Your Excellencies: Madam President, Mr. Vice President and Members of the Cabinet, Your Excellencies: Mr. Speaker and Mr. President Pro Tempore, Your Excellencies: Honorable Members of the Legislature, Your Honors: Mr. Chief Justice and Justices of Supreme Court, His Excellency Chief Olusugun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whom we wholeheartedly welcome back to Liberia, Foreign Dignitaries and Foreign Residents, My fellow Liberians: To you, Madam President, Mr. Vice President, Honorable Members of the Legislature and Justices of the Supreme Court, I recall only once in my lifetime that I have been privileged to address so many officials of the Liberian Government in one room; and that was at the National Conference sponsored by the Taylor Government about two years after President Taylor was elected President of Liberia. However, even on that occasion, unlike this occasion, the President of Liberia himself was not present. More important is the fact that I have never been privileged on a “26 Day” to speak to a room of so many “Very Important Persons” who are responsible for the governance of our country. This therefore presents to me the opportunity of asking, for the first time in my life, for my “26”. So Madam President, Mr. Vice President, Honorable Members of the Legislature and Justices of the Supreme Court, my “26” on you oooohhhhhhh. Asking you for my “26” is indicative of what our Independence Day means to every Liberian; for all of us Independence Day is a day of joy, a day for celebration; for all Liberians, Independence Day should also be a day of remembrance. It should be a day of celebration because we should rejoice for the freedom, liberty and justice that independence has bestowed on us as a people. Independence Day should be a day of remembrance – a day when we honor the visionary and courageous men and women who, faced with all odds and difficulties, declared this land a sovereign state, when everywhere else south of the Sahara was under European colonial rule. We should not only remember them on Independence Day, we should also honor them. We must not only honor them, but for the future of our country, we must learn from their vision, courage and boldness. For it is only through well-defined vision, mixed with courage to take decisions and boldness to implement those decisions can Liberia be transformed to a safer and better place for all Liberians. For today’s Liberia, Independence Day cannot be merely a day of remembrance and celebration. Even after nearly ten years of the absence of gunfire the wounds of our civil war are still fresh; for you know that peace is not necessarily the absence of war. Even after two circles of general and presidential elections, the social and development challenges which face our people are still very daunting; some of our people appear to give up all hopes for the betterment of their situations during their lifetimes. Restoration of our patrimony appears so overwhelming that we, as a people, cannot afford to merely remember those who sacrificed for July 26, 1847; we cannot merely rejoice in the tremendous benefits of their actions. As I stand here today, I am conscious of the sacrifices which were made by the founders to declare our country’s independence as a sovereign state; I can visualize how awesome and difficult it was for them to officially break ties with the American Colonization Society and step out into the world on their own. I stand here today very aware of the debates and the arguments which took place between the years of 1845 to 1847 to make the independence of our country possible; I can’t help but feel the risks they took; and all Liberians everywhere should be grateful for their vision and their courage during those uncertain times. There are so many of us who don’t know the major factors which motivated the Commonwealth of Liberia, as dependent as it was on the American Colonization Society for its very sustenance, to declare this part of the world a free, independent and sovereign state 166 years ago. Among other things, the Government and people of the Commonwealth of Liberia were challenged by the slave traders who continued to engage in that heinous crime of slave trading right within lands claimed by the Commonwealth of Liberia to be part of its territory. The Government of the Commonwealth of Liberia was also challenged by the captains of British merchant vessels who refused to pay taxes or to accord any courtesies of a colony or the semblance of nationhood to the Commonwealth of Liberia; these British merchant vessels insisted that what was referred to as the Commonwealth of Liberia was nothing more than a trading post in Africa. They contended that under international law and the practices of states, the Commonwealth of Liberia was not even a colony or the possession of another nation state, as its creation and authority did not derive from the action of another nation state. So, they refused to pay taxes and dues imposed by the Commonwealth of Liberia; they refused to ascribe to the Commonwealth of Liberia the prerogatives of a colony or semblance of nationhood; they arrogantly did whatever they wanted, settled in the belief that there was no basis in international law or international relations to deter them in their actions. Cutting the umbilical cord that attached the Commonwealth of Liberia to the American Colonization Society was only possible through the actions and commitments of a bold and courageous people, who debated the issue for more than two years; but anybody who is familiar with Liberia’s pre-independence history would not be surprised by their actions and commitments. It was the same vision and courage that caused them to leave the United States and seek a home in Africa that was manifested once again when the time came for the declaration of independence. The fact that they took that decision is why we are hereto today, celebrating that momentous occasion and honoring them for their courage and boldness. We celebrate Independence Day at a time when we have successfully moved our country from a fifteen-year civil war, which almost destroyed it. It has been said very often that the worse of all wars is a civil war; it is that time when people who know each other well and who have otherwise lived together in peace and harmony take up arms against one another and commit some of the most heinous and egregious crimes against each other. It is the time when properties are destroyed and public infrastructures demolished by one side so that the other side would not be able to use them in pursuit of the conflict or for its own comfort and convenience during or at the end of the conflict. It is a period when the instruments of war are used to target innocent people with such viciousness that the civilized communities wonder whether the combatants were ever citizens of the same country. Liberia had its share of these experiences. So many, many people were killed or injured during the course of our civil war; so much of our properties and infrastructures were destroyed; no village or hamlet, no matter how far away from Monrovia situated or located, was spared the ravages of our civil war. Recently while travelling through Grand Cape Mount County, on reaching one of the remotest areas, I wonder aloud in the vehicle whether the combatants ever reached that part of my county. People sitting in the vehicle with me said that the war reached every part of Liberia – every nook and corner of our country; everybody suffered one way or the other. And I then recalled my days in intermittent exile in Ghana during the heat of our civil war when I listened to the BBC’s Focus on Africa reports on the ravages and atrocities committed in Liberia. With tears in my eyes so many years ago, I wondered whether the rest of the world had forgotten about us; I wondered whether the rest of the world was not listening to what was happening in our country. Thank God for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Ghana and other West African countries, who heard the cries of our people, and in response mobilized their armies and their resources to restore peace to Liberia. When we thought that some semblance of peace had returned to Liberia the October 1992 Octopus Invasion took place; it was then that the White Plains water plant was destroyed so that Monrovia would not get portable water. It was then that the Mount Coffee Hydro-Electric Power Plant was destroyed so that Monrovia would not get electricity. “What kind of people you are who will take away the dental chair from a hospital during war – to do what with it?” asked a foreign friend of mine during the course of our civil war? “What kind of people you are, who during the course of combat will attack a hospital from which any of the combatants could easily need medical care?” asked another foreign friend? I could go on and on enumerating the atrocities committed against each other and the wanton destruction which took place and I will never exhaust the list. Each Liberian, especially those of us who lived here and personally experienced the civil war, has a story to tell. Today, there are so many of us who pretend to forget that these things ever happened; there are so many of us who have never asked why these things ever happened; there are so many of us who have never asked ourselves what can be done to ensure that never again should this country and its people ever experience a civil war. Today, after nearly ten years since the last gun was fired, we celebrate Independence Day with the theme “Consolidating Peace and Reconciliation for Transformation”. But my fellow Liberians, peace and reconciliation in Liberia can never be fully achieved if we ignore what caused our civil war and if we don’t resolve to remove those causes and change ourselves and our country around for the better. Does the mere absence of war in our country constitute peace? Have we really reconciled our differences among ourselves? Have we carefully examined the ethnic, religious and economic schisms of our society and bridged them in order to enhance genuine national unity and integration? If not, do we have the quality of peace and reconciliation that we could consolidate for transformation of our common patrimony? As cynical as these questions might appear Madam President, Mr. Vice President and Honorable Members of the leadership of our country, there is no doubt that much has been accomplished and achieved since we heard the last gunfire in 2003. The rule of law, respect for human values and adherence to generally accepted principles of human conduct and behavior have been restored to our country through Madam President’s persistence and tenacity; the freedoms and liberties reserved by our Constitution to our people are enjoyed by them without any prior restraint, oftentimes exposing yourself, Madam President, to insults and disrespect from some members of the public. Investment in infrastructures, such as road networks, which have direct impact on economic and social development, available, efficient and affordable public utility and social services, including but not limited to, power, portable water, sanitation, transportation and telecommunication services as the foundation for economic recovery and national reconstruction are being vigorously pursued by your Government in several parts of Liberia, Madam President. Tremendous progress has been made in restoring the credibility and integrity of our country with the international community and getting the international community to waive our daunting foreign debts and to allow new credits to us. The reinstitution of political governance, especially the holding of two presidential and general elections in a rather harmonious way, the restoration of normality in social interactions among our people and the resort to the courts of law to settle grievances are all indications that we have come a long way from the days of our civil war. The accolades and honors which have been bestowed on you, Madam President, by governments, academia, international governmental and non-governmental organizations and other institutions attest to the success of your policies, programs and endeavors. I am however concerned that enough information about these achievements and accomplishments has not flowed to the Liberian public at large and too many people, even within Monrovia and its immediate environs don’t know enough about these achievements and accomplishments. The absence of information to the Liberian people about these achievements and accomplishments is a serious deficiency that must be remedied immediately. It should be acknowledged that these accomplishments and achievements contribute to peace and reconciliation in our country. I therefore recommend very strongly that the information dissemination structure and process of this Government be revamped and adequately supported to provide all information about the accomplishments and achievements of this Government; a dissemination of information in a way that it permeates every sector of our country. On this 166th Anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Liberia I commend you, Madam President, very highly for the achievements and accomplishments of your administration; and to you Mr. Vice President and Honorable Members of the leadership of our country, we thank you for collaborating with our President for these achievements and accomplishments. But I submit that all of these achievements and accomplishments, including the many others which I have not mentioned, are not enough as a foundation to transform our country. I believe that some of those things which made it possible for us to go to war against one another are still simmering; and I rush to suggest that at every Independence Day we, especially the leadership of Liberia, should examine ourselves and every aspect of our country and ask whether enough of the fundamental differences and long-standing problems which caused our civil war were addressed during the previous year and we should evaluate the extent to which our success or failure in addressing those differences and long-standing problems may have enhanced or affected our country’s progress. Simply stated, as much as you have done and accomplished, Madam President, your Government, like our founders during the years of 1845 to 1847, has a singular responsibility and obligation to be just as visionary as they were or even more visionary than they were, to be just as bold and courageous as they were or to be even bolder and more courageous than they to tackle head-on our fundamental problems and differences so that genuine peace may be used as the foundation to restore our country to its pre-war status and genuine reconciliation may be the fulcrum for its transformation. Especially for you Madam President, in a country where nearly every successful political program or action must be driven by the highest political office, I submit that you were elected to set the examples for good governance – examples that would be worthy of emulation by your successors. You were elected because Liberians believe that of all the contestants for the Presidency of this country, you were the best prepared and most qualified to be the trendsetter and pacesetter for the progress of our country and for the fulfillment of their individual and collective dreams. This means that as much as you have done, it is imperative, absolutely imperative that your Government engages in one, two or three policies and programs which make significant difference in the lives and livelihood of ordinary Liberians – policies and programs for which your Government will be long remembered and many of the people of this country would be able to say that it is because of you that our country is where it then is or they are where they will then be. I submit that among other things public service gives the public servant the greatest opportunity to do good for so many people in the shortest possible time, to change the lives of so many people and to make fundamental difference in how things are done. At this stage, let me tell you some of the things that I have dreamed about for peace, reconciliation and progress in Liberia and asked why not; and let me suggest to you, Madam President and other Members of the leadership of our country, that you consider whether the things would not consolidate the gains that have been made so far and set the foundation for the transformation of our country. There are some who believe that the major cause of our civil war was strife between two counties or two tribes of our country. While I don’t disagree with them in the entirety, I suggest that the major cause of our civil war that is too often ignored is the abject poverty, socio-econimic deprivations and drudgery that too many of our people suffer from; they considered themselves to be the disadvantaged of our society and they therefore distinguish themselves from the rest of us. Abject poverty, socio-economic deprivations and drudgery are fertile grounds for unrest; it is abject poverty, socio-economic deprivations and drudgery that unscrupulous people take advantage of when they employ violence as the instrument to make a difference in the lives of a people. Let us make no mistake that the greatest unspoken cause of our civil war is the extreme poverty, socio-economic deprivations and drudgery that too many of our people suffer from; it is the reason why a civil war that appeared to have started on the basis of differences between two counties or tribes eventually involved and engulfed the entire Republic of Liberia and affected every nook and corner of our country. Had it not been extreme poverty, socio-economic deprivations and drudgery which are the major cause of our civil war, then tell me why people from every tribe fought in our civil war? Tell me why the civil war went to Lofa County, or to Bomi County, or Gbarpolu County or Grand Cape Mount County. Tell me why combatants concentrated on depriving our people of their possessions and destroying what they could not take away. As much as this Government has done to reduce extreme poverty, to improve the lives and livelihood of our people and remove them from the experience of drudgery, there is still much more to be done; and some of the things which need to be done are not too expensive or too difficult to be done. For example, Madam President and Members of the leadership of our country, we all know that the large majority of our people do not have clean pipe-born water and human waste disposal facilities even though these are an absolute necessity for their health and well-being. Too many of our people have never had the comfort of electric light; and I need not tell you the transformation that the electric light brings to any community. As much as we all appreciate the big infrastructure development projects carried out since an appreciable level of peace returned to Liberia, I suggest that small projects such as the installation of water pumps and solar lights in all the villages of Liberia – projects which directly impact the lives of the greatest majority of our people - be implemented as one way of alleviating the extreme poverty and drudgery that they live in. These undertakings, even though insignificant in their appearances, will make tremendous difference in the lives of the Liberian people and will cause them to renew their loyalty and commitment to the Republic of Liberia. If our Government were to invest in such things, we will be considered a pacesetter and a trendsetter; this is what the Liberian people elected you for, Madam President. So I call on you, Madam President and other Members of the leadership of our country to explore the possibility during this current six-year term of office to make a difference in the lives of a majority of our people by installing hand pumps and solar lights in each village of Liberia. There is no doubt that the transformation of Liberia has begun as there is an appreciable level of peace and stability within Liberia; regional peace and cooperation with West Africa and the African continent is vigorously sought by our Government. All of these achievements and accomplishment for peace have been done and are being done in cooperation with the international community. In this regard, Madam President, your Government has done a tremendous job; Liberia is indeed on the forward march because of your personal commitment and work to achieve such level of peace and stability within our country and in our neighborhood. It unfortunately however seems to so many of our compatriots that after having succeeded in getting our international debts waived and new credits afforded to Liberia, it would be sufficient for this Government to concentrate on foreign direct investment, the repair and restoration of our major infrastructures and the construction of new major infrastructures. Not that these are not necessary for sustained and balanced economic development of our country, but I submit that more needs to be done to establish a strong foundation for the transformation of Liberia after our civil war. Some of the things on which genuine peace and reconciliation after our civil war are dependent are factors, such as reconciliation of all our people and rehabilitation of the victims of our civil war, new and robust approach to political governance, emphasis on nationalism and our social and cultural values and promotion of individual initiatives and Liberian entrepreneurship. And for each of these dependencies for genuine peace and reconciliation, Liberians believe that you, Madam President, have the capacity and ability to achieve and accomplish them and they expect that you came to the leadership of our country with new ideas directed at making the desired difference in their lives. For political governance, Liberians ask themselves whether the Government of Liberia is sufficiently pluralistic, transparent, accountable and responsive to their needs. They especially thirst for strong policies, programs and sanctions against corruption and the establishment of effective institutions and mechanisms to give effect to those policies and programs. We know this to be true because, as much as this Government has done to stamp out corruption from Liberia, including the enactment of a special law against corruption and the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, all the time and everywhere we hear the Liberian people’s cry against corruption. There must be something that we have not done right or something that we ought to do that we have not done that makes our people, including some members of the very anti-corruption commission itself, to criticize us for corruption in our society. I know what you, Madam President, have done so far; I know your abiding commitment to eradicate this cancer from our society; and I also know that some of the accusations of corruption have no basis; but I submit to you that our country cannot be transformed when public service is evaluated by the Liberian people as the place where corruption exists, persists and is practiced as a matter of course and with impunity. All the good you do, achieve and accomplish will not be recognized and appreciated if corruption remains on the lips of our people the day you retire from office in January, 2018. So, Madam President, you must remain resolute and strong in your convictions and actions to stamp out corruption from our country or to minimize its incidence; you must not be deterred by the indifference of others or by a failure to get a legislation or two passed to enhance the work against corruption. For example, while I don’t think that we need a special court for corruption as one any of the existing criminal courts could be designated by law to handle corruption cases, I strongly believe that prosecutorial powers to the anti-corruption commission will expedite the management of corruption matters. So, I recommend to both you and Members of the Legislature to re-consider the actions you have recently taken in this regard and pass the necessary law to enable us to more vigorously fight corruption in our country. There are several countries in the world, including some in Africa, who are reputed to have considerably reduced the incidence of corruption or even stamped it out forever. For example, in Singapore (which is known as the “Third World Country” which is now a “First World Country”, the laws and system were overhauled and, among other things, it was provided by new laws that if a government official were determined to be liable for corruption, not only was the person dismissed from his position but such person immediately had to face the courts of law. And in facing the courts of law, the principle of burden of proof in Anglo-American criminal jurisprudence was turned around so that the burden is on the individual to vindicate himself from the charges; it is he who must prove his innocence beyond all reasonable doubts and that proof must be satisfactory to a court of competent and reliable jurists and other professionals. Lawyers and investigators were employed and set to work on nothing other than investigating, reporting and prosecuting corruption matters; and they were given unflinching moral, material and financial support for their work. Something similarly new, different and aggressive must be employed to tackle corruption in Liberia, Madam President, or else the “talk and talk” about corruption will overshadow all our achievements and accomplishments since the guns were silenced in 2003. Certainly, the effectiveness of the work against corruption is undermined when a report of the anti-corruption commission on a small matter such as the failure of a government official to properly declare his or her assets is challenged by that government officials in the media and a tussle ensues between that government official and the anti-corruption commission on who is right or wrong. I therefore recommend, Madam President, that we conduct a study of how countries once similarly situated as ours managed to reduce the incidence of corruption or stamp it out completely. Our anti-corruption commission should be staffed by men and women, who are not only capable and qualified, but in whom you have the strongest confidence and with whom you are prepared to take a political risk so that you will give them the maximum support to tackle corruption. We need for the Liberian people to talk about your achievements and accomplishments in tackling corruption just as they talk about your achievements and accomplishment in getting our international debts waived. In the next couple of years, we need to change the subject matter of the public debate or discussion from corruption to genuine peace and reconciliation and to development and socio-economic progress. We must be aggressive, tenacious and consistent against corruption, or else our legacy as the political party (the Unity Party of Liberia) which took over the helm of office of this country after the civil war will be marred forever; and neither we, as a political party, and you, as our Standard Bearer, can afford that. Now is the time for strong and decisive policies and actions; waiting for “tomorrow” is not an option; it will be too late. You have advocated decentralization of political governance to make local government responsive to the people whom they serve; and I need not delve into the obvious enormous benefits and ripple positive effects (political, social and economic development) that inures to a people who subscribe to this principle. And given your years of experience as a public servant, Madam President, you are also aware that decentralization of political governance, like most matters political, is a process, not an event. Especially for our country, which has a long-standing history of a “unitary government with a vertical system of administration”, which is enshrined in the Constitution, decentralization of political governance is a “tall order”. So it would seem very easy for any person, who is interested in maintaining the status quo of overly accumulated power, to play the political card by suggesting that decentralization of political governance is not possible without
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 13:07:52 +0000
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