Monrovia — Gbarpolu County Senator, Amara Konneh, has taken to task past and current leaders of Liberia for the failure to address the issue of food security, especially the importation and sale of rice, the country's staple food, which is currently being controlled and placed into the hands of foreigners.
The former minister of finance and development planning observed that for several decades, Liberia's food security continues to remain in the hands of "a bunch of Lebanese men."
His assertions were contained in a statement posted on his official Facebook Page on Wednesday, May 22.
Senator Konneh maintained that though issues surrounding the importation and scarcity of rice are not new to the nation, no past and current leader is on record for finding a solution to the problem.
He attributed the problem to millions of dollars being thrown out by foreigners who are controlling the importation of rice to control the "status quo."
"No Liberian leader wants to confront the problem. All of them have ignored the demand and supply theory in a free market economy. They are scared to fix the rice conundrum because the truth is that the rice cartel throws around millions of dollars to maintain the status quo."
Challenging Boakai
Senator Konneh noted that despite the situation, it is now the problem of President Joseph Boakai to address it because his predecessors have all failed to fix it.
He challenged the Liberian leader to fix the perennial rice problem, through both political and economic lenses, and the same way he is addressing the War and Economic Crimes Court issue to give justice to victims of the country's bitter civil war.
He said President Boakai should put food security in the hands of Liberians, noting, "he should not leave it to his successor."
Senator Konneh maintained that President Boakai would leave a "great legacy" if he ensured that Liberians took charge of the food security of their country.
"Elections are not tomorrow but 5 years away. When you introduce tough but good policies early, the results show by the time the election cycle reaches," he added.
Questioning K and K return
He questioned the rationale behind the surreptitious return of the K and K Corporation, a major rice importer, into the rice industry in Liberia.
Senator Konneh recalled how the company's head George Haddad was banned from importing rice in Liberia and deported for allegedly creating artificial shortages in 2007-2008.
However, he wondered how Mr. Haddad was soon allowed to resume operations and now "remains a leading figure in the foreign cartel that controls Liberia's food supply."
Proposals downplayed
He further recalled that while serving as Minister of Finance and Development Planning, he made numerous proposals to address the situation of Liberia's food supply being controlled by foreigners.
"You might ask what I did when I was Minister of Finance. Well, we propose a bold plan that would have liberalized the IPD regime at MOC, set up a fund to support price fluctuations and open the rice market to Liberian participation by giving them access to finance to support their Letters of Credit (LCs) and use the proceeds plus a percentage of our reserves to fund a new agriculture bank to support local rice production. It died in the cabinet. The 1979 Rice Riots were their justification. Some of those who opposed our proposals are in President Boakai's Cabinet."
He stressed how conscious Liberians are as a nation and people will determine how much destiny they determine for themselves.
On the other hand, Senator Konneh emphasized that, how unconscious Liberians are will also determine how much of their destiny is accidental or determined by non-Liberians.
"We argue endlessly with each other and attribute our man-made problems to some other force, usually God. We argue endlessly and avoid finding permanent solutions to our problems. We leave everything to God, but the problems persist. This is messed up. Shouldn't we ask if God is really listening to us?"
Major importers of the commodity have been playing politics and threatening a shortage of the product if the government does not agree to a hike in the price due to the 20% export tax extended by India on parboiled rice.
FrontPage Africa gathered that the rice importers have written to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, proposing a minimum price of US$20 per 25kg bag of parboiled rice. They argue this increment is necessary to offset the rising cost of importing rice to Liberia.
Commerce and Industry Minister, Amin Modad, confirmed the increment of the 15% broken Indian parboiled rice from US$17.50 to US$18.50 due to several factors raised by the importers, including the increase in surcharge fees by the Indian government, the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, amongst others.
However, President Boakai held a meeting with rice importers at his Executive Mansion offices to abort the plan to increase the price of the commodity.
Though there are reports that the meeting did not come to a logical conclusion, President Boakai was keen on the stabilizing of the price of the commodity, and warned against creating artificial shortage or hoarding the product.
The government has been opposing claims being made by critics and some members of the opposition that the plan to increase the price of rice is intended to impose additional hardship on Liberians, many of whom are already impoverished.
Though the increase in the specific brand of 25% Indian parboiled rice has been reportedly aborted by the Liberian Chief Executive, unscrupulous business owners are capitalizing on the previous pronouncement made by Minister Modad that the price of rice would be increased beginning Tuesday, May 21 to carry out their clandestine move.
Other brands of rice which were previously sold for between US$17 to US$17.50 are being sky-rocketed by local traders.
A bag of 25kg parboiled rice, which was previously sold for US$17.50 or L$3,325, is being sold for between US$18 to US$18.50 in Monrovia and other parts adjacent.
In the leeward areas, locals have been complaining that the price has increased to between US$20 to US$22.
Poor monitoring and inspection by the Ministry of Commerce continue to serve as a major reason for the unreasonable hike in the price of rice on the local market.
Liberia has a negative history on the increase in the price of its staple food.
In March 2022, hundreds of aggrieved local rice dealers staged a violent protest on the Bushrod Island, outside Monrovia by setting roadblocks over the unfavorable business practices and the scarcity of the country's staple food on the local market.
They also blocked the main entrances of two major rice importers - K and K and Fouta Corporation in Vai Town-accusing the owners of allegedly hoarding and creating artificial shortage of the commodity on the market. They also claimed that the importers are reportedly planning to increase the price of a bag of 25kg rice from US$13 to US$15 in the midst of extreme hardship and poverty in Liberia.
K and K Trading Company belongs to top Lebanese business tycoon George Haddad, a former close associate of ex-Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor. His company enjoyed monopoly over the sale of rice for several years during the regime of Mr. Taylor.
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Fouta Corporation is owned and operated by Mr. Cherif Abdallah.
The two companies are among the highest importers of rice in the country. The violent protest paralyzed normal working, academic and other activities in the capital for a few days.
In early April 1979, former Liberian Agriculture Minister, Florence Chenoweth, proposed an increase in the subsidized price of rice from $22 per 100-pound bag to $26.
Chenoweth asserted that the increase would serve as an added inducement for rice farmers to stay on the land and produce rice as both a subsistence crop and a cash crop, instead of abandoning their farms for jobs in the cities or on the rubber plantations. However, political opponents criticized the proposal as self-aggrandizement, pointing out that Chenoweth and the family of President William Tolbert operated large rice farms and would therefore realize a tidy profit from the proposed price increase.
The Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) called for a peaceful demonstration in Monrovia to protest the proposed price increase. On April 14, 1979, about 2,000 activists began what was planned as a peaceful march on the Executive Mansion.
The protest march swelled dramatically when the protesters were joined en route by more than 10,000 "backstreet boys," causing the march to quickly degenerate into a disorderly mob of riot and destruction.
Widespread looting of retail stores and rice warehouses ensued with damage to private property estimated to have exceeded $40 million. The government called in troops to reinforce police units in the capital, who were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the rioters.
In 12 hours of violence in the city's streets, at least 40 civilians were killed, and more than 500 were injured. In 2008, former General Coordinator of the People's Redemption Council, D. Kaine Carlo testified before the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission that around 300 members of the PAL alone were killed in the crackdown. Hundreds more were arrested.
