21 October 2023: Our country is currently in a political season and the country is littered with political activities. In every corner of the country and now on our newly found platform, Facebook, the talk of the day is inundated with politics and elections. For some people, this has even become a daily job, because their lives are overwhelmed by the politics of the day. I take no offense for our people - the old, young, small, literate, illiterate - who are participating in these public debates and actions. It is a healthy thing to do because the outcome of our electoral process will define our country for the next 6 years and beyond because whatever the Government in power does could have social, economic, emotional, psychological impact on the country for several years beyond the 6 years in power. Think about this as you participate in these public debates and actions. As you participate, you need to keep asking yourself: What does all this mean to me, my family, my children, and the country at large.
Liberia got its independent in 1847 and is considered as the oldest independent country in Africa. So, if age was a determinant of prosperity and growth, Liberia should rank very high in several human and social index. Unfortunately, this is not the case, irrespective of being the first so-called independent country in Africa. We are still ranking as one of the least in many of the global indexes which measure progress. Does this matter to us as a people? How are we factoring these concerns in these elections? Today, I thought that probably it is good to remind Liberians as to why we should think soberly as we move to making these very crucial decisions. What are the crucial things that matter and should continue to remind us in the process? Here are a few pointers:
- In the Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perception Index, Liberia is ranked 142nd among the 180 countries. The index measures a country on its public sector performance, i.e., a demonstration of the honesty of the public sector. This implies that Liberia is better than only 38 countries in the world when it comes to the honesty of our public sector irrespective of our age as a country.
- Between 2020 to 2021, Liberia spent nearly $280M to import rich from other countries, including a small west African country, Togo. Given the fact that our country is endowed with all the ingredients that facilitate production, we should be exporting agricultural products including rice, but instead, we rely on other countries. These issues should concern us in these elections.
- It is believed that of the estimated 10,000 km plus public roads in Liberia, only 7% (734 km) are paved. Do we understand what this means? Of the total 2,471,617 million people who registered for the 2023 elections, at least 36% are in the Montserrado County, one of the smallest counties in the country. What does this tell us? If our road network was robust, people would prefer to live in their counties because they would be assured of moving freely to seek medical attention, move goods and services around etc, but because our road network is deplorable and impassable, it is encouraging urbanization thus putting heavy burden on Montserrado and surrounding counties.
- The US State Department Human Rights report 2023 on Liberia pointed out significant human rights issues including: a) arbitrary killings by police, b) Cases of cruelty, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment by police, c) harsh and life threatening prison conditions, d) arbitrary detention by government officials, d) serious problems with the independence of the judiciary, e) serious restrictions on the freedom of the press, including violence and threats against journalists, f) official corruption and the list goes on. Are these issues featuring in our decision-making process during these elections? We need to think.
- The health system of Liberia is one of the worse in Africa with hospitals lacking very basic medical supplies and diagnostic equipment while the public hospitals in many places have totally collapsed. Thousands of Liberians are dying annually from non-life-threatening diseases due to the poor health system. For example, hospital records in Liberia suggest that at least 33% of in-patient death, and 41% of infant mortality are attributable to Malaria, a disease that has be eradicated by many countries in the world, including Africa.
- Liberia's Education system is one of the worse in Africa. According to the UNICEF report on the situation for children in Liberia, the country's Education system lags behind most countries, in both access and quality. For example, the literacy rate in Liberia stands at 48% irrespective of the long years that we have existed as a country.
- Liberia is one of the fewer countries in Africa that is blessed - tropical rain forest, gold, diamond, abundant water supply, enough rainfall for agriculture etc - yet still we depend on other countries for nearly everything we eat and use. What has gone wrong with us since 1847 to date? Are we going to continue this path? If not, what are our plans? Those plans must be interpreted in the way we vote during this election.
- According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) report 2023, Liberia's progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is one of the lowest in the world with only 20% of the SDGs currently reported to be on track, and Liberia is ranked 157th out of 166 countries, i.e., of the 167 countries in the index, Liberia is making progress more than only 9 countries in the world. Don't forget, we are the so-called oldest country in Africa, yet still that is our ranking.
I think these are some of the issues that should inform our decisions in this coming run-off election. Let's get sentiments out of this. For a long time, we continue to allow sentiments to supersede our objectivity. We need to be objective in our decision-making process. It doesn't matter whether you love or hate George Weah or whether you love or hate Joseph Boakai, what matters are the issues which matter to this country. We need to make a sober choice and we need to choose the person who is better position to address them or start to move them in the right direction. I see that a lot of us spend a huge amount of time debating empty issues, attacking one another, insulting Joseph Boakai or George Weah and running around in the streets in the name of campaign etc. I however think that instead of us spending our time antagonizing one another, let's spend our time discussing the issues. Let's hold these two leaders accountable to a public debate to tell the Liberian people how they intend to address these issues. Let's make the campaign an issue-based and let them tell us their plans through a public debate. This is part of a healthy democratic practice and Liberia is a democracy, so let's go for it. Make no mistake, no matter what side you cast your vote, you will live with the outcomes of your decision, 60 seconds of every minute, 60 minutes of every hour, 24 hours of each day, 30/31 days of each month and 365 days of every year and this will haunt you for the next 6 years - please do not say I did not warn you.
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Another issue which has claimed my attention is the level of polarization in our country because of these elections and our inability to be objective. Fortunately for the world, including Liberia, Facebook has created a platform for us to share our views on any issue, including our current politics. However, we need to understand that Facebook is a global platform. So, it feels very sad when a Liberian refers to one another as dogs, inept, "sanamaswine", useless, cats, goats, pigs, and other abusive languages. When we post these statements on a global platform like Facebook, do we understand how the world looks at us? If you don't know, people look at us like a people who need to grow up. We are more than 170 years old as a country, much older than many countries in the world and we should be setting positive examples.
As the saying goes, "a hint to a wise is sufficient". That is my little hint, and the choice is yours as you go to the polls on 07 November to decide. Again, just remember that the decision you make on that day is going to live with you for 6 years and beyond.
