Liberia: Celebrating Development Strides

Published on 5th October 2013

Downtown Monrovia
When the Liberian Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) released the results of Liberia’s housing and population census conducted in 2008, it estimated the population of Liberia at 3.4 million with a projected annual growth rate of 2.1%. Therefore it is safe to assume that the Liberian population in 2013 is approximately 3.88 million.  As useful as these figures are for planning and other purposes, they have a very serious limitation – they do not account for Liberians in the Diaspora, Liberians in the Americas included.  Although accurate statistics are hard to come by in terms of the number of Liberians in the Diaspora, we may be safe to say that the number is in the hundreds of thousands.  Liberians are dispersed in vast numbers all across the globe – in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and elsewhere.

Liberians in the Diaspora often group themselves in associations or organizations as a means of seeking their common interest and impacting on the socio-economic and political life of our common patrimony, Liberia as well as on the life of their host nations.  Among the many Liberian organizations across the world, it is an incontrovertible fact that none of them has had a more profound impact on the life of Liberia than the Union of Liberian Organizations in the Americas (ULAA).  Founded in 1974 during a period of great political ferment in Liberia, ULAA has never relinquished its position as the premier Liberian organization in the Diaspora. 

A little over a month ago, we observed the tenth anniversary of uninterrupted peace in Liberia. As many of you may be aware, it was on August 18, 2003 that Liberian military and political leaders signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) after spending three painstaking and sometimes very frustrating months in Accra, Ghana. The signing of the Accord brought an end to nearly fourteen years of brutal, episodic civil war that occasioned some of the most abominable demonstrations of man’s inhumanity to man.  The CPA provided for the cessation of hostilities, the formation of  a Transitional Government, and the holding of free, fair, and transparent democratic elections in two years. Unlike previous peace accords that inspired great hope and elation in Liberians only to be broken later by one faction or all the factions, the Accra Peace Accord was respected by all the parties, as all the critical milestones set out in the Accord were met mostly on schedule.  Since 2003 we have had two successive democratic presidential and general elections and have taken giant strides on the path of rebuilding the Liberian State.

The celebration of ten consecutive years of peace conjured mixed and contradictory reactions from the Liberian public.  As usual, anti-government critics were quick to lash out that it was pointless to talk about celebrating ten years of peace when, according to them, “the very vices that occasioned the war are still rearing their ugly heads in today’s Liberia.”  For them, not much has been achieved since the end of the war as many people are “still poor” and, to put it as crudely as the critics sometimes put it, “nothing is happening.” However, there are many other Liberians, including myself, who do not see the bottle as half empty, but instead see it as half full.  While not dismissing the concerns of those of our compatriots who are not too upbeat about present-day realities in Liberia, we feel that no matter the challenges of our recent past and of today, there is still cause for celebration; if not for anything, but for the mere fact that Liberians are today not disagreeing on the battlefront but are instead waging war with their pens, keyboards, cell-phones, microphones, and the ballot. The mere fact that we have an environment today, unlike in the past,  that gives us the luxury of even debating whether or not celebrating ten years of peace was necessary, is in itself a cause for celebration. 

As we look back to those dark days of war, and as our minds’ eyes capture the ghastly scenes of massacres across our country from the mosque in Barkedu, Lofa County to the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Monrovia; as we capture the scenes of the countless cold-blooded executions; as we remember the horror of teenage girls being raped by drunk and drugged fighters, of suckling babes and the elderly dying of starvation; of private and public infrastructure being put on fire or bombed in broad day light; yes, as we look back on those days of horror and recognize that, for ten consecutive years, we have been spared the cassette replay of such horror, we can only react with one loud chorus, “Thank God for peace.” We say thank God for ten unbroken years of peace in Liberia because conflict analysts have long espoused the view that most countries coming out of civil war relapse into full blown war, or serious political upheaval before they reach their tenth year of peace.

While this Government certainly must and can do more in addressing the critical concerns of Liberians both at home and abroad, we still must agree with the Roman Politician and Philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero that “An imperfect peace is better than a righteous war.” Peace is so foundational that it is the sine qua non for the achievement of all the other lofty goals to which we aspire as a nation and as a people. We cannot deliver better healthcare, improve the quality of education in our schools and universities, pave the roads that will link all the counties, reduce poverty; maintain a vibrant democracy characterized by regular elections that are free, fair and transparent; enjoy freedom of speech and of the press, if we do not have peace.  We cannot wage an effective war on corruption if we do not have peace.  To put it succinctly, Liberians must seek firstly the kingdom of peace and all other things will be added unto them.

We will be disingenuous if we do not recognize the existence of certain uncomfortable realities in the Liberia of today.  As jarring as it may sound to us in Government, we cannot gainsay the fact that there has been an upsurge in anti-government rhetoric both in Liberia and out of Liberia in recent times. From one talk-show to another and from one Liberian blog to another, the number of persons taking positions against the government on various topical issues has increased.  As uncomfortable as it may sound to us, the number of Liberians who express cynicism and faithlessness in the leaders of today – whether in the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, or in civil society and society at large - is not insignificant.  As uncomfortable as it may sound, the number of Liberians who harbor the notion that government is nothing but a huge cesspool of corruption is not insignificant. If one were to judge progress in Liberia merely by following the talk-shows in Liberia and reading Liberian news websites, one could easily conclude that Liberia, if not already at the bottom of the bottomless pit, is plummeting fast to the bottom.  As uncomfortable as it may sound to us, negativism, cynicism and pessimism seem to be increasing exponentially in Liberia.

But regardless of the caustic criticisms and the vociferousness with which they are expressed, is it really true that progress is not being made in Liberia?  As uncomfortable as this may sound to anti-government critics, how can it be true that progress is not being made in Liberia when the time spent by drivers on the Monrovia-Buchanan highway has now been reduced by nearly two hours as a result of the paving of the Monrovia – Buchanan highway by the Government of Liberia?  How can one argue that there is no progress when as a result of a US$50 million dollar bilateral grant attracted by the Government of Liberia from the Japanese Government, work will soon begin this year for the expansion of the Somalia Drive (the road that connects the Freeport of Monrovia to the Redlight) from a two-lane highway to a four lane-highway?   How can one argue that there is no progress when, as a result of another bilateral grant of upwards of US$60 million from the Chinese Government, ground-breaking ceremonies will soon be held for the construction of a modern ministerial complex that will house about ten government ministries, solving once and for all, the shameful, age-old problem of government renting private buildings for its ministries?

How can one argue that there is no progress when Liberia currently ranks at the top of all sub-Saharan countries for the progress it has achieved in the reduction of infant mortality? How can one argue that there is no progress when during the recent Independence Day Celebrations, more than 40 projects including the Bopolu –Belle Yalla Road, a modern market facility in Klay, and two new bridges on the Bomi-Monrovia highway were dedicated?  I personally dedicated, on behalf of the President, a junior high school in Cape Mount County in a town called Lattia. How can one argue that there is no progress when Liberia has jumped significantly on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index from 137 in 2005 to 75 in 2012, ranking better than most West African countries except for Ghana?

How can we say that we have made no progress when the culture of democracy, which was conspicuously absent in the governance of the country for over a century, has now gained solid roots in Liberia as evidenced by the holding of two consecutive free, fair and transparent presidential and legislative elections; and as a result, Liberians have more faith in the ballot today than they have ever had in all our nation’s 166-year history?  How can we say that there is no progress when freedom of speech and of the press in the Liberia of today is better than it has been during any other period of our nation’s 166 year history? To satisfy the doubting Thomases, I could go on delineating many other concrete examples of progress, but that could amount to an unnecessary employment of our time.

While it is fair to advocate for four-lane highways that will connect every county and every town in Liberia, it is unfair to project the picture that no two-lane highway has been constructed.  While it is perfectly normal to request for the construction of major hospitals all over the country, it is unfair to refuse to see the many health facilities including Tappita Hospital that have already been constructed by the present government.  While it is perfectly normal to demand that many more things be done, it is unfair to espouse the view that nothing has been done thus far; and while we may not be at the mountain top of prosperity, we are certainly not in the valley of human misery and penury.

The American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his famous postulation of the human “hierarchy of needs” has argued that once a typical person achieves something that is basic, he/she craves for something better.  So basic as the attainment of peace is, if its attainment is not followed by socio-economic and  political progress, that “peace” itself becomes overly fragile and may be lost sooner than later.  My diagnosis of the present-day situation in Liberia is that tremendous progress is being achieved by the Government in many areas; but for a host of reasons, the reality of progress and the perception of progress, if not in inverse relation, are certainly not moving in lockstep. And this apparent public perception of little or no progress has naturally led to the scanty or virtual lack of appreciation of the progress that has indeed been made.

As important as progress is to the sustenance and consolidation of peace, if the generality of the populace does not perceive and appreciate that indeed progress is being made, peace will again become fragile because the non-appreciation of progress will make the citizens to be carefree about the peace and therefore not jealously guard it as one would guard a prized possession. In such an environment, citizens may be easily susceptible to the devious machinations of individuals who may want to subvert the peace, not so much to achieve a better reality than the present, but to achieve their selfish agendas.  I will therefore put it thus: peace is good; peace followed by progress is better; but peace followed by progress undergirded by a positive perception or appreciation of progress is best.

The past ten years in Liberia have been peaceful and progressive.  The critical question now is, how do we maintain many more decades of peace and progress? What bulwarks or foundations of peace and progress should we erect?  What are the roles of significant players in the erection of these bulwarks? 

By H.E. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic Of Liberia.


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