DAY Togba-Nah Tipoteh
May 25th is African Liberation Day. In the face of many persons calling themselves liberators and entities calling themselves liberation organizations, be they economic, social or political, African Liberation Day provides an opportunity for the true meaning of Liberation to be brought out to raise awareness about Liberation in ways that motivate people to take non-violent actions to get change for the better.
Liberation is the situation in which one or an entity is freed from oppression, Liberation is the experience in which one or an entity attains freedom from injustice by moving into the realm of justice for all. Any person or any entity calling oneself or itself a liberator has to show a record of having participated in action to free people from injustice and move them into an environment characterized by justice for all. As the move from injustice to justice is a process, it takes time; but one can be called a liberator only when one has a record of working to change the system of injustice into the system of justice for all.
What is the record of Liberation in Liberia? Some persons who call themselves liberators and some entities that call themselves liberation organizations are publicly engaged in sexual immorality, gender insensitivity, corruption, luxurious living, being carried in hammocks on the shoulders of Oppressed Persons, and pursuing the Rule of Outlaw rather than the Rule of Law. There continues to be the prevalence of injustice in Liberia, as seen in the longstanding and widespread poverty, where over 80 per cent of the people of Liberia have access to at most less than USD2 a day, while Legislators have access to at least USD1,000 a day and their foreign friends/partners in the commercial alone have access to at least USD2 million a day. This dismal situation has become violence-oriented frustration, where opportunists have used the frustration to push their private interest, as seen in their election to public offices, reflecting not votes for them but votes against the ruling establishment, given the presence of poverty generation rather than poverty alleviation. No wonder, the Youths of Grand Cape Mount County asked me to explain why the persons that they voted for became poverty generation pushers as soon as they got elected. I told them that they should examine the records of candidates before voting for them because they voted for persons with poverty generation records.
The record in the rest of Africa is the same, basically. However, there is the useful example of a decision made within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) concerning intra-African trade. ECOWAS decided that trade barrier would be dropped for any export from any of its member countries when that export has at least 60 per cent value added content. This decision is promotive of intra-African trade, especially when less than five per cent of the trade of African countries takes place within Africa, showing the continuation of the colonial mode of trade. As we ‘celebrate’ Africa Liberation Day, it is good to know that ECOWAS has placed a barrier to the continuation of the colonial mode of production by promoting value addition within ECOWAS member countries.
The poverty generation experience comes from the production of raw materials for export that continues to be promoted by State management. Under this system of production, ownership, employment and income generation for the people of Liberia and other parts of Africa dwindle because value addition is not enhanced. Value is added, outside of Africa, to the exported natural resources, which Liberia and other African countries import as manufactured products. The prices of the exports and imports are determined in the global market. The blame for the poverty generation is placed wrongly on the global market rather than on the State managers who make the decisions on Liberia and other parts of Africa.
Such decision-making by the State managers is called bad governance. This bad governance takes place when persons with bad records get elected into public offices, where they make bad decisions that are implemented. As it takes persons with good records to take good actions, the focus of persons who love Liberia continues to be on raising awareness to change the UNFAIR electoral system into a FAIR electoral system. This is why I took the Chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC) of Liberia, Mr. Jerome Korkoya, to the Supreme court of Liberia in the Case of Tipoteh versus Korkoya, where Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, Interim Chairperson of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA),served as my Lawyer. My contention remains that Mr. Korkoya is a citizen of the United States of America (USA) and his serving as a NEC Commissioner is in violation of the Constitution of Liberia. Up to now, after two years, the Supreme Court is unable to give a ruling on the Case! The Constitution of Liberia provides for the Referendum whenever any voting citizen wants a change in the Constitution.
None of the national leaders and organizations, be they religious, government, political or business, supported the Case for the Constitution of Liberia. yet, many of them are calling themselves liberators and liberation organizations as we “celebrate” African Liberation Day. In the Struggle for Justice, the people who love Liberia must never give up because to do so would be giving up on the children of Liberia and that would be the end of Liberia. Therefore, on this African Liberation Day, the Struggle for Justice continues.
HAPPY AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY!!