Stop Recycling Liberia's Useless Corrupt Politicians as Ministers

Liberia continues to employ corrupt and useless politicians like Amara Konneh, Boima Kamara, Augustine Nyfonuan, Lusinee Kamara, Samuel Kofi Woods, Eugene Lenn Nagbe, Wilson Tarpeh, Samuel Tweah, etc., and sycophants like George P. Lobbo as capable and bright managers of its economy.

Many of these people have been given important public positions, including minister of Finance and Development Planning in the past but they accomplished little to nothing. They constantly make excuses while their "educated colleagues" in other African countries grow, improve, and develop businesses and industries in their countries. Look at what so many educated Africans, and even those not so educated, have done to create and develop jobs and businesses in their countries.

Augustine Ngafuan, Budget Director, Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006-2015)

Meanwhile, Liberian "educated" have been limited to holding political jobs from one administration to another accomplishing nothing signicant in the lives of their people. Case in point, look around these former Liberian finance and development ministers respective counties and hometowns, and how undeveloped and primitve they are, even as they served in key public positions in the Liberian government for the past decade.

Many of these people ( Liberia's recycled politicians) are the reason Liberia is so poor, dysfunctional, and economically challenged today. Many of them can barely express themselves intelligently much less articulate the financial, economic, and social policies of the government(s) and position(s) in which they have served.

They haven't understood that getting a western degree or certificate alone does not make one capable or qualified; but instead, earning practical knowledge and experience to go with their education matters more, for which, many of them did not and still do not have. There selection into government is most often based on county and tribal connections, politics and sycophancy to an incoming Liberian president.

Moreover, ones performance in a position/job is what determines whether a minister or manager is capable, qualified or clever, and judging from their past performances in Liberian government, they appear to be some of the least intelligent and capable people in our society. Yet, they keep getting high level ministerial jobs from one dysfunctional and currupt Liberian government after another.

They have produced nothing substantial for the public, and they are often overpaid (recieving around ten thousand per month in a country where people live on $2 per day on average). They were grossly incompetent and inadequate in the public positions they have held.

This is the main reason Liberia is still poor, highly currupt and is virtually a failed state that most rely on America, EU and other nation's expertise, money and resources to function. Liberia is still the 7th Poorest nation of all nations- including nations that are still experiencing arm conflicts or ruled by military regimes: Somalia, DRC, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, Mali, etc.

Moreover, inadequate schools and universities, clinics, libraries( if there are any run by the government), etc. in Liberia stand as testimonies to their mediocrity and they have presided over rampant corruption over the years as government ministers. Yet, they themselvs buy and invest in properties/businesses in America, Dubai, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa, etc. as a result of their corruption and high government pay. They aslo leave Liberia once they are not enployed by the Liberian government.

Over the last two decades, and while many of them served as top ministers, Liberia could not effectively collect its garbage, or sewage; and, the ministry of finance for 12 years under Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and 6 years under George Weah ( a period when Augustine Nyfonah, Amara Konneh, Boima Kamara and Samuel Tweah served as Finance minister) could not produce and publish a simple spreadsheet of the exact pay and salaries of civil servants' wages and compensations, including their own pay. Therefore, why wouldn't Liberia have "Ghosts Payroll" or the massive government corruption it has today? These individuals also do anything to cover-up not just their own corruption but those of their political party's officials, friends and tribal members.

As of writing, the so-called "Boakia Recue Team", for which many of these individuals are a part of are incapible of presenting to the public a simply economic and social plan, or a roadmap for which President-elect Joseph Boakia could execute over the next six years. This is the extend of these people dumbfoundedness.

So one must ask, what is the point of having fancy degrees from western universities, and being bounced around from various ministerial positions, or being juggled from one government to another without any acccountibility of past performces or record? Pointless.

It is also important to note other Africans, especially those who havent held any government ministerial positons [many half as educated by western schools] are building businesses, creating products, managing banks and institutions, and setting up startups and industries in and around Africa.

Nonetheless, Liberia's educated ministers have learned only the art of being recycled from one Liberian government job to another, and in some cases appointed to one international "quotas jobs" at the UN and other global political institutions after another. Somehow, these are Liberian "bookish and financially suvvy and brillient people" that Liberia must keep recycling in their government.

Solution:

This long and counterproductive culture of recycling incapible, mediocre and corrupt politicians must end. Liberia has many capible and experienced people that must to given the opportunity to serve as ministers if that country must grow, develop, progress and have any chance of a bright future.

About the Author:

Chu-Chu (Alex) Jones is the business and economic editor of Globe Afrique and Smart News Liberia. He is also the founder of https://ga-directory.com/, and his own proprietary Option Trading Fund that trades and invest in derivatives on US Stock Exchanges.

Alex has worked for and consulted leading international banks and global institutions including JP Morgan, Bank of New York Mellon, and Citibank.

He is an entrepreneur, activist, writer, and was a 2023 Liberian Presidential Aspirant. Alex lives in Houston, TX and enjoys traveling, tennis, golf, chess, reading and writing business and economic literatures. Alex Jones is also the host of the Business and Economic Forum and a director at The Movement to Make Liberia Better (MLB), a Liberian International Think Tank and Pressure Group.

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