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Reuters MONROVIA (Reuters) - Scuffles broke out close to the residence of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Wednesday as supporters clashed with several dozen members of her ruling party who accuse her of favouring close relatives for top government jobs.
Police and U.N. peacekeepers moved in to separate the two rival factions within her Unity Party, a Reuters reporter at the scene said, adding that light injuries were sustained on both sides.
Opponents have long accused the Nobel peace laureate of placing sons and other relatives in key positions in the state oil company, central bank and other agencies. But this is the first public criticism from within her own ruling party.
"We have come here today to tell her to step down because she has become unpopular in the party," said Patrick S. Tiah, party chairman on the youth policies that Johnson-Sirleaf put at the centre of her winning campaign for a second term last year.
Speaking just before the scuffles broke out, Tiah noted that her son Robert Sirleaf was chairman of the National Oil Company, son Charles was deputy central bank governor and son Fumba head of the National Security Agency.
"Liberia is not her family's property. All we are saying is for her to step down from the party. It is the party that made her and sold her to the Liberian people," he said, adding that at least 17 family members had positions in government.
The demonstrators dispersed after Johnson Sirleaf received a delegation of protesters in her residence. John Ballout, a Unity Party senator present at the meeting, said that Johnson Sirleaf had promised to address their concerns in coming days.
Johnson Sirleaf is Africa's first elected female head of state and won the 2011 Nobel peace prize jointly with women's rights activists Leymah Gbowee, a fellow Liberian, and Tawakel Karman of Yemen.
Despite resources ranging from iron ore to fertile agricultural land, many Liberians remain mired in poverty and Johnson Sirleaf has faced
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
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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