Liberia: A Call for Leadership

President George Weah and Minister Commerce Mawine Diggs

... Now, there’s no rice in the Country, poor people are running helter-skelter, people cannot afford a cup of rice, market women are jumping over high fences of rice importers to get just a bag to sell, and the Minister has not said a word.

Sen. Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence 

When people who are managing the system are not competent, effective or misplaced, the system will collapse. 

Case in point is the situation surrounding rice shortage and Commerce Minister Mawine Diggs, whose itinerary is more like a chief of protocol to the President, than a minister of commerce who should be handling the activities of the Ministry of Commerce. 

The President arrived in the Country from the United Nations General Assembly along with the Minister of Commerce, who should have been working with rice importers to ensure the availability of rice rather than accompanying the President and spending taxpayers money on trips where her role brings no net value back to the country.  

The President, George Weah, who continues to overlook the importance of holding his Ministers accountable, or taking actions when necessary, made a misinformed statement upon his arrival a few days ago, that rice was in the Country. Either the President knowingly misinformed LIberians or he was misinformed by the Minister of Commerce. In either case,  this demonstrates the incompetence of this administration under the leadership of President Weah. 

The Legislature has also proven to be very weak in its oversight responsibilities by approving eleven million United States dollars to subsidize the importation of rice without any public hearings, budget hearings, or a report and proposal from the Ministry of Commerce. The Minister gets approval for $11,000,000 without justification, how can she alone be held accountable for the rice shortage?  This is one of the reasons why I did not sign the budget. 

Now, there’s no rice in the Country, poor people are running helter-skelter, people cannot afford a cup of rice, market women are jumping over high fences of rice importers to get just a bag to sell, and the Minister has not said a word. The Information Minister also has not said a word. The President is celebrating his birthday in the midst of all this and still defending his Miami statement on his church pulpit, a continuous celebration of triviality.

This is not the time to misinform the public or make grandiose statements unsubstantiated by facts, like the President's statement referencing Miami. Liberians voted for a leader who would solve problems. And such is the time for our President. I call on our President to offer solutions and lead us out of this situation. 

I am also constrained to appeal to the Legislature to return from its break, to try and muster the courage to deal with this situation differently, to save the country, knowing that the poor handling of such a situation burdens the average Liberian and could lead to a crisis.

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely of the author and do not necessarily represent that of the Daily Observer newspaper.