Since the campaign trail of Senators Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Abraham Darius Dillon to Married Camp, district #1, Bomi County, and politically mesmerizing the electorate about Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe’s alleged chicanery to exploit their naivety only to join ranks with the “failed” Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and President George M. Weah, the three members of the Liberian Senate (House of Elders) have reduced themselves to what can be described as immature/foolish leaders in the name of defending their characters and personalities.
Over the weekend the two Liberty Party (LP) senators went to Bomi County to campaign for the Collaborating Political Party (CPP) candidate, Charles Browne, but made sweeping accusations against Senator Snowe—that he is fronting for President Weah’s interest and his personal gains. They told the people of Bomi not to vote for the woman Snowe is campaigning for, Lansanah, because the two of them will be at Jamaica Resort hanging out with President Weah.
Specifically, Senator Dillon lamented about the entire Sime Darby Concession area being without internet service, insinuating that the lawmakers they elected are not in their interest. “A whole concession, no internet service? With this population no internet here? We got to raise that argument in the Senate. In this modern day and age, people living in a concession area and the concession there can’t even fight to bring internet? It’s painful,” Senator Dillon indirectly questioned the role of the Bomi lawmakers in checkmating the activities of Sime Darby.
In an attempt to respond to the senator’s accusation, Senator Snowe said he has always advocated for his citizens, recounting his intervention with the Sime Darby Plantation issue, the employment of 70 contractors, advocating for the Mano Concession to be scrutinized, lobbying for the extension of GSM connectivity and internet facilities in rural communities, etc.
However, he punched the two senators far below the belt when he accused them of being on a safari that was taking them to a local entertainment center, “Meet Me there”, to continue the “actual intent” of the visit. He alleged, “Before I forget, I am aware that after expressing what you said in pretense and lies to a gathering of citizens and residents, you took your Safari mate as is always the case, moved to a local entertainment center called ‘Meet Me There’, in Gbah Karkeh Town, to continue the actual intent of their visit (safari). Have a good day, and you are always welcome to continue your usual Safari in Bomi.”
His response did not go unpunished, as an Executive member of the LP, Daniel Sando, and the Secretary General of the Unity Party (UP), Mo Ali, and other partisans have all joined the provocation, with Senator Karnga-Lawrence, too, writing, “Dah who look for their own trouble soooo?”
Political observers have opined that the political arrogance trending between members of the LP and UP does not show any decency, especially among members of the Upper House who are looked up to when issues arise among leaders of the nation. They wondered if this is how they wish to govern, arguing whether they would even be in the people’s interest if they sit at the echelon of leadership, given their level of childishness, immaturity and lack of understanding about handling certain situations.
One is left to wonder whether the Almighty God is unleashing His wrath on the nation, as it is said that a nation that is governed by children (immature persons) is a sign of chastisement. As a sign of punishment to a nation, the Lord said in Isaiah 3:4—5, “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.”
In the context of Liberia, the leaders are not actually babes by age, but by thought and action, and this makes them no different from the Biblical context of a child. Exodus 18:21 warned mankind to select competent persons to be their leaders and not those who chase after wealth and earthly aggrandizement. It reads, “But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”
The downturn of the governance system of the country is only getting fearful by the day, and points to the warnings of many clergymen who keep reiterating that the nation needs redemption.