Tear Down ‘Jericho Wall’

-Rep. Snowe References Weah To Melt Away All Incompetent People Surrounding Him

What seems to be a loaded ‘gun’ has been placed at the disposal of President George M Weah by Bomi County Representative and a long time buddy by challenging the Chief Executive to close his eyes to pity and break down the ‘Jericho wall’ from around him; an apparent recommendation of purging all those incompetent individuals Weah has surrounded himself with.

According to Snowe, if Weah wants to see his leadership’s legacy well respected, sincerely rooted and proudly extolled, he must begin to do what is most needed and urgently necessary by getting rid of all the incompetent people that have barricaded him, and bring on board competent and farsighted individuals who will work along with him professionally to change the tide and brace the odds with positive and praiseworthy results in the supreme interest of the state and heavy-hearted citizens.

Pundits also observed that while it is true that some walls are purposely constructed to serve as maximum protective shield against influx of elements with various motives and different objectives; while some are erected to add to; and showcase the beauty of the landscape, reflecting the traditional worth and value most attractive to others with emphasis on tourists; as some like the Great Wall of China whose precious ancient role was strictly hinged on security and complicating invaders’ quest; and now a twin faceted structure firstly a major historical site profoundly attractive to tourists and rated as one of the seven wonders of the world and then the Berlin Wall; which until it came crumbling down was structured with political objective; unlike the wall built around Weah which portrays more of partisans’ interest than national concerns.

A story carried on a local radio station in Monrovia quoted Lawmaker Snowe as saying that it remains his unshakeable and ardent hope for Weah to succeed and while he will do all I his power to ensure that it becomes a vivid reality, it is equally binding on Chief Executive, Dr. Weah to clean all around him all the incompetent and ‘dead weights ’thereby opening the political door for others most qualified, competent and experienced to give their very best in healing the ailing economy and establish trust and confidence in a badly divided and poorly reconciled people and country.

Since his inception inching toward a year and a half, Weah’s leadership style has been chided radically and in some instances received some grave lashes from critics and detractors of not proceeding well and being too obsessed with ensuring and advancing the vested interest of those from his Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) above all else, an assertion seriously denied and dismissed by some elements closely associated with the party.

At the same time, Mr. Ansu Oldpa Dualu wrote that governance is a straightforward affair. It is only made complicated when we infuse politics and veer off time-tested principles that guide, strengthen, stabilize and define success in major capital market economies.

Dualu noted that economics is not just about industry and the application of capital market instruments, it heavily involves understanding the historical lessons that move those forces.

He added that having a hands-on appreciation for the historical aspects of economics is just as important as exercising the art itself!  In fact, failing to understand the historical applications that drive the machine that is economics will place any country in a stagnated state like the one we have experienced in Liberia for some 150 years!

Also adding from his writing, Mr. J. Patrick Flomo observes that on a recent visit to Liberia (March 2019), the airways were filled with an avalanche of criticism on Weah’s inept ability and capacity to manage the country’s faltering economic meltdown.

According tto him, the paralysis of the nation’s economic woes is exacerbated by Weah’s Minister of Finance, Tweah Envisions, who seems not to understand the sextant of economic policies or finance; yet he is entrusted to shepherd the nation’s economy.

He (Tweah) has become a huge distraction for the Weah government and there is a clarion call for firing him.  The inflation rate in Liberia was recorded at an all-time high of 28.5 percent in December 2018, averaging 8.67 percent from 1968 until then, and a record low of -5.69 percent in December of 1971(https://tradingeconomics.com/liberia/inflation-cpi).

The velocity of commodities’ price fluctuation seems to be approaching the speed of sound and the Commerce Ministry has offered no analysis of it.  As a result, the people are becoming discontent and anxious.

George Weah is not the villain (we the people are) in this story. He is the result of our worship of celebrity, even if the celebrity is a moron.

The avalanche of criticism should not surprise anyone.  We were fully cognizant of Weah’s lack of intellectual discipline to comprehend the basic circuitry of modern government, and yet we elected him democratically, Flomo intoned.

The anemic economic and social condition of the Republic with a gloomy forecast cannot be blamed on Weah alone.  The Legislature, especially the House of Representatives (with Article 34—the power of taxation and appropriation), bears culpability for this mediocre governance of Liberia.
Moreover he pointed out that university students are calling for his resignation because of his incompetence to govern.  Yes, Weah is incompetent, but incompetence is not a high crime or misdemeanor.  Second, incompetence is not an “incapacitation.”  Third, we knew he was incompetent and yet the people elected him in a free and fair democratic election.   So, the chorus for his resignation has a very weak melody.  His ineptitude to govern is the price we must pay for our absurdity or foolhardiness.

We have a republic based on the separation of powers among the three branches of our government, namely: Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary.  For the PEOPLE to experience their unalienable rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) endowed by the Creator (Thomas Jefferson), these three branches of our government have to exercise the full powers granted by the Constitution.

Since 1944, the constitutional separation of powers has only been a theory.  The ground zero of Liberia political power has been the Executive Mansion—Imperial president.  This political indoctrination of the Liberian mind has to be fully deprogrammed and rehabilitated if we want a republican government.  Short of this, Liberia will continue to lag behind in the advancement of human development.  TNR