Sunday, August 21, 2011

Liberia: TQ Harris bowed out ...Tipoteh Rescues FAPL


Dr. Togbah-Nah Tipoteh
Fielding presidential candidates seems the mainstay of Liberia’s electoral politics, such that a party that has no stake in the presidential race does not count itself equal.  Many say NEC’s final list of presidential and legislative candidates for the 2011 elections will determine largely whether the means to field presidential candidates is also a consideration.  Meantime, the Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia (FAPL) has shown that that is a major consideration as veteran politician, Dr. Togbah-Nah Tipoteh, moves in to a rescue after cash-starved TQ Harris bowed out. The Analyst, reports. Source: allAfrica.com

Mr. TQ Harris

Veteran politician and jettisoned standard-bearer of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD), Dr. Togbah-Nah Tipoteh, has acceded to the standard-bearer position of the Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia (FAPL), in what observers said is an act of rescue.
Dr. Tipoteh will now team up with Bishop J. Rudolph Marsh to run for president in the 2011 presidential election on the FAPL ticket.

FAPL’s standard-bearer and prospective presidential candidate until August 15, 2011, Mr. TQ Harris, told the party’s national chairman, Samuel Valentine, that he was suspending his campaign for the presidency due to the party’s inability to raise the required funds.
But he told Mr. Valentine that he would not stand in the way of the party’s desire to field another candidate to replace him.

“If, however, the Party wishes to field another presidential candidate because of this decision, I am willing to step aside. Otherwise, we are prepared to give full support to the Party’s Legislative candidates as we rebuild for the 2017 Presidential and Legislative Elections,” Mr. Harris had said.
A FAPL release on the endorsement of Dr. Tipoteh for the position and for the presidency said its decision to invite him to take over the party’s leadership was in light of his 40 years of credibility and patriotism, during which it said he maintained “the struggle for freedom, justice, peace, democracy, and progress”.
The release said prior to nominating Dr. Tipoteh for the race, the executive committee carefully considered the impact his charisma and political experience would have on the party’s chances of winning the presidency.

From the time Mr. TQ Harris resigned on August 15, 2011, the same day on which the Nomination and Registration Process of the 2011 presidential and legislative elections expired, observers say it appears impossible for Tipoteh to have received the party’s endorsement and obtained the Election Commission’s “Notice of Receipt of Nomination Application” and the “Candidate’s Details Confirmation Reports”.  But, he did obtain both documents, according to information in the possession of this paper.
However, the FAPL statement noted, “Having accepted FAPL’S invitation to become its Standard Bearer, Dr. Tipoteh then entered the process of registering as the Presidential Candidate of FAPL with the National Elections Commission (NEC).”

It said, now that Mr. Tipoteh had completed the process, both Bishop Marsh and he were the official candidates of the FAPL for the presidency.

The release said Dr. Tipoteh selected Bishop Marsh as his running mate because he (Bishop Marsh) has successfully completed the registration with NEC.
In addition, it said, he chose the clergyman because of “his longstanding patriotic record of service to the people of Liberia”.

Bishop Marsh served as president of the National Teachers Association of Liberia (NTAL). During the Civil war, he led a national campaign for peace under the banner of God’s Peace Plan for Liberia.
Then, Rev. Marsh, a schoolteacher as well as Baptist preacher became president of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Education Convention, which is the like being Bishop of the Baptist Church in Liberia, but the Baptists call the head of their church “president”, rather than bishop.

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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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