Exactly a week following the delivery of a 74-page July 26 Independence Day Oration in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, ruling Unity Party Chairman Counselor H. Varney Sherman has been reminded that the need for government to do more ought not to compel negating the gains made by the administration or alter the wheels of its jurisprudence "as suggested by the learned counselor."

Liberia's Information Minister Lewis Brown told a regular Thursday news briefing in Monrovia that rather than a discussion about the dedication of the numerous developmental projects and initiatives, coupled with the uplifting impacts on the people, the national conversation (oration) was driven by the public reprove of the president, which highlighted the Independence Day Celebration.

"The sad truth also is that these uplifting and hopeful developments are drowned out by distractions caused by unnecessary feuds, runaway political ambitions and publicly blaming each other for mistakes rather than as a team to fix them," said Minister Brown.

He underscored three points in Cllr. Sherman's July 26, 2013 Oration as the basis for his discussion, which, Minister Brown recalled the orator called on his ruling Unity Party (UP) Standard Bearer President Sirleaf to be visionary, bold and courageous to "tackle head-on fundamental problems and differences" and "to set the examples of good governance."

Minister Brown said the UP Chairman, in his oration, called for "the information dissemination structure and process of the government to be revamped and adequately supported." He also highlighted the orator's story of an "anecdotal call of a boy between the ages of 10 to 11 sitting on the rock" each school day and wishing to be like the learned lawyer- Cllr. Sherman.

Minister Brown counter argued that it was not enough for a citizen to get momentarily sad in his or her office and blame the government for the fate of a boy not afforded the opportunity by government to go to school, when even a citizen who had usually seen the boy sitting on the rock each school day could afford to reach down and help him.

"However, each citizen owes the other a duty as well- a duty to reach down, and where possible, to enable others to climb," he said.

"It is time we understand the government as belonging to all, rather as you Mr. Chairman repeatedly suggested in the Independence Day Oration, as belonging to the president."

He said it does take a lot of courage for the chairman of the ruling party to publicly chastise the person who bears the standard of the party (President Sirleaf), and strangely separate himself and the party from the achievements of the government for which the ruling party ought to be proud.

"... But also to openly offer himself as better suited with fresher and bolder ideas to transform the country because ... all of these achievements and accomplishments, including many others that I have mentioned, are not enough as a foundation to transform our country," Minister Brown said.

He said Cllr. Sherman broadly stroked some government achievements as the restoration of the rule of law, respect for human values, adherence to generally accepted principles of human conduct and behavior.

He mentioned freedoms and liberties, investment in infrastructure, international credibility and integrity, including reinstitution of political governance by which normal social interactions and the resort to the courts of law to settle grievances, among others.

"However, one would be hard-pressed not to conclude that the Chairman of the Unity Party confirmed a widening gap between him and his standard bearer - so wide a gap that he has readied himself to swim alone," Minister Brown suggested.

While he agreed with Cllr. Sherman that Liberia has corruption problems, Minister Brown stressed that the country has achieved a measurable progress in the fight against corruption moving 41 places in 2008 from 138th place in the world to 97th place in 2009 on the Global Corruption Index.

In 2010, Minister Brown argued that Liberia moved 10 places from 97th to 87th on the Transparency International Index; and in 2012, moved 32 places, making it the 3rd least corrupt country in West Africa.

In reference to a newly released Corruption Barometer of the Transparency International "though not admitting", Mr. Brown insisted that corruption here was a societal problem other than a governmental as suggested by Cllr. Sherman and others.