Hits Hard At Social Media: Says It “Has Become Social Naked-Yourself, Social Disrespect And Social Death News”
PHOTO: Chief ZANZAN KARWOR delivering the 176th Indepence Day Oration on Wednesday
In Just two months’ time, Liberians will be going to the polls to elect a new President and all 73 members of the House of Representatives and half of the 30-member Senate, amid growing tensions in the buildup to October 10 polls.
As Liberia marked its 176th Independence Anniversary on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, the National Orator of the official Independence Day celebration, Chief Zanzan Karwor played up the need to ensure a violence free polls.
“This election will come and go and we will still live together here as Liberians, because this is the only country that we have. The reason why some of us want elected position is because we love Liberia and
we want to develop this country. But how will we develop the country after the election when there is violence all over,”.
The ceremony was held at the historic Centennial Memorial Pavilion in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
According to Chief Karwor, who is head of the National Traditional Council of Liberia, peace is not just the silence of the guns, but “peace is when political parties and their leaders see one another as Liberians and not enemies”.
BELOW IS FULL TEXT OF CHIEF ZANZAN KARWOR’S 176th Independence Day Oration.
H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia;
E. Chief Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor, Vice President of the Republic of Liberia;
Hon. Boufor Chambers Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives;
Hon. Albert Chie, President Pro Tempore and Members of the Senate;
Her Honor Seaneh Nyoh, Chief Justice, and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court;
ALL PRESIDENTS FROM OTHER NATIONS
Dean and Members of the Cabinet;
Dean and Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Leaders of all political parties here
Officials of Government;
Women and Mothers of Liberia;
Members of the Religious Community;
Chiefs, Elders and Members of NACCEL
QUEEN JULI ENDEE
Former Officials of Government;
Foreign Guests;
HEAD OF BUSINESSES
Market Women;
Petty Traders;
YOUTH;
Students;
Members of the Fourth Estate or the chichi-polie people;
My Fellow Liberians;
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am so happy, I am honor with respect that I stand before you today to bring you the message as the National Orator of our country’s 176th Independence Day Anniversary. This is a new, very special and historic day in Liberia.
From Charles King time to today, it only takes a true and good leader to do what President George Manneh Weah did by bringing the traditional people through me to speak to the Liberian people and the whole world on our Independence Day… I do not know mathematics or book but I know sense make book and all my sense are correct at my age.
President Weah, I say a big thank you to you today. God will bless you and keep you safe. My ancestors will watch over you for making the traditional people as the voice of the people to be respected always. We will not forget this value, this honor and respect you have given to us today. Thank you.
Today, we have gathered here to celebrate 176 years of Liberia’s independence under the theme “giving our people hope for a violence free, fair, transparent, inclusive and credible Election” I know in all this peace comes first, so let celebrate our ’26 day in peace my people.
However, the independence of Liberia in 1847 did not come on civil platter; it did not come when we were eating cow meat and elephant. Our independence did not even come when we were just eating Togborgee, GB, Palm butter soup, Cassava Leave Soup or swallowing Fufu Soup or dumb boy, but it came from the sweat, hard work and commitment of our selfless indigenous Fathers from America with support from several organizations in America, including the American Colonization Society (ACS). I say thank you and big appreciation to the American Government and people for their continuous support to Liberia that began more than 200 years ago.
When these free blacks came on the continent of Africa in search of a home between 1820 and 1822, there were already organized leadership in power that were controlled by kings and queens including King Long Peters. They were collecting taxes and running a very good and organized government. So, the Law of Liberty met us here eating our palm Butter and GB and Fufu. The Law of Liberia did not bring the chiefs, kings and queens on these shores of Africa that is called Liberia today.
So, we have come together here today after 176 years of our independence in this historic hall to celebrate genuinely collaborative efforts between the free blacks from America and the Traditional leaders including the Kings, Queens, settlers and the traditional Leaders that brought about our independence in 1847. So indeed, America is a traditional friend and partner to Liberia and not a fly-bynight friend.
Mr. President, Madam Vice President, Distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen
For many, many years, I have listened to the book people speak some English, some of their English I understand and some I do not understand because it is too big for me. But today your will all listen to me all the way until I finish my Bassa and Coloqua. Let me now begin with the theme of this year’s 176th Independence Day celebration which is Peace:
FIRST, PEACE;
As we all know, peace is not only when the gun is not shooting or when people are not fighting. Peace is when we all respect one another; peace is when we love each other, when we stop undermining one another, when we live together as one people with one common interest to build Liberia. Peace is when we give respect to our leaders and when we honor and respect our traditional people. Peace is when political parties and their leaders see one another as Liberians and not enemies.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The lawmakers will not come to make laws for keeping peace because peace is how we talk to each other, the way we greet one another. Only with Peace we can build Liberia; our children will go to school and our hospitals will work when we have peace.
The human rights of women and children will be respected only when we have peace. That is why we must all work together to promote peace among ourselves as Liberians.
2ND
VIOLENCE FREE ELECTION:
Ladies and Gentlemen, the October 10 election is right to our doorsteps. In less than three months we will be having our election where the president, vice President, senators and representatives will be elected.
This election will come and go and we will still live together here as Liberians, because this is the only country that we have. The reason why some of us want elected position is because we love Liberia and we want to develop this country. But how will we develop the country after the election when there is violence all over.
As your father and Chairman of the National Traditional Council of Chiefs and Elders of this great Country, I call on you to ensure that the election is free without violence. Political leaders should talk to their followers, do not incite them to engage into violence or take the laws into their own hands.
We, the traditional people are here, the election commission is here, and even the courts are also here. So if there is anything that any political leader is not happy with, please bring it to us so that we can settle them peacefully. Violence will only destroy this country and send us backward. Political leaders must abide by the Farmington River Communiqué for the peace of Liberia.
3, FREE, FAIR, TRANSPARENT AND CREDIBLE ELECTION:
Fellow Liberians, election in itself is not an end to democracy but it makes democracy to work when it is free, fair and transparent. Some of the problems we have had in this country came when some people felt that the 1995 election was not free, fair and transparent. Election is free when the voters are allowed to freely go to the poll and cast their ballots without any form of intimidation.
The election is fair and transparent when the results are based on what really happened at the polling centers. Election becomes credible when it is free, fair, and transparent. So we call on the government, NEC, all political leaders and the people to make show that the October 10th election is free, fair, transparent and credible to avoid violence.
I also admonish all Political leaders to make show that the election process will include everybody. Everybody must take part. We as chiefs must remain neutral and must not be part of any political party but we will go the poll and vote the person we want. This election will come and go but Liberia will stay here. So we must do everything to do away with confusion and fighting among ourselves.
Only the election commission has the authority to announce the results of election and say who wins or not according to the law, nobody else can announce results. Do not announce your own result to cause confusion. To the election observers, we appreciate your hard work but please, do not do things that will bring confusion.
When you do your work, wait for the NEC to announce the real results.
DEVELOPMENT;
Mr. President, Madam Vice President, Distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen,
As we all can clearly see, there has been no good development since 1847. But in the last five years under President George Manneh Weah, you can see the development that is taking place with very little international support to the government and so, we need to pay our taxes.
Citizens who pay their taxes can develop their country. But how do we develop this country when some of us have stopped paying our taxes long time ago. Let us look at our road from Roberts’s field to Monrovia. It is big and clear. It makes me think that there is no car in Liberia. Let us therefore give chance to the leader so that more development will be done.
We have an important role to play in helping the president deliver on his Pro Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development; this must never be taken for granted. All of us know that the children and people of Liberia will benefit from the decisions we make and our country will be developed. Nobody can develop our country for us, only we can do it for ourselves. So let us work with our leaders and stop the hatreds we develop for them when they are in power. Traditional people do not fight or disrespect their leaders. We are the advisors to the government on Culture and peace.
My Fellow Liberians:
About two hundred years ago, we were all happy when we came together and established this country. We were also happy for all the good things in our history. This was only possible because of the continued peace we have enjoyed when we continue to work together. So the credit should go to all Liberians for the peace and hard work the country has enjoyed during the last 20 years. Together, plenty things happened to us including war and sickness, but we are enjoying peace today like other countries because we have worked together as Liberians.
GOVERNMENT NATIONAL LEGISLATURE: JUDICIARY AND EXECUTIVE
Mr. President, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
The good things we have done and the achievements we have made over the past 176 years as a nation will go in vain if the three Branches of our government do not work together to bring peace and harmony to this country. No country can ever live in peace when there are not good laws to protect its citizens and the welfare of its citizens are not improved or protected.
The lawmakers must therefore forget about themselves small and make those laws that will protect and improve the lives of the citizens, laws that will increase the salary of the ordinary citizens, protect human rights including the rights of children and women who have been sexually abused, raped and beaten by other citizens.
The executive Branch, that is the President and all his cabinet ministers including the Liberia national police and soldiers must protect the Liberian people at all times by doing what the laws say. People who bring bad, bad medicine and drugs into this country, I am talking about cocaine, Duzee and kush must be arrested to save our children from dying and getting crazy.
Government must take strong action to protect the citizens from armed robbers and other criminals in the streets. The court too, must do its part by quickly judging those criminals and send them to jail so that the people can live free.
As we go into the 2023 election in October, the court must work fast to make show that cases coming from the election are quickly settled to avoid confusion.
POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS: JOURNALISTS
Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen and our invited guests,
As Liberia celebrates 176 years of independence, all Liberians including the government, political parties, private citizens and the Chichi-poly people who we call the journalists, we all have the responsibility to keep this country peaceful and safe.
Political parties should talk to their followers especially the youths to stop those things that will bring violence during and after the elections. We must discuss our grievances instead of getting in the streets to demonstrate.
Our chichi-poly, the journalists, look, gunshots do not choose between the journalists and other people. And so, your must stop reporting only the ugly news. Nobody will want to help Liberia when you write only the ugly news. Journalists have families and children; we will all be affected by what you tell the international community.
YOUTHS, CHILDREN, DRUGS AND EDUCATION AND WOMEN:
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Madame Chief Justice, all of us are getting old and we depend on our children to take over from us to develop the country. That is why we, the government and people must make show to stop drugs from coming into Liberia;
We must provide the best schools and good education for our children. Every day, small, small children are selling in the streets, the children must be taken from the streets, government must create programs to take care of our youths to learn trade and take the Zogos from the streets.
Importantly, there can be no good home without a good wife or a good mother. Liberia is 176 years old because we have good mothers and wives. So we must respect our wives and stop beating them. Our wives are our partners and not our properties;
We must stop beating them. There must be strong laws to protect the women from what the mathematic people call, domestic and sexually based violence against women. In the day you beat the woman and abuse her, then in the night you want to put your hands around her…we say no to child marriage and we have banned FGM. We are also working on the part of our culture that is good for us and our citizens.
SOCIAL MEDIA…FACEBOOK
Mr. President, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
This new thing your call SOCIAL MEDIA, it is doing bad for this country. It has become social lies, social gossips and confusion. Social Media, face book, Instagram, it has become social naked-yourself, social disrespect and social death news.
Our children can now naked themselves in the face Book. They can take their women and man business from the house and put it into the Facebook. They use Facebook to lie and gossip.
Government must put into place or find a way to monitor and pass laws against the misuse of the Social Media platform in Liberia. Social media is destroying this country when it should be building it.
CULTURE AND RELIGION:
My selection to speak today on this important occasion was not a mistake by the president. This shows the level of respect and honor President George Manneh Weah has for the culture and Traditional people of this Country. This is also a clear demonstration of our contribution as a traditional people to nation building.
WE ARE Christians, Muslims and the Traditional people of Liberia. Our Culture and Religion have established norms that must be respected at all times. Our culture also says that we must respect our leaders including our President.
That is why the Traditional Leaders of this Country agreed based on the request of President George Manneh Weah, to let go harmful practices in our culture including female genitor mutilation which we have banned in Liberia.
The International community had promised that training centers would be built for our Zoes and some level of empowerment would be provided for our former female Zoes in the eleven counties where FGM were being practiced and have been banned. We call on the International community to fulfill those promises. We are doing the closure festivities step by step.
Another person who has also continued to respect us is our Son, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dee Maxwell Saah Kimayah Sr. He has continued to give us respect at all times. He respects our tradition and he is always ready to come whenever we call on him. Thank you Mr. Minister.
My Fellow Liberians: At this point, we call for a moment of silence to remember the late Montserrado county representative, Muna Pelham. Representative Muna Pelham was very respectful in keeping to the traditional norms of this country; she also worked with us, the Traditional people.
We also wish to commend the Vice President of Liberia, Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor and the Minister of Gender, Women, Children and Social Protection, Madame Willimina Piso Saydee Tarr for closely working with the Traditional chiefs and Zoes in banning FGM in Liberia.
Our very big thank you and appreciation go to our Traditional Queen of Liberia, Culture Ambassador Juli Endee who has become the beacon of hope for the effectiveness in the activities of the Chiefs and Traditional People of Liberia.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
IN CLOSING;, we want to thank the Government and people of America for being a true traditional friend and partners to Liberia for over 200 years. We would not have been celebrating 176th independence today if it was not for the support from the government and people of United States of America.
Thank you. We also thank ECOWAS, MRU, African Union and the UN for their continuous support even at the cost of the lives of their citizens during the Liberian civil war. We appreciate you and other embassies, including the United Arab Emirates, JICA, USAID and Morocco among others.
Happy Independence Day!
I thank you.