Sunday, November 21, 2010

APPOINTMENT GLITCH: Bassa Caucus, Supt. Against Tarr to Lands & Mines

- Rodney D. Sieh

Source: FrontPage Africa

Dr. Byron Tarr
DEFIANT: Dr. Byron Tarr, according to sources has been encouraged to begin lobbying members of the caucus who reportedly had issues with his appointment. However, Tarr has rejected suggestions that he seek the good graces of the caucus.

Monrovia -

The Bassa Caucus of the National Legislature along with the Superintendent of the County have reportedly railroaded the appointment of Dr. Byron Tarr as Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy throwing a monkey ranch in President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s quest to fill a key void in her government in the aftermath of her recent decision to send all but one of her Cabinet ministers on Administrative leave.



Gbezonga Findley
 Gbezonga Findley, Senior Senator Grand Bassa County.

FrontPageAfrica has reliably learnt that Dr. Tarr was already offered the coveted post to fill the shoes of Eugene Shannon at the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy but according to sources, some members of the Bassa Caucus led by Senator Gbezonga Finley along with Superintendent Julia Duncan Cassell are said to be against the move.

Tarr, according to sources has been encouraged to begin lobbying members of the caucus who reportedly had issues with his appointment. However, Tarr has rejected suggestions that he seek the good graces of the caucus. Tah was a vocal critic of the Liberian Agricultural Company's presence in the county and both Findley and Cassell were advocates.

This is not the first time that Dr. Tarr has been subjected to controversy regarding a ministerial appointment. It can be recalled, that Dr. Tarr, regarded as one of Liberia’s foremost economic experts, was nominated as Minister of Finance during the Interim Government of National Unity(IGNU) reign but did not make it through confirmation.

The Tarr dilemma leaves at least for now a vaccum in President Sirleaf’s quest to complete the reconfiguration of her Cabinet.


Superintendent Julia Duncan Cassell
 Grand Bassa County Superintendent Julia Duncan Cassell.

To date, at least ten ministers have been recalled back to the government with at least four not likely to return: Former Minster of Lands, Mines and Energy Eugene Shannon, Saytumah, NIC boss Richard Tolbert and Former Foreign Minister Banke King Akerele. Akerele, addressing her departure for the first time in a statement issued in Monrovia last Thursday night defended her legacy saying: “If anything, hers is a legacy of hard work; demanding high standards of responsibility, accountability and performance. She has little patience for non-performance. She has often times, without hesitation, put in her own personal funds when GOL resources have not been available pending reimbursement.” Speculations have surfaced in recent weeks that the former head of the Interim Government of National Unity(IGNU) Professor Amos Sawyer has been offered the high-profile Foreign Minister post and a decision could come as early as this week.

Still left hanging is on-leave Ministers of Gender Varbah Gayflor; Labor Minister Tiawan Gongloe; Minister of Transport Alphonse Gaye; Information Minister Cletus Sieh, Minister of Health Dr. Walter Gwenigale and the Minister of National Security, Victor Helb. Also the Minster of Post and Telecommunications Jeremiah Sulunteh; General Services Agency Director Willard Russel and Commerce Minister Miatta Beysolow.

Multiple reports in recent days suggest that Gongloe may be headed to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and replaced by Jeremiah Sulunteh at Labor but those plans have taken a back seat in the wake of Gongloe's recent criticism of the President's decision to send her entire Cabinet on administrative leave. FrontPageAfrica has learned that Gayflor is still on the bubble with multiple sources suggesting that she could replace Davis as Minister of State Without Portfolio. Miatta Fahnbulleh is said to be under consideration for the post of Gender Minister.

The President had told reporters following her recent return from the United States that her Cabinet reconfiguration would have been completed by the end of last week. Said Sirleaf: “I will make a statement on that once I have the chance to review the situation and talk with all of those concerned, I will explain to the Liberian public what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve.”

The latest glitch in Sirleaf’s completion of her Cabinet reconfiguration validate concerns about the influence hanger-ons and party loyalists continue to have on Presidential actions. When the President sent her entire Cabinet on administrative leave shortly before her departure, it caught many off guard and gave those looking to make the case for why some should be excused from the presidential mandate very little room to do so.

Just before the President’s return home, reports surfaced that many loyalists traveled to Accra, Ghana where the President was in transit to convince her to keep certain ministers in her Cabinet. Although the President denied the reports, many are now citing the Tarr example as a case in point.

News Headline

Inside Liberia with Bernard Gbayee Goah

Everyone is a genius

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein

Drawing the line in Liberia

Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah



Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause

They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.

If Liberia must move forward ...

If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's greatest problem!

While it is true that an individual may be held responsible for corruption and mismanagement of funds in government, the lack of proper system to work with may as well impede the process of ethical, managerial, and financial accountability - Bernard Gbayee Goah

What do I think should be done?

The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Solving problems in the absence of war talks

As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah

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