prefer those who do not give a gik about how you feel or what you think but that do anything they feel like doing in defiance of the laws of Liberia. Or, do you prefer my approach whereby at least I want to seek your permission in order to legalize dual citizenship so that we may have laws governing and defining what type of dual citizenship we want to adopt in Liberia? You do not have to say “yes” if you do not want to because in the end we will have a referendum and we will vote on the issue of dual citizenship as all democratic societies do in order to determine the next direction Liberia will take in the near future. Bright Fahnlon Sackie Edmund Kloh, you are right, shame on them. As I just wrote, I will see to it that those folks cheating on Liberia by maintain Liberian Passport while they have another nationality, they be brought to account for their perversion of mischief. Rabbi Gbaba: Fahnlon, “Deh-wah. Fueh dayh”? So far you are the only person who has stated that you want to do something about the illegal action of Liberian government officials who are citizens of other nations but that are pretending to be Liberians when they are not. I did not read this thought in Kloh’s or Kollie’s writings. That is the difference between those you want to go after ‘illegal’ Liberians (and I think Liberian citizens should) because those government officials took oath of office to defend and protect the Constitution of Liberia and remain loyal to Liberia and Liberians at all times in the execution of their sacred duties as public servants. Therefore lying or claiming to be Liberian citizens when they are not is an act of perjury and it is a crime against the state and it is a punishable offense! So I beg you, Fahnlon, if you are truly a man of your word then I think you and other well-meaning Liberians should all pursue ‘illegal’ Liberians who are riding the Liberian people’s sweat and enjoying the rights and privileges that are only supposed to be entitled to Liberian citizens. I say this because nowhere in the Constitution of Liberia is there any section that approves dual citizenship for Liberian nationals at this time in the history of Liberia. Against this backdrop I hope you appreciate the fact that some of us do not want to be deceitful or to break or disrespect the Constitution of Liberia and that is why we decided to come to you through this medium to discuss the issue of dual citizenship. Indeed this demonstrates that those of us who promote the legalization of dual citizenship in Liberia are law-abiding sons and daughters of Liberia and that we have nothing to hide because our intent is genuine and good to have dual citizenship legalized in Liberia. In addition, it also means we respect you as a nation and people and we respect ourselves as honest individuals that will help to make a difference in Liberia. Please note that you could possibly make it with or without Liberians abroad but please keep in mind that the bulk of your well trained Liberians are scattered around the world. That is why Liberia is experiencing a brain drain and so you are left with the “availables” who are not capable to provide you much needed services and utilities because the “capables” are not available! Bright Fahnlon Sackie Those guys are just greedy and corrupts. They are not loyal to Liberia. Their arguments can not be founded. some of us in Europe have two-3 children and have been here more than 20 years and have not changed our nationalities. We are still loyal Liberians. Why must those guys because of greediness changed their nationalities and still want to interfered in Liberians affairs? Shame on them. And to make things worst, they still maintain Liberian´s passport. That will stop. I have plan for that right after the Ebola. Rabbi Gbaba: Fahnlon, you have the right to remain a Liberian citizen for as long as you want and I have the right to become any nationality I want to be. However, when you take into consideration how we who live abroad are having children and our children are having children, it is of concern to me as a cultural expert and an educator as well as many other true Liberians that if we do not pass dual citizenship into law and enforce it soon all of our children and offspring will be lost forever. If that is what you want for your children, trust me, that is not what many other Liberians and I want for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. So, in essence, it is not the matter of being greedy spiders to eat so and eat so; but instead, our plea is all about our children—our offspring that we begot in strange lands after we were forced out of Liberia against our will by the same individuals that are treating the Liberian people like dogs. For an example, my wife and I and our five children fled to the United States as a result of the civil war in Liberia and threat of life. Threat of life not because I committed atrocious crimes against the Liberian people and humanity as do some of your beloved leaders that rule over Liberians as their slaves; but rather because I was a Krahn man and an outstanding and well educated indigenous Liberian who spoke against the oppression and exploitation of the masses in Liberia. Now five grandchildren have been added to our core family numbers, and so we are now twelve in number instead of the original seven Liberians that unwillingly fled their native land as refugees or asylees to seek refuge in the United States. Also, our five grandchildren are American citizens by birth but as an indigenous man from a royal Krahn background I want my children to maintain their royal lineage and to cherish their cultural roots and history. How do I do that while maintaining an equilibrium and decorum in our transition as a family and nationals of Liberia some of whom due to adverse political, economic, social circumstances naturalized as American citizen (s)? One way I think I can do this is through dual citizenship when we can all be American citizens and at the same time maintain our Liberian heritage in order to honor and remember our roots and continue to support our native land just as the German Americans, Italian Americans or the Chinese Americans do. They maintain their original citizenship along with their American citizenship and when disaster occurs in their native lands they raise monies, they lobby the U.S. Congress to provide relief assistance not only on humanitarian basis but because the U.S. government listens and caters to its citizens unlike the way the Liberian government has no regards for its citizens. Zilpah Danlue Tiklo Early We give God the Glory. Dr. Gbaba tkx for this peace, some Liberians do not love Liberia or Liberians. Let us not forget why about 20% of Liberians are citizens of countries around the world; the # increased in the past 10-15years. We can do lot as dual citizens with love for our people.. We see it with other nationals, put away greed, selfishness hatred. Rabbi Gbaba: Zilpah Danlue Tiklo Early, I myself give God the glory that he would lay on the heart of a babe (you) to speak such words of wisdom and salvation. Praise be the hold name of Jehovah Jahrah for truth crushed to the earth will rise again to prevail over evil, evildoers, and all those that support evil in our native land. Liberia will rise again because of people like you, Zilpah, and me and many others who have the fear of God at heart and that truly love Liberia and that want to raise Liberia from the dungeon of diseases, illnesses, poverty, ignorance, hatred, and jealousy and lawlessness to a perfect state of law and order, national security and sustainable peace and prosperity. So let it be in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you and may he make his face to forever shine upon you and your household and may he grant you your heart’s desires. Amen. Thank you so much for your love and support. Rabbi Joe Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. October 5, 2014
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 22:42:47 +0000
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