Liberia Gives Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Liberia, celebrated on the first Thursday of November every year. This year, the reasons for giving thanks may appear few and far between...

The year 2009 has been characterized by heavy political tension, with certain topics hot topics in particular dominating the news headlines: the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) recommendations, the Threshold Bill, the Investment Act, the Montserrado County senatorial by-election, armed robberies, corruption (dismissal vs. prosecution and unexpected culprits), the education crisis in the country, high unemployment, the Taylor trial, the drawdown of UNMIL’s presence in Liberia, bad roads, the effects of climate change on Liberia, the Firestone/Kpanyah Town report, and here recently, for the last three days straight, the horrible assassination of the Public Procurement Concessions Commission chairman, Keith Jubah.

Most of it is bad news, and Liberians are realizing more and more that their country stands at a crossroads. We are not out of the woods yet. On a limited cash-based budget, the development process has been very slow. But today, the nation pauses to give thanks to God for its blessings and its trials and for the progress that has been made. It is easy to find the bad news when times are hard; but it is in finding the finding the good news in bad times that we as a nation find hope.

The nation also pauses to thank its international partners – the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for its outstanding work since its arrival in the country, the United States through USAID and the U.S. Embassy in Liberia, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the European Union, the African Development Bank (ADB) whose assistance to Liberia has mostly been in the form of grants, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and aid agencies in the country and the many individuals whose personal assistance has made a difference in some way.

Today the nation remembers Liberians in the Diaspora, Liberia’s 16th county, whose remittances to Liberia equal roughly 20 percent of the country’s national budget; the various county organizations abroad who have spearheaded educational and other development and projects in their counties; the many, many Liberians overseas, whose advocacy for their country and whose accomplishments have made Liberia proud; and each other – Liberians at home – the market women who work hard every day to send their children to school; the students themselves, who go to school every morning and take their education seriously; the carpenters, wheelbarrow boys, various vendors; Liberian entrepreneurs of big and small businesses who are contributing to the nation’s economy; nurses, doctors, teachers, pastors who give our people hope; our ministers and heads of agencies, our lawmakers, our elders, our mothers and fathers; our president, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, all imperfections notwithstanding, whose international credibility has gone a long way to attract aid to a country once considered a “failed state.”

We remember the dearly departed, who have gone to be with the Lord as we continue the journey into 2010.

We here at the Liberian Observer Corporation would like to give thanks to Almighty God for His many blessings upon us this year. We would like to thank our Managing Director, Mr. Kenneth Y. Best, Sr., who turned 71 years young last month, for his personal integrity; for the incredible journalistic legacy that he has built; for starting over after having lost everything and for returning to the country to contribute to the rebuilding in this way; and for his work with the YMCA and the BWI alumni association across the country. We are incredibly proud of our Marketing Manager, Bai Best, who ably shoulders the responsibility of running the day-to-day operations of the paper. Last but most certainly not least, the Observer Management would like to thank our editors, reporters, all of our columnists and other contributors and the entire staff of the Daily Observer for the outstanding work done this year.

Happy Thanksgiving Day from Liberia!

The Editor