PHOTO: Cross-section of Marketers
By J. Peter S. Dennis, dennisrealone@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- Some marketers in the central Bong County are aggrieved over the increasing economic hardship confronting them on a daily basis and they have threatened not to participate in the 2023 elections, as local business people have largely been abandoned
Bong is one of Liberia’s five most populous counties.
Speaking to www.newspublictrust.com here earlier this week, the market women voiced out that when president George Weah won Liberia‘s presidential election in 2017, he promised to transform the lives of all Liberians during his presidency, something they said has been a pipe dream over the past four years.
In his inaugural speech on January 22, 2018, President Weah and his CDC government promised to bring hope to the people by improving their lives, vowing not to make Liberians spectators in the business sector.
But the marketers believe that things are gradually going from bad to worse daily.
Liberian Business Association echoes marketers’ hardship cry
Just today, Friday, March 25, 2022, an executive of the Liberia Business Association and President of the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PETAL), Dominic Nimley told the private OK FM live phone-in talk show that local business people were disappointed over the failure of the CDC government to protect the interest of Liberian businesses.
Mr. Nimley said Liberian businesses are going through serious hardship, with foreigners being given the free hand to engage in both wholesale and retail and engage in other forms of businesses restricted to Liberians under the Liberian Business Act.
Pres. Weah let them down
The struggling marketers noted that the economic hardship has increased under the Weah leadership.
According to them, coming from a grassroots background, they felt the international footballer-turned politician (President Weah) would have been the best alternative to put an end to their longstanding sufferings over the years.
“We want to plead with president Weah and our lawmakers to listen to our voices and come to our aid because we were the one who made them. We deserve better. We agree that the government took over a broken economy but it has to take on its own responsibility in tackling such issues,” the aggrieved marketers said in a sad tone.
One of them, Ma Yamah Kollie, a widow who is believed to be in her 50s, makes a living from selling potato grains. She appealed to government to help buttress her efforts as she strives to feed and support her four kids as a single mother.
Ma Yamah pointed out that one way the CDC government can impact their lives is by implementing effective loans and grants programs from the Ministry of Finance and Development planning as a solution.
At the same time, Korto Janteh who is also a widow narrated that she stood in long queue during the 2017 election to vote president Weah and Bong’s district #3 lawmaker Josiah Marvin Cole in pursuit of proper representation and better living standard.
But she regretted that her hope has been dashed in thin air, saying this has even killed her appetite for future political participation.
“I wanted life to be better for all Liberians but sadly things have turned on the other side only State officials have access to millions of dollars on a daily basis while the masses live in abject poverty and this is saddened,” Korto added.
For her part, Miss. Kebbeh Duaplay a seller of banana, eddoe and other vegetable produces, called on the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Commerce to do an urgent reduction in the price of Petroleum products and other commodities on the Liberian market.
According to her, they spent huge amount of money to transport their goods and as such they tend to yield no profit from their daily sales which she believes has a triggered a down-ward trend in survival and her business as a widow.
Despite the huge challenges in the country, Miss. Kebbeh averred that it is time for Liberian girls and women to stand up for a cause and begin to force their way through by engaging themselves into business.
Kebbeh, a 2016 high school graduate, ventured into business with little earning for survival.
She called on her female counter-parts to press hard to gain some independence.
As the economy worsened with inflation on a rapid increase, civil servants barely receive their monthly salaries; bulk of Liberians without income parading the streets with sorrowful expressions on their faces.
Meanwhile, many commentators believe Liberians love for President Weah nowadays keeps declining on a daily basis as they demand that things become better for them but with the limited time left to end President Weah’s first term in 119 months from now.