Gut Feelings About Burning Issues in Liberia

The Editor,

I am happy that you are recovering well from all the ups and downs you face in Liberia: The legal actions taken against you and your newspaper; and the many other headaches you face each day because you want to help bring transparency to a system that has a serious evil upon which a war has been declared by the President of Liberia.

A lot has happened in Liberia since FrontPageAfrica became the fully-migrated FrontPageAfricaOnline. For one thing, I found life difficult trying to find the letter section. Everything seemed to be in disarray. Those squares on the left of the redesigned homepage of FrontPageAfricaOnline, I find difficult to click and read what they are supposed to represent. I hope a full improvement will be in place before the elections in October, 2011.

I read the other day that the war on corruption is not being won. In fact, I hear that corruption is getting worse and the efforts are taking a nose dive. A report that came out recently accuses the three branches of the Liberian government of rampant corruption, one of the reasons President Doe gave for the overthrow of the TWP in April, 1980.

My writings have landed me in trouble with members of my community. I was appointed head of the Publicity Committee of UP-USA Retreat by Gayah Fahnbulleh. When it was time to elect members of UP-USA, I was elected the interim Secretary General of UP-USA, Washington, DC Regional Chapter. The interim leadership then appointed me secretary to the Constitution Drafting Committee. Right now, I am the elected Secretary General of UP-USA, DC Regional Chapter.

Being an independent writer is one thing; being a Secretary General of an entity like UP is quite a different story. The independent writer writes about what he sees and hears. The Secretary General is supposed to write what he or she is told to write. I was called to duty again after our UP election in DC. This time, it was the Interim National leadership of UP in the Americas/ Diaspora. The chairman of the Interim National Election Commission wanted me to be Secretary to the Interim National Constitution Drafting Committee and to the Interim National Election Commission.

Ask not what your community can do for you; ask what you can do for your community. I accepted the challenges and did the best I could to help meet the deadline for the National election of members of Unity Party in the Americas/Diaspora, on April 9, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Frontpageafrica was instrumental in all these various titles I carried on my shoulder. It published most of my letters to the Editor. People who read what I wrote felt good about my ability to carry heavier loads. I have not let them down; neither was FrontPageAfrica wrong for publishing my gut feelings.

Now that most of the work to establish a sustainable UP structure in the Americas/Diaspora is complete, it is time for me to put on my robe of farsightedness to help elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for president of Liberia for a second six-year term, accordingly to the Liberian Constitution.

Something I heard this morning makes me sad. I heard that a Superintendent in Liberia came to America and bought some expensive cars for her children in Philadelphia. I have no evidence to show; I was given none.  Maybe a few photos will help us remind the people back home who are in government that corruption remains enemy number one and that everything they do is being watched with eagle eyes.

Cooper Kweme
kweme6@aol.com