H.E. George M. Weah
President, Republic of Liberia
June, 2023
Dear Mr. President,
Choosy greetings.
It is my hope that this letter meets you in good health as it left me.
Mr. President, in 2017 when you, for the second time registered your interest to run for the office of President of the Republic of Liberia, I confess here, without any scintilla of regret, that being a creative person as yourself (a musician, drummer, and with other artistic talents), I was beside myself with glee, that one of my kind was seeking for the highest office in the land, and I poured out my support for you OPENLY. Majority of your other artistic colleagues (musicians, filmmakers, writers and other creative persons) shared similar sentiments with me and voted for you, too. The reason for this avalanche of support for you was simple: the entertainment industry of Liberia was largely moribund (inactive)—due to it being practically ignored by your predecessors—and pushed to the backburner of nothingness. On your being one of us (Liberia’s artists), with desired change that would get us out of the doldrums of lack of tangible support, and put us into renewed hope for local and international exposure, we voted for you. Majority of Liberians who were adults during our Country’s civil war years (when you were playing professional football with Italian Football Club—AC Milan), and who are alive today, still remember your sonorous voice during a musical partnership with Nigerian Football Star Taribo West during Liberia’s civil war time. And Liberians who had survived the war, and were adults, still remember your naturally sweet musical tone of your Coronavirus (COVID-19) sensitization song (appealing to Liberians to adhere to the WHO-mandated precautionary measures—hand-washing, etc.)
Mr. President, before your tenure, unfortunately, while we were yet yearning for more promotion, the erstwhile Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s UP-led government saw the need to sell away the National Cultural Center at Kendejah, which was the only existing ‘home’ for us (artists). This plastered on us a vail total disenchantment, and hurt us to the very core of our being, yet that move by the former government was quite a bit understandable, to say the least, finding solace in the fact that Ma Ellen “wasn’t one of our kind”, and it was needless to hold her accountable to promote the hopes and aspirations of Liberian artists, most of whom, up till now, remain “homeless”, go to bed hungry, and are unable to send our children to school. But nearly six years after your ascendancy, the redeeming of our cultural pride and heritage remains a fickle of illusion.
The Government of the then-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s sell-out of Liberia’s National Culture Center at Kendejah, is in blatant violation of Article 5 (b) of the constitution of Liberia, which states:
The Republic shall:
Preserve, protect and promote positive Liberian culture, ensuring that traditional values which are compatible with public policy and national progress are adopted and developed as an integral part of the growing needs of the Liberian society.
Mr. President, in as much as we (members of Liberia’s artistic industry) perceived Madam Sirleaf that way (not having interest in Liberia’s artistic industry), the creative sector, however, managed to have irked out a budgetary allocation of $150,000 USD (one hundred and fifty thousand USD) for the then four member-strong National Collective Societies of Liberia (COSOL),which comprised of the Liberia Movie Union (LIMU), the Musician Union of Liberia (MULIB), The National Cultural Union (LINCU),and The Liberia Association of Writers (LAW).
Honorable President, though that allotment was short-lived, but it represented the biggest budgetary support the entertainment industry has ever received in Liberia’s history, and dwarfing, if you may, the current budgetary allocation that was allotted by your government to the now expanded (eight members) COSOL. Fearing not to be taunted by folks, I will do my best to shy away from stating the amount that was given us during the budget year of 2022.
Sir, to put it quite a bit bluntly, the artists of Liberia feel left out of your much heralded Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), which seeks, among other things, “to haul Liberians out of poverty”. For us artists, we’ve been hauled more into poverty than ever before. For Example: when artists fall sick, we have to rally amongst ourselves to raise money to get them medicated. A recent case in point is the untimely demise of one of Liberia’s leading comedians, George Tamba-alias Brutini, who died a wretched death because we couldn’t rally enough money to get him to seek proper Medicare, here or abroad. Such was sad end of an artist, who like you, helped to end the Liberian civil war, and restore sanity to us as a people.
Since you are a very busy man, Mr. President, let me quicken my pace a little on recounting the plights of Liberia’s artists, which very unfortunately, are happening under your guard:
• The artists of Liberia remain “homeless” (no National Culture Building) ever since the selling away of the National Cultural Center at Kendejah. It is a shame, not to you alone, Mr. President (member of the Artists’ Community), but to a nation that prides itself as being the oldest African Republic to be without a Cultural center.
• Majority of the artists of Liberia go to bed on less than a dollar a day. We are aware and grateful of the fact that you are friends to a number of musicians and other artists, but this can in no way sum up to a holistic program that will benefit the others who are not your bosom friends or associates.
• There are no Governmental programs to promote our trade; consequently, we remain “spectators” to the works of other artists in neighboring countries, and abroad. This was the case during Liberia’s Bicentennial celebrations at the SKD sports stadium where bulk of the show time were given away to foreign artists.
• Till date, there is Government’s lackluster interest for the ratification of 8 (eight) UNESCO conventions which are to see to the promotion of our intellectual property, and the Liberian tourism sector. It might interest you, Mr. President, that Ghana has ratified the Conventions, and that Country’s artists (and tourism industry) are enjoying due support-in millions of US dollars-from UNESCO for signing to that document.
• There is lack of a National Institute of Performing and Creative arts, and there is not any institution to help us improve our trade/ talents compared to our colleagues of other African Countries.
• Nearly six years under your ascendency, Liberia’s artists are still regarded, to a greater extent, as ‘election time cheering squads’ or ‘political praise singers’.
• The Liberia Movie Union (LIMU), currently situated along the Capitol Bye-Pass, adjacent the Headquarters of the Liberia National Police (LNP) is under stress from extreme inability of paying its rent. This situation is the same with many other Associations or Unions of other artistically creative people. This shouldn’t be the case with a sector that is helping to keep our country civil and peaceful.
• Piracy remains a herculean menace to the growth of Liberia’s entertainment industry, reportedly making away with at millions of US dollars, annually.
Mr. president, you might think that we have been lying supinely at doing nothing to right these wrongs to our industry, but the truth is, we’ve been ‘touching base’ with some of your deputies (at the Ministries of Commence; Information, and the Liberia Intellectual Property Office). But, try as they’ve been trying to change the undesirable paradigm, we are not getting the kind of responses we’ve been hoping for. This is not only fatiguing and shaming to our efforts, but it has the proclivity to drive away thousands of young men and women whose passion it is to ply their creative skills, and staying out of ‘undue trouble’ and being part takers of societal ills.
