By Charles Gbayor, maorethason1997@gmail.com
A BACKGROUND REPORT
SOUTHEASTERN Liberia- After being in power now for nearly five years, President George Weah whom his CDC party stalwarts refer to as “Bad road medicine” has not been able to resolve the annual deplorable nightmare on major roads into the interior.
They are the Nimba-southeastern corridor, neither the Grand Bassa-Rivercess to Sinoe corridor, nor the Lofa-northwestern corridor or the western corridor into Robertsport and Gbapolu counties.
Feasibility studies and agreements for most of the major road projects ongoing were initiated and/or signed during the government of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf such as the Gbarnga-Lofa, Ganta-Sanniquellie, Ganta-Tappita-Grand Gedeh and the Fish Town-Pleebo highways.
FLASHBACK: Pres. Weah–“Bad road medicine” getting off an earth-moving equipment
Southeastern Liberia is where the brunt of Liberian political power lies as with poverty. Weah and three of the most powerful leaders in the country’s governance structure hail from the southeast—House Speaker Dr. Bohfal Chambers, Senate President Pro Tempore Albert Chie, Deputy Speaker Cllr. Fonati Koffa and the incoming Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh.
Before people decry this piece as ‘anti- south-eastern,’ or even ‘pro-northern and central part,’ this writer hails from the southeastern region.
The statistics and evidence from the World Bank says it all. The most impoverished region of Liberia is located in the southeastern region of the country that is about 173 Years since 1847.
The South-eastern region hosts one of Liberia’s biggest area in terms of geographical landscape– Maryland, Grand Kru, River Gee, Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, and River Cess counties, which are extremely poor and marginalized.
As stated earlier, the southeastern region currently enjoys the preponderance of political power over all other regions in Liberia, since President Weah and his CDC government took office in January 2018. This has all along been the case since President William Tubman assumed office in 1944,President Tubman, a son of the region Who hails from Maryland in Africa formely, now Maryland in Liberia.
In 2017, a former professional footballer, George Weah was elected President. The Weah administration has come under criticism for inciting violence against opposition candidates including Telia Urey, Darius Dillion and leaders of the Collaborating Political Parties Alexander Cummings and Representative Yekeh Kolubah.
On August 15, of this year, three senior members of Weah’s cabinet including Weah’s Chief of Staff, Chief Prosecutor and NPA Managing Director were sanctioned by the United States government for their involvement in ongoing public corruption in Liberia.
Presently, southeasterners are heading the Legislative, Judiciary and Executive branches of Liberian government.
House Speaker Dr. Bhofal Chambers ; Minister of Finance, Samuel Tweah both hails from Maryland County ; Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Tugbe Chie from and Deputy Speaker is also from Kru County while the Executive Governor & Chairman of the Board, Central Bank of Liberia, Aloysius Tarlue; and the Minister of Gender, Williametta Piso Saydee-Tarr hails from Grand Gedeh County and President George Weah is from Grand Kru County.
Some two weeks ago, the Liberian Senate confirmed President Weah’s nominee, 67-year-old Associate Justice Sie-A-Nyene Gaypay Yuoh as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia.
Meanwhile Justice Yuoh and now incoming Chief Justice of the Supreme court of Liberia hails from Maryland County.
Even with all this, southeastern region remains the poorest and abandon region in term of development especially during this regime remain in even more deplorable condition, with transportation cost hitting the roof, making prices of basic commodities unbearable for the ordinary people.
This is only worsening the already punishing economic hardships and increasing the level of abject poverty of the struggling people, while their top kinsmen in Monrovia are getting the lion’s share of the national budget through huge salaries and allowances
Living in the southeast and traveling on the bad roads through towns and villages, one gets to come face-to-face with sufferings of the less privileged Liberians, many of whom are unemployed or unemployable due to lack of the needed education and vocational training.