A flaw in governance and the case with the True Whig Party: A look from my lenses.

Harvard Kennedy School 

It has been roughly 32 years since the oligarchy of the past, the TWP, left power. During its 133 years of rule (misrule), Liberia was yet still a society in peril. A society where the disparity between the “haves” and “haves not” could in no way be compared to the distance covered by Neil Armstrong during his trip to the moon. A few handful of elites dressed up as “westerners” plunged our country into years of waste, loot, misrule and abuse of not only state resources but all power. This system became entrenched so much so that top management positions were for a few not because of meritocracy, but because of surnames, family ties and by extension sexual favors. For them, this was the real meaning of life; they did not care whether the masses suffer nor had little to eat since they always spelled masses without an “M”.

Their kids had the luxury of attending some of the best schools at home and abroad while a vast majority attended public school poorly funded by government. While their colleagues trekked to school with deflated bellies and rags calling it uniforms, they drove flashy cars, ate fancy breakfast, and wore classic uniforms. No doubt, they could have won accolades for being “Best dressed”. They had unhindered access to the necessities of life that were for many, luxuries. They would fly overseas for vacations while others retired to the rural areas to make farms and sell produce in order to raise funds for the next academic year. Those who chose to stay in the urban terrains were mostly staying with these elites and where usually called “John” (no pun intended). Many were dehumanized and treated as slaves, slept in rice bags, wore “hand me down” ate leftovers and barely wore shoes. If they did, it was their “Masters” once used shoes nearing the dustbin. They did not have a say in anything, decisions about them where made by their “masters”. As of the females, they were house cleaners and sex slaves and once they got pregnant, these girls left these homes involuntarily.

As for rural inhabitants who mostly survive on shifting cultivation and could barely generate enough lest we say raise money, were compared to pay taxes and if they failed to, they were chained, beaten, humiliated and disgraced before their kids and sent them to prison. For over 133 years, our people were subjugated to inhumane treatment at the behest of these elites. The fundamental questions here going forward are:
• Could we have avoided this?
• Was it possible for these elites and the local people to integrate?
• Did the local people deserve such inhumane treatment?
• Was it payback, an avenge, or a revenge?
• Was it possible for our people whether elite or not to coexist for a common cause?
• Had the locals, from the beginning, allowed to partake in the process and to benefit from the wealth of the nation, could we have avoided the brutal civil conflicts?
• Would 1980 not have happened?

While we ponder on answers to these questions, let us do a sober reflection of the past remembering that never again might we take this path which led to the death of many of our compatriots for no probable cause. Let us remember that UNITY is the key and we must foster genuine and not blanket reconciliation and national healing and renewal as a people under one banner. We should use our history as a stepping-stone into the future. We should and must see ourselves as coequals no matter our level of education and or our social stratification. We should promote and ensure a culture of collectivism and remember always to treat each other with love and respect bearing in mind that Liberia is the only common denominator we have. Let us put Liberia first above all else.