LED government of President Joseph Boakai is clearly working in contradictions, a development which needs to be resolved urgently.
IN ONE BREADTH, it is striving hard to convince Liberians to brace up for tough times brought about by its fiscal squeeze. Yet in another, it is assembling a bloated government of its partisans, with all the obvious cost implications for the nation's coffers.
FRONTPAGEAFRICA HAS seen a list of partisans of Unity Party being recommended for jobs at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), submitted by the party's chairman, Luther Tarpeh.
IN A COMMUNICATION SENT to Aloysius Tarlue, governor of the CBL, dated April 23, 2024, Tarpeh approved the names of 13 persons, bringing the total number of individuals he has recommended to the CBL for appointments to 24.
While in opposition, Tarpeh and Unity Party lamented that former President George Weah was bloating the payrolls by accommodating partisans of his Coalition of Democratic Change in government, claiming that it was the main reason the country was faced with revenue to cope with the requisite infrastructure and salary commitments.
Fast forward to 2024, the Unity Party is doing the same thing it preached against years back. Business as usual?
IT'S DIFFICULT TO divine the reason behind this unprecedented move, except perhaps the motive is purely self-serving, which is to reward the party faithfuls.
IT SEEMS POLITICS will always override economics. On the other hand, President Boakai and Unity Party have demanded sacrifices from the populace, yet the political class are not prepared to make any adjustment to their opulent lifestyles.
OUR CURRENT POLITICAL class are in many important ways unlike the Liberian people as a whole, who dwell in want and misery. Indeed, the lifestyles of the political class are in sharp contrast to the life of penury of fellow compatriots. But then it's acceptable to squeeze the life out of the poor masses trying to eke out a living.
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THE DECISION BY Tarpeh to recommend party faithfuls to the CBL is quite an aberration. It is at variance with the pronouncements of Mr President who promised to cut costs and fight wastage in government.
LIBERIANS HAD HIGH hopes that Boakai's vows would bring sanity to the process of governance, but what we are witnessing from bulging lists of partisans of Unity Party sent to various ministries and agencies don't seem to support this.
IT IS A SURPRISE to Liberians, especially the downtrodden who are currently being weighed down by the high cost of living, to see the same government that criticized President Weah of appointing partisans and bloating the government engage in what is obviously an unnecessary bloating of the cost of government through lists of partisans being sent for employment at different ministries.
IN A COUNTRY where appointment into government establishment is not hinged on a need's basis but on other reasons, it is the Liberian people who will be short-changed.
BOAKAI'S "NO BUSINESS as usual" mantra seems to be nothing short of a fraud, and hopes for change have come to nothing. So instead of a bang, Liberians have got a whimper. Things are more of the same. No wonder they say the more things change, the more they stay the same.
