EDITORIAL: LIBERIANS’ CRIES & TEARS WILL BE ON YOUR HEAD

FOLLOWING YEARS OF POLITICAL turbulence – a period of tears, cries and losses – Liberians’ foremost anticipation and expectations have been that there would never be a repeat of such an apocalypse of unthinkable magnitude. Their embracing  of peace over violence and destruction was proven in the overwhelming election of then President Charles Taylor, who for several vocalized reasons ignited the conflagration, in the 1997 special elections simply because they could not afford another period of cataclysm in case he (Taylor) chose to return to war if he did not win. It was a decision made between peace and war.

The Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which set the basis for the 2005 post-conflict democratic elections further provided antidote to Liberians’ desire for peace as opposed to violence and economic strangulation, as they were resolved to reorganize their lives. The uninterrupted sequence of democratic elections that witnessed the transfer of power from one elected government to another cannot be overemphasized as having coated what then became a national roadmap for lasting peace and security.

FEW YEARS DOWN THE line, the gains made through the sweat and blood of Liberians and foreign nationals who came to put off “the destructive flames of death and pandemonium” appear to be disappearing in thin air in light of the current hurricane that is decimating every structure of the governance process and stalling government functions. All of this, including President Joseph N. Boakai’s decline to submit fiscal budget 2024/25, is tied to the sophomoric events elicited by the removal of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa by a group of lawmakers allegedly bribed, who are not willing to subject themselves to the called-for legal process. And most Liberians see the happenings – the rebellious lawmakers’ refusal to be legally orderly – as complete nurture of the pre-civil war cataclysmic developments then rebel leader, Charles Taylor referenced as reasons for destroying the country.

THE THEN REBEL LEADER currently behind bars for 50 years in the United Kingdom for aiding and abetting the mayhem in neighboring Sierra Leone which left dozens of citizens amputated and lamed was perceived as not being credible, but some of what he said continue to inundate the present socio-economic and political climate. The Speaker’s removal clamor is a case in point that deserves pensive cognition as to whether Liberia is prepared to welcome any form of violence that could throw back everything achieved since the guns went silent. Perhaps, the outcome of a national poll on this will prove otherwise, that the country is not in the position, any longer, to experience years of setback and degradation.

THE POINT UNDER CONSIDERATION is the national focus of the entire episode on Capitol Hill, to the extent that Liberians are joining the fray – whether for or against – to ensure sanctity is returned, that the rebellious lawmakers channel their action through the acceptable and laid out process. Protests, as they are known and considered, constitute important elements of democratic governance, to test whether the government is ready to allow citizens express their wills on national issues – issues that believe have the potential to bring prosperity to them or the nation. We must remind the concerned lawmakers and other Liberians who believe they are right in their actions that not every tree is uprooted or broken down by storm, and there is also a maxim “Anything not done legally is not done at all,” which means the removal of others as Speakers through political means cannot be applicable in all cases.

All Liberians require of you is to return to Chambers and use the legal and laid-out process to do that which you think is in your purview to do as p er the law or their own rules.

TO INSIST ON THE REMOVAL action against all odds outside of the legally required trajectory is not only unacceptable and demeaning of their characters and appellations as lawmakers, but also undermines the stability and security of the nation because the government is tied down in the implementations of some of its functions. Not in agreement with them, Liberians are staging city-wide protest in support of the rule of law, and if anything goes off hands, they whose actions prompted the protest, will be held accountable. We are aware protests sometimes degenerate into bigger dangerous situations countries struggle to resolve, because it is easy to destroy but very tedious to restore. The gains made, in our wider mind, should remain surmountable in every actions of ours because the international community has a lot on its plate to deal with.

There are conflicts all over the world that are far from being resolved, and thousands may lose their lives before calm is finally restored.

The best representatives of the people are those who remove their self-elevating garments or apparel for the sake of the national interest, which is interpreted as the people’s interest.

THAT IS WHY WE are calling on the lawmakers to abide by the legal means rather than political. For it is known that it was the same political process that led the country into serious problem today.  As the saying goes, what is not done legally, is not done at all.