Pondering Over 2017 class of political pundits and their characters Part I

As Liberia moves toward the 2017 representatives and presidential elections, the chance of effectuating change remains critical to consider.

For too long we have suffered at the hands of corrupt rascals and now the time has come for us to change this situation.
The need to educate the masses on the essence of voting rightly cannot be overly emphasized.

As Former United Nation Secretary General Kofi Annan rightly said and I quote: “Education is a human right with immense power to transform and on its foundation rests the corner stone of freedom, democracy and sustainable human reform”

Our people must be sensitized in order to make the right decision come October 2017, for it is the outcome of these elections that will determine whether to rebuild the Liberia our forefathers enjoyed or continue with the Liberia that promotes the spoils system.

Over the passage of time, it has been proven that the root cause to Liberia’s problem has been the issue of leadership. Sincerity and integrity are virtues alien to our leaders, if we must end this leadership turmoil, we must firstly know who are those posing to lead us and what are they capable of executing.

With the aforesaid, let me convey to you in this first series of my writing the political characters of three (3) key players in our upcoming 2017 general and presidential elections.

a. Mr. Benoni Urey, Political Leader, All Liberia Party (ALP).
This economic bandit willfully looted both the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) and Liberia Maritime Affairs during his service under the oppressive and tyrannical reign of the illiterate Master Sergeant Samuel Kayon Doe and a sophisticated warmonger Charles G. Taylor

Currently Mr. Urey still benefits from his relationship with Taylor, he brags as a shareholder in one of the leading GSM company in Liberia, a company that robbed Liberians for close to a decade, it was through his tight connections with former president Charles G. Taylor that earned him this spot, he used his connection to influence Lebanese business tycoons wanting to establish a GSM company in Liberia so that they can loot the Liberian people who were in dying need of communication.

This same Urey in 2005, a report from the Coalition for International Justice cited that he supported Taylor to siphoned funds from a shipping firm to pay for arms and was the primary contact between Taylor and Viktor Bout a convicted criminal in the US who was imprison for 25yrs for arm smuggling.

During the TRC hearings in Liberia, Urey was again identified by a witness (name withheld for confidentiality) as operating the Liberian Rubber Company and exporting “hundreds of thousands of tons of rubber”, the proceeds of which were never accounted for, and in its concluding report, the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended that Urey be prosecuted for the commission of economic crimes during the civil war and be banned from holding public office for 30 years, however, the recommendation was undermined by Delilah (Madam President) when she appointed him in 2009 as City Mayor of Careysburg, a position he held until 2011 when he failed to support Delilah second term bid.

Currently, this miscreant is actively practicing slavery in modernity, workers at the famous Wulki’s farm in Careysburg city are undergoing serious appalling conditions, they are grossly underpaid with no access to affordable social services like health care and schooling for their kids, many of those workers resides in houses meant for cows and pigs on the same farm and most often go to bed on empty stomach while he sits and eats chicken in his comfortable dining room built at the expense of the taxes of those peasants, is this an example of true leadership?

In a Sisyphean quest to market this economic zogo, his half-baked intellectuals bring their flimflamming arguments to the discourse, acclaiming him (Urey) to be Liberia’s richest man so he must be awarded the presidency, arguing that he seeks no economic gains as compare to other candidates.

Now, considering the ceteris paribus fallacy (Holding all factors constant) as we students of economics say, there are few questions I believe Liberians would like to get some clarity on: what are the sources of Mr. Urey’s astronomical wealth? How did he own share in the most famous GSM Company in Liberia? Can just salary at both LEC and Maritime make you a millionaire? Why couldn’t he freely fly from Liberia at certain point in our nation’s chronicle?

Answers to the above questions will determine my response in Part II of this piece. Let me go to character b.

b. Dr. Joseph. Mills Jones, Political leader, Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE).
Dr. Jones who is popularly known as the POVERTY DOCTOR is a master at the art of political chicanery, during his time as Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, this individual defrauded the Liberian people by wrongly infusing cash into the economy causing us the current sky rocketing of the exchange rate (US-LIB) which stands at $110.00LD/$1.00USD. What a disaster!

The sham stratagem employ by Dr. Jones to give out loans to ordinary citizens was a complete economic embarrassment and has since continue to undermine the steady economic growth that Liberia currently undergoes.

With our little knowledge in economics, we are aware of the principle role of the Central Bank to serve as the monetary arm of government and a regulatory body to financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, etc.

All around the globe, when nations wanting to boost their economies they employ either or both expansionary fiscal or monetary policy but for the sake of this literature, I’ll tailor my argument to the expansionary monetary policy. When Central banks are implementing the expansionary monetary policy so as to boosts the economy, they carry out what economist called the quantitative easing whereby the central banks purchase government bonds from commercial banks, in theory, this should increase monetary base of cash reserves of banks, secondly, it reduces interest rates on bonds and creating cheap borrowing for banks, this in return enhances the capacities of commercial banks to lend to individuals and businesses.

This has been the historicity of expansionary monetary policy, now, if there is surplus of cash flow in the economy due to the expansionary monetary policy; the CBL could employ the contractionary monetary policy by selling out bonds and increasing interest rates of financial institutions which has the tendency to dry out funding from the economy.

How can a doctor degree holder in economics do not understand this simple economic phenomenon? If the central bank gives out loans to individuals and businesses, what then will be the role of commercial banks?

Why must you misuse state funds for your selfish gains Mr. Poverty Doctor? Oh, I think it was a calculated attempt to demonize the regime and present yourself as the messiah, haha Mr. poverty doctor your plans have failed, much appreciation should be given to the 53rd national legislature for enacting the 4G Code of conduct bill that annihilated Dr. Jones failed economic stratagem that had the proclivity to shillyshally our economy.
SAY NO TO THIS ECONOMIC WHITE TEETH BLACK HEART! Let’s go on to character c.

c. Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, Political Leader, Alternative National Congress (ANC)
This is the newest broker on the political stock market, Mr. Cummings and others are gradually shifting the dimension of our already fragile democracy to a more commercial one.

Even though Mr. Cummings is a Johnny just Come to Liberian Politics, he has managed to purchased his way up to the rank of political leader of Liberia’s newest political wall street (ANC) where power is dished out based on the depth of one’s pocket.
One uncovered fact about Mr. Cummings is his incessant state of duality.

ABC as he is widely known is on record for declaring a neutral stance on the popularly discussed GAY RIGHT ACT, I and many Liberians are still plundering on why he chose to remain neutral, is it that he supports such act but cannot say it openly knowing that our African Cultural frowns at it, or he’s against such act but cannot voice it because he wants to acquire the votes from the gay community.
This is sheer hypocrisy Mr. Cummings; you cannot eat your cake and have it, the doctrine of neutrality is the greatest deceit politics has ever embraced. As a cadre of Africa’s oldest mass based students revolutionary movement, the undefeated Vanguard Student Unification party (SUP), I was well schooled that under the law of negation, there is no luxury of neutrality; you are either for or against. You must tell us which side you stand on the Gay Bill Mr. Alexander B. Cummings.

A second manifestation of your duality is the embarrassing truth of your dual capacity as American citizen and Liberian Citizen, haha Mr. Johnny Just Come, it’s like you truly love dual identity ooh, How can you swear an oath of allegiance to two separate nations? No no, you cannot serve two masters equally, you must surly love one over the other. Again Mr. Cummings, please tell us which country do you stand with!

You do not need a rocket scientist to tell you that this chap is a political hustler fighting to devour our national treasury. fellow Liberians, let’s not give this puppet a micro inch and the slightest breathing space to smell not to talk about taste state power or else, Liberia will again be a stooge to his primary country (America).

In my conclusion, let me say to you that this is the time we put aside sentiments and place Liberia first, the dogmatic approach to party politics is eating up the fabrics of the true meaning of Democracy here in our country, we adamantly support bootlicking charlatans all because of our selfish interest.

It’s about time we refer to the doctrine of “massecracy” and place the interest of the masses above all else, the decision we make this 2017 will either progress our lives for the next six years or regress it for another six years. Fellow Liberians let’s vote wisely.
I’ll close up by urging us all to chant this short slogan as we await our power to win (the ballots). “2017, our year of inevitable change”!

PART II (gutter reality)…. Coming soon!

By: Cde Henry Garneo

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