Monrovia -Michael Rubin, an examiner of issues coming out of Washington, has provided insight on issues confronting Liberia, including Liberia-US relations, war and economic crimes court, the mishaps of former President Weah as well as President Boakai’s alleged intentions to name political rival, Alexander B. Cummings as Liberia’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York.
In an article, “Liberia’s New President Is Doing the Right Thing. Washington Should Help Him,” he first historicized initial efforts by the US to the formation of Liberia when Congress, in 1819, appropriated money to found Liberia as a refuge for freed slaves to return from America to Liberia, terming a project that was supported by northern abolitionists.
His perspectives in the February 25 Article meant to highlight the heights US-Liberia has reached coupled with how it helped to position the US on the global industrial stage following the revolutionization of its automobile industry.
He recounted that three years after the founding of Liberia, the ties between the two nations remained strong over subsequent centuries.”
Rubin said the revolutionization, by former President Henry Ford, of the automobile that in turn changed the American landscape, “would be for naught, though, had it not been for the Firestone rubber plantations in Liberia to provide tires.”
Cummings being appointed Ambassador
In the early days of President Boakai administration when he was primarily focused on forming his government, Rubin made mention of widespread rumors that the President might appoint Mr. Cummings to be either foreign minister or Liberia’s ambassador to the United States.
He stated that the United States government actually welcomed the news of Cummings being in the crinkle and that it would make Liberia a diplomatic powerhouse. But he did not provide much details relative to US interest in Cummings ascending to the position and how it help in uplifting Liberia-US relations.
Though Cummings was never appointed to the Foreign Minister post as was rumored, the President is yet to begin the appointment of Ambassadors to foreign capitals who will serve his eyes and help him push buttons on certain issues of diplomatic importance he might want to pursue.
Whether appointing Cummings to the lucratively strategic diplomatic position of Ambassador to the United States is still on line or not, Cummings himself has not been seen or heard since the inauguration of President Boakai, let alone officials of his Alternative National Congress (ANC) party is heard commenting on issues of governance.
Descending on George Weah
Rubin, in his article, exposed excesses of former President George Weah for which he believed he was punished at the polls in last year’s elections.
“In the late 1980s, Liberia descended into a series of civil wars that lasted until 2003. Its recovery has been shaky, and Liberian democracy remains fragile. The country almost reverted to state failure under George Weah, a former football (soccer) star who became president in 2018,” he opinionated.
He claimed that the former President broke his promise to establish the war and economic crimes court, upon assuming office, choosing instead to hire those who might have been subject to it.
He went saying that “Rather than seek to grow the economy, Weah instead sought to loot it. President Joe Biden gives African leaders much slack, but even the White House grew tired of the blatancy of Weah’s mismanagement if not criminality to the point where they spoke openly of his corruption and gave him the rogue regime treatment.”
According to him, Weah appeared to thumb his nose at Washington, and even opened the door to America’s enemies.
He said “Weah sought reelection but, with Washington distracted by the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars, sought to fix the outcome. He got away with it in the first round but by blatantly disenfranchising those who voted for challenger Alexander Cummings, Jr., a former Coca Cola executive, he woke the international community up to his fraud. Liberians had enough and with the world watching, he lost the second and final round to Joseph Boakai.”
Disparaging former Weah for not playing his cards well with the United States, Rubin provided a healthy perspectives of President Boakai leadership as being on course.
He wrote: “Many Liberians did not expect much from the 79-year-old Boakai. A former vice president, they saw him as sleepy and a place-holder. He has already proved them wrong. Boakai has laid the groundwork for establishing the long-delayed war and economic crimes court. He nominated Sylvester Grigsby, friendly with Washington and long an advocate of the court, to be minister of State for Presidential Affairs.”
According to him, Boakai’s appointment of Jonathan Massaquoi to be Justice Minister at the time suggested promises to tackle corruption are not empty, saying that Boakai has also established an office to coordinate the court’s establishment and has approached international technocrats to stand it up.
“That Boakai also included the pledge in his inauguration speech also suggests his seriousness, as everyone from ordinary Liberians to foreign diplomats can now hold him to his pledge.”
He reminded the world that US support for Liberia is not charity; rather, it is wise strategy, adding that too many in Washington seek to punish African countries when they do wrong, but the State Department does not do enough to support leaders making the right choices.
Rubin contented that the United States also needs a partnership that can serve as a model for Africa, saying that “Djibouti and the Democratic Republic of Congo show Africans what it means to be Chinese allies. Those who want a French partnership can look at Chad, and those more inclined to the Russian model have Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic as examples of what that means.”
According to Rubin, to partner with President Boakai and invest heavily in Liberia would show Africans across the continent that the United States stands for democracy, transparency, and the prosperity not of the country’s leaders but of its entire population.
He stressed that “It is time to restore Liberia to be among the top tier of US allies in Africa and invest in the country accordingly.”
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