The founding President of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) Togba-Nah Tipoteh, says the Movement has not operationalized a strategy for attaining state power through the rule of law.
He pointed out that MOJA tested the political waters in Liberia in many ways because politics is about power but the main problem in Liberia is that power remains in the hands of a few persons, thereby making Liberia governance autocratic rather than democratic.
“If MOJA had been formed with a focus on Liberia, it would have been crushed immediately by the True Whig Party (TWP) government. So, President William Richard Tolbert became a member of MOJA, thinking that MOJA was just an anti-apartheid organization,” Tipoteh noted.
“Sawyer’s legacy provides an opportunity for MOJA to make the necessary and sufficient adjustments to attain state power through the rule of law in order that justice for all can prevail,” Tipoteh stated.
He said further that the credibility of MOJA rests entirely on the ability of the organization to lead in the establishment of justice for all in Liberia.
“Let us draw from the wisdom of the youthful son of the late Comrade Thomas Jaye, who said that the passing away of his father is not a loss but a gain, realizing that his father continues to work through the many lessons found in his writings and reflections on his work in Liberia, Africa and the rest of the world. Therefore, the passing away of Comrade Sawyer is seen as a gain rather than a loss,” Tipoteh noted.
“When the late President William Richard Tolbert’s regime illegally imported gambling machines and resorted to getting the approval of the Legislature to set up gambling casinos in Liberia, MOJA protested in the Citizens of Liberia Against Gambling (COLAG) campaign,” Tipoteh recalled.
He noted that when the President’s brother, Stephen Tolbert, put the late Comrade Albert Porte in court, citing that he had inflicted wounds on his character, then MOJA formed the Citizens of Liberia in Defense of Albert Porte (COLIDAP) to raise mass consciousness about the people’s rights to speak out on societal ills.
“Tolbert’s imported bodyguard, Fritz of Haiti, attempted to assassinate me in the yard of the Temple of Justice in Monrovia. Let us recall that MOJA tested the political waters again to demonize political participation in Liberia by forming the Liberian People’s Party (LPP), which was banned during the regime of the late President Samuel Kanyon Doe,” Tipoteh reflected.
He then admonished the community of progressives that led the honoring and celebration of one of the founders of MOJA, Comrade Amos Claudius Sawyer, to seize the opportunity of operationalizing a strategy that will transform Liberia from poverty through the rule of law.
Tipoteh made the statement during MOJA’s 49th anniversary observance which commenced the celebration of the home-going of Dr. Sawyer, on Saturday, March 26, at the Monrovia City Hall in Monrovia.
At the program organized by MOJA and the Liberian People’s Party (LPP), Tipoteh stated that MOJA sustains Pan-African Network, it was essentially the intellectualism in the Pan Africanism of the work of Dr. Sawyer that landed him the work of the Chairperson of the Peer Group of African leaders, adding, “No one needs to wonder why tributes are pouring in from all parts of Africa and other parts of the world on Dr. Sawyer.”
He said Sawyer joined hands with Dew Tuan-Wleh-Mayson to form the Susukuu, the 51-year old poverty alleviation non-governmental organization geared towards helping poor people help themselves in the struggle to improve their living conditions sustainably.
Tipoteh started by realizing that power to the people came through sensitization and mobilization, Sawyer, Mayson and him provided leadership in forming the Movement on March 21, 1973, while commemorating the thirteenth anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, in South Africa.
Earlier, MOJA’s Acting National President, Tiawan Saye Gongloe, told the gathering that Dr. Sawyer made immense contributions to Liberia, Africa and the rest of the world which are worth celebrating instead of mourning.
Meanwhile, the celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Sawyer continues this Wednesday, March 30, at the same venue with the Governance Commission which he chaired for 10 years.
