The Voice

Be Part of Initiatives Seeking to Address Needs of Liberian Children

2009-09-03T22:15:00.000-05:00

By Penelope Chester, Guest Blogger
Imagine:

You are 8 years old

This week, all the children in your neighborhood are going back to school

The excitement!

But you won't be going to school, because you have a disability

Maybe you are in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy

Or maybe you have cerebral palsy

Either way - you stay home

You can't play outside because no one will play with you

Your parents and siblings are busy trying to support the family

Wouldn't you like to have the opportunity to learn, play, grow and socialize

Like all the other children?

For the disabled children of Monrovia, the Happy Family Center

Is a place where

They can

Learn, play, grow, and socialize

Like all the other children

Do you want to be a part of it?

You can.

Give a child the opportunity to thrive : make a donation to the Happy Family Center

The Niapele Project is a U.S. 501 (c) 3 organization and your donation is tax exempt

The Niapele Project is pleased to share with you the opportunity to be a part of a
unique community-based initiative that seeks to address the needs of children with
disabilities in Liberia.

In Liberia, children with disabilities are unable to attend school, and few opportunities exist for them to receive proper care and attention, let alone develop their physical and mental skills.

The Happy Family Center for Children with Disabilities (HapFam), founded and run by parents of children with disabilities, embraces an innovative grassroots approach to address the needs of disabled children.

Much more than a place for children to come learn, play and benefit from physical and social rehabilitation, HapFam also encourages the acceptance of disabled children, through active family participation and involvement, as well as community awareness activities.

Post-conflict Liberia is still reeling from the effects of the war - the education, health and social welfare systems are unable to deliver much needed services to vulnerable people. Children with disabilities often become trapped in a cycle of poverty and exclusion. HapFam is truly a unique community effort to help lift disabled children from this cycle, all the while promoting greater acceptance and inclusion in the community.

Where your $ goes

-One time costs-
(all in USD)

Renting and renovating a building ($3000)
Furniture($250)
Games, toys, educational materials ($100)

-Recurring monthly costs-

Staff incentives ($400)
School and office supplies ($50)
Food ($200)
Transportation/Communications ($50)

The Niapele Project is an all volunteer organization - all your donations support
community-based initiatives.

Is U.S President Promoting Smoking?

2009-07-29T22:42:00.003-05:00

I was seriously reading through many lenses to fully comprehend the meaning of what United States president Barack Obama meant when he said today that "Doctors Don't Get Paid If They Stopped Patients From Smoking".

The president made that statement in Raleigh,North Carolina during his Presidential Town Hall Health Care Reform discussions.

As I watched Cable News Network(CNN) this morning,I was asking myself many,many questions about the president's remark.And,as if to re-echo what Obama said,CNN repeatedly displayed excerpts of his remark on the bottom of the screen.

So,what did the president mean? Was(is) he saying that if people don't smoke,then doctors won't get paid? Should the president even make such a statement?

By the president's statement,it means that people should smoke daily so that if they get cancer(smokers' hearts would definitely be damaged due to smoke),they will have to seek medical attention which of course will not be free.

I am seriously disappointed in the president's statement.No matter his intents regarding the promotion of his radical health care reform in this country,it does not justify his making of that statement.

And what was also baffling me was that no media critics or members from "the other side" shun the president's remark.

To many who were also listening to the president this morning,it is clear to them that his statement can make a big difference between life and death.Although many people within and without the U.S admire his inspiring speeches,he has to really take some time to keenly think about some statements before he utters them.

There are thousands,if not millions of young people out there who look up to this young president as their role model.And it breaks my heart( and theirs) to also see that it's this same young president that is encouraging young people to smoke so that doctors will receive their salaries.

So,Mr. president,with all other health-related problems that lead to the hospital,doctors will be unable to get their pay if people don't smoke? How much of the smoking money actually goes to the State and Federal government and how much goes to the doctors?

With such a statement coming from my own president,I am just wondering what others will say about the president's smoking habit?

How Google, Social Entrepreneurs Perpetuate Digital Divide Among Nonprofits

2009-07-29T22:11:00.003-05:00

By Guest Blogger Andrew Sears

In the past 10 years, I have been working to address the digital divide, which is the gap between those who have access to and training with technology. I serve as the Executive Director of TechMission, which runs the largest association of Black and Latino led nonprofits addressing the digital divide and manages UrbanMinistry.org, which is one of the most visited web portals of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders.

During that time, I have seen many effective initiatives in addressing the digital divide. At the same time, I’ve seen many efforts that have been very well-intentioned, but in the end may have only made matters worse.

I grew up in the inner-city, but later went to MIT and co-founded the Internet Telecoms Consortium with one of the fathers of the Internet (David Clark) to study the social and business implications of the Internet. The most important thing I learned while studying complex systems at MIT is that often you make a change to the system and the result is exactly the opposite of what you were expecting.

Case in point: my wife and I went to Woodstock ’99—a complex system of people, alcohol, drugs, bands and unusually hot weather. At the concert, there was a nonprofit group wanting to promote peace, and it gave out thousands of “peace candles.” The result was the opposite of what they had intended because they had not thought through the consequences of giving candles to thousands of people who were inebriated and enraged from the extreme heat and exploitative prices at the concert.

The result was that people used the candles to start hundreds of fires and burn everything in sight. A group wanting to promote peace at Woodstock unintentionally became a catalyst for riots, and in the worst circumstances, this is how complex systems work.

Addressing the digital divide and trying to help under-resourced communities is an extremely complex system. My assessment is that some of the largest efforts to address the digital divide by social entrepreneurs, including those at Google, may have unintentionally made matters worse among nonprofits.

Is Google Grants Hurting Black and Latino-Led Nonprofits?

In the past few years, Google has “given away” $300 million worth of free advertising to nonprofit organizations through Google Grants. Following Google’s value of employee input, Google leaves most of the grant making decisions to regular employees. In the United States, Google’s employees are disproportionately White and Asian and from elite schools. These employees then give grants to organizations with interest like theirs and people they know, which most often are also White or Asian and from elite schools.

This creates a bias in the process, but that is common in the nonprofit world. In fact, according to a report from the Greenlining Institute, foundations only give 3.6% of their funds to organizations led by people of color although people of color make up 52.4% of poverty in the USA. This bias is shown graphically in the adjacent diagram.

If that bias were the only effect Google Grants were having, then they would be no different than most foundations. The problem is how Google Grants works, by giving away “virtual money” that people can then bid on ads, they have essentially flooded the market for nonprofit ads with $300 million in virtual money.

Economists would say that this acts as a “tax” on other users, so that only $150 million is donated by Google, but the other $150 million comes from the increased bid cost for other advertisers, which are primarily nonprofits.

Let’s say that in the USA, Google gives 95% of its grants to White and Asian led nonprofits, while only 5% to Black and Latino (or other) nonprofits (which is a reasonable projection based on the research we compiled). Ideally, grants would be distributed to more closely reflect the demographics of need, and 52.4% of grants in the USA would go to Black and Latino-led nonprofits since they represent 52.4% of poverty in the nation.

The end result of this bias is that Google Grants, rather than helping Black and Latino led nonprofits, is actually taxing them to give discounts primarily to White nonprofits. The model I’ve generated shows that the effect of Google Grants on Black and Latino-led nonprofits is that they are “taxed” by about $7.3 million by paying increased advertising fees to provide a subsidy to White-led nonprofits.

Google Grants is not the only example of starting with good intentions to change a system, but having unintended effects, as many tech-focused nonprofits serve as other examples.

Our organization did some research on the board and staff demographics of the leading technology-focused nonprofits, and found that on average about 80% of their staff are White (and often from elite schools). These organizations develop strategies, policies and values that reflect their staffing and boards.

Our staffs have gone to several of these conferences led by these organizations, and the conference attendees are also more than 90% White. We have followed their grant making processes and seen that more than 80% of their grants go to White-led organizations. These demographics of technology focused nonprofits based on our research are shown in the diagram below.

The significant factor is that in every category, there is dramatically lower percentage of people of color as compared to the demographics of the low-income communities they are serving. The result is that most technology focused nonprofits are more reflecting the digital divide rather than transforming it. To really transform the digital divide, it requires representation of those on the other side of the divide at every level in the organization.

The same pattern applies to much of the new social entrepreneurship movement. Most the emerging social entrepreneurs that are getting funded are led by White people from elite schools. They are establishing a culture and values in the social philanthropy sector that largely reflects White cultural values from elite business schools. The end result is that these social ventures get all the funding, squeezing out more grass-roots Black and Latino led organizations. This means that too often social ventures are perpetuating the same divides that they are supposedly addressing.

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Avoid Doing More Harm than Good

No one wants to try to do good, and then have the results only cause more harm than good. So what are social entrepreneurs to do? Am I promoting a Malcolm X philosophy that says that White people should just go home?

Of course not. The fact that I am White, and leading a nonprofit, shows that I believe that there is another way.

The reason why social entrepreneurs are encountering unintended consequences in bringing change to complex systems is that many do not understand one of the most important aspects of the system—the culture of at-risk communities. Social entrepreneurs need to strive to reflect the culture and diversity of those we are serving at all levels in nonprofits.

At TechMission, the people of color are the majority at almost every level of our organization (board, senior staff, etc.). The result is that when you look at the demographics of those using our websites like UrbanMinistry.org, we have almost twice the percentage of people of color represented as our nonprofit counterparts (as shown above).

We have researched and written extensively on how nonprofits and funders can avoid this bias (see additional resources below). Based on that research and experience, we provide the following recommendations to social entrepreneurs:

1. Be intentional about reaching out to faith-based organizations doing social services.

Why? Our research indicates that about two-thirds of Black and Latino-led nonprofits are in churches or other faith-based organizations. Comparatively, about two-thirds of White-led nonprofits are secular. This means that on average, faith-based organizations are about twice as likely to be Black or Latino-led. This has important implications for funders, because if they will not fund faith-based organizations, then they are cutting their chances of funding a Black or Latino-led nonprofit by 50%.

Most funders will support faith-based organizations if their focus is on social services and they do not discriminate in who they serve. Of more than 50 other tech companies that we have identified, Google Grants has, in effect, the most restrictive policy toward faith-based social service organizations.

The faith-based social services sector represents about one-third of the total social services sector, but appears to only be less than 1% of Google Grant awardees. In the 1950’s there were literacy tests for voting that excluded a large number of Black voters. Today this has been replaced with religious tests for funding that is excluding the majority of Black and Latino-led nonprofits.

Restrictions to not support faith-based organizations can communicate a paternalistic attitude that secularization is advancing the cause of good by “educating superstitious natives” to believe in the doctrines of elite academia.

It is just the “bad missionary model” but with a new name. They fail to recognize that globally, 97.5% of people profess some faith. Often by having restrictions on faith, these organizations think that they are blocking right-wing religious groups like Jerry Fallwell, but in reality they are usually blocking Black and Latino religious leaders that could become the next Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. Have diversity measurements and affirmative action at every level in the organization.

Why? Values and culture are set by those in power in an organization. If a nonprofit has a significantly different set of values than the community it is serving, then that community will need to assimilate those values to get support.

Religious missionaries in the 20th century have been replaced with nonprofit missionaries in the 21st century. If a nonprofit does not reflect the culture and values of the community it is serving, then it cannot help but be like the “missionaries” that teach the “natives” how to talk White, dress White, and respond to outcome measures reflecting values of the White community.

The only solution is to have diversity measurements and affirmative action at every level. This enables diversity at every level (constituents, entry level staff, middle management, senior management, board and grantees) needed for a leadership pipeline.

3. Immerse yourself in the community you are serving and learn from it.
Why?

The difference between strong faith-based leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Theresa and “bad missionaries” is that the former immersed themselves in the communities they were serving.

At TechMission nearly all of our staff and board live in at-risk communities, and the majority come from low-income backgrounds. It is only when you “go native” to the point where at-risk communities become “your people” that you are not acting as a nonprofit missionary. Immersion means not only your geographic location, but also your friendships and community.

Changing the Culture of Social Entrepreneurship Programs

Social entrepreneurs are often trying to change complex systems, but unfortunately, without understanding those systems they can often do more harm than good. The primary element of understanding that is missing here is an understanding of the culture of those being served by social entrepreneurs. For the social entrepreneurship movement to be successful, it must change its culture.

Currently the culture of the social entrepreneurship movement primarily reflects that of elite schools which have social entrepreneurship programs. This culture is extremely antagonistic to the cultures in most at-risk communities.

Organizations like Google and other social philanthropists need to make sure that those in their grant making process reflect the demographics and culture of those they are trying to reach. They also should consider eliminating restrictions that will not fund social service organizations if they are faith-based, while being intentional about creating a culture that welcomes religious organizations, where the majority of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders are.

Because Google Grants makes up about one-third of the traffic most of the tech nonprofits, the increased traffic (and resulting links from visitors) from that visibility increases their web search rankings.

The end result is that the Google Grants process is that White nonprofits receive significantly higher search rankings than Black and Latino nonprofits. Given Google’s market share, overall this has a very significant affect of "Whitening" Google’s search rankings within the nonprofit sector.

If Google does not bring its policies more in line with that of its peer technology companies, then it risk facing a public relations issues of being perceived as having an racial bias compare to other technology companies by "Whitening" its search rankings among nonprofits.

People of color already represent the majority globally, the majority of poverty in the USA, and the majority in many major US cities. Soon they will represent the majority in the nation as a whole. As these demographic shifts happen, if the social entrepreneurship movement does not shift its culture to more closely reflect the cultures of those it is serving, then it risks becoming relegated to the sidelines of history.

About Andrew Sears

Andrew has been working to address the digital divide since 1998 and is the founder and executive Director of TechMission. He grew up in an inner-city environment, and later received his MS in Technology and Policy and MS in Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, he co-founded the Internet and Telecoms consortium, a multi-million dollar research group focused on determining the social and business implications of the Internet. He has also worked as an independent consultant on technology strategy with clients including St. Paul Venture Capital, Sprint and several Boston startups.

Prince Johnson's "Amazing Revelations":How Serious?

2009-07-27T16:30:00.004-05:00

Last week,The Reformer Newspaper in Monrovia reported that Nimba County Senior Senator,Prince Yomie Johnson,who also commandeered the defunct Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia(INPFL),shocked Liberians and the International Community again when he revealed that the United States and certain super powers provided American dollars $10 million to him and others,presumably Charles Taylor,to wage war on Liberians and Liberia.

The report says that Senator Johnson made the revelations when he addressed members of the Liberian Council of Churches(LCC), an interfaith Mediation Committee of Liberia.

The LCC also met with other former faction leaders and discussed matters regarding the Truth Commission's report during the week-end meeting in Monrovia.

Well,this is not news anyway.Mr. Taylor had already said that the U.S helped free him from jail in Massachusetts and also provided huge some of money to oust the late Samuel Doe regime.He made it clear when he took the stands for the first time to testify in his ongoing trial in The Hague,the Netherlands a few weeks ago.

Now,what makes this news and very damning, at least in the minds of some Liberians, is Mr. Johnson's accusation of the Chairman of Liberia's Truth Commission,Cllr. Jerome Verdier.

The honorable Senator claimed that Cllr. Verdier,including former Interim leader of Liberia,Dr. Amos Sawyer,was among a group of Liberians in the United States that allegedly negotiated and arranged for the $10 million dollars from the U.S.

Senator Johnson claimed this group was based in America, and it was named the Association of Constitutional Democracy in Liberia(ACDL).

What baffles me is that why the Honorable Senator did not say this long time ago,even before his name could be listed for prosecution as a war criminal or perpetrator? Is it because it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubts that he was involved in the indiscriminate killing of women,children and men during the Liberian civil war? Why should we believe him?

There are many more lingering questions about the Honorable man's "amazing revelations" than he can imagine, and if there is to be any substance in his claims, we need more information from him devoid of scapegoating,malice,jealousy, and hatred.

But in order to refute or corroborate Senator Johnson's claims,we contacted the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs of the District of Columbia(DC)in Washington,D.C on the phone today, and indeed,they confirmed that such association existed in DC.

They said it was registered as a domestic non-profit Corporation in the State of the DC on December 16,1988 with Ezekiel Pajibo as its registered agent.

The file number for ACDL was 884688, and its address was 1242 Newton St,N.E,Washington,DC 20017.Its status is now revoked,however.

With such information at our disposal,it seems what Senator Johnson has said might have some substance.However, we need more details than can meet the eye.

And if it is indeed true that Cllr. verdier was apart of and actively negotiated for the $10 Million dollars to wage war on Liberia, then the entire TRC report is indeed questionable and he,Cllr.Verdier, needs to tell us more about it in order to add him on the list of evil doers of Liberia.

Additionally,Ezekiel Pajibo,now executive director for the Center for Democratic Empowerment(CEDE), needs to come out and talk to the Liberian people about ACDL since he was the registered agent for the outfit.

Mr. Pajibo was a student leader in the 1980s who was even jailed and sentenced by the late Samuel Doe regime for daring to say what others could not say.He spent over a decade in exile and,like many other Liberians,returned home in 2003 when the civil war ended.

He has been the head of CEDE, a center for social and political advocacy and research which was founded by Dr.Sawyer.

Mr. Pajibo might have more details about ACDL and Cllr. Verdier than Senator Johnson, that is why he would do us more good if he could speak to the Liberian people now.There is no joke about such allegations.No! Not at this time when the country really needs healing.

When I read Mr. Johnson's allegations,I initially rebuked him.However,having talked to people here in the U.S about this Liberian Association,there is more to it than the Senator is saying, and we need to know everything about it.

We have also contacted officials at the U.S State Department in Washington,D.C,but it has been over two weeks since we communicated with them, and we are still waiting to hear from them.They said they will react to what Mr. Taylor has said.

But going back to Authoritarianism and U.S foreign Policy,it would be good that we examine the past.

During the Cold War, the U.S. frequently accused the Soviet Union of undermining anti-U.S terrorist groups around the world with money and arms.The Soviets responded that the U.S government did the same when it was in the U.S interests to do so.

Now,when World War II ended,the U.S found itself engaged in a Cold war with the Soviet Union.But what is amazing is that the Cold War was not a natural rivalry thing between two great powers.It was a struggle to death between two rival systems of capitalism for the United States and Communism for the Soviet Union.

At that time, and even until recently,the U.S pursued a Foreign Policy that was based on the theory that Communism would finally collapse while the Soviet Union drew upon Karl Marx's prediction that Capitalism would be in the "dustbin of History".

That is how the two parties divided the entire world into two halves:East and West,Communism and Capitalism, and Good and Evil.

But the two powers agreed on one thing:that the notion of neutrality was not possible.They said all nations on earth,only with few exceptions,would have to choose which side to align with.

While this was going on,many countries in the so-called Third World decided to remain nonaligned at all.Therefore,Egypt,India, and Indonesia tried to launch a nonaligned Movement in the 1950s.And it was beginning to get off the ground.

And as soon as it was about to get off the ground,the Cold War Power Fighters cajoled,pressured and enticed the leaders of the fledgling states,guess with what? Foreign aid,weapons transfer, and cash.

Yes! America used those things to get people on its side of the fighting divide.So, by the end of the mid 1960s,most governments in Africa(Possibly Liberia included),Asia and Latin America decided to choose sides.You can guess which side Liberia chose anyway.

In this rush to recruit Third World leaders who jumped on the anti-communism bandwagon for a price,the U.S frequently found itself using what Political Scientist,Thomas Magstadt calls "dollar diplomacy" and other inducements to prop up right-wing dictatorships at the same time looking the other way when "friendly" regimes committed gross violations of human rights.

Although the Cold War has since been over,the legacy of this policy lives on.

Let's look at Iraq.The United States secretly supported Saddam Hussein during the bloody Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s with weapons to battle Iran.

And after arming the tyrant,he ruled his people through a tightly controlled monolithic political organization known as the Ba'ath party,by turning Iraq into a vast prison.The same U.S that armed Saddam turned against him and invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of raiding Saddam of Weapons of Mass Destruction(WMD).

Let's go to Afghanistan.That country was a monarchy from 1747 to 1973.But it soon fell into trouble when the many groups fought for political supremacy after 1973 until the Soviet Union intervened to back its favorite thug who was a Communist in 1979.

Consequently,a brutal and protracted war erupted but the Soviets eventually withdrew in defeat in 1989 after a decade of debilitating and humiliating warfare.

Now,remember that the U.S had secretly backed the Islamic Resistance Force called the Mujahideen by supplying weapons and other aid to the rebel forces.Note one thing here folks:at this time,amazingly,the U.S and Osama Bin Laden fought side by side to defeat the Soviets.

What resulted was that the oppositions overthrew the Communist regime and seized power in 1992.But the new strongman refused to give up power when his term officially ended.

That led the Talibans to assault the capital and ousted him in 1996.Here is what is also interesting:when the new Taliban regime took over,reports say it instituted a totalitarian system of rule fashioned after Islam but based on the perversions of the Qur'an and Sharia law.

Women and girls were forbidden to work outside the home,to go to school,or to express opinions at variance with the government.

The government banned television,movies,music,dancing and most other forms of entertainment.Children's games and activities were restricted.

When the U.S was attacked in 2001,the U.S invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban.Folks,how do you view the U.S foreign policy?

Should we begin to give credence to what Mr. Taylor and Senator Johnson are saying about the U.S giving them money to kill Liberians through a civil war,given the background that I have just mentioned? What does history tell us? How do we go about prosecuting those who committed diabolical crimes against us?

Mr. Taylor is in The Hague facing trial not for crimes he committed in Liberia,but the ones in nearby Sierra Leone.What about those who supported the civil war in Liberia? What about the presidents of Libya,Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso who directly aided Charles Taylor to kill Liberians? Why are they not on trial for supporting any and all faction leaders in Liberia.What about Guinea? In fact,given what we now know,what about the U.S?

When it comes to U.S foreign policy,the records of U.S relations with authoritarian states,including Liberia then,is replete with inconsistencies and contradictions.

These have weakened America's moral position in international politics,complicated its diplomatic efforts, and led many to charge America of hypocrisy.

New Job for Ghana's Former President

2009-07-21T19:04:00.005-05:00

Ghana's former president John Agyekum Kufuor has been named a Global Ambassador Against Hunger for the UN's World Food Program.Great Job!So,even after stepping down as president for the best country in Africa,there would have still been another job awaiting Mr. Kufuor.

President Kufuor's role,according to WFP's Executive Director,will be to focus on the need to provide good nutrition for the sixty-six million children who daily go to school hungry.

"Ensuring that every child has proper nutrition has to be the goal of every world leader," said president Kufuor after his appointment on July 20th. "I intend to inspire them all to strive for this goal."

I was very delighted when I got this news from the United Nations News Service yesterday.Why was I so delighted for my "former" president?Well,there is no great reason to be elated about his appointment except for the fact that he has been my " former" president in Ghana( I lived there for six years).

Mr. Kufuor won the elections in Ghana in 2000 when I had just arrived in that country and began living at the refugee camp known as Buduburam.Some people sometimes erroneously call it Bujumbura, mistaking it for the capital city and main port city of the Republic of Burundi, a country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa.

When president Kufuor won the Ghanaian presidential election,there was a kind of uneasiness among Liberian refugees because Kufuor's political party's acronym was similar to Charles Taylor's party that won presidential election in 1997 in Liberia.

Kufuor's New Patriotic Party(NPP) was somehow wrongfully associated with Taylor's National Patriotic Party(NPP),such that many Liberian refugees thought the two presidents had some kind of "connections" or philosophies.

Therefore,unlike the NDC-led government of Jerry John Rawlings,Liberians did not have much liking for the NPP-led government of Kufuor.

In fact, some Liberians in Ghana at the time blamed Kufuor,South African president Thabo Mbeki,Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, and Burkina Fasoa's Blaise Campaore for refusing to arrest Charles Taylor when a Special Court for Sierra Leone issued an arrest warrant for him on June 4th,2003 while attending peace talks with Liberian rebel groups in Accra,Ghana.

Besides,many Liberians feel and think that the NDC-led government better handled refugee issues than did the NPP-led government.

But as an individual who also was a refugee and a journalist,there were more to critically think about than easily agree with what others were saying about the NPP.

Yes,there were more dramatic displays between Liberian refugees during the Kufuor administration than there were during the Rawlings administration.

However, it was during the Kufuor administration that Liberians finally saw peace.And I bet president Kufuor might have played a pivotal role in ensuring that Liberians return to a peaceful settlement.

But president Kufuor was appointed WFP ambassador not because of what I have just explained, but because,as in the words of WFP Director Sheeran,Ghana has been a leader in nourishing its children.

And Director Sheeran added that Mr. Kufuor not only talks the talk,but he walks the walk, and he can be a leader in getting other leaders to follow his good example.I hope our leaders will listen to Mr. Kufuor and help put food on the table for Liberian school kids who daily go to school hungry.

Ghana has koko yams,corns,rice and a variety of food that their school children eat before and even after going to school.Things may not also be easy on Ghanaian school-going children.However, their government and farmers do a great deal to help with hungry.

In Liberia, we have fertile and rich soil but most of what we produce is rice, and so no matter what you give Liberian kids to eat,if they do not eat rice,they have not eaten anything at all.Can our government encourage and support our farmers get involved in the production of multiple food-crops?

I wish those words could be said about any former Liberian leader.But the last time I checked,I found that Liberia does not even have a former elected leader who is alive today aside from Charles Taylor whose fate is in limbo in Europe.

Some Liberians may argue that Liberia has former presidents like Dr. Amos Sawyer,Bismarck Kuyon,Philip Banks,David Kpormakor,Wilton Sankawulo,Ruth Perry,and Charles Gyude Bryant.But those were not elected;they were interim leaders.

And what about Moses Blah, Some may ask? He was not elected either.He only completed Mr. Taylor's term from August to October 2003.

So, in Liberia's longest historic journey of being the first independent nation-state in Africa to electing the first female head of state,we can not account for any of our past presidents.

We have either been killing or eating them.Oh yeah,we eat our presidents.Ask Prince Johnson where the late Samuel Doe's body parts are.He will be the best person to tell you, and yet Liberians elected him honorable man to make laws.Any yet we keep bragging about making history.Oh yeah! That's history,too-the eating or killing of our past presidents.

Therefore,there is no way such a statement attributed to Ghana's former president,Kufuor can be attributed to any of our former presidents. Not yet.

Maybe we would be able to say that of our Iron lady if we don't kill or eat her,too.

But Kufuor is not the first and only former leader that will be serving a role of such nature.His predecessor,Mr.Rawlings, was a joint recipient of World Hunger Award in 1993.
Ghana may also have some of their presidents dead,but they still have two former ones living now that we know of.Can we show one that is living besides controversial Taylor?
I betcha!

New Liberia's "Martin Luther King,Jr" Disappoints Liberians

2009-07-20T15:52:00.006-05:00

The Post-War New Liberia has many Liberians who gained education,experiences, and exposures from almost every country on this planet.From becoming refugees in Guinea to reaching higher heights in the United States,we have heard of many who have even become global citizens who have impacted and still are impacting lives.

This feat has even made some Liberians to conclude that the Liberian civil war,though it took away lives and destroyed properties, was a necessary thing.That it was a good thing in disguise.Whether or not this is true is another debate altogether.

They claimed that Liberians were not accustomed to leaving their beloved country to live elsewhere simply because Liberia was "Oh Sweet Liberia". As a result of their nation being at the time so sweet to live and work in,there was no need to leave it where anybody could be his/her own boss and a king at home,to becoming a subordinate or "slave" in another country.

But when the civil war erupted in 1989,Liberians who were used to not leaving their country, were forced to leave because if they stayed,they either become killed or would be forced to do things that they would not be willing to do.

But not every Liberian had the money and means to leave.Therefore, a large chunk of the population had to stay.But for those who were fortunate enough to leave,it was a blessing.

Interestingly, when the civil war ended officially in 2003,many who left due to the war decided to return home to sweet Liberia to make it once again "Oh sweet Liberia".But Liberia itself is still waiting to see whether it will be as sweet as it used to be before the upheavals began.

Therefore, among the many who decided to return,some opted to help improve their motherland by becoming either entrepreneurs,technocrats,citizen-leaders or politicians.Good enough!

But let's look at a person in one particular group,the citizen-leaders.An individual can decisively influence the course of political events without holding an official position in government.

That individual's unique dedication to a cause,personal magnetism or even outright courage can garner an impressive political following.And such an individual is called a citizen-leader.

After having followed the New Liberia for quite some times now,many Liberians and I were beginning to admire Mulbah K. Morlu,Chairman of the Forum for the Establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia.

Like America's outstanding citizen-leader Dr, Martin Luther King,Jr who championed civil rights activities in the United States,Mr. Morlu led marches,demonstrations,rallies, and press conferences throughout Monrovia aimed at convincing Liberians and the International Community for the need to establish a War Crimes Court for Liberia.

And Morlu's national prominence was growing in Liberia and beyond.

But While Dr.King stirred the conscience of Americans by reaching legislators and judges and, in the end the American people,Mr. Morlu did his with effective use of the Internet and other means.Many thanks to the advent of modern technology.

Although extremely controversial at the time,Dr. King's courageous efforts proved crucial to the passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act,which banned discrimination in public accommodations and employment.

Another civil rights legislation was later passed that additionally ensured equal treatment under the law for all citizens.But it also paid off for Dr.King as he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1964.

Am I comparing Dr. King to Mr. Morlu? By no means.In fact,it may take Mr. Morlu many more years to even think about walking in the shoes of the late Dr.King.

However,Mr. Morlu is a fine young Liberian man that has been doing lots of great things in the country and no doubts,he deserves mentioning in public arenas.

His leading role in advocating for the establishment of a War Crimes Court for Liberia is a very good adventure.Many international observers of Liberia are keenly following him.They are discussing him.Their options about evaluating this fine man's intentions and dedication to a cause for Liberia and humanity are on their tables.

But it took them(international observers) and many Liberians by utter unspeakable shock to hear that Mr. Morlu lied to them and Liberians when he claimed on July 11 that he met and discussed human rights issues with the visiting American president to Ghana,Barack Obama.

Was it a display of prominence?Morlu did not need that.He already had it.Some world leaders had already begun admiring him and were waiting for the appropriate time to contact him directly.

Like many Liberians,some world leaders believed him when he said things were happening in Liberia that needed international audience.Then why did he lie?

Was it, as Renaissance Italy's most famous political philosopher,Niccolo Machiavelli once told politicians that successful leaders must be masters of deception,that he was trying to master his own lies in order to brag to Liberians that he met the first African American president before president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf?

Remember that Machiavelli also warned political leaders that "No Prince had ever benefited from making himself hated." You have just done that!

Though a British Statesman and Philosopher,Edmund Burke said leaders create misleading impressions on people,he was alluding to revolutionaries who lied in the 20th Century that radical change almost always brought great improvements.

Whatever Mr. Morlu's motives or intentions were for such deceit,it was not worth it at all.

Although Dr. King,like all of us,was imperfect,he never used any political maneuvers to lie or impress on the American people falsely.

Dr.King was courageous and fearless but truthful,honest and trustworthy.That's why his legacy still lives on today.

Then why lie to us Mr. Morlu?Why? We would have taken nothing away from you had you said you traveled to Ghana to meet Mr. Obama, but seeming security protocols prevented you from meeting him face-to-face.We would still have loved you for your efforts for even attempting to meet him.

You have not just brought stigma on yourself as a person but you have also shamefully stigmatized Liberians and your outfit.

Liberians and world leaders will now be keenly watching your steps, and perhaps by extension,those of your advocacy group.

Truly,you were beginning to be our own Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr,but your most singular mistake,or should I say deceit,has made you a candidate for ridicule,concerns and doubts.And you sure better apologize to Liberians and your admirers?

Is Liberia's President Really a Magician?

2009-07-18T23:10:00.005-05:00

A statement made recently by New Jersey's Representative at the U.S House of Representatives ,Donald M. Payne, while in Africa that president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia is a magician has got me thinking soberly.

"She can make everybody say 'yes'," the chairman on the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and Global Health told AllAfrica in an interview.

Rep Payne also indicated that president Sirleaf was able to get Liberia's foreign debt down by paying three cents on the dollar,but the three cents did not even come from Liberia.
"She will pick your pocket and you don't even know it-she is so fantastic," said Rep payne.

Yes,it's true that Liberia's debt has been cancelled, and that things are relatively improving in Liberia.But when the honorable man equates that to being a magician,then I have a problem with it.

Webster's New World Dictionary with Student Handbook defines a magician as some one who is an expert in magic,specifically a sorcerer,wizard, or a performer skilled at magic.
Our president may have a broader appeal from many admirers across the world, and that's very fine.However,when people or we begin to associate her with magic,then she becomes something beyond the ordinary.Liberians don't believe in magic and I strongly think that the honorable Rep also does not believe in it.

But if our president is truly a magician,then why can't she play magic and stop the alarming armed robberies denigrating Liberia? Why can't she play magic and stop the sufferings of Liberians?Why can't she play magic to have all war lords now waiting prosecution,be easily hypnotized and put in jails in Liberia? Why can't she play magic and stop the land fighting in Nimba county?Why can't she?

The Representative's addition that the Firestone Rubber Plantations Company operating in Lower Margibi county has upgraded schools that are on the property and re-did homes for workers at the president's insistence may not actually be accurate.

Firestone Workers' conditions are getting worse by the day.The very houses that the honorable Rep is alluding to are worst to live in than it was to live in a refugee camp in Ghana.
Rubber tappers have houses built for them and their children including whatever number of women and close relatives that may live with them(workers).

Each Rubber tapper has one house with only two smaller rooms.There are no toilets,except for smaller bathrooms that are built side the houses.

Even some workers that have the ranks or higher education status over the rubber tappers don't seem to be happy with what they have.Their houses,too, don't have toilets.They and their children have to walk some long distances to defecate in the toilets built by Firestone for public use.Is that a refugee camp where people attend nature in what was generally known in Buduburam as "the golf"? I wonder.

While president Sirleaf has made tremendous improvements in her administration by ensuring that Liberia re-gain her status in the comity of nations,there are a lot more things that need to be worked upon.Health care is one of them.She needs to use her "magic" to ensure that Liberians get good health care.Unemployment is another of tehm.

As much as the global recession is seemingly affecting everybody here in America and elsewhere,the Liberian government is capable of creating more jobs for the jobless.

The government can also influence its foreign contractors to employ many jobless Liberians.Look at the road construction that is ongoing in parts of the country.

There are literally thousands of young people in the streets of Monrovia who could be used by these Chinese for road construction.And if they even pay each young person a dollar per hour to work for days,the young people will be happy because though the money may not be that big, the hope that at the end of the day,week or month,there will be money in their pockets will enliven them.

On the education front,I am told that children now attend school at primary level free of tuition.If that is true.That's good.We will have to thank Ghana for introducing us to that system.

I know that the president has a lot on her table, and the challenges are countless.However,She has too much international goodwill towards her that if she does not step up and make some wise decisions and use her intuition cleverly,history will judge her.

She can learn a lot from former president Charles Taylor.He did not have that international support and rapport that Ellen is hugely enjoying today.If Taylor had it,perhaps he might have done a lot of stealing and killing.She better wakes up from her slumber!

Young Liberians Urged to Forget Past,Move On

2009-07-17T17:33:00.008-05:00

She was born Oct 23,1992 just after a protracted period of war waged on residents of Monrovia by then rebel leader-turned president Charles Taylor.Many Liberians referred to that war as "Octopus" because it started in the middle of October and because the NPFL rebel force that attacked the people of Monrovia was a powerful rebel outfit that had widespread influence and many followers.

After having gone through a lot as a little child,she is calling on all Liberian youth,irrespective of where they currently live,to forget their bitter past and move on with new vigor,determination,and hope for their once beloved and prosperous nation.

Lovetta Conto is not a typical little girl.She thinks as a woman ,an educator,a businesswoman,a humanitarian,and she is soon to be an actress and writer.

Meeting her in the twin cities on July 2 was an honor and a blessing for me.I have a girl child,too.But though mine is not the age of Lovetta,seeing a girl child speaks the way Lovetta did when I met her was so encouraging for me as a father,then as a mentor,a journalist and an advocate.

I contacted her website once and that was it.She called my phone all day and left me countless messages.Although I was very busy at the time she was visiting family members in the twin cities,I had to buy out time for this young Liberian girl who has so much energy and passion for deserving but needy kids of Liberia and Africa.

Lovetta is changing lives in Liberia, and she is one in a million of children who has a big heart but not enough hands to reach out.
I never knew that she is the little girl whose father was my friend in the Liberian refugee camp in Buduburam,Ghana.She has grown big and exposed to many international audiences that even adults become nervous about speaking among.

Lovetta is a small girl by Liberian standards but very smart,intelligent and eloquent by American standards.Here in the United States, some children at 16 are just about becoming adults.In fact,in some instances some girls at that age begin sexual activities because they are just about to officially become adults.But by Liberian standards,she would have to be close to 25 or so before we officially consider her a woman or an adult.

But here is a girl turned-woman because of the big things that she is doing.At age 12,Lovetta became a fellow of Strongheartfellowship,a U.S based program that serves as a groundbreaking social entrepreneurship outfit designed to help bright,resilient young people from extremely chanllenging circumstances around the world develop into compassionate,innovative problem-solvers and leaders that can effect significant change in the world.

Since then,Lovetta has been creating businesses by helping to inspire young people from Liberia aimed at assisting them rebuild their country.At that young age, she is already a role model.

Lovetta's project actually involves working on jewelries made from bullets used during the Liberian civil war to kill children and their parents.

Instead of using them this time around to kill children,Lovetta is literally using those bullets and turning them into beautiful necklaces that people can buy from her and use the proceeds for charity.

Isn't that incredible!

Here is a little girl who went through a lot when her country was been destroyed by greedy political leaders and their followers.

"I know what it means to be hungry," she told me during an interview in July."I also know what it means to be put out of school for lack of money.And that is why I want to do this to help lots of young people go to school to better their lives and help improve our country."

She told me she believes every kid has a right to a better education."That is very close to my heart," she said.

She also knows how it feels to be without support and motherly love in particular."You want to go to school,you want to eat, but your mother is not there to prepare you food because either she does not have the money,or she is not home with you," she told me.

Like many other children growing up with a single parent,she grew up without her mother home.Only her father was there at times, but he, too, would always leave home in search of opportunities for himself and his little girl.

Lovetta said her dad and mom had their differences but sitting there without the other parent did not just make her lose hope.In fact,it motivated her just by knowing that it happened to other children too.

Although Liberia's president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is an inspiration to Lovetta,Oprah Winfrey,America's talk show queen,is her biggest inspiration."Oprah came from a poor family growing up on the farm with her grandmother," Lovetta said."But look at where she is today.Despite many challenges,Oprah beat all barriers and rose to the top,so she is my biggest role model. If she could do it,I can do and other kids can do it,too"

Lovetta was lacked of words,however, to describe how she feels about Africa's and Liberia's first elected female president,Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.But she also greatly admires U.S president Barack Obama.

"If she can become president for Liberia, and Obama can become president for America,it motivates me to the extend that I feel whatever goal I set my mind on,I can reach it," said Lovetta.

Miss Conto has also been touring the United States giving public speeches,hosting fund-raising parties and raising funds through other means for the needy.

Although she is strong in heart,she knows that at times the challenges can be daunting on her.

"When I was addressing the Texas Women Conference in Texas,I was frankly nervous because these were educated women from all walks of life, and there I was a little girl from Liberia still in High School addressing them," she said. "And It was a big challenge for me because I nearly lost my composure."

But those are not the only challenges that Lovetta faces at times.As a young girl with International appeal,many young boys too look at her with admiration but also with some intents she's very well aware of.

"Oh yeah," she admits."I know how easily girls can get pregnant at this age,but that's why I don't have friends.The temptation out there is too much,but I have a lot to do that I hardly have anytime for boys."

"The upbringing from my father is helping me a lot.My dad would spank me if I did not do the right thing, and he has the right to still spank me today if I do the wrong things."

As I was typing this write up,Lovetta was already leaving Austin,Texas where she had gone for another conference and flying to Canada to meet and discuss with her teachers at a High School from where she will be attending school online.

Miss Conto has been given a scholarship from Canada to further her education.And because she does not have the time to attend traditional High School in Monrovia,Liberia, her online study will be as interesting as the traditional High Schooling.

And as Lovetta continues to inspire many young people from Liberia, her project is also building a Strongheart house there where needy kids would live and attend school for free.

Like her, kids joining Strongheart have to be creative,diligent,determined and brilliant to be accepted.

But in the up-coming years,Lovetta will be publishing Teens Magazine in Liberia that would feature fashion,entertainment,health,advice for teenage pregnancy,music and role models.

Additionally,She wants to also become an actress and whatever money she makes in acting would be used to create charities around the world.

What a girl! What a woman! What a Liberian!

Books For Africa Deserves Pat on Back

2009-06-04T17:16:00.003-05:00

It seems quite a long time now, but my mind still remains fresh to the venue and time when the St.Paul-based 501(c)(3)charity hosted a fund raising luncheon on Wednesday,April 29,2009 at the Town and Country Club in St.Paul,Minnesota,United States of America.

Books For Africa(BFA) works to increase literacy and improve access to education by ending the book famine on the continent.As the World's largest shipper of donated books to Africa,BFA has shipped over 20 million high-quality text and library books to African children in 45 African countries since its inception in 1988.

On September 12,2008,BFA celebrated 20 years of service to the children of Africa.And, in the same year, BFA launched the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative to address Africa's scarcity of law and human rights books in law schools,libraries,and government offices. The UN former Secratary General,Kofi Annan and former United States Vice President,Walter Mondale are honorary co-chairs of the Law & Democracy Initiative.

Considering the great educational work that BFA is engaged in,it's imperative that we do give it a pat on the back and support its work because, as Welile Nhlapo,South African Ambassador to the United States said, "make no mistake,there are hundreds and thousands of people in Africa,young and old,who aspire to an education so that they can become their own agents of change and lead themselves out of the trap of poverty that has kept them down for much too long."
We need to do so because of what Kofi Annan also said that "literacy is a basic human right" that should be protected.

But realising that in 2008 alone,BFA's total expenditures of $21,951,777 far exceeded its total net assets of $10,080,559;there is a great need for support and voluntary contributions from all because,according to the Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S,Ombeni Sefue., "giving is the matter of the heart,not the pocket."

During the Launch,Ambassador Sefue who served as the keynote speaker said "the more we educate the children of Africa,the more we help improve our continent."

He revealed that in Tanzania,there is only one book for every three kids in school because many schools don't have libraries at all.

And that was my touching moment because as someone when attended and graduated from high school in my native Liberia,I can vividly recall times without number when we did not even have a library at my high school at Haywood Mission on the Old Road in Sinkor,Monrovia.We had to literally walk to what was then called the United States Information Service(USIS) Library on Mamba Point in Monrovia,to make research and to help us do some of our assigments.

And even today in Liberia, seven to eight students are assigned to one book.That is why BFA was honored to be the supplier of books for the kickoff of the single largest book distribution program in Liberia's history in January 2008.

Twenty-five-40-foot sea containers of books were sent to re-build school libraries,which were destroyed during the civil war.And to buttress my earlier point, many of the students at these schools had never before had a library or access to books in the community.Thanks in no small measure to the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) and a Liberia-based Non-governmental Organization,Visions In Action which both collaborated with BFA for the success of this educational program.

In the same year,over 20,000 library books were distributed to six village libraries and over 25 primary and seconday schools throughout Malawi.

Then, during the same time,too,the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees distributed a BFA shipment of books to refugees in the 12 camps in the Republic of Chad that were established for people fleeing armed conflict in Western Sudan's Darfur region.

These were just a few of many major shipments of books by BFA to Africa.But BFA can not do it alone.It needs our committed efforts.All of us.Whether we are in Asia,Europe,North America, the Middle East, or even in Africa,it behooves us all to ensure that we get involved in bettering the many fasinating lives of African children who are their various communities' Barack Obamas.

They will not become unless and until we all join hands,trousers,lappas and finances together to make sure they become literate and educated which would lead them to their individual ways of becoming the Ellen Johnson Sirleafs of Liberia,Sirivamo Bandaranaikes of Sri Lanka,the Vigdis Finnbogadottirs of Iceland,the Nelson Mandelas of South Africa, the Martin Luther Kings of America,the Margaret Thatchers of the United Kingdom,the Angela Merkels of Germany, the Kofi Annans of Ghana, and many more influential and democratic leaders of the world.

The BFA can send a book to Africa for less than 50 United States cents.That is a stunning value if you consider the impact of that.How much would it take you to send one book to a child that urgently needs that to pass his or her test or make research that would eventually lead to finding the cure for AIDS?Nothing! Absolutely nothing when you consider how much some African Government officials make a month.They steal a whole lot of money from Africa to build mansions abroad at the expense of the poor African people.

Take the case of Liberia,local media recently alleged in some reports that some ministers make over $15,000 per year while the Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company(LPRC),Harry Greaves,annually makes over $400,000.He makes more than what the leader of the Free World,U.S.President Barack Obama annually makes.

Although he has families both home and abroad to take care of, for which some would say he needs to support them,some of that money can be used to educate Liberian children.

Look at Nigeria,its President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua makes an annual salary of Naira 3.5 Million(about US$30,000).When you include other remunerations aside from allowances,he makes annually Naira.10.899 Milion (about US$93,000).Well, given that any country's president deserves a lot in terms of salary because of what some do for their various countries,it's way too much to spend for them when the people are suffering.Some of the African leaders don't even deserve these huge salaries at all because they don't do anything better for their individual countries.

Having said that, BFA is humbly inviting you to help put books into the hands of African children, and if you want to be a part of helping to educate African children,please visit www.BooksForAfrica.org and make a donation online.

There are over 400 million children living in Africa today, but without your help,many will never have access to books.Remeber that there are no access to internet in most parts of Africa,so are the only reliable means of accessing information.

In the words of BFA, you can and do make a difference when you help change the lives of African children. And like Kofi Annan said, "Books For Africa is a simple idea,but its impact is transformative.Literacy is quite simply the bridge from misery to hope."

May I say many thanks to the volunteers,staff,Board members,supporters,fundraisers and the founder of BFA,Tom Warth for such a brilliant idea and job well-done.You all deserve a huge pat on the back.

Charles Taylor Trial is Becoming Interesting

2009-01-17T22:04:00.003-06:00

Exactly one week and a day ago today, on Jan.9, a very prominent person formerly associated with the Special War Crimes Court in Sierra Leone,called my phone, after apparently getting the phone number from NewLiberian.com website, as early as 8 a.m. Central Time to discuss former Liberian president,Charles Taylor's trial which resumed on Jan 12 after Christmas and New year recess with the 85th Prosecution witness,Liberian Journalist,Hassan Bility testifying against Mr. Taylor.
Though i wanted to quote the individual for whom i have had so much respect,i was told all discussions were off the record, and journalists in U.S.newsrooms and students in J-schools across the United States and possibly elsewhere, know what that mean.

So there i was that early morning on the phone talking with the individual i had wanted to interview long before i got to know them in America.What would i do with the information that i am being given today, i wondered in my little mind as they spoke.

Due to some very critical reasons and the implications and responsibilities that come with "off the record" assurances,i would refrain from indicating the gender of the individual.Whether it was a he or she,i would use they in this write-up and only for this.

As we began discussions that morning,my source told me that though many Liberians seemingly are blaming the International Community for trying Mr. Taylor for crimes committed in Sierra Leone,rather than crimes he committed in Liberia, the War Crimes Court in the West African country is not a small one.

They said the War Crimes Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up to operate judiciously independent, and that West African leaders had expressed concerns about Mr. Taylor's trial taking place in West Africa.

In fact, it all started when on March 29,2006 when then president of the Special Court,Justice A. Raja N. Fernando,sent a letter to the president of the ICC,Judge Philippe Kirsch, asking the use of the ICC facilities in order to conclude the trial.So the same concerns raised by West African leaders were reiterated by the Special Court president

Therefore,it was agreed upon that the trial be convened in the Hague,The Netherlands and UN Resolution 1688 confirmed it that Mr. Taylor's trial could destabilize Liberia. So,though the trial now is ongoing in the Netherlands,it's still the Special War Crimes Court of Sierra Leone seated in the premises of the International Criminal Court(ICC).

As a result,on June 20,2006 when i was just about leaving Africa for the United States,the Special Court transferred Mr. Taylor to the detention center of the ICC in accordance with the Memorandum Of Understanding(MOU) concluded by the Special Court and the ICC on April 13,2006.

I was made to understand that the trial is being conducted by a Trial Chamber of the Special Court sitting in The Hague, and that it's not the ICC that is conducting Mr. Taylor's trial. Besides, all costs were being paid in advance by the Special Court through a Trust Fund established by the ICC Registrar.

Though my source gave me details about themselves,i would not tell you because that would probably give you leads into concluding who they were.But i know now who they are. What stunned me most during our conversation was when they mentioned that a final verdict either charging or exculpating Mr.

Taylor would probably be difficult to conclude because there have to be brought to the fore,impeccable evidence clearly and logically proofing the that there is a linkage that Mr. Taylor ordered the execution of innocent Sierra Leonean citizens on a systematic level. "They would have to proof that it was widepread and that it was a systematic effort.

They have to bring credible witnesses(eventhough they have brought up some witnesses like Moses Blah)who would say that it was Mr. Taylor who told them to kill innocent people indiscriminately ," my source told me.

They said whether the witnesses that have already testified against Mr. Taylor, and those that are yet to testify are credible or not will have to be determined by the Judge of the Special Court.

So i tried to draw a parallel between the then Taylor administration to that of the Bush administration over whether or not the incoming Obama administration would indict outgoing president George W.Bush over crimes reportedly committed in Iraq.

But my source said they did not think the Obama administration would do that.In fact, they defended the Bush administration that under the Rome status, the United States under president Bush,going to war in Iraq was not wrong. "Did the U.S.military kill civilians? Can you or anyone proof the link that president Bush told the U.S.military to kill innocent Iraqi civilians?You would have to look at the elements of the law," my source said.

Though our conversation ended that morning on a good note and promises were made to keep the ball rolling, the trial has not ended yet.

Yesterday, Mr. Taylor's Defense Lawyer Courtenay Griffiths told the Special Court that Prosecution Witness Hassan Bility was arrested in 2002 by Mr. Taylor's government security not as a journalist but as an unlawful combatant whose plan to over throw Mr. Taylor was aborted by Liberia's State Security.

Mr. Griffiths read in open court six faintly type-written emails that contained subversive communications allegedly exchanged between Mr. Bility and some members of the Mandingo ethnic group in the U.S. and Liberia.

Mr. Bility denied any link and knowledge with the subversive emails.He also added that he was shown the same emails back in Liberia in 2002 when he was arrested by state security and detained at the National Bureau of Investigation.

Cross examination of Bility will be completed Monday,Jan 19 as the Court adjourned for the day.However, there are chilling revealations that Mr. Taylor's Lawyer is bringing out and details will follow in my subsequent write-up.

Thanks Giving Gives Me Gift

2008-12-01T09:15:00.005-06:00

Every year in November,Americans and perhaps others elsewhere celebrate Thanks-Giving which is a harvest festival.Traditionally,i am told,it's a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. Though it's primarily a United States and Canada holiday which has generally become a national secular holiday with religious origins,many non-Americans and non-Canadians across north America celebrate it.

Therefore,last week ,i was invited by one of my American families to celebrate Thanks-Giving with them at their home in Edina- a town about 20 miles away from my home in Brooklyn Park in Northern Minneapolis,Minnesota.

Lane Aryes who is the director of Mason Law and Democracy Initiative and the Books for African Project in down town Minneapolis and Wife,Marion had invited me, a Tibetan family and their two brothers-in law,the host family's son,Mathew and daughter-in law,Julia;Marion's sister ,brother-in law and niece to their home.

The Aryes have been a very good family to me since we have known each other in Church in Minnetonka.They have done to me only what a father and mother could do to their dear son which i am not able to publicly mention here.

Lane in fact is someone who is fond of Africa as his outfit has donated books to many Africans including a donation of books to the Liberian Refugee Camp in Ghana where i lived and worked for six years.I did not know that i would have met the man who helped send books to my former home.

It was actually my first Thanks-Giving in America that i had fully attended and participated in the eating and familiarization of the culture of America in this setting.

But Thanks-Giving also gave me a Gift that i will never forget:The Tibetan Family and their country's and family history

As it's normally done,we ate Turkey and had Pumkin pie and drank Indian tea for dessert.The tea is related to Tibetan family who had spent over ten years in a refugee camp in India after feeling from Chinese political and physical advances into Tibet.

It was also an honor for me to have interacted with Marion's brother-in-law(Bernie O'Neil) who had served in the U.S. navy for years and taught at the University of Minnesota(U of M).He told me he was commanding the 22nd hospital team when he was called up for "Desert Storm" in 1991.

The Tibetans with whom i talked are an amazing family.Their three daughters( they are actually four but one was absent) that i interacted with are great people as well.In fact,the youngest is a senior at the U of M, and though they are now U.S.citizens, they make no difference from me.
Like me,they had spent years in exile,were taught English and,above all,have remain very appreciative of the Indian government and people who gave them refuge.

According to comments that i gathered online,in 1950, the Chinese government invaded Tibet, which was until then,its own sovereign country.To ensure that Tibetan culture was destroyed, the Chinese government began a policy of "Population Transfer" where they moved a huge number of Chinese citizens into Tibet.

Being cognizant of fact that China is a totalitarian state where there is no freedom of speech, this would mean torture or imprisonment for any Tibetan who dare speaks against the Chinese Government which had imposed its will and people on to the Tibetan state and people.

Someone who went to Tibet in 2002 told me online that,they were appalled by what they saw. The Tibetan people especially in rural areas have nothing for themselves and are treated like second class citizens in their own country.I was also told that China allows the entire world to see only what China wants seen outside there and hides the rest unto themselves.
That China had even the spiritual leader of Tibet,the Dalai Mama as evil and in the process trying to eliminate the Tibetan culture.

That was why the Tibetans were protecting against hosting the 2008 Olympics in China to attract International attention to their plight.Though the Chinese government promised to improve the situation in Tibet,it failed to live up to its commitment.

What was also amazing is that the Dalai Lama did not support the rioting, as he prefers peaceful dialogue with China but noting that even if they allow Tibet to officially form part of China,the Chinese Government should allow Tibetans to practice their beliefs and cultures.

But how could this be when most of the Tibetan wealth is taken over by Chinese,Merchants and shopkeepers are Chinese and all the power is in the hands of Chinese?Even pro-Chinese Tibetans are given token powers but remain puppets of the Chinese State.

Even the Panchen Lama who is the second highest spiritual leader,i was told, was chosen by the Chinese state while the Tibetans choice was imprisoned.

During my conversation with this Tibetan family,i questioned what the world's governing body, the United Nations(UN) was doing against this.But, as often,it seems the UN is a toothless dog that just barks but does not bite,otherwise what would China be doing in another sovereign state.
Though we went to the Lanes to eat and drink this Thanks-Giving, i was glad that i got to see and hear from others who are not just Americans or Africans,but Asians who,like many Africans continue to suffer from corrupt leaders and poverty.

I was and still am very grateful for having shared in the unique cultures of America and Tibet as i ate not just Turkey and Pumkin Pie but Tibetan "Momo" which is likely a combination of corn or yam with pepper sauce that tasted not just delicious but yammmmmmmmmmmy

Long Silence Regretable Folks,But Am Shocked About Liberia Nowadays

2008-11-25T10:48:00.003-06:00

It's Been a very long time since March when i told you about my flight experience from Miami,Florida to Minneapolis,Minnesota.And since then,many have been wondering and emailing me what was happening to me because they have not been hearing from me through my Blog.

Honestly folks,i have been very busy with school on the one hand and "American" work on the other hand, and for some of you who are in school in the U.S.you know what that means.Every day assignments, periodic tests and too many reading from books and articles to research from libraries across the state.

But my apologies for keeping away from you since March.I also realised that too because it's been almost eight months since i last wrote on that blog.But anyway.These days,things are really happening with amazement and a mixture of shock.

From America's election of a president who happens to be a black male with ancestry lineage from the motherland to Liberia's Chief Justice confiscating a camara from a journalist to an 18-year old Liberian shot dead by another Liberian in Minnesota.

But what is really getting to my nerves is report that i just received from Monrovia that Liberia's Justice Ministry has just summoned Radio Veritas( a Catholic-Run Radio Station) to provide evidence and sources relating to a story the station aired alleging that $100,000(one-hundred thousand )United States Dollars has disappeared at the Executive Mansion in president Ellen Johnson's Administration.

If what i gathered is anything to go by,it appears that two officials of Ellen's Administration in persons of Morris Saytumah(Minister of State for Legal and Economic Affairs) and Pearine Davis Parkinson( a Deputy Minister) are accused of corruption in the story and linked to the missing $100,000.
The fact that Liberia's Justice Ministry is asking the management of Radio Veritas to disclose its evidence or sources,if you will,make me start thinking seriously about the way Ellen's administration is beginning to do business nowaways in the country.

Even if that is justifiable,i think Liberia will have to have a shield law where a journalist could not be compelled to provide testimony or produce documentary evidence without first showing the need to do so.
No matter how some may feel about how journalists use too many anonymous sources,it's very hard to say they don't need to promise confidentiality sometimes.

Many of the biggest investigative stories have been very successful in part due to information shared with a journalist by someone who wanted to keep his/her identity secret.

I think this is the only way leakages will continue to expose corrupt leaders in Liberia.How do you think the journalist will get the biggest story or scoop of the day?By getting confidential sources to leak information to them.

So even if that shield law makes it necessary for journalist to disclose their sources,it should only be done through the court when the court deems it necessary such that the disclosure of the sources by journalists will prevent imminent and actual harm to national security or imminent death or important bodily harm.But requiring journalists to disclose their sources beyond this reason is unaccaptable and undemocratic on the part of government.

What i would advice the Catholic Radio station to do is refuse to disclose its sources if it thinks that doing so would seriously put their sources in perpetual danger,lost of position or job and or unneccesary hardship.

It should explain to the public and indeed government and other international agencies why its sources' identities should remain secret.

Through this,the public will be helped to have access to important information, and that,in the end,is what really matters to the citizenry of Liberia.

I am keenly watching and following this recent development in Monrovia.However,happy Thanks-Giving to all Liberians back home and abroad

Amazing Media Experience,Worst Flight Ever Yet

2008-03-10T10:52:00.002-05:00

When you think that my Feb.25th North West Airline Flight that took me from Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport(MSP) experience was a pain in the ass like my good friend,Dave Mass and I(and probably you too)thought,then my return flight was an even more pain in the ass.

After having an amazing media experience at the WeMedia 2008 Conference for three days at the University of Miami in sunny Florida,i had no idea what my return flight on Feb 28th might look like.

I was scheduled to leave the Storer Auditorium at the University of Miami School of Business at about 3pm local time on board a shuttle to the Miami International Airport for boarding flight at 4:58pm local and take off at 5:27pm.

And exactly at 5:27pm we took off.We were to arrive at the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport in Minnesota at 8:35pm local time but we were 35 minutes ahead of arrival time.

At about 7:49pm, the captain announced that due to some snow at the MSP we would delay landing for about 5 minutes.

But after holding on in the firemaments(whatever that means) for a little of 15 minutes,the captain announced that our delay would now be extended for 20 minutes instead of 5 minutes.

But by the time flight attendants announced that we should prepare for landing,flight captain announced almost immediately that the MSP Airport had been shot down for landing.

Many onboard the flight( i was the only black person on board )became confused by that latest announcement from the captain.Therefore, we were told that would could land at Rochester Airport.But as we flew over MSP for just a few minutes, we were informed that there was heavy snow now falling in Rochester, so we could not land there.

So we began to wait in the skies hoping that the snow could be cleared and allow us land at either Airports.And while we were in the skies,there were four other planes with us also stranded in midair.Then suddenly, our captain announced that we were running out of fuel,so we better fly to Madison,Wisconson to re-fuel and perhaps wait there for a while for snow at MSP Airport to be cleared.

Meanwhile,food and water intended to feed passangers,were already all consumed.Passangers visited bathrooms more than i have ever seen on any flight .We(i) was very hungry at this point,we were told not to leave the flight even after it had just landed in Madison.

So there i was sitting with my laptop opened and my MP3 player on loud.But with the series of interruptions,i became scared not just for my life,but for the over 500 of us on board.

I thought about my mother,whom i have not seen in 16 years,my daughter with whom i had just spoken before my flight,and all the good people of this world who have done so much good for me and my daughter.

Like we say in Liberia,my heart was in my *ut as we became more attentative to get information from the captain as well as flight attendants.

Remember,all cellphones were put off,so there was no way to even call relatives to inform them on what was unfolding in the air not to even call friends who had come to the Airport to pick some of us up.

However,at 9:15pm local time,we finally landed in Madison, and though it also snowed there,there was not much worry as it was in MSP Airport or Rochester.

Then,our captain announced that we would wait in Madison until the weather conditions were good for landing in MSP Airport, and that all runways were safe .

For hours, we were there.Some sleeping,snoring and worried while others walked around in the plane to change the flow of blood in their circulatory systems .

Still,others were lined up toward the flight restrooms to ease themselves, and believe me,the lines were very long .

Eventually,at 10pm,the captain informed us that flights were now landing at MSP Airport at the amazment of many,so we would be flying to Minneapolis within 45 minutes.

North West Airport workers washed the wings of our airplane,we re-filled and all snow was cleared from the wings and sides of our plane.

We again took off from Madison at 10:37pm local time,but justb within five minutes of our flight, the captain announced that flight attendants should prepare for landing and all onboard said wow!But the fact was,we would fly for a while before landing.

In the meantime,scheduled flights to Edmonton,Canada were presumably delayed as there were lots of Canadian Citizens as well as some American Citizens that were headed to Canada that night.

And when our plane touched the runways at MSP Airport at exactly b11:35pm local time,we all were very elated .

This might seem a little too late to talk about it, but for the safety of many Americans and non-Americans onboard most of those flights to MSP Airport,i think the Federal as well as the State authorities would do well to consider confining the MSP Airport or at least find a way in which plans can land there at anytime whether during winter time or so without having to worry about snow disruppting safe landing.

That was the bad experience.Now the good one.The Media Conference began on the evening of Feb.25 with an opening reception held in the courtyard of the School of Communications at the University of Miami.

We met new friends from across United States Canada and from the United Kingdom as well, and viewing photos from a selection of the award winning photo exhibitions across the world.

Most breakfasts and dinners were on our own,but the one on Feb 27. was provided us by the organizers due to the early start of the conference at 8am .

The conference included a series of facilitated forums and a variety of smaller breakout discussions,workshops and demos to help us understand and address the challenges of a changing multi-media world and to stimulate innovation and investment in new projects and services.

The title of the opening session,Media at the Tipping Point, was handdled by Andrew Nachison and Dale Pesking,co-founders of iFOCOS,organizers of WeMedia.

During a keynote conversation,Jeff Gomez,author of "Print is Dead",and Roger Black,principal of Roger Black Studio discussed "Print is Dead" which was moderated by Dale Peskin.

Then at 9am,Richard Sarnoff,president of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and Williams C. Weiss,Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of The Promar Group and Chairman of iFOCOS held a conversation on "Print Reincarnated."

The executive editor of the WashingtonPost,Jim Brady,Jean Marc Coicaud,director of the United Nations University,the Rev.Lennox Yearwood Jr., president of Hip Hop Caucus and two other media executives,discussed "The Power to Change The World."

Editors and vice presidents at many organizations like Sunlight Foundation,Live Earth,SocialSphere,World Street Journal,The Des Moines Register,MTV,OneVoice Movement,EchoDitto,The Associated Press,NewsTrust,Google,Ryerson University School of Journalism in Canada,University of Miami School of Communications,AARP,Humana,Nenuphar Mobile Media, and many other foundations were represented.

During the conference,i (along with the more than 300 people from 13 countries in attendance)learned for the first time that Americans were deeply dissatisfied with their journalism.

The iFOCOS research finding indicated that two thirds of Americans,which is,67 percent, believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news.

While that was not a good thing from the Americans about their own journalists,participants were hapy to know that Knight Foundation invests $3 million to fund social intrepreneurs in journalism which is a very big deal because it''s a major philanthropy and one of the few with an interest in journalism.

“Journalism should have a profound social impact,” said Alberto Ibarguen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This quote defines the root of the Knight Foundation’s partnership with the Ashoka: Innovator for the Public.

We were able to explore how media and communications in multitude of forms,produced or influenced by an ever expanding multitude of sources,can make the world a better place for more people to live.

In a shifting communications marketplace, we considered how to pay for and sustain the civic enterprises through media that can influence and change the world,including news and information.
We also explored the role of social experiences in business,we heard new venture pitches judged by experts in launching new businesses, and we did our best to inspire business development,investment and social entrepreneurship through media.

At the end of it all,we were able to make face-to-face contacts,networked and maintained meaningful contacts and commitment of time and resource for all of us to remain invloved not just in Miami but even after we left.

Media Conference Experience in Miami

2008-02-26T20:58:00.002-06:00

I was slated for departure from the Minneapolis –St.Paul International (MSP) Airport with North West Airlines at 7:08 am, and so as early as 5am, I began preparation for a drop-off ride from my friends, Erasmus Williams and Isaac Fanhbulleh.

But Isaac ended up dropping me since Erasmus did not know the road to the airport very well. But unfortunately, however, we had an accident just about the time that we were approaching the Airport so Police had to be called to come and make a formal inspection and accident report to various Insurance companies of the both drivers.

The right-side view mirror (where I was sitting) was smashed but it was any major accident at all. Despite that, I was delayed for almost one hour. I needed to check-in at 6:38am but we were waiting for the police to come and make a report just when that time passed by.

So when the police officer was through with his report and asked us to drive, we did but just as I arrived to check-in, my scheduled flight was picking up and leaving MSP International Airport.

I was put on a stand-by flight to Miami for 1:38am but after I sat for a while, I walked up to the North West Airline agent and asked whether something could be done for me. So she decided to help by scheduling me for a connection flight to Detroit, Michigan but said I would have to wait for another flight that would eventually take me to Miami at about 4pm.

So I agreed and at 8:37am I got on a North West Airline that took me to Detroit and I waited there for almost two hours because the flight that should have taken me to Miami had problems so , another flight arrangement had to be put in place and so I waited and waited but finally got on a plane at about 3pm and that flight arrived with me to Miami at about 6pm local time.

I checked into my hotel (Coral Cables Inn) at about 7pm and began to check my emails. I had a sound sleep that night on the 25th of Feb. But as I woke up in the morning, the entire Miami was out of electricity and the already-hot city became even hotter than Accra in West Africa where I spent over six years living and working.

My first day of meeting at the conference hall at the University of Miami was under way at 6pm so I decided to find something to drink since I was testy and hungry. I walked just opposite the University of Miami to Stir Moon cafe.

But because there was no electricity, I had to drink something warm and a little chilly. As I sat, women of Cuban and Puetorican descend were just entering and leaving the jam packed café.
Miami, in many ways reminds me of Monrovia in my Native Liberia. It’s not so warm and not so cold either. The sun shine is great, people wearing sleeveless shirts, short pants and for the first time in my almost three years stay in the United States, I had a cold shower because of the warm weather that I am so much admiring in south Florida.

Unlike my Minnesota where I almost every day see and drive in snow, here in Miami, there is no snow, no cold and everything is just perfect.

And when I began to wonder where I could go to have fun, a friend I met online in Miami, Alejandra, suggested that I stroll over to star bucks on south Dixie High way and grab a nice café and soak myself in an iced mocha (drink with coffee) café to keep me going.

And when I tried it, I never wanted to stop drinking that cozy cup filled of water, coffee and a little bit of sugar that tastes so well.

Then I decided to look for a good taste of Puerican/Cuban food so I checked out the Latin American order of the Mojitio( a kind of drink), and that one try was enough to help me catch a cab back to my hotel room. Then the next day, Tuesday, Feb 26, I decided to try out the night life so I went to a night club and while there, I buchata(danced) for a whole night forgetting that I was here for a media Conference for Editors from mainstream Media across the United States.

Though this is my second time coming to Miami(the first time was in 2006 when I was on a journalism fellowship with the Minnesota-based World Press Institute),I feel like it’s my first because I have more latitude than I had during my first visit. Then, I only visited the offices of the Miami Herald and a few other offices. But this trip, well, though I am here for only four days, I feel like I have spent more than a week here.

And another amazing thing that I really admire here is the fact that, unlike Santa Fe in New Mexico where I spent 2007 Christmas where I could hardly ever come across a black person, here in Miami, I pass by many black faces. In fact, last night while watching local news in channel 10, I was amazed when a black male news anchor was saying that on May 21, he will resign to retire after almost 22 years of Television broadcasting .He was the first black face on Television in South Florida.

And oh warm Miami and great South Florida! I might just re-locate here from Minnesota for the better.

Community Dialogue With Police Commendable

2008-02-24T00:26:00.003-06:00

Today, Feb.23,representatives of the Police Departments from the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center met with heads of various Immigrants Organizations in the two cities and held discussions aimed at having cordial working relationships.

During the dialogue, members representatives from various Immigrants organizations said it would be in the interest of peace that the Police show some lever of understanding to the immigrant community in the state of Minnesota.

The discussions were held at the Civic center in Brooklyn Center with forty-five persons in attendance.The President of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota(OLM),Kerper Dwanyan and Miss Liberia-Minnesota 2007/2008 Ms.Aicha Cooper were also in attendance.

What interested me more was the fact that members of the Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center Police and the predominantly Liberian and Somali immigrants, were able to come together and discuss what shoud be done in their interest and theb interest of the Community.

If such discussions could be held in all communities across the United states, it would go a long way in mending the racial fences in America.

A month or so ago,similar dialogue was held and reports say another is slated for April this year.The way people discussed how they feel about how to be a good neighbor,government representative even politicians, show that if such discussions are extended over the United states, it would largely help the host and pre-immigrants settlers understand the immigrants properly and without much mis-understanding.

Liberians Thank You Honorables of Liberia,But!

2008-01-30T13:50:00.000-06:00

When Liberia's former House speaker,Edwin Snowe accused members of Liberia's legislature of bribery to oust him out of office,many were wondering whether or not it was worth it.And no sooner did Snowe say it than Liberians and their foreign partners including the United States Mission near Monrovia,called for an independent investigation in the allegation.
And after a while,some of the law-makers said it would never in their life time for "outsiders" to meddle into Liberia's legislative matter.
But today,reports emanating from Liberia's capital,Monrovia say the honorable lawmakers have finally agreed to allow independent investigators to observe and determine whether or not bribery indeed took place at Liberia's honorable house.

It follows repeated calls from Liberians from all walks of life through letters,emails and articles for the law makers to bulge.

And this brings my mind to the importance of Press freedom and free speech.Had we not made repeated calls for such move,who knows what would have happened to our Legislature? Now,our only concern is that a truly independent investigation is done and if anyone is found guilty of any bribery in that house,let the rule of law take its course.

The world is changing and so should we.Liberians have suffered for far too long and now that there is a sign of hope for us and our children,we do not need any more fall backs in our nation's history. The world and we are watching to see when the probe will commence and how it will be determined as to who did what and how.

My heart goes out to all Liberians who have been waiting for this hour and we wait,let's not allow sentiments and tribalism or even sexism divide us.We can differ in opinions and still live together in peace and not in pieces.

If we see,we will know and if we know,we will determine what to do with whom.You and i have that constitutional mandate to decide who we put in that house but only through the ballot box, and that's not going to happen any soon.

Drugs for Children's Better Health is Important

2007-12-08T12:22:00.000-06:00

One of Liberia’s finest pre-war broadcasters, Aaron B. Kollie once said that Children are the cream of a nation’s future. They are a solid rock upon which a strong society is built. And therefore they deserve all our attention. Our children. Our future.

But ironically, the very children who are a nation’s future were the same ones that were forced to pick up arms against their own relatives under the guise of being Freedom fighters.
They were drugged, violated and subsequently used to commit hideous crimes in conflict societies like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda and now in the Darfur region of Sudan.

And now that there is a semblance of peace in most of the afford mentioned sub-Saharan countries, what remains to be seen is the effect of war on those nations’ future.

Some get sick repeatedly without treatment, and therefore are dying daily with treatable diseases and illnesses.

Perhaps in a bid to help ease this growing problem among children, the World Health Organization (WHO) that is an agency of the United Nations responsible for health in the world, on Dec 6 disclosed plans for further research and development into child medicine.
According the United Nations, WHO announced about these plans in London, the United Kingdom with the view of tailoring the need for the medicines to meet the needs and size of children in the world.

The WHO raised concerns during that campaign to create awareness among people especially those in government and in international Health organizations that there is a need for all children under the age of 15 across the world to have better access to medicines appropriate for them.

This means children under that age should be able to have medicines that are in suitable dosages or format for them to take so that they don’t get sick and die of an illness only because they cannot take medicines that are in dosages for older people.

“The gap between the availability and the need for child-appropriate medicines touches wealthy as well as poor countries,” said the WHO director general, Dr.Margaret Chan. “As we strive for equitable access to scientific progress in health, children must be one of our priorities.”
Good statement from someone who is a mother and sister. But will it be like what we heard from a father and brother figure, Aaron B. Kollie that since children are the cream of any nation, they deserve all of our attention only to be drugged and violated?

Probably. Probably not.

But how possible will that be when more than half of children in developed societies are prescribed medicines whose dosages are intended for adults, and not authorized for use in children?

For developing countries, according to the WHO, the situation is even worse because access to medicines is either non-existent or if it is, it will be very low.

Just imagine WHO saying that of the 10 million children that do not reach their 5th birthdays, six million die every year of treatable conditions and could be saved if only the medicines they need were readily available, safe, effective and affordable.

Where are the Putins, Bushes, Brownes, Howards, Ills, Ki-Moons, Merkels, and all the world leaders? What are they doing with all the money that they have?

The money that each of those leaders uses on arms race and nuclear and atomic energies could save the lives of millions of children across the globe.

Take Pneumonia for instance. It kills two million children under age five each year while HIV kills 330,000 children under age 15.

And as the WHO assistant director general, Howard Zucker said at this campaign, “these illnesses can be treated, but many children don’t stand a chance because the medicines are either not appropriate for their age, don’t reach them or are priced too high up to three times the price of adult drugs.”

What are the world’s governments doing? Are they going to wait again for another ten years for get one action done in the interest of children? Will this be rhetoric from another agency of the UN?
Well, wait until your child gets sick then you will know whether it’s political rhetoric or lip-service.

Illegal Immigrants in America:Not Just Mexicans

2007-12-06T09:37:00.000-06:00

There is a popular saying here in America that this free land of liberty is an immigrant nation, and rightly so.For years,many people come over to the United States to seek greener pasture in achieving the American dream, and Africans are no exception to this trend.

And actually,nobody ever cared about who entered and stayed in the United States beyond their immigration statuses until Sept 11,2001 when people believed to be a part of the al -Quaeda Network headed by Saudi Dissident Osama Bin Laden attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington,D.C. destroying thousands of lives and properties worth tens of millions of American dollars.

Americans cried and the entire world sympathized with the Bush Administration as well as the American people.It was at this point that America realized that its security was under a greater threat right in its backyard.

That attack had many ramifications for not just the wealthy but even the indigent.I remember talking to Liberian refugees who should have been flown to the United States on the American Refugee Resettlement Program that same day from the west African nation of Ghana.

But their quest for a better life other than what they had experienced at the wicked hands of power-hungry Liberian Politicians and rebel leaders during the 90s was dashed.
Some are still waiting in a refugee camp in Buduburam,Ghana to be resettled since they could not come to America on Sept 11,2001 because of the attack on America.

Immigration laws began to change, and America became aware that its borders were porous especially the ones with nearby Canada and Mexico.
People who had entered into the United states as visitors began to be sought after.But there was more trouble for people suspected to be align with the Muslim or Islamic religion.

And as reports of America's population increase began to filter the airwaves and printed on newspapers across the nation,fears began to grip those who had entered America through the fence especially the ones from Mexico.

No sooner had we lived than to know that there are over 12 million illegal immigrants,mostly from Mexico,living in America.

The department of Home land security was quickly established after the sept 11 attack,to ensure that it secures America's borders.

And as nobody would expect people from Africa or even Europe to fly to America without a visa,many looked to Mexico and Canada to ensure that people leaving those two nearby countries and wishing to enter America have visas.

All eyes have been set on illegal Mexicans believed to be working on American farms,meat industries and many manufacturing companies, to be arrested and sent back to Mexico.The Federal government has done a lot but there are rights advocacy groups calling this move by the Federal government inhumane.

As mush as the rights groups care about America's security,they think and believe that America should leave these so-called illegal immigants alone and chase their American dream especially because some have lived here for years and born American children.

But the Federal government insists that no matter what,these people have violated America's immigration laws and so they should face the full weight of the law.

And i also came to have this belief that the people from Mexico are taking advantage of the proximity of their country to America.Who wouldn't,anyway given that America is heaven on earth?

But when i was listening to the Nov 20,2007 edition of Morning Edition,an early morning radio show on National Public Radio(NPR) via Minnesota Public Radio(MPR),i was stunned to hear that there are over 20,000 illegal immigrants from China living and working in various states in America.

NPR reported that since the late 1980s,hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from China's Fujian Province have been smuggled into the United States.

For example, in the summer of 1993,a rusty steamer ran around off New York City.But nearly 300 passangers plunged into the chilly waters,desperate to touch American soil.Ten would die in the water within sight of shore.

The boat was called the Golden Venture, and its passangers were immigrants smuggled from Fujian.

Now 14 years on,the business of smuggling illegal immigrants have changed for the better.When that illegal process of coming to America began that time,the cost to illegally bring someone from China was around $15,000.

But today,it ranges anything from $60,000 to $80,000 for an illegal immigrant to be brought to America.

These days,smuggling these illegal immigrants to America can involve airports and cars and crisscrossing the globe by scheduled flights.

They begin by getting fake documents in Bangkok,Thailand and these documents include fake driver's license,State I.Ds.,press cards, and even fake degrees.Though you won't find fake passports on those tables that sell these fake documents,you can get the fake passport however,when you get the cash and the connections.

While the British and American passports are strict and are worthless because you can not fake either of them without being booked by the American security enroute to America,the Japanese and Israeli passports are in high demand there.

So when the Chinese start their journey from Fujian,it starts legally using tourists visas to enter Thailand as tourists but they never go back home.

From there , they buy their fake documents and start their long and dangerious journey.Once they get there,they travel through all kinds of route through Russia,Europe,Africa,Latin America and Canada before they can finally make it through to the United states.

That route is for those travelling by air.And they are provided with food,transportation and sleeping place by their smugglers until they reach America.

But for those travelling by land, they pass through Belize then to Mexico and finally into the United States.

Therefore,every week 50 to 100 Chinese are caught trying to cross into the United States using the Mexico-United States border illegally.

But once they make it into the the United States without being arrested, they are provided cellphones to call families back home to inform them that they made it safely.Then their Chinese counterpart who also came through the same way but have businesses now,provide them jobs and lodging place and that's how the begin to seek their American dream.

But the process of seeking this dream is making America vulnerable to attacks by evil people.People who want to see America falling from its super power position.

Rememebr that a marriage alliance had already begun between China and Russia in isolation of the United States.And already,too,Chinese spies have been reportedly spying in American techonologies and military strategies, and reporting back to the Chinese government.

Imagine what is unfolding right now in Russia.Its president Vladimir Putin is manipulating politics and policies so that he can hang on to power even beyond his constitutionally mandated tenure.He wants to continue to lead the Russian people denying the opposition free speech and multiparty democracy.Reports say he intends to via for and capture the nobility of becoming the country's first ever and only Prime Minister.

Mr.Putin is doing all this so that the Kreblim can continue to dictate to the Russians who desperately need freedom which is what he is not providing.In his scheme,he would remain in position of authority so that he can also manipulate rising world power,China to deal a big blow to the United States.

But what they fail to understand is that insecurity for America means insecurity for the rest of the world.Believe you me or leave it.Despite all that America is going through right now with the war on Terror,no country in the world seems to be much more powerful than America is.Let's not forget that America still weild a considerable amount of influcnce and power both materially and militarily.

So who knows,one of those illegal immigrants to America could be the cause of America's collapse and no wonder then that America should not take the issue of illegals as lightly as good-thinking people might because some of those illegals might pose a serious danger to security not just for now but even in the future.

Therefore,anytime you hear about illegal immigrants issues,see who sits next to you before you make any comments,because you never know that the person sitting near you may have entered here illegally.

Liberians in Minnesota Have spoken

2007-12-03T13:16:00.000-06:00

Hundreds of Liberians resident across the American Midwestern state of Minnesota braved the heavy downpour of snow on Dec 2 and elected Kerper Dwanyen as president of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota(OLM).

This means Mr.Dwanyen’s new administration will include Andrew Tehmeh,vice president;Thalia M. Cooper,secretary general;Kulah A,Parker,treasurer;Dedeh Tulay,parliamentarian and Rev.Geraldine Freeman,Champlain.
There is no date set yet for the official inauguration of the officials-elect of the Dwanyen-Tehmeh team.

Mr.Dwanyen, a chartered Financial Consultant won with 805 votes while outgoing president, Martha Sinoe received 439 votes.

The candidate many viewed as arguably the youngest presidential contestant, Wyfred Russell received 280 votes while outgoing vice president,George Jackson Jr received 231.

Also elected as members of the Board of Directors of OLM were Arthur Zakama with 954;Doris Parker, 893 ;Richard Parker(no relations) ,881;Georgia Gray,769 and Henry Kesselly 706 votes respectively.

With this election,it would seem likely that there will be no more election for the presidency of OLM as Board members will have to appoint or select the president who would have to apply for the position.

The president-elect holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Marketing Management with a minor in Economics from the University of Detroit,Michigan.He also did graduate studies in Finance and International Business at the same University.

He also holds a Chartered Financial Consultant(ChFC) professional designation from the American College in Bryn Mawr,Pennsylvania and a culmination of three years of specialized training in Financial planning, investment portfolio management,tax and estate planning and risk management.

He also served as the youngest president of the Liberian Association of Michigan between 1982 and 1984.

Prior to his election,Mr.Dwanyen served during Martha’s administration as Chairman of OLM’s Strategic Planning Committee.

Though he said in his acceptance statement today that his victory is an “opportunity to turn the corner and a new leaf”, his opponents had viewed his pre-election as “an embarrassment to the Liberian community” because of repeated allegation of his involvement in his alleged killing of thousands of Liberians during the Liberian civil war which ended in 2003.

Although other losers in this election are yet to concede defeat,commendations have already begun pouring in from Liberians across the United States.

Moses N. Nyenpan, a Liberian resident in Trenton,New Jersey feels that it is a joyous day for Liberians everywhere in America and not just in Minnesota.

“Kerper’s election should set an example of a representative democracy where citizens go about electing leaders of their choice,” said Nyenpan, “Whose leadership potentials are representative of who they are.”

And though Nyenpan lives miles away from Liberians in Minnesota, he had this for his fellow natives:”What we need is unity and togetherness in order to promote those values that OLM may stand for.”

Hamilton B.Kayee,a resident of Minnesota commended Mr. Dwanyen for his preferment but urged him to use his new position to realize the wishes and aspirations of all Liberians in the State irrespective of their political,religious, or tribal affiliations.

Another Liberian resident in Nashville,Tennessee; Frank F.Carter was very proud of the peaceful election but called on the new leadership elect to undertake the difficult task of reunifying the community.

“You need to put on your cap of reunification and begin to build strategies to unite your community,” said Frank.

Although Mr. Dwanyen has won the election, many analysts are asking what he would have done had he not won since his pre-election pronouncements of foul play by the chairman of the Election Commission,Francis Zayzay,were viewed by many that danger or violence awaited the election results should a different candidate,other than Dwanyen become victorious on Dec 2.
Observers are of the opinion that though its a different geographical location,Dwanyen’s election is a repeat of what Liberians did in 1997 when they elected a rebel leader,Charles Taylor for president for their homeland,Liberia.

But whether Dwanyen would be a personification of Mr.Taylor in Minnesota would be determined during the next two years.

Liberians don''t Want Destructive Politics

2007-11-21T14:17:00.001-06:00

Politics in general is a good science because it helps people to understand how better governmental and non-governmental outfits work or carry out their policies.Consequently,many young folks across the world seek much more interest in it.That way,they may be preparing themselves for leadership role in their various countries.

It's no wonder then that Liberians have been seeking various ways through which they could practicalize politics.

Such is the case among Liberians here in the U.S.Midwestern state of Minnesota.There is an organization of Liberians here popularly referred to as OLM,meaning, the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota.It has been here for decades but it remains to be seen how much more impact it has made among Liberians or is yet to make.

This organization is currenly being headed by a woman,Martha Sinoe.However,her administration has been heavily critised by a few number of Liberians that know about the existence of OLM,for not doing anything at all to help Liberians solve the myriads of legal as well as civil problems that they continue to face in the state and in the nation as a whole.

The Martha Sinoe administration should be turning over pretty soon to new leadership as its term is almost over.That is why OLM has an adhoc Elections Commission that would regulate the manner and way in which the elections should be held.

As a result,campaign has already begun in the state as the date for elections has been set for December 2,2007.

But what seems to be an ugly outing among supporters and sympathizers of various candidates is being displayed here through their language.

Instead of constructivley criticising those who want to lead the Liberians,some camps are bent on assassinating characters of people.Many Liberian religious leaders in Minnesota have frowned upon such behavior but it remains to be seen whether those assassinating characters of candidates will listen.

What baffles me most is to see some Liberians who have spent years living here in this country,engaging in practices that they have never seen in the world's greatest democracy.

Watch the American ongoing presidential campaign for the 2008 elections.Do Liberians see Americans killing people?Do they see supporters of the various candidates fighting supporters of other candidates?I mean,it seems to me that there is something inherently wrong with some Liberians who want to engage into Politics.

It is not bad for the media as well as other opinion-gathering outfits to assess people who want to lead.There is nothing absolutely wrong about that.But to the extent that supporters attack candidates that they dislike in manners that bespeak violence or destruction,is unthinkable in my opinion.

The Minnesota Police had to be called at a recent debate on November 18 of candidates vying for the vice presidential post because, rather than dealing with issues that are affecting Liberians in Minnesota and even back home in Liberia, and how best would-be leaders would help solve those issues,they were there attacking each other and creating scenes that meant violence was imminent.

In fact,a request by the Elections Commission that facilities of the North Nennepin Community College be used for the holding of the Dec 2 elections,has be turned down by the College administration for fears that Police will have to be called in again to man their facilities and they are not willing or prepare for that.

During that debate,Police had to be called three times before calm could return.Why is it that Liberians continue to be so?Have not Liberians learnt enough of this during the bloody civil war that left thousands dead and even many more wounded?

This latest move will mean that the Liberians will have to rent a private facility which would cost them no less than $1500,only because of the ugly bahavior of some Liberians who seem not to be tired of violence yet.Why don't the United States send them to Iraq to fight since they want to still fight?

There are three presidential candidates, and two of them seem to have credibility problems with voters as they have never done well since they have been leading.One of them,however,Billy Dee Russell seems to be the only candidate that has a good record.

He is young but brialliant and seems to be carrying himself on the platform of "leading with Results" as he has huge contacts out there and has served on several outfits representing Liberians and Liberia.

But the rest of the candidates,Martha Sinoe,George Jackson and Kerper Dwanyen have some issues that Liberians don't seem to want to let go off.It is alledged that Mr.Dwanyan participated in the killing of Liberians during the war when he served as spokesman for a faction,the Nimba Redemption Council.

Martha is accused of not having leadership ability as she has served as president of OLM with no results while Mr.Jackson is also accused of not having the potential of a good leader because he's currently the incumbent Vice President for Martha.

Voters are of the opinion that since Martha and George have not lead good,there is no need to entrust them again with the lives and issues of Liberians in Minnesota.

But what i want to dwell on here is that Liberians should behave as civilized people in civilised societies.They should stop this violence-related Politicking.It will do nobody any good at all as it will only continue to isolate Liberians from civilised communities not just in Minnesota but in America as well as in the world in general

IMF Pledges $842 Million Deal for Debt Relief for Liberia

2007-11-21T13:53:00.000-06:00

Member states of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have made pledges totaling more than US$842m, to provide debt relief for Liberia.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Monday announced in Washington, DC, that the International Monetary Fund secured these financing pledges from member countries as a deal to allow the Fund provide debt relief to Liberia.

A release from the Liberia embassy in Washington, DC, quoted IMF Managing Director as saying that when these pledges are formalized, a process will be followed to clear the arrears for Liberia to qualify for new Fund financing that will enable the delivery of Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and other debt relief to the country.

This is one of the first concrete achievements for the new IMF director, who took over his post on November 1.

The IMF boss noted that by clearing Liberia's books of arrears accrued over the war years, the deal will allow the struggling country to gain access to loans and other assistance from the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

The Embassy further quotes Mr. Strauss-Kahn as highly praising the financing breakthrough, noting, "Today's milestone is a critical step in moving Liberia onto a path toward comprehensive debt relief. We will continue to support the post-conflict recovery, building on Liberia's many achievements over the past two years".

According to him, "despite difficult conditions, Liberia has established an encouraging track record of macroeconomic management and reforms."

The Managing Director offered his thanks to the IMF member countries for their generous support, adding, "I would like to record my appreciation for the leadership of President Johnson-Sirleaf and her economic team.

I also wish to acknowledge the efforts of many leaders around the world in this cooperative effort, including the low income countries, as well as for the personal support of Bob Zoellick at the World Bank."

Since the Administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the IMF has continuously provided tremendous supports to Liberia through technical assistance and policy advice.

IMF staffs are currently finalizing discussions with the Liberian authorities on a three-year, IMF-supported program, so that Liberia can build upon the initial economic recovery, to maintain the strong growth needed to reduce poverty, and restore debt sustainability.

Liberia's total international debt estimated to be $4.5bn.

Cancel Liberia's debt Now or Never

2007-10-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected President of Liberia in 2005, many had the view and hope that her administration would have a smooth sailing through this political sea-like journey.And as soon as he took office in 2006,she began her campaign of asking the internatonal community to forgive her country of the debts it owes International Financial Lending Institutions including the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the World Bank.

And at every meeting held by the G-8 countries ,the mention of forgiving Liberia's debts it owes is an understatement.But time and again,a conclusive end has never been reached at all.

So,on last Sunday,pressure was mounting on a clutch of mainly developing countries to sign off on debt relief for Liberia held up on how to finance the IMF's portion of the deal.

But approval to write off $900 million that Liberia owes the IMF was resisted by Belgium,Brazil,Turkey,Indonesia and India.These countries are haggling over how the debt relief should be funded.

Though the world Bank President,Robert Zoellick told a news conference in America that the IMF has proposed to fund the debt relief by shuffling around internal funds among accounts which would not require additional funding from member countries, a deal is yet to be reached.

"We are held up because of the action of a few countries," Zoellick said, adding, "Some of them may have a few legal issues they have to check at home but I think it would be good tomorrow if we move this as far as we can."

But despite those,President Sirleaf has said her country has met all the economic and political requirements to enter a debt relief program to write off Liberia's debt.So what are the donor countries waiting for?
Whatever those countries are waiting for, to cancel Liberia's debt is worth mentioning.What else do they want?
This is the best time to write off Liberia's debt because the Liberian people and their government are doing everything possible to make sure that peace is retained in that land that has seen so much trouble.

Liberia has helped and continues to help itself and so it deserves to be helped by the international community.They need to remember that when former dictator,Charles Taylor assumed the mantle of authority in Liberia,he never received international support because he was not meeting political and economic requirements that would have qualified his country for such support.Things went from bad to worst, and now that the International community has seen yet another successful election in Liberia,there should be unwaivering international support for Liberia because this is the country's best and perhaps last chance of cleaning up its mess.
If the nternational community can not help cancel Liberia's debt now,it would be good if it never does so in the future because it may be of no use any longer.Now is the time and there should be no delaying because lives are at stake.

Germany Pushes To Waive LIberia's Debt

2007-10-11T14:08:00.000-05:00

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today she would push for Liberia's large foreign debts to be cancelled to try to help Africa's oldest independent republic recover from a devastating 1989-2003 civil war.

Merkel, Germany's first female chancellor, met Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state, in the capital Monrovia on the last leg of a four-day trip to the world's poorest continent.

"We have a big interest in Liberia being able to follow its own economic path, and so we will make every effort to waive the debts Liberia still has, both internationally and bilaterally," Merkel told reporters.

The International Monetary Fund said earlier this year the African country's debt - totalling around $4 billion - was too high and that it was urgent to gain funding commitments from donor countries to write it off.

Merkel said some creditor nations still needed convincing, within the framework of the IMF, to help Liberia.

"Then we can waive the bilateral debts, and we want to do that so Liberia has a good chance to get going," the German leader said.

Once the world's fifth-largest iron ore exporter and home to the world's largest rubber plantation, Liberia's economy collapsed during more than a decade of on-off conflict.
Average annual income has fallen to just $130 since the war. Squatters live in the burned-out concrete shells of government buildings in Monrovia, most of the city is without running water, and unemployment is rife, particularly among former child soldiers.

Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist dubbed the "Iron Lady", has made progress fighting corruption and trying to get the economy back on its feet since being sworn in at the beginning of last year. But foreign debts remain crippling.

"We see this visit as important recognition of efforts being made by all Liberians aimed at moving our country forward," she told reporters after meeting Merkel.

Germany is president of the Group of Eight industrialised countries' this year and Merkel has put tackling poverty in Africa at the top of the grouping's agenda.

She repeated her government's view that all African nations should be invited to an EU-Africa summit in December, indicating a difference of opinion with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown over whether Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe should be asked to attend.

Good Move UN But How Soon

2007-09-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

Three Days ago today, the United Nations launched an initiative aimed at recovering assets stolen by corrupt leaders.It's a new partnership between the World Bank and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime also known as UNODC.

According to the United Nations news center in New York City,this is to help developing nations to recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders and invest those funds in development program mes.

The United Nations estimates that the proceeds from criminal activities,corruption and tax evasion worldwide stands between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion.

It also said that One quarter of the gross domestic product of African States(Liberia included) stands at $148 billion and it's lost to corruption yearly.

The world body also added that public officials from developing and transition countries collectively receive bribes worth between $20 billion and $40 billion every year.

Those are monies huge enough to develop many poor African countries including Liberia that is struggling to rebuild itself after years of bloody civil war.

"Many developing countries are hemorrhaging money desperately needed to try to support the attack against poverty," Robert B. Zoellick,President of the World Bank told UN officials during the launch in New York.

Though the UN mentioned former Nigerian President Sani Abacha and members of his family and accomplices of collectively stealling between $3 billion and $5 billion of Nigeria's public assets in five years,it has yet to talk about that of Liberia.

According to Liberian Emira Woods who is co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington,D.C,Liberia's former president Charles Taylor and his cohorts stashed more than $3 billion in international banks.She was quoting reports from the UK-based Global Witness.

There are other funds in the Swiss, American and other International banks where Liberia's monies can be traced ,collected and returned to Liberia which we need so desperately to rebuild our shattered country.
If the United States really mean business to help in the reconstruction process of Liberia,it should help us collect that money.

The Executive Director of UNODC,Antonio Marcia Costa needs to work along with the United States and other foreign governments to ensure that we get our money.

There are thousands of children in the country right now who need money to pay their school fees and buy food to eat.Life is hard where the unemployment rate stands at 85 percent.

There are major unmet humanitarian needs in Liberia in the areas of health,education,food security water and sanitation.

But according to the Peace building Program officer Mark Malan,who has just returned from a two-week assessment mission to Liberia,the Sirleaf Administration has to talk development,not necessarily emergency assistance,to meet the world bank's criteria for debt cancellation without which Liberia will be unqualified to for loans for large scale infrastructure development.

Therefore,the question is how soon will the UNODC begin its work of tracking monies stolen from Liberia?

Time is very crucial here and i think we need the UNODC officials to start visiting banks in America and other places to see which,if any of the banks that have our money that Charles Taylor stole.

Not Just him,there are other prominent Liberians who are accused of amassing huge Liberian wealth which has been put in banks in places as far as the Arab Emirate Republic(AEU).We need all of our stolen money.

The late President Samuel Doe's family could also be asked and scrutinized and see whether or not they have some of our money as well.
Time is of essence here Mr. Costa and we are watching!

Former Liberian Leader Sick But Faces Deportation

2007-09-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

In Liberia, David Kpormakpor was a president, a Supreme Court judge, a law school professor, an intellectual and a well-respected statesman.

Here on Staten Island in New York, he lives alone, on welfare and in relative obscurity in a Concord housing project. Just short of his 72nd birthday, after two surgeries to remove a tumor in his brain, he struggles to recover the wealth of knowledge that earned him the nickname The Professor.

But he prefers even this meager existence on Steuben Street to the ultimatum the Unites States recently gave him.

On Oct. 1, barring another last-minute reprieve from Washington, Kpormakpor and thousands of Liberians in America will lose their refugee status and face deportation back to their homeland. The Department of Homeland Security announced the termination of Liberian Temporary Protection Status (TPS) last September, and after some frantic lobbying, that date was pushed back a year.

The temporary immigration designation has been extended to those fleeing the war-ravaged country since 1990, offering a fallback option for those who could not obtain legal immigration status through work or marriage.

Last month, refugee advocacy groups and U.S. Representatives in states with high Liberian populations helped push "deferred enforced departure" legislation through the House, which would give Liberians under TPS another one-year extension. The Senate and the president have yet to approve the bill.

Liberians on Staten Island are anxious, and hopeful, they will approve it, said Jacob Massaquoi, director of African Refuge community center in the Park Hill section of Clifton. Because the alternative -- sending thousands of Liberians back to a country they no longer call home -- would be "a complete catastrophe," Massaquoi said.

"Most of them have lost their family ties in the war, their homes were burned down, they have no jobs, no money. Basically, they have nothing except the name Liberian," he said.

Liberia's current president, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, agrees with Massaquoi. In a recent letter to President Bush, Ms. Johnson expressed her concern that thousands of returnees would put an unbearable burden on her country's already strained economy.

While the United States now considers it to be politically stable, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world and currently has an unemployment rate of more than 80 percent, according to the CIA's World Factbook. Liberians living in the United States also bolster the country's economy by sending millions of dollars they earn to their families in Africa, Massaquoi said.

Some organizations estimate the number of Liberians here under TPS to be as high as 10,000. Dan P. Kane, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), said 3,331 of them will be deported if the Oct. 1 deadline remains in affect.

"The extraordinary conditions that brought them here no longer exist. Liberia has entered a stage of growth and stability," Kane said. "We gave people a year. We told them please take the time to discover if there is a lawful remedy for your situation."

Even if the deadline is extended, it's likely Liberians will face the same anxiety of deportation next year. The government has never granted full citizenship to any group of refugees under the TPS designation, according to Jana Mason, Director of Government Relations for the New York-based International Rescue Committee.

"Part of the quandary of the TPS, is it's supposed to be temporary, but the government inevitably extends it. And the longer people stay here, the more they develop roots," Ms. Mason said.

While there is no "blanket relief" to the situation, Kane said INS may make exceptions on a "case-by-case basis."

Ms. Mason believes Kpormakpor's grave health problems could be one of those exceptions. Since his brain surgeries last year, Kpormakpor has a failing memory and has lost much of his cognitive functioning. He requires assistance from a full-time home health aid. And even if he could survive the long trip to Africa, he fears he will not get the same medical care he receives here.

When the government notified Kpormakpor of his changed immigration status this summer, they also cut off his Social Security benefits. Now, the First United Christian Church in Tompkinsville pays his bills.

"He's not a charity case. We'll take care of him. He just wants an opportunity to stay in this country," said associate pastor Lloyd Land, who has been helping Kpormakpor with his petition for a green card.

Kpormakpor originally applied for a green card in 1961, as a college student in California. He had the opportunity to study there because a missionary from Mississippi recognized him as a promising young man, and secured him a place at the prestigious College of West Africa in Monrovia.

"A bush boy" raised by Gola tribe parents who could neither read nor write, he finished third in his class and won scholarships to San Francisco State University and later to UCLA Law School. He returned home, became a professor of law, and was appointed to the Liberian Supreme Court by then president Samuel Doe.

After Doe's assassination in 1989 and years of bloody civil war, a group of West African states, backed by the U.S., set up an interim government. Kpormakpor was appointed Interim President of Liberia between 1994-1995.

As Interim President, he had little power, but access to millions of government dollars. While many of his colleagues plundered, Kpormakpor said he kept his reputation as the only honest politician in Liberia. Others called him a fool.

"They said anyone who doesn't take money is an ass," Kpormakpor said in a recent interview in his room at the Vanderbilt Nursing Home, where he was recovering after another stint in Richmond University Medical Center.

"Well, when it's not in you, it's not in you," he added.

After Charles Taylor took over the government, he threw Kpormakpor in prison for two months. He then spent two years living on a military base guarded by African peacekeepers who broke into his home twice, stealing everything he owned.

Kpormakpor returned to the United States in 1997, broke and already in failing health.

He has remained relatively unknown outside his native country and the borough's Little Liberia community. Two years ago, Massoquoi introduced him to Jason Price, an NYU graduate student who was volunteering with survivors of African civil wars.

The chance meeting sparked the creation of a short documentary, "The Professor," which was screened at the Staten Island Film Festival this summer.

When he started making the film, Price said he was first interested in the idea of a former president "could come to live alone, on welfare, in a Staten Island housing project."

As time passed, however, The Professor's personality became the central focus of the project, he said.

"What wore off completely was the novelty that he was the president of Liberia; what was left was his character," Price said. "He's just an incredibly decent person."

Attempted Coup Plot in Liberia:The Truth In The Truce

2007-09-03T23:12:00.000-05:00

If Liberian Politics were a movie, it would have been an interesting watch. Viewers would have sat gluely into their seats with huge surprises because, unlike in mundane movies in which the antagonists almost invariably are vanquished, in the Liberian movie-like politics, the antagonists are always the victors while the protagonists are victimized.

From the very founding of Liberia in the 1800s,freed African Americans and Caribbean slaves, and their descendants, later known in Liberia as Americo-Liberians became and have always been the antagonists to the indigenous Liberians but always the victors.

Although the slaves’ descendants comprise 5 percent of Liberia’s population of over 1 million then, they have dominated in the Liberian politics by ruling Liberia since independence in 1847.

Although many observers outside Liberia think that the country’s recent history began with the bloody coup that removed the William R.Tolbert administration in 1980, Liberia’s war began between the freed African American slaves and the indigenous Liberians in 1820 at the very founding of the country.

The idea of sending freed slaves to Africa in the first place was embraced by two main groups of people in America: The anti-slavery campaigners who argued that slavery was against the principles expressed in the United States constitution, and that people of color should be sent to an environment where they would enjoy full civil liberties and, ironically the second group made up of the proponents of the slave trade who believed that the trade was under threat by the growing number of freed slaves who were liable to incite other blacks.

Meantime, the defenders of the American Colonization Society (ACS) adopted the argument that colonizing freed blacks would protect slavery in the United States and promote Christianity and civilization in Africa.

Against the backdrop of this determination, the ACS sent a two-man team to the West Africa Coast in November 1817 with the main aim of finding a suitable home for the freed slaves.

Even though a permanent settlement was established in Sierra Leone, this did not meet the expectations of some of the freed slaves and rebellion broke out in 1822 and again in 1824.

This forced the ACS agents in charge of the settlement to find asylum elsewhere because the freed slaves wanted not only to be freed but to also have an easy life.
This tendency and the determination to pursue it came to be important themes in the understanding of the feudalism that subsequently plagued Liberia.By 1822, a new colony named Liberia had been established. But socio-politically, the people of Liberia became divided into two broad groups: The descendants of the freed slaves and the indigenous African population that had historically lived in the area.The Americo-Liberians subjugated the indigenous Liberians after a series of wars from 1822 until the early part of the 20^th century.

The ethnic composition of the country and the political tensions that developed as a result are central to understanding Liberia’s civil war

The 1989 Liberian civil war launched on Liberians from neighboring Cote d’Ivoire by then rebel leader Charles Taylor, had its roots in the unique circumstances in which the country emerged.

Established as a refuge for freed African American slaves, it escaped the vicissitudes of European Colonialism only to be subjected to harsh regime of a “democratic feudalism” imposed by the Americo-Liberians who perpetuated themselves as a ruling class for more than a century.

The activities of this Oligarchy all shaped the future of Liberia and served to explain the military regime that followed and the civil conflict that eventually engulfed the country.

This small number of so-called Liberians until 1980,ruled the country and denied the indigenous Liberians their basis human rights of freely and adequately participating in governance, the right to equitable educational opportunities and the right to multiparty system.

Consequently, the True Whig Party, imported from America by the freed slaves, was the sole party for decades in Liberian politics.

The self-perpetuating nature of the institutions and social structures that influenced the administrations and the Americo-Liberian treatment of the indigenous population are two main factors that had and continue to have long-term implications for Liberia’s politics.

The Americo-Liberians created the social hierarchy they had experienced in the ante-bellum of the United States but with themselves as the socially dominant, land-owning class.

They considered the indigenous population primitive and uncivilized, and treated it as little more than an abundant source of forced labor.

The indigenous Liberians were divided in16 main groups: Bassa,Dei,Gbandi,Gio,Glebo,Gola,Kissi,Kpelle,Krahn,Kru,Belle,Lorma,Manor,Mandingo,Mende and Vai.

Although there were historical rivalries among these groups before the arrival of the Americo-Liberians, the oppression they experienced during the rule of the settlers brought them close and resulted in some form of cohesion among them.

Prior to the 1980 coup led by former indigenous son of the soil Samuel K.Doe, power and influence in Liberia focused on three institutions: The True Whig Party, the Church and the Masonic Temple.

The True Whig Party produced all the Presidents from the inception of the country until the overthrows of the Oligarchy in 1980 while the church and the Masonic Lodge interwoved because they both provided an avenue for social cohesion for those in the upper echelon of the ruling party.

The social and political cohesion proved vital to the Americo-Liberians’ domination of politics, religion and commerce. But to the indigenous people, however, these institutions were symbols of oppression that consequently became targets for reprisals.

From the beginning, the Americo-Liberians elite failed to integrate socially, maintaining themselves separately in politics, religion and education.

Ironically, the Americo-Liberians who were expected to promote Missionary activities in the country, denied citizenship to native Liberians. The latter became citizens only after embracing the adjudged civilized lifestyle of the Americo-Liberians, having adopted Christianity and denounced Paganism for three years.

This continued until 1904 when Liberian citizenship was collectively conferred on all indigenous Liberians.

The fulfillment of these criteria, however, did not guarantee Liberians social equality with the Americo-Liberians. The social segregation of aboriginal Liberians remained.

Christian Liberians had to enter the home of an Americo-Liberian through the back door.

Americo-Liberian domination of the indigenous Liberians was assisted and prolonged by the flawed political system in the country.

The Liberian hinterland, where the vast majority of the indigenous Liberians resided, was under-represented in the national legislature until 1964 yet its residents paid taxes.

Prior to 1964, indigenous Liberians did not have the right to vote, and they paid to observe the proceedings of the Legislature.

The property clause in the Liberian constitution further weakened the electoral system because only citizens who owned land were eligible to vote, yet the governments’ land-ownership policies had displaced many of the poor.

A period of gradual reform designed to redress the wrongs started in the 1940s under the regime of William Tubman.The process raised expectations of a more just and socially developed society. But whatever the reasons behind Tubman’s actions to unify Liberians, they served to increase the awareness of the indigenous Liberians and set in motion the process through which political change would occur.

And despite Tubman’s “Open Door” policy where foreigners were invited to invest in Liberia including the exploitation of the country’s natural resources with limited pre-conditions, his administration did not address the roots of the Liberian problem as the “Open Door” policy was found to be severely flawed.

The social barriers between the aboriginal and settler Liberians had not been removed and many of the weaknesses in Liberia’s laws and institutions remained.

However, Tubman’s educational policies acted as a real catalyst for political change as his foreign scholarship program provided opportunities for many Liberians to study abroad.

This broadened their knowledge and understanding and they began to question Liberian laws and the conduct of the government. By this time, there was widespread awareness among Liberians of the deplorable state of their economy and the denial of their civil and political rights. Pressure mounted from all groups at home and abroad demanding changes in the system of government.

Then in 1980, following mounting pressure,17 indigenous non-commissioned officers of the Armed forces of Liberia(AFL) overthrew the Tolbert administration and former President and then Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe emerged as Liberia’s new head of state.

And it seemed to many Liberians at that time that the indigenous coup had ended the long period of Americo-Liberian hegemony and all the abuses it had brought upon them as Doe enjoyed the goodwill of the oppressed clans.

However, subsequent events revealed that Doe’s regime was both self-serving and opportunistic as it capitalized on the pressure of an organized outcry against an unpopular regime to create an acceptable motive as well as the opportunity for a military coup that later was used to serve the selfish ends of the ruling elite and their kinsmen.

Not long after assuming office, Doe began to deviate from his stated rationale for assuming power as he eliminated his supported one by one.

By the end of 1983,all 16 non-commissioned officers who joined his coup had been removed in varying circumstances as corruption became rife, the economy collapsed , and all forms of opposition were suppressed.

Without any legitimate basis of support, Doe exploited his ethnic affiliations to sustain his administration. In a manner as divisive as that of the previous regime, Mr. Doe now suppressed other clans in favor of his own Krahn tribe.

This factor coupled with removal of the common hatred of the Americo-Liberians recreated power and long-standing ethnic divisions.

Above all, Mr. Doe’s regime is remembered for its atrocities against Liberian citizens including looting, rape, arson, flogging, arbitrary arrests and summary executions.

By the middle of the 1980 decade, Liberia’s history had reached a crescendo .There was now a growing awareness of civil liberties but on the other hand, there were ruthless suppressions on a wide range.

The question was not whether a violent opposition to the Doe regime was eminent but when it would be, and it came in December 1989 under the leadership of Charles Taylor, an Americo-Liberian descent who first came in the limelight when he served in Doe’s administration as Director of the General Services Agency responsible for government procurement.

Taylor’s assignment then brought him into a deep controversy as he was accused of embezzling $1m as part of money allocated to his department.

He fled to the United States in 1983 where he was arrested under the extradition treaty between Liberia and the United States but he jumped bail from a Baltimore prison in the state of Maryland and made his way through Europe to West Africa.

Even before the outbreak of the civil war in 1989, the political class in Liberia had become confused. The Americo-Liberians had been replaced by a generation of indigenous politicians who came to power with Samuel Doe during his controversial transition to civil rule.

But their lack of experience in the management of the intricacies of politics was further compounded by the outbreak of the civil war.

The remnants of the Americo-Liberian political class were very cautious at this stage of the conflict because although Charles Taylor who started the rebellion was of their stock, the extent to which he wanted political power was not clear to them initially as he declared himself President immediately after he had taken control of Liberia’s major cities excluding the Liberian capital Monrovia.

He eventually was elected president in 1997 and the country was again put back into the hands of the descendant of the Freed Slaves.

Taylor mesmerized Liberians even before he was elected president and hundreds of thousands of people were either killed or exiled because Taylor did not welcome opposition during his leadership from 1997 until he was forced to flee in 2003 amidst mounting pressure from other angered Liberians who had fled Liberia and formed factions in neighboring countries.

Freedom of speech and expression were almost non-existent as the press was frequently gaged. Newspapers were closed down for publishing reports that portrayed the regime unfavorably and in some cases journalists were jailed or tortured. Human rights violations were endemic.

Then the United Nations and the International Community realized that they had abandoned Liberia for far too, long and it was about time to help the poor West Africa nation.The UN deployed the largest force ever of 15,000 peacekeepers to help salvage peace .Consequently, presidential elections were slated for November 2005 and there were over a dozen presidential candidates .But eventually, a run-off election was organized between a former World Bank official, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and a former soccer star, George Weah.

There is no wonder then that many young folks including some indigenous tribal people wanted George Weah to have been elected president. Unlike president Sirleaf who is also of the Americo-Liberian descent, George Weah is an indigenous son of the land.

Now that Ellen is president, we had barely gone one year into her administration than the inherited suppressive signs begin to raise their ugly heads.The signs are crystal clear that we are back to the same old days of the dominance of the few elite Liberian oligarchy class.

In almost two years, as many as over a dozen journalists have either been assaulted or threatened by officials of Ellen’s administration and one human rights activist has also been arrested.

Just like the legacies of past Liberian leaders, this administration, despite its strong U.S. support is marred by allegations of inequality, corruption, coercion and outright violations of people civil liberties.

Despite the fact that Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf drew much of her support from women voters, and from Liberia’s small educated elite, these women are now victims of rape cases and there is nothing President Sirleaf’s administration is doing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

According to the U.S. State Department 2006 Human Rights report on Liberia, Ritualistic killings, in which body parts used in traditional indigenous rituals were removed from the victim, reportedly occurred during the year. The number of such killings was difficult to ascertain since police often described deaths as accidents or suicides, even when body parts were removed. No one was prosecuted for such killings during the year.On June 9 last year, the National Human Rights Center of Liberia reported that the Unity Party led government of President Sirleaf arrested approximately 20 associates of former president Taylor on suspicion of plotting against her government and held them at the National Security Agency (NSA), where some were severely beaten. The government however denied that any beatings took place.

During the year the Liberian National Police (LNP) officers sometimes abused, harassed, intimidated, and extorted bribes from persons, particularly at checkpoints. For example, on September 20, two legislators reported being assaulted by LNP officers in two separate incidents, one at a checkpoint and one in a courthouse.
On September 26, the LNP inspector general formally apologized to the legislators in question and to the legislature as a whole, citing inadequate training as the reason for the assaults. The police officers were reprimanded, but not formally punished or suspended.

In 2006 the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigated reports of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers, United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) staff, UN private contractors and implementing partners.

On November 30, the BBC reported that a UN officer had allegedly sexually assaulted a 15‑year‑old girl on November 15. UNMIL had not received a report, and requested details regarding the incident from the BBC in order to initiate an investigation but there were no reported developments in this case by year’s end. The UNMIL Conduct and Discipline Unit was investigating six cases by year’s end, while the OIOS was investigating 24 cases.

The Liberian constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, however, security forces continued to arrest and detain persons arbitrarily and President John-Sirleaf is looking on doing nothing at all.

The constitution requires warrants to make arrests and provides that detainees either be charged or released within 48 hours; however, warrants were not always based on sufficient evidence, and detainees, particularly those without the means to hire a lawyer, often were held for more than 48 hours without charge.

The law provides for bail for all offenses except rape and treason. Detainees have the right to prompt access to counsel and, if indigent, to have an attorney provided by the state, but the government did not ensure such access for all detainees.

This is how Mr. Taylor’s administration started in 1997 and eventually in 2003 where the whole world saw that indeed, Taylor was a dictator.

If Ellen’s administration is anything that Liberians both in exile and at home will be happy with, it’s about time that she puts partisan politics aside and deal with people who violate the basic human rights of Liberians including officials of the UN force.
In July 2007,a former commander of the Executive Mansion Guard battalion during the late President Samuel Doe's administration,Charles Julu and a former Speaker of the Transitional Legislative Assembly of Liberia,George Koukou were arrested by members of Liberia's National Security Agency(NSA) on allegations to overthrow Ellen's administration.

The Republic of Liberia said it had in its possession a retired Colonel of the Armed Forces of Liberia(AFL),Col Andrew Dorbor to serve as a State Witness on its behalf in the treason trial since he had substantial evidence against the alleged coup plotters.

Although family members of Col.Dorbor claimed their relative was arrested in February by State Security and detained without trial,Liberia's government said the Colonel was under "protective custody."

But it took a stern request with a writ of Haebas Corpus against Liberia's Ministry of Justice and NSA from the head of the Defense team of the accused,Cllr Dempster Brown,through Criminal Court B to produce a living body of Col.Dorbor.

And when Liberia's State Witness appeared in court this month,he dropped a bombshell:“Everything I have explained here is the truth. Government promised that they would have given me money. They said the President had promised to give me a package; they called my wife and other family members that they would have taken me from this country to anywhere I had wished to go with my family if I had testified against Julu and others,” he said.

The drama at the Criminal Court "B" in Monrovia has again exposed the wanton lack for respect for the rule of law by the Unity Party-led government. At the Criminal Court "B", the man the Government had earlier paraded as its main witness in the JULU-KOUKOU trials, Col. Andrew Dorbor made the startling revelation that he had been held under duress, had been made to 'confess' without his attorneys being present and had been kept in jail for months, his rights violated simply because the government wanted to make a case against Julu and others.

But this is not what is most alarming, the danger is that Dorbor was taken to court after his lawyers sought his release through a writ of habeas corpus in lieu of his long and illegal detention by the NSA; but instead of putting up any plausible reason for this long and illegal detention, the NSA derisively released Dorbor for two minutes, only to re-arrest him and now charged him with high treason!

This is the man who was paraded as the key witness against Julu and Koukou. When did he all of a sudden stop being a state witness and now a treason suspect? Who will now bear the responsibility for violating his rights for several months by keeping him in jail without charge and trial at the NSA. Is it Deputy NSA boss Mark Ambla, who told Ivorian Security agents that Dorbor was a threat to our country?

This about-face by the government, and the callous way it has denied Dorbor and others who are still languishing at the NSA is yet another example of how the UP-led government is actively seeking to undo the progress toward peace and stability that Liberians have sacrificed for.

Unlike the comments by her propagandists, the level of stability that Liberia now enjoy is not a gift to us by Ellen Sirleaf and her cohorts, but rather despite them. Unlike the NTGL, the UP-led administration at least inherited two years of peace. This administration should seek to build upon it.

And this,too is Liberia!

Prince Johnson's Trip to U.S: The Implications

2007-08-29T00:16:00.000-05:00

The Liberian Mandingo Association of New York(LIMANY) reported yesterday on its website that former Liberian War Lord,now Senior Senator in the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration was coming to the United States this week to address the United Nimba Community in America(UNICCO).

Then today,it reported that the Senator will no longer come to the United States citing personal reasons for his inability to come. Well,it is imperative that we draw the lines here folks.

Just as the news of Senator Johnson's expectant trip spread across the twin cities of St.Paul and Minneapolis in Midwestern Minnesota,where many of Liberia's war victims have resided for many years and continue to reside,mixed feelings and reactions began to also spread across the twin cities.

"How can you invite a murderer like Prince Johnson to come here and preach reconciliation when he killed all my generation in Liberia?" asked John Ninwillay, a citizen of Grand Gedeh county in Liberia,resident in Minnesota who said he does not want to hear it that the Senator is coming to Minnesota to talk peace to him and his fellow kinsmen.

But LIMANY reported that the Senator's visit to the United States was to bring citizens of Nimba county together in an effort to discuss issues relative to the development of their county.

Though the trip generated enthusiasm among Nimba citizens both here in America and back home in Liberia, it did not look like it would have been easy at all for many Liberians resident in Rhode Island and Minnesota-the two states he might have visited while here.

Prince Y Johnson is better known as the man who presided over the torture and assassination of the then Liberian President, Samuel Doe, in September of 1990.

Even by the standards of the time it was a particularly brutal slaying. Before he was killed, Doe was mutilated, his ears sliced off.

Prince Johnson supervised the proceedings sitting in a chair while one of his soldiers fanned him.

The whole affair was video-taped. And bootleg copies, I am told, are still doing the rounds in the markets of Monrovia.

These days Prince Johnson says he has found God: "I am a pastor, a Christian. God is in control. I have no fear."He doesn't want to talk about the killing of Samuel Doe.

"Old news, dead news," he says, one big hand slicing down emphatically to make the point. But is the killing of someone's son,better still,someone's husband and father,old news or dead news?

Well,there in lies the point.Reports of Prince Johnson coming to America and meeting and seeing people whose families he killed,would be a major challenge for United States Security as it would have the sole responsibility of protecting the Liberian Senator on the one hand , and providing immunity to Prince Johnson's victims who have over the years tried to erase the ugly past from their memories by living in America with peace of mind.

It can be recalled that when Prince Johnson arrived in Liberia without much fanfare in 2004, and without the “notice” of many a Liberian people, his no-news days short lived because he is “Prince Johnson". Within 72 hours of his arrival in Liberia he said that a relative of former leader Samuel Doe wanted to assassinate him. News! Prince Johnson was back. Man of God, Pastor Johnson was back in Liberia starting something,running for Senior Senator in Liberia,after all ,this is a free country, and Prince Johnson is a free man, a free citizen. He is free to apologize to the Liberian people and also free to ask for forgiveness from us.

Though he told the BBC in Monrovia last year that he did not want to talk about Doe's killing, he prides himself of doing the dirty work: "I was in perfect control. The commanding officer takes responsibility for what his unit does. Anything happened to Doe, I was responsible. "

Therefore, an Advocacy group in Minnesota,which wanted to ensure that the Liberian Senator comes over to Minnesota to preach peace,since he now claims to be a Christian,had no other alternative but to advise that the Senator does not set foot here in Minnesota in the interest of peace among Liberians in the twin cities.

But the Senator owes us not just an apology but he owes it to us to stay away from politics and stick with religion. But he is free to do as he pleases, like re--igniting the Gedeh-Nimba confrontation; like becoming leader of “Partial-Liberia”; like getting religion/vision, and telling his followers that god has chosen him to lead us,that is why he was elected Senator and moving freely with impunity in Liberia while the blood of our fathers cry out to us.

But as a member of the ECOWAS Parliament, what would have even happened to the Liberian Senator in the World's greatest democracy? "Why only prince Johnson? Other Lawmakers from Nimba county are there,why can't they channel assistance through them,but only me.This may have some security implications.Some members of UNICCO resisted my first trip but are overly happy about my trip in America now.I will not go to America,i will do it on my own," the Senator said in an interview.

But what would have been the security implications,if any,as cited by the Senator for which he can not come to America at the invitation of his kinsmen? Well,only time could tell.

The Language of Trauma,Forgiveness-Liberia’s TRC Experience

2007-08-28T23:12:00.000-05:00

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Accra, Ghana on 18 August 2003 and the subsequent holding of elections in 2005 ushered in an atmosphere for durable changes in Liberia.

Like other post-conflict societies, the country faces enormous but surmountable challenges that must be addressed in order to make the relapse into armed conflict difficult, if not impossible.

Certainly, one of the challenges facing the country is how to reconcile the people and heal the wounds of the past. The enactment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Act, 2005, and the subsequent launching of the Commission in February 2006 constitute positive steps in the right direction.

The TRC provides a window of opportunity for the pursuit of transitional justice through truth telling. Nevertheless, the TRC cannot heal nor reconcile the Liberian society on its own; other things must be done in order for Liberian people to reconcile with each other.

But experiencing empathy for someone who has committed terrible acts against other human beings puts one in a strangely compelling and confusing relationship with the perpetrator.

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in December 1995 after the appointment of 17 commissioners by the then president Nelson Mandela.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was appointed to serve as the chairman of the TRC.

There was probably no one more suited to the role of chairman for the historic process of the TRC than Archbishop Tutu. He is an extraordinary man whose dignity and stature, both in South Africa and internationally, and whose pursuit of peace and justice earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

He carried his role on the TRC with grace both in public and in those moments behind closed doors when suspicion and racial tensions among TRC members emerged ,signaling the ever- present struggle with identity politics in a country where for so many years race, more than anything else, determined who a person was.

Interestingly,however,when one considers Liberia's case,there is much to be desired.As one thinks about all the evil deeds committed against Liberians by heartless men and women of that once peaceful country,all the emotions connect the victims to their loved ones and so are a force that provides continuity and defies death, sustaining their bonds with those they loved who are now dead.

The hateful emotions therefore recast the lost loved one as the living dead- “living,” through the link maintained by the hateful affect.

Paradoxically, these emotions also tie the individual to the one who inflicted the traumatic wounds. In fact , the hateful emotions may sometimes take on a life of their own, exerting considerable power over the victim.

The presence of resentful emotions does not necessarily mean that the person is willfully “holding on” to hatred. The victim is holding on to what seems to be the only connection to the one who is no longer present.

This happens, in part, unconsciously. It is simply that the person who has suffered gross violations of human rights has lived with resentment too long to be able to let go of it easily. At the same time, such emotions are a burden that prevent the victim from fully coming to terms with the trauma and moving on.

A genuine apology focuses on the feelings of the other rather than on how the one who is apologizing is going to benefit in the end. It seeks to acknowledge full responsibility for an act, and does not use self-serving language to justify the behavior of the person asking forgiveness. It must communicate, convey, and perform as a “speech act” that expresses a desire to right the relationship damaged through the actions of the apologizer.

A sincere apology does not seem to erase what was done. No amount of words can undo the past wrongs. Nothing can ever reverse injustices committed against others.

To be able to “perform,” an apology has to name the deed, acknowledge wrongdoing, and recognize the pain of the victim. Such an apology conveys a sense of regret and deeply felt remorse.

It may be that perpetrators, by receiving the forgiveness they want, also regain some of the control they are used to, particularly control over the victim.

In other words, forgiveness may indirectly bestow power back on the perpetrator instead of empowering the victim and restoring some of the power she /he lost during the moment of trauma.

It is possible that the encounter favors the perpetrator, who, because the victim is still struggling with asserting herself or himself and her or his rights, has the advantage as a person used to being in control and so is able to define the agenda even while asking forgiveness.

The forgiveness then reawakens the victim’s feelings of powerlessness instead of becoming a vehicle for shifting the power dynamic.

In an Interview in Accra,Ghana last year with BBC’s Accra Correspondent Kwaku Sayki-Addo, former war-lord now Law Lord Prince Yomie Johnson said he has no personal regrets for all the atrocities he committed during Liberia’s 14-year civil war.

“The only regret I have is to see black and black, one nation, one people fighting each other for power. People trying to protect other people’s power, arming other people, other people had to fight back to redeem themselves of the oppressive burden, you know, to see one people, one nation fighting each other for what ever reason ,it should not have occurred…” he told Kwaku.

Yet everyone, including president Sirleaf, is asking for forgiveness from the Liberian people for crimes, covertly or overtly committed against Liberians.

But, as Clinical Psychologist, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela who served on the Human Rights Violations Committee of South Africa’s great national experiment in healing, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in her book, A Human Being Died that Night, “people who come to the point of forgiveness have lived not only with the pain that trauma and loss bring, but also with the anger and resentment at those who caused the pain. That is their reality-a world of painful emotional wounds, hostility, and resentment at the injustice visited upon them.”

In 2005 during presidential campaign, then Unity Party (UP) standard bearer now President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf apologized to the Liberian people for urging then rebel leader Charles Taylor through the BBC in 1990 to “level Monrovia or the Executive Mansion, we will rebuild it.”

That legacy among the people from the same school of thought may not easily go away. Whether it’s a mockery or not to the victims is something that one should judge.

The evidence is clear because, like President Sirleaf, when Charles Taylor, too became president in 1997 or when he controlled his then National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government in what was Taylor’s Greater Liberia, he said

“I know that the war that came my people killed your people, ate your goats, they tied people, beat people, but please forgive me, I am sorry.”

Therefore, is it really easy to just forgive someone who has hurt you so badly? Not as much as what Professor Madikizela thinks.

“It is hard to resist the conclusion that there must be something divine about forgiveness expressed in the context of tragedy. How else can we understand how much such words can flow from the lips of one wronged so irreparably”? She questioned. “But there seems to be something spiritual, even sacramental, about forgiveness-a sign that moves and touches those who are witnesses to its enactment.”

We Liberians might then ask, what do we forgive Prince Johnson, Charles Taylor, Alhaji G.V.Kromah, George Boley, Sekou Damateh Conneh, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Tom Woeyou and the rest of them for?

For bringing about the death of our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters? For crossing the threshold of morality and allowing their evil to prevail and to contemplate, plan, and commit such deeds?

Well, then, in offering them forgiveness, do we mean to say, “we forgive you for being so malicious, so perverted, so indescribably wicked as to have committed abhorrent acts that have robbed us our parents and robbed our mothers and sisters of their husbands”?

I doubt that when forgiveness is offered, the gaze is cast on the specifics of the deeds. Forgiveness, while not disregarding the act, begins not with it but with the person. Forgiveness recognizes the deed, its impact having been and continuing to be lived by the victim, but transcends it.

And as Nimba county Senior Senator, Yomie Johnson who headed the former break-away Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) told BBC, “national unity can not come if we don’t reconcile, reconciliation can not come if we don’t forgive one another and say ‘look let bye gone be bye gone’ that is the purpose for which the current Legislative National Assembly has passed a law establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

And President Sirleaf inaugurated the TRC. But unfortunately, however, its mandate is limited to investigating human rights abuses committed during decades of civil war and political unrest. The seven-member Commission does not have the power to try cases but would investigate crimes committed between 1979 and 2003 when the civil war ended.

Critics say instead of establishing the TRC, a War Crimes Tribunal should have been established in the country to prosecute those who committed human rights abuses during Liberia’s civil war.

Interestingly, media reports suggest the TRC seems to be strangulated in its implementation of its mandate in a timely fashion largely due to reported repeated lack of resources.

And according to a Senior Liberian Research Fellow at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra, Ghana,Dr Thomas Jaye,the TRC is facing enormous challenges but a mention of the most critical will suffice.

"First, the entire process raises concerns over what constitutes truth, and whose truth," said Dr.Jaye. "From historical experiences, you can get the ‘truth’ without reconciling people. Truth telling may not necessarily resolve tensions, distrust and mistrust among the people but produce an adverse effect.

Under circumstances where both victims and perpetrators of crimes are apprehensive about the outcomes of truth telling, it may be difficult to get the truth; it may never be told but remain hidden under the carpets. This is a challenge that the TRC must address."

But Dr. Jaye had more in mind to talk about. "Secondly, although the Government of Liberia contributed 1 percent of its budget to the work of the TRC, the work of the Commission depends largely on donor funding. Based on experiences elsewhere, donor funding can sometimes induce donor-driven agendas; they have a tendency to push certain agendas that do not necessarily reflect national realities," he added.

"In some cases, they bring in ‘experts’ who have little knowledge of the local situation and such behaviour can easily undermine national ownership. However, the dilemma for Liberia’s TRC is that without donor funding, it will be extremely difficult to implement its mandate. In recent times, the relationship between the donors and the Commission have been characterised by deep suspicion, mistrust and tension over the capacity of the latter to do its work; and the way in which resources were used by and on Commissioners."

And as he concludes the challenges facing Liberia's TRC, the last is as interesting as the former.

"Reconciling the people of Liberia will not be achieved solely through the work of the TRC. Its work can certainly contribute towards national healing and reconciliation but its work should be mainstreamed," said Dr.Jaye.

The declaration of independence on 26 July 1947, and the military coup of 12 April 1980 failed to address the grievances that caused and triggered these changes. Given the experiences of the past with specific reference to addressing injustices, the question is whether the TRC will make any difference or will it be business as usual?

America in The Eyes of Refugee Journalist

2007-08-28T13:21:00.000-05:00

I never imagined that i would have stayed here in America for this far,but perhaps that is how destiny wants it.And after traveling and visiting with Corporate and Media Executives in over a dozen big cities and States of this great nation,what have i observed?

Prior to my arrival here from the Liberian Refugee Camp in Buduburam,Ghana where thousands of Liberia's war victims have resided and continue to reside for almost 17 years,i,like many other African and other immigrants and visitors to the United States,had starry eyed expectations of Uncle Sam.

When i set foot on board KLM Flight 0590 that picked me up from the Ghanaian capital,Accra on July 26,2006 while fire gutted Liberia's Presidential Parlace,the Executive Mansion in the capital,Monrovia, though i was happy leaving the refugee camp,my heart was there in Monrovia.

On the same day,there were other African leaders in Monrovia celebrating Liberia's 159th Independence,but there they were in the midst of fire and critics quickly began pointing fingers at defeated Opposition leaders of foul play intended to unseat the newly elected administration of former World bank official,Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

While i was transiting in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the next day, i had no idea what the situation at the Executive Mansion in Monrovia was , since i could no longer monitor news from the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) on my small World Receiver radio.

And after waiting for about three hours, i finally boarded North West Airlines and began a nine-hour flight to the United States via St.Paul-Minneapolis International Airport in the U.S.Midwestern State of Minnesota.

You can imagine the euphoria of safely arriving in "Heaven on Earth" or so i thought.And when a staff from my sponsoring outfit,the World Press Institute(WPI) arrived to pick me up from the Airport,i was even more elated.

"You must be Semantics?" asked Suzanne of WPI who moved around the Airport terminal with my name written on a piece of paper to identify me. "Yes, this is Semantics from the Vision newspaper in Accra,Ghana," i answered.

While driving straight to the dormitory at Macalester College in down town St.Paul, i was listening to Minnesota Public Radio(MPR) when a news item said that Liberia's new leader was safe despite the fire that gutted the Executive Mansion, and i took a deep sigh of relief.

So nine other journalists from across the World and i began the activities for which we were sent -experiencing life in the United States as working reporters exposed to the best practices of U.S.journalism. We came from 10 vastly different countries that together encompassed nearly a quarter of the World's Population.

We were smart,ambitious and hardworking,therefore we approached journalism with a deep sense of dedication and responsibility and we were eager to learn-about journalism and life in the World's most powerful democracy.

We met,interviewed and sometimes lived with American citizens in all walks of life in every region of the United States, and drewed our own conclusions from the experiences. Some of us worked in countries where to tell the truth and be accurate,unbiased and fair requires taking a lot of risk.

But here we were seeking answers to a broad range of questions:Who controls the news,the so-called news makers or the Press?How does the U.S.make multiculturalism work if,indeed,it does? And what is the perspective of the American people on U.S. Foreign Policy?

What i personally saw and heard and even wrote articles about ,was amazing and will forever remain in my memory. I gained first hand knowledge of the complexity and diversity of life in the U.S.

And as i gained access to a broad range of individuals and institutions from the World renowned to the ordinary,i realized that even here in America, there are people without homes to sleep at night. I never knew that there are many people in America who are illiterate.Forget about the growing Hispanic population that has attracted a huge immigration debate across this nation.

I participated in briefings by academics,elected officials,business executives,nonprofit leaders,artists,athletes and scientists, and met young people,accompanied police officers on patrol,interviewed prison inmates,lived with families in the Midwest,toured military installations and observed immigration officials intercepting human smuggling across the California-Mexico border.

From the farm in Ely,Minnesota to the Defense Department of the United States in Washington,D.C.,i have come to know that the U.S.foreign Policy is measured and heavily based on Security interest.And what concerns and worries America most is how best to protect its military interests,no wonder the war on terror is ongoing even as it seems a not winning battle in Iraq.

In terms of healthcare,it is extremely expensive to to be treated when you fall sick in America and when you don't have money to pay,well,you will be treated but the bill will come to you in a post,no matter what.

That is why a Liberian immigrant resident in Texas does not play jokes with healthcare. "Whenever i am sick,i go to the counter and just explain to the pharmacist what's happening to me, i just buy a few tablets and treat myself," said Solomon Tule.

And don't make a mistake to drive your car uninsured.When caught by Police,the fine can range from $100 to thousands of dollars for violating traffic regulations prominent among them is driving an uninsured vehicle.

When you are involved in an accident,pray that it is not an emergency because you will wait for hours.The average wait time for emergency is two hours in the state of Iowa while the national average is three hours.

But on the line of education, i think this nation should not have many people who don't read and write because education at a high school level is relatively free and even at a higher level,you are assisted to pay your tuition which you can pay back after you graduate.

America is an ethnic,racial, and religious mix that stands witness to the premise and the promise that the Statue of Liberty represents.It symbolizes hope,opportunity, and freedom.

But not all of us came here by choice or at least want to stay here by choice.Some were brought here as indentured servants,others as slaves. Many,like me,have come fleeing for their lives. Most eventually have found opportunity, and a few have chosen to leave.

Today,there are more blacks in the United States than in any country except Nigeria or Zaire in Africa.But even at that,racism still exists here in this great nation. More Poles live in greater Chicago than in any city except Warsaw.Miami,Florida is the second largest Cuban city while New York city has the largest Jewish population.And yet still there is racism. More Americans claim English origins than England's total Population.Those claiming Irish blood outnumber the Irish in Ireland 11 to 1.Not even the Census Bureau can be sure,but Hispanics must now exceed seven percent of the nearly 300 million people in America.

But according to the former editor of the National Geographic,Wilber E. Garrell,one thing that this nation is not and never will be,however, is a melting pot.

"People can't be melted down and poured into cultural molds like chocolate soldiers," said Wilber. "But if a metaphor is needed we might be called a stew or bouillabaisse,where each ingredient remains unique but adds flavor to the whole."

But even various American Indian groups,whose ancestors first came here some 20,000 years ago or more,still maintain their unique tribal,linguistic, and cultural differences. Now that America's population turned last year to 300 million legal residents,there is an ongoing debate about the estimated 25 million illegal immigrants mostly from nearby Mexico.

But will Americans become like the selfish person who hopes the elevator door will close as soon as he/she is aboard? For now,though,by allowing the illegals to stay and work, and still bring 50,000 to America annually through the Visa Diversity Lotto Program,Americans are saying the welcome mat is still out.Who knows what critical talents the next wave of needy may bring to this still young nation?