Independence Day Oration: “The Hard Truth Hurts”

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The July 26, 2024 National Independence Day Oration, delivered by Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey, Assistant Professor of International Social and Public Policy at the London School of Economics (LSE), has been described in many quarters as the hard truth in the face of national leaders and international partners, which radically microscopes the National Legislature, the Executive, as well as international partners, including the United States, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB), resulting into the US Chargé d’Affaires (CDA), Catherine Rodriguez, walking out of the hall while the orator was still speaking.

   In her speech, titled, “A Radical Agenda for Re-imagining Liberia”, Dr. Pailey described Liberia’s Independence Day as “In Defiance Day”, because the declaration of independence on July 26, 1847 was a revolutionary act of defiance. She recounted that 177 years ago, the Founding Fathers and Mothers defied the odds to declare independence nearly a century before independence movements began in earnest across the African Continent. She challenged Liberians to “build back better” and to “build back differently” by re-imagining what it means to be “one nation indivisible”, proposing a radical agenda for achieving this very lofty goal. 

   She said to achieve the goal, Liberians should reconceptualize and redefine Liberian citizenship (What does it mean to be a citizen in this post-war moment?); tackle the twin development challenges of “structural violence” and “unfreedoms” (How to enable all Liberians to realize their fullest potential?); and prioritize nation-building as much as state-building (How to build relationships between individuals and institutions of government to serve the collective good?)

   Among her recommendations were that lawmakers should revise the Decent Work Bill and change the monthly minimum wage from US$143 to at least US$250 and reverse the so-called “harmonization policy”; enforce the Liberianization Policy by protecting Liberian businesses from the monopoly of foreign cartels; shift attention away from the extractive industries, which make the nation vulnerable to the vagaries of global capitalism, and focus instead on developing the nation’s creative industries; cancel contracts with poorly performing multinationals and renegotiate concession agreements that violate Liberian laws; leverage increased domestic resource mobilization from the revised concessions to pay off internal and international debt and clear arrears at regional institutions that the nation founded such as the AU, ECOWAS and MRU; lead a ‘values-based revolution’ against corruption; strengthen judicial bodies and integrity institutions by populating them with impartial patriots, name and shame those found guilty of evading public trust, force them to restitute stolen funds and then send them to jail; and remove corruption-inducing expenditure from the national budget, such as inflated salaries for elected and appointed officials, imported vehicles, fuel and scratch card allotments, and reallocate the funds to incentivize doctors, nurses, teachers, and police officers who serve under-resourced regions of the country.

   According to her, Liberians must not allow foreign financiers to highjack the nation’s development process. “We cannot and will not build a new Liberia for all Liberians if we blindly pander to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and their proxies in the United Nations. These neoliberal institutions are not committed to the radical transformation required to re-imagine Liberia. Moreover, our socio-economic transformation must be internally-driven, not externally imposed,” she observed.

   She then welcomed the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court, and recommended that those who bear the greatest responsibility for economic and war crimes be held without fear or favor, including foreign financiers and external state actors.

   However, she said although Executive Order No. 131 establishing the Office of a War and Economic Crimes Court was celebrated as long overdue, it still has a short lifespan of 12 months, and so far the process has started on very shaky ground. According to her, the Executive Director of the Office of the War Crimes Court was selected under dubious circumstances with apparently no civil society vetting or endorsement. “This is unacceptable. President Boakai, I urge you to withdraw this nomination and not allow politricking to derail one of the most important appointments of your time in office. Staff the office with upstanding Liberian human rights defenders, many of whom have been advocating in the trenches for decades,” she noted.

   She expressed concern about the outsized influence of the United States in Liberia’s transitional justice process and recommended that Liberia forge new strategic partnerships based on mutual benefit and disabuse the notion that Liberians have a “special relationship” with America. “Truth be told, this so-called ‘special relationship’ only exists in our imagination. Lest we forget, the United States was one of the last countries to recognize our independence. Lest we forget, the United States has taken more from us than it has given. Lest we forget, the United States will always serve its own interests above all else. Once we accept these truths, we will appreciate that a re-imagined Liberia can never be anyone’s ‘stepchild’,” Dr. Pailey warned.

   However, her outburst on Liberia’s “traditional ally” was not warmly greeted, as the Chargé d’Affaires of the US embassy walked out of the hall, with the embassy releasing a statement to address the concern.

   The US embassy accused the orator of introducing divisive rhetoric and unfounded accusations, as the United States and Liberia share a unique history and democratic values.

   Since the Independence Day celebration on Friday, there has been mixed reaction about Dr. Pailey’s oration, with some individuals and groups condemning her attack on the United States, while others described her oration as the truth in the face of power.

   The Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE), Senator Amara Konneh, Information Minister Jerelinmek Piah and others have condemned that portion of the oration and categorically clarified that her statement does not represent the view of all Liberians, whom they say cherish the long-standing relationship between Liberia and the United States of America.   

   However, others, including Senator Abraham Darius Dillon, former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, and others have described the speech as the hard truth.

   Tweah argued that Dr. Robtel Pailey has said what almost unanimously every Liberian statesman or politician ardently believes: that the United States has not lived up to its fair share of the bargain in its long-standing relations with Liberia.

   According to Tweah, from almost every perch of governance or of high Liberian society, this argument appears a settled consensus, a staple in conversations on US-Liberia relations. “For example,” he said, “on the question of the role of the U.S government throughout Liberian history, page 243 of the Truth and Reconciliation Report reads thus: ‘In the decades since the United States began intervening in the fate of this small West African territory, it has alternately supported, exploited, welcomed, and abandoned Liberia and Liberians. While the relationship over time has been complex, during several key periods the United States actions and omissions have led to disastrous results for Liberians.’

    Also, the CIC of the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL), Emmanuel Gonquoi, has described the walking out of the Chargé d’Affaires of the US embassy as an act of white supremacy, and requested that she be recalled from Liberia.

   Gonquoi angrily described Liberia’s independence as a semi-independence, claiming that the nation’s sovereignty is still under question with the dominant western influence on its governance system.

   He said, “The CDA walkout was an act of white supremacy that is structured around hatred for the black color. She felt that the orator was a black child that didn’t deserve such huge national platform. Since the days of the slave trade, the whites have refused to accept the black color as human beings. It’s because of this, the CDA will openly walk out on our President and international guests in complete disrespect and arrogance. 

   “From my perspective, the Government of Liberia (GOL) should immediately request for her recall.

   “In the context of diplomacy, the US must see Liberia as a partner. Liberia has supported the US at the United Nations, and continues to do so.

   “We have supported the US at the cost of our infrastructure and economic growth. In this context, the US is gaining more than they are giving back. Because of the US relationship with Liberia, we are giving little attention to China and even zero attention to Russia. I have always said that the US enemy is not Liberia’s enemy. We must make new good friends and open our doors to Russia.”

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