By Torli H. Krua
Liberia means land of freedom. But for the past 171 years, bondage, deception, corruption, violence, torture, massacre, poverty, misery, injustice and illiteracy have marred the lives of most citizens of Africa’s 1st republic.
At the same time, Liberia’s broken and corrupt system of representative democracy, designed by crooked politicians, continues to turn foreign businessmen, foreign non-profit including missionaries and Liberian politicians into millionaires while ruining the lives of citizens and trapping them in poverty forever.
Good news! The solution to Liberia’s woes is hidden in plain sight; Ordinary Liberian citizens are rising up and focusing on tasks within their powers and no longer waiting for angels, lawyers, politicians, international community, United States and outsiders to do things for them what they can do for themselves. Would you join the rising game changers?
The debate about why successive Liberian governments have been unwilling to establish a war crime court or implement the Truth & Reconciliation Report has dominated Liberian news for over a dozen years! Conferences, congressional resolutions and demonstrations have been held to no avail because setting up war crime court and prosecuting war criminals can only be done by governments, not citizens.
Well, the government of Sirleaf refused to carry out its duty to create a war crimes court. She was elected twice. On the other hand, President Weah and CDC campaigned vigorously to establish a war crime court but the story changed after elections. Still, Weah is determined to run and win in 2023.
Clearly, with Sirleaf gone and Weah’s cozy relationship with Taylor’s party, neither the International Community nor the Liberian voters have leverage to establish a war crime court. Without a Liberian government with commitments for war crime court, chances of a Liberian war crime court in the past dozen years and the foreseeable future is zero.
War Crime Court aside, there are serious problems engulfing Liberia that can be resolved by citizens without government permission or approval.
The excessive salaries and benefits of officials, skyrocketing unemployment, systemic corruption, ritualistic killings during every election cycle, officials stealing money and fleeing to America and the continued financial support the European Union, China and the United States given to every corrupt government in Liberia.
Still, ordinary citizens’ outrage, demonstrations and complaining to the International community have not force government officials to stop building personal mansions with government money or declaring their assets or force China, European Union and the USA to impose sanctions on corrupt Liberian governments. What shall we do?
The Liberian President recently submitted a bill to terminate tenure positions. The President still appoints all heads of public corporations and all board of directors of public corporations, sheriff’s, mayors, university presidents, superintendents, ambassadors and cabinet ministers, No community club in Liberia would be so stupid to give its president such unchecked powers. But for 171 years, that is exactly the type of corrupt system the politicians designed to govern Liberia.
Clearly, there are at least five steps ordinary Liberian citizens are taking to turn their lives, families and country around without the permission or approval of government. True, Liberian citizens have temporarily assigned powers to government officials, as public servants to act in the public interest. However, when lawmakers set for themselves excessive salaries and benefits higher than salaries of all American government officials, they not only betray the trust of Liberians, they are actually robbing our children and damaging our future.
What needs to change isn’t our representatives or president, Liberia’s system of representative democracy designed by corrupt politicians to turn citizens into servants and politicians into masters and millionaires. Even a smart market woman with no formal education would never allow her employees to determine their own salaries and benefits as Liberia has done in 171 years. Unfortunately we keep changing presidents and lawmakers within the same broken and corrupt system for 171 years.
The solution is simple; ordinary citizens must challenge and change Liberia’s corrupt system of representative democracy and replace it with participatory democracy which makes citizens the masters and politicians mere public servant, thus ending public service as an avenue to enrich politicians. Systemic change is consistent with the Holy Bible: “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. (Matthew 12:33).
What can ordinary citizens do? Ordinary citizens fed up with Liberia’s corrupt and broken system can do a lot to change Liberia and Africa overnight. Here are five things that can change Liberia overnight:
| Only Government | Only Ordinary Citizen | Examples |
| Guarantees justice and equal opportunities | Demand and change any broken and corrupt system of governance | Change in England, France & America were not led citizens, not by governments |
| Collect taxes, fines and fees to pay for basic services, security and court system | Feed, educate and clothe yourself & your family, Build a home for yourself & family. | All over the world in Europe, China, America and Asia |
| Control security -army, police, fire service, court systems | Create jobs for yourself & your family | With the rapidly expansion of technology people can create their own jobs anywhere. |
| Provide regulations , Build roads and bridges and licenses , Build schools, hospitals, libraries for the benefit of the public | Worship God according to your own free will | In the United States and other developed countries most people work for companies created by the private sector. |
| Sets up special criminal courts and prosecute war and other criminals | File Civil Lawsuits that can put money in the pockets of victims | Krua V. Sirleaf is an example of victims taking matters in their own hands and not waiting for war court/ |
| I can’t wait for war crime court. | What can I do to join? | www.mastersday.com |