Liberia: Absentee Fathers, ‘A Major Issue Plaguing Liberia’

Bishop Kortu K. Brown (Photo Credit: World Council of Churches)

 

….. “Use the law to rein in irresponsible fathers,” says Bishop Kortu Brown

The “growing neglect of Liberian children by their fathers would create a whole generation that struggles with addiction, depression, and negative behavior, says Bishop Kortu Brown, a former President of the Liberian Council of Churches. 

Many Liberian fathers, Brown says, are careless and only interested in fathering children without support, which often results in the children growing up with a lack of guidance and support, leading to negative consequences for both the individual and society as a whole.

“Today we have so-called ‘zogos’ (drug addicts and petty criminals) children,” says Brown, who is  the Bishop of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church. “Many are [children of] single-mothers who just walked away from home hopelessly.  Now we have a big social crisis on our hands with no end in sight.

“We must use the law to rein in irresponsible fathers who neglect their children and allow the mothers to suffer in bringing up those children only to show up when the expenses are gone,”  says the Bishop.

The statement by the bishop sheds light on a major issue plaguing Liberia — the growing number of single mothers who are left to raise their children alone, often with little to no financial support from the father. 

The situation is dire, and the repercussions are severe. Abandoned children are most likely to suffer from  lack of education, poverty, and hopelessness. Even those who do go to school often struggle due to the lack of support or funding from fathers, who only seek to claim them later in life.

According to Brown, if the current trend continues, it would severely impact the country’s future prosperity and sustainability as a whole generation would grow up in an environment of   emotional and psychological trauma, leading to decline in moral values and social cohesion.

The Bishop claimed that  about half of the economic hardship challenges many Liberian children face would be undercut if their fathers were providing support and not leaving  them with their mothers or some other family members.

He cited the example of a girl who met her father only after she had graduated from high school. The case, according to the Bishop, is a common reality facing many Liberian children, which leave them vulnerable to negative influences.

“Many families are suffering because of the challenge of the children being left with their mothers by unscrupulous and irresponsible fathers who care about nothing,” Brown says. “That’s the fate of many Liberian children. They don’t know their fathers; they haven’t seen their fathers since they were born. And many of such fathers don’t even [live] far away from them.”

Brown noted that while it is sad that many Liberian fathers abscond from parental duties in the belief that someone else will pick up the slack, the problem can be solved when  the state and single mothers start to hold irresponsible fathers accountable for neglecting their children. 

Laws, he says, need to be put in place to compel fathers to care for their children and prevent a growing social crisis as  children without fatherly support are in most cases vulnerable.

“When you [impregnate] a woman, take responsibility. When the woman delivers, support your child. Be a responsible father,” says Brown as he blamed “irresponsible Liberian fathers  for helping to increase the country’s economic hardships. Stop sending children to the streets to fend for themselves, which makes them hopeless and helpless.”

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