Liberia: Lobbyist Will Not Help, Mr. President, Address the Bread and Butter Issues At Hand

19 July 2022
FrontPageAfrica (Monrovia)
editorial

THE LIBERIAN government is reportedly at the verge of hiring Ballard Partners Incorporated, an American lobbying firm, in an effort to build a positive opinion in Washington.

FRONTPAGEAFRICA has obtained a copy of the latest contract signed by the Liberian government and a lobbyist at a monthly fee of US$75,000 to be paid quarterly for a period of one year.

THE LOBBYING contract was signed on June 24, 2022, between the Government of Liberia and Ballard and Partners.

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, Samuel D. Tweah, and the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean signed on behalf of the Liberian government while Brian Billard, president of the firm, signed on his firm's behalf.

THAT PRESIDENT GEORGE WEAH would hire a lobbyist to polish his image to America in the face of growing economic hardships, while in fact, the level of corruption in Liberia has increased so much that people have lost hope in the president's ability to tackle the menace is foolhardy to say the least.

ALMOST FIVE YEARS now after President Weah promised to swiftly defeat corruption, Liberians who are now worse off than they were in 2018 doubt that the president's anti-graft war will ever succeed.

PRESIDENT WEAH during his 2017 election campaign promised to take decisive actions against corruption.

A LARGE NUMBER of the country's electorate supported his presidential bid at the ballot box, hoping for a turning point in the fight against endemic corruption.

ALMOST FIVE YEARS now, following a historic change of power on the grounds of defeating corruption, Liberia is said to be sinking deeper into the mire of corruption.

WE WANT TO SEE a situation where President Weah is holding people to account. It is not just a few; it has to be holistic. We expect more firm action from the president and that actually is missing in some instances rather than hiring a lobbyist only for image rebranding.

LIBERIANS have taken to various social media platforms calling for the public officials and institutions to be investigated for corruption by the various anti-graft agencies but to no avail.

LIBERIA'S FAILURE to attain and build a good image in the international community is worsened by hopeless tactics like the hiring of lobbyist organizations.

RATHER THAN FOCUSING on hiring lobbyist companies, the government should channel the country's resources towards public service delivery, a move that would improve the lives of ordinary Liberians.

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