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Heeding Pres. Kabbah’s Warning to Avoid a Ghastly Prophesy
18 May 04 An exchange on this site regarding UN responsibilities in Liberia produced a set of minds prevailing in the country. Some Liberians, in rather crude language, insisted that because Liberia is down, anyone wanting to lift it up has the right to do what he/she wishes, like a prostitute at the mercy of the highest bidder. The debate was on the UN’s decision to hire and import a Ghanaian journalist to win hearts and minds in Liberia in direct disregard of Liberian labour laws. Amongst those that cheered the UN on for this clearly insulting decision was the Minister of Information, Dr. Allen Williams. But had the UN hired a less qualified Liberian instead of a more qualified Ghanaian, it would have trained the Liberian, leaving the country after it packs up with one qualified Liberian journalist. They call this capacity-building, which the UN says it is doing in Liberia. To the contrary, some insisted that the UN’s action was coherent with what they called “globalisation.” A few weeks after, the Ivorian government announced a law that gives Ivorians priority in both skilled and non-skilled jobs. Some call this xenophobia. Others call it nationalism. Eyes will be on the UN operations in Cote d’Ivoire to see if the standards used on sheepish Liberians will be tried on xenophobic Ivorians, but a tailor takes the measurements of a client before cutting the cloth. Now, Sierra Leone President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, a former UN Executive who oversaw the UN’s work in his country at a very critical time, is warning Liberians to constantly remind the UN of its responsibilities in capacity-building or they will regret the very day the UN entered their country. Here is a man who knows the UN well because he worked within its institutions for years, and more importantly, he handled the UN in his country facing the same problems as those in Liberia, from where his country’s nightmare was hatched. But complacency and the unwarranted expectation that others have the answers to the country’s problems since Charles Taylor and his very bandits seized it is nothing new. In the 1990s, the West African Peacekeeping force ECOMOG was viewed as saintly, and anyone who pointed out that it was charting a disastrous course for Liberia was labelled “anti ECOMOG” with the accompanying consequences. Status in those days depended on how many officers one could count as ”personal friends”, that phrase that many Liberians use so loosely in perfecting influence-peddling and giving it respectability. In the end, ECOMOG connived with Charles Taylor and Alhaji Kromah to transform Monrovia into a living hell. Over 3000 people were killed and millions of dollars worth of properties burnt. Those who coined that popular song of dependence, “Thank God for ECOMOG”, indeed had to thank God for ECOMOG. Many were rescued and parked on ECOMOG base like rats in fear of Charles Taylor and Alhaji Kromah. The ECOMOG saviours allowed Charles Taylor, with his storm troopers, to enter the base and see those who were yesterday thanking God for ECOMOG against him. No one can better ensure the protection of one’s interests than oneself. Capacity-building means just that—helping someone to help himself or herself. The old saying that better teach a man to fish than to give him fish should be at the centre of UN operations in Liberia. But by it importing journalists, bringing in its own radio stations instead of boosting existing ones to build the capacity of the media for continuity, it is opting for superficial solutions that will crumble when the almighty dollar leaves. The UN seems not to be concerned about building the capacity of Liberians and ensuring viable institutions to make the accomplishments of its mission sustainable. But then again there are many Liberians who for the years have resigned themselves to dependence. Just as in the 1990s when they dreamt of salvation in the hands of our “African brothers”, so they are now cheering the UN to do what it wishes because it is unholy for one to bite the hand that feeds. President Kabbah’s warning must seen as one not in a vacuum. When a blind man vows to use his missile on an opponent, he already has it hand. --Tom Kamara |
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