Sierra Leone and Liberia: The Prospects for Development, Peace and
Prosperity

By Karamoh Kabba
March 17, 2006

Sierra Leone and Liberia have many things in common: They are
English-speaking neighbors, home to the descendents of freed slaves
(Freetown, Monrovia), have had two identical menaces in the forms of Charles
Taylor and Foday Sankoh, have recently ended acrimonious civil wars, and
have postwar presidents who were once employees of the United Nations.

Notwithstanding these striking similarities, the seeming dissimilarities of
their presidents, as revealed in their inaugural speeches, are of peculiar
interest. Although given 10 years apart, one would expect some likeness in
the speeches of leaders who have identical problems. But in an examination
of Sierra Leonean President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah's inaugural speech (1996) and
newly elected Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's inaugural speech
(2006), you will notice little resemblance.

The apparent unlikeness of these two postwar inaugural speeches underscores
the action of disgruntled soldiers who successfully toppled the government
of President Kabbah in May 1997. It also helps us to understand why Sierra
Leone, 10 years after President Kabbah's first inaugural speech, is still
unable to wiggle its way out of despondent poverty and control the chronic
unemployment of its youth - key factors that fueled its civil war in the
first place. On the other hand, it may explain why President Sirleaf's
Liberia has more potential for development, peace and prosperity.

1

The recently ended, decade-long civil wars, which began Liberia and spilled
over into Sierra Leone, were marked by some of the most unsightly war crimes
against humanity. They were caused by factors such as economic and social
marginalization, and political intolerance of certain sectors of society by
the aristocratic and paternalistic regimes of the past. Foreign realpolitik
was also a factor, pursued through covert and overt action and compounded by
popular youth movements in both countries. However, the true origin of both
wars can be traced back to the minority Americo-Liberian's (freed slaves)
anachronistic and paternalistic government that ruled the majority native
population in Africa's first republic - Liberia - for many years, that is
until Samuel Doe put an end to it on April 12, 1980, in one of West Africa's
bloodiest military coups.

Unlike the United States, which in 1847 set up and abetted the regime of
freed American slaves that invariably marginalized the native population on
the rubber plantations of Liberia, Britain probably foresaw such a problem
when it ended colonization in Sierra Leone by handing power to Sir Milton
Margai, a native from the majority Mende-speaking people.

But it was through the advocacy of people like U.S. Senator John Tyler
Morgan, who argued on the late 19-century senate floor, "Africa was prepared
for the Negro as certainly as the Garden of Eden was prepared for Adam and
Eve," that Africa indeed became the Garden of Eden for freed slaves and
colonization: In Mobutu's Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Charles
Taylor's Liberia, in Foday Sankoh's Sierra Leone, in Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi,
and Angola, among many others.

After pouring over $500 million dollars in aid on the Doe regime between
1981 and 1985, former secretary of state George P. Shultz would later think
aloud, "Perhaps I made a wrong career choice, if it was people like that I
was going to meet. Doe was unintelligible."

Howard W. French, in his well-researched book, A Continent for the Taking,
puts it this way:

"As they settled the land, the Americo-Liberians fondly strove to reproduce
the only model they knew, the plantation society of the American South.
Affecting top hats and morning coats, the freedmen ruled Africa's first
republic in a clannish and conservative manner, established their own
curiously paternalistic brand of apartheid, systematically excluding
so-called aborigines from positions of privilege and power."

2

Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was born on February 16, 1932, in Pendembu, in the
eastern district of Kailahun. He was educated in Sierra Leone and England,
studying economics at the undergraduate level before going on to study law.
He worked briefly with the British colonial system before working as a civil
servant in independent Sierra Leone. Before his twenty plus years of service
with the United Nations Development Program (U.N.D.P.), he was once a
subject of a commission of inquiry for corruption in Sierra Leone (1967) at
the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (S.L.P.M.B.). Otherwise, he
traveled widely and mustered much experience in diplomacy during his
international service with the U.N. He served in the West Africa Division of
the U.N.D.P. in New York, as the resident representative of U.N.D.P.
operations in Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. He retired from the
U.N.D.P. head office in New York as a coordinator of assistance between the
U.N. and liberation movements such as the African National Congress (A.N.C.)
and the South West African People's Organization (Swapo). His entry on the
Sierra Leonean political stage came when the military junta of the National
People's Reform Council (N.P.R.C.) asked him to chair the National Advisory
Council, which was established to facilitate the restoration of
constitutional rule and the drafting of a new constitution for Sierra Leone
following a 1992 military coup. He was elected president of Sierra Leone in
1996, when he became chairman of the Sierra Leone People's Party (S.L.P.P.).

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born in Monrovia, the Liberia's capitol, on
October 29, 1938. Unlike Kabbah, Sirleaf is a descendant of
Americo-Liberians. She was educated in Liberia and the United States. In the
U.S., at Harvard she earned a masters degree in public administration. She
entered politics very early, serving as Minister of Finance from 1972-73 in
then President William Tolbert's cabinet, a position she would abandon
because of a public spending disagreement. She was twice a political
prisoner in Liberia. She narrowly escaped Samuel Doe's witch-hunt in the
80's. After fleeing to Kenya, she began an international civil service
career. (Note: Kabbah chose self-exile following his 1967 corruption
investigation; Sirleaf had to flee political persecution.)

Sirleaf returned to Liberia in 1985 to participate in politics during which
she was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for opposing Samuel Doe - she
served two years. She was again locked up briefly by Charles Taylor, who she
had supported against Samuel Doe. Like Kabbah, Sirleaf has vast experience
with the U.N.D.P. From 1992-97 she worked at the U.N.D.P. Regional Bureau
for Africa as assistant administrator, and later became the director. She
returned to Liberia, defeated world football star George Weah in a
presidential campaign, and became the first African woman head of state.

3

An overview of both speeches:

President Sirleaf's inaugural speech is well organized. The same cannot be
said of President Kabbah's inaugural speech. After a few lines of
dedication, Sirleaf goes straight to the issues. Although her victory
brought important dignitaries to Liberia for the inauguration, she did not
dote on them.

President Kabbah in contrast, before accepting the position, burned four
long paragraphs on thanking and praising almost everyone in attendance.
Thereafter he proceeded to identifying and magnifying the graveness of the
state of the nation but with nary a concrete plan of action statement.

In retrospect of the wars:

President Kabbah: "The tasks ahead are monumental. You are aware that our
country stands virtually in ruins, with thousands slaughtered, soldiers and
civilians alike, tens of thousands maimed and mutilated, and hundreds of
thousands displaced, traumatized, living in poverty, diminished in spirit
and body, and the country's moral, physical, and social infrastructure
destroyed."

President Sirleaf: "Today, we wholeheartedly embrace this change. We
recognize that this change is not change for change sake, but a fundamental
break with the past, thereby requiring that we take bold and decisive steps
to address the problems that for decades have stunted our progress,
undermined national unity, and kept old and new cleavages in ferment."

In his following paragraph, Kabbah went on to discuss the cause of Sierra
Leone problem while Sirleaf went straight to the solution of Liberia's
problem when she said, "We pledge anew our commitment to transparency, open
government, and participatory democracy for all of our citizens."

"Political Renewal":

President Sirleaf: "First, let me declare in our pursuit of political
renewal, that the political campaign is over. It is time for us, regardless
of our political affiliations and persuasions, to come together to heal and
rebuild our nation. For my part, as President of the Republic of Liberia, my
Government extends a hand of friendship and solidarity to the leadership and
members of all political parties, many of them sitting right in front of me,
which participated in our recent presidential and legislative elections. I
call upon those who have been long in the struggle - and those who recently
earned their stripes - to play important roles in the rebuilding of our
nation."

There is nothing for comparison here except that president Kabbah concluded
his speech by asking Sierra Leoneans "to show tolerance for the views of
others, magnanimity to our transgressors for their many grievous wrongs to
use of the past, and turn a new page for the future and for the good of
Sierra Leone," as if he were not a part of that past.

"Economic Renewal":

Both leaders acknowledged the devastation of the economies of their nations
by years of warring and the excessive corruption of successive regimes.
Unlike President Kabbah, President Sirleaf pledged to change that trend by
outlining specific plans such as encouraging those investors that will add
value to Liberia's environment in the process of exploiting its natural
resources. She discussed how to encourage and give small loans to farmers to
jumpstart the economy. She also discussed one common and sensitive topic in
both countries that Kabbah never dared to touch: the land tenure system,
which is among the greatest enemies to many African economies. She promised
to revisit the land tenure system to give investors more flexibility and
access to land. "This will call for a transformation of our economic vision
into economic goals that are consistent with our national endowment and
regional and global dynamics," she said.

Governance:

President Sirleaf outlined how she will make government effective in
Liberia:

"The workforce in our ministries and agencies is seriously bloated. Our
Administration will therefore embark on a process of rationalizing our
agencies of government to make them lean, efficient, and responsive to
public service delivery. This will require the creation of a meritocracy
that places premium on qualification, professionalism, and performance."

President Kabbah made a promise to the people:

"The outlines of my government's policy in the coming years have been set
out in my Party's manifesto. The practical details will be spelt out to you
when I publish my government's legislative programs, hopefully in my maiden
speech to Parliament."

Corruption:

On this very important matter of grave consequence to the economies of both
nations, President Sirleaf was emotional when she outlined how she is going
to handle corruption in Liberia. She made a pronouncement - "Corruption,
under my Administration, will be the major public enemy." - and took a very
clear stance on corruption when she said that members of her administration
would declare their assets and that she will declare hers first to lead by
example.

The same cannot be said of President Kabbah who went on making promises on
every important issue of statecraft, sometimes referring people to his
party's manifesto.

The word "corruption" appeared only once in President Kabbah's speech when
he blamed past regimes without any insight of how he would make a difference
in that area of governance. Whereas President Sirleaf stated, "My
Administration will also accord high priority to the formulation and passage
into law of a National Code of Conduct, to which all public servants will be
subjected," hammering a big headed nail of credence into her stance on
corruption.

Foreign Policy:

On foreign policy, President Sirleaf stressed noninterference in other
countries and good neighborliness whereas President Kabbah praised foreign
dignitaries in almost every paragraph of his speech. He seemed to be more
concerned with celebrating his victory than talking substance.

4

Sirleaf's presidency is the first true representation of a non-strongman
leadership democracy in Liberia since 1980. Her recent inaugural address
perfectly qualifies as the first postwar democratic inauguration in Liberia.
If President Kabbah had had good action plans in his 1996 inaugural address,
Sierra Leone would have marked the end of hostilities that year. Instead,
his lethargic approach to leadership created the need for a 17,600-strong
U.N. peacekeeping force.

The threat of violence still looms in Sierra Leone as it approaches its
third "democratic" inauguration in 2007 - a journalist was beaten to death
recently, and Paul Kamara could barely stand when he came out of the
infamous Pandemba road prison after the supreme court acquitted him for
reprinting the outcome of an inquiry into President Kabbah's 1967 corruption
charges. Many journalists are fleeing persecution and many more are leaving
the country after imprisonment. The authorities in President Kabbah's
government are dragging their feet with regard to the registration of
formidable political parties. Excessive corruption and chronic unemployment
of the youth are all signs that President Kabbah's 1996 inaugural address
lacked substance.

President Sirleaf, who recognized her opponent in her inaugural speech,
showed signs of tolerance. It signaled in itself the commencement of
outstanding leadership. And she did not stop short of stating categorically
that anyone who attempts to disturb the hard-earned peace in Liberia would
be dealt with accordingly.

Until President Kabbah and his team start looking at the issues
transparently and pragmatically, Liberia's progress will take place in leaps
and bounds over Sierra Leone's.

President Ahmad Tejan <http://www.sierra-leone.org/kabbah032996.html>
Kabbah's Inaugural Speech, Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 29, 1996

My Lord the Acting Chief Justice, Your Excellencies, Members of the
Diplomatic Corps and International Organizations, Members of the Consular
Corps, Chairman, Committee of Management, Freetown City Council,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I should like, at the outset, to welcome in particular the Head of State of
Liberia, His Excellency, Professor Wilton Sankawolo, and the Deputy Chairman
of the Armed Forces Ruling Council of the Republic of The Gambia, His
Excellency, Captain Edward Singhateh, and to thank all of our foreign guests
and other dignitaries for gracing this historic occasion. You have done us
honor by coming here. We regard this as a true demonstration of the
fraternal relationship that exists between your great countries and ours. We
pray that this bond of friendship will further flourish and be sustained.

I should like to express our grateful thanks for the financial, diplomatic,
and moral support that we received from the donor countries and
organizations. In this connection, I should like to specifically mention the
efforts and contributions made by the United Nations both in the
democratization process and in the ongoing discussions between Government
and the RUF.

My sincere thanks also go to Dr. James Jonah and his colleagues as well as
the international observers, for the pivotal role they played in the
Presidential and Parliamentary elections. I am also profoundly aware of the
debt of gratitude that the people of Sierra Leone owe to the officers and
men of the Nigerian, Guinean, and Ghanaian armed forces, for their
inestimable contribution in the efforts to provide security to our country.
In a special way, I must commend the role of our armed forces and in
particular, the Chairman and members of the NPRC, and the hundreds of
thousands of Sierra Leoneans from all walks of life, who, in the face of
daunting odds, came out to vote decisively in the elections, thereby
affirming their belief in our country, its future, and democracy.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, with all humility, I accept the position of
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. My election to this sacred
position is all the more reassuring in that it was brought about by hundreds
of thousands of devoted, dedicated, tireless, and motivated Sierra Leoneans,
young and old, both at home and abroad. This is indeed an inauguration of
all Sierra Leoneans.

The tasks ahead are monumental. You are aware that our country stands
virtually in ruins, with thousands slaughtered, soldiers and civilians
alike, tens of thousands maimed and mutilated, and hundreds of thousands
displaced, traumatized, living in poverty, diminished in spirit and body,
and the country's moral, physical, and social infrastructure destroyed.

My fellow citizens, during the last civilian administration the gates of
indifference, insensitivity, inefficiency, and callousness were opened and
those traits resulted in the untold tragedies of a senseless war.

Our agriculture, which has traditionally provided economic sustenance for
most of our population, has been brought to a standstill over the past five
years, through the indiscriminate violence of lawless people.

Commercial activities have likewise been adversely affected. Our industries,
mining in particular, have not escaped the wrath of the unrelenting war.
This war, with all its horrors, has for the past five years been levied on
the people of Sierra Leone in the name of principles and causes which I,
like you, cannot even begin to comprehend. These are but a very few of the
tasks to which initially, I, with your help and encouragement, must devote
my energy. It is for this reason that I express the fervent hope that the
conduct of public affairs from this day onwards and the standards that I
shall use as my guide will be emulated by all those whom I shall ask to
assist me to serve this nation. It is my hope that our joint efforts and
actions will be framed solely in the best interests of the people of Sierra
Leone. I trust that my duties of governing, you and I may count not only on
the cooperation of elected members of all parties in our new parliament, but
our press, professional bodies, and other national institutions. I shall
expect and welcome informed, persistent, and constructive criticisms as well
as advice and encouragement from all such institutions.

The outlines of my government's policy in the coming years have been set out
in my Party's manifesto. The practical details will be spelt out to you when
I publish my government's legislative programs, hopefully in my maiden
speech to Parliament. Please permit me, however, in advance of that speech,
to say that the restoration of the dignity and worth of every Sierra Leonean
will be the guiding principal of my presidency. Both of these have been
assailed in many ways over the last two and a half decades of our history,
whether by senseless violence, or personal greed and corruption of officials
of the state. We have witnessed an epoch of indifference to the legitimate
concerns of citizens before the seat of justice by those who are paid to
administer her. We have seen dishonesty in the state-owned organization and
not least apathy on the part of functionaries high and low, to the social
distress and deprivation, educational insufficiency and low job
opportunities for far too many of you, my fellow citizens.

It is my desire that today should mark the end of that epoch and the start
of a new era. What I demand of myself in your service is no less than what I
shall expect from all those who will serve you in the various arms of the
government. However, what you are entitled to expect of me and every servant
of the State, your country too requires of you, namely, integrity,
dedication, hard work, and personal decency.

My task will be to create for you all the conditions in which individual and
national growth and prosperity will be fostered and encouraged. I dare to
hope that your support for me, as a result of which you elected me as your
president, will not end with these elections, but will continue throughout
my present term of office.

I do realize that your support can only be maintained for any length of time
by the honesty and assiduity with which ministers, public servants, and I
discharge our duties to the state and each of you, during my tenure of
office. However, the future and development of ourselves and country lie
essentially in our own hands.

While we can count on the continued help and support of our many friends
from outside, no people, no country, can develop themselves solely from
without. We should therefore give thanks to Almighty God that He has endowed
our country with the human and natural resources to reorder and rebuild our
war-ravaged economy, our sunken spirits, and our nation.

To that end, I exhort you all to draw on our own resources of resilience,
good naturedness, and courage which characterize us as a people and seek to
develop our God given talents and abilities to the fullest of their
measures.

There is a widespread perception which I also share, that amongst the causes
of the present discontent and disunity is the unfair and unjudicial manner
in which strongly felt grievances about people's rights and even reputations
have been violated.

I acknowledge the NPRC government's efforts ro remedy some of these
violations by the setting up of a Commission of Reconciliation and Unity.

I propose to enhance this organ and further this process of reconciliation
and unity as a matter of urgency.

To attain the peace and reconciliation in Sierra Leone that we desire,
justice must not only be done but must be seen by all to be done.

I am extremely encouraged by the outcome of the meeting just concluded in
Yamossoukro, Cote d'Ivore, between the outgoing head of state, Brigadier
General Julius Maada Bio and the leader of the RUF, Cpl. Foday Sankoh. I am
particularly delighted by the desire expressed at that meeting by all the
parties to achieve lasting peace, stability, and socio-economic progress in
our country.

I have stated elsewhere on several occasions that the pursuit of lasting
peace is my priority. And in this regard I emphasize here that with that
determination I am ready to meet the leader of the RUF, Cpl. Foday Sankoh,
at the earliest opportunity.

I wish at this point to express my personal thanks and gratitude to His
Excellency, Henri Konan Bedie, President of La Cote d'Ivorie, the United
Nations, ICRC, and other international organizations for facilitating that
meeting. It is also my fervent wish that a meeting between Cpl. Foday Sankoh
and myself will be arranged as soon as possible.

To the women of Sierra Leone, old and young alike, may I pass on the special
message, that perhaps more than your husbands, sons, and nephews your
efforts have made today a reality. Your support of Dr. James Jonah is a
matter of record, as evidenced by your unwavering stance at Bintumani 1 and
2 in favor of elections, democratic civilian government, and freedom:
freedom to elect the leader of your choice. We applaud your courage and I
here publicly acknowledge it.

Again, more that we the men, you have borne the brunt of the war when you
were killed, made captive, forced to walk for miles and your persons and
dignity assaulted and violated by men of violence. Away from the warfront
you have been marginalized for too long. For these reasons the structure of
government will specifically create and institution to enable you to redress
these unacceptable indignities and facilitate your planning and preparation
of programs directed to enhance your public life and the removal of
obstacles in the utilization of the considerable talent that is to be found
in more than 50% of the population of Sierra Leone.

I want to assure you that my wife and I commit ourselves to the achievement
of these goals and invite you to join us.

After today's jubilation, I call on everyone to start working immediately to
make Sierra Leone what I am sure God intended her to be: serene, secure, and
prosperous. Fellow Sierra Leoneans, I invite you all to join me in our quest
to eradicate forever from our society the tyranny of ignorance,
superstition, disease, violence, and poverty.

Often in the past, you have been asked by your leaders to sacrifice the
present in order to gain the promised land of plenty in the future. While
that land is yet to come, while it will take many months and perhaps years
to get there, let us for the present put our hands to the plow and we shall,
with God's help, attain that promised land. Let us all today resolve to sue
our essential humaneness and solicitude for others which are so much a part
of our culture to build a new Sierra Leone, similar in spirit to the Sierra
Leone of old, but physically more modern.

My concluding words to you are for all of us to show tolerance for the views
of others, magnanimity to our transgressors for their many grievous wrongs
to use of the past, and turn a new page for the future and for the good of
Sierra Leone.

I vow to serve you as your president to the best of my ability and strength,
God being my helper.

Following is the text of the Inaugural Address, as delivered on Monday,
January 16, on the Capitol grounds in Monrovia, by President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf of Liberia.

Let us first praise Almighty God, the Arbiter of all affairs of humankind
whose omnipotent Hand guides and steers our nation.

Before I begin this address, which signifies the high-noon of this historic
occasion, I ask that we bow our heads for a moment of silent prayer in
memory of the thousands of our compatriots who have died as a result the
many conflicts.

Thank you!

I also ask your indulgence as I reflect on the memory of my two rural
illiterate grandmothers and my mother and father who taught me to be what I
am today, and the families who took them in and gave them the opportunity of
a better life.

Let us also remember in prayers during his affliction, His Grace Archbishop
Michael K. Francis, the conscience of our nation.

Vice President Boakai and I have just participated in the time-honored
constitutional ritual of oath-taking as we embark upon our responsibilities
to lead this Republic. This ritual is symbolically and politically
significant and substantive. It reflects the enduring character of the
democratic tradition of the peaceful and orderly transfer of political power
and authority. It also confirms the culmination of a commitment to our
nation's collective search for a purposeful and responsive national
leadership.

We applaud the resilience of our people who, weighed down and dehumanized by
poverty and rendered immobile by the shackles of fourteen years of civil
war, went courageously to the polls, to vote - not once but twice, to elect
Vice President Joseph Boakai and me to serve them. We express to you, our
people, our deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity to
serve you and our common Republic. We pledge to live up to your expectations
of creating a government that is attentive and responsive to your needs,
concerns, and the development and progress of our country.

We know that your vote was a vote for change; a vote for peace, security and
stability; a vote for individual and national prosperity; a vote for healing
and leadership. We have heard you loudly, and we humbly accept your vote of
confidence and your mandate.

This occasion, held under the cloudy skies, marks a celebration of change
and a dedication to an agenda for a socio-economic and political reordering;
indeed, a national renewal.

Today, we wholeheartedly embrace this change. We recognize that this change
is not change for change sake, but a fundamental break with the past,
thereby requiring that we take bold and decisive steps to address the
problems that for decades have stunted our progress, undermined national
unity, and kept old and new cleavages in ferment.

As we embrace this new commitment to change, it is befitting that, for the
first time, the inauguration is being held on the Capitol Grounds, one of
the three seats of Government. We pledge anew our commitment to
transparency, open government, and participatory democracy for all of our
citizens.

Fellow Liberians: As I speak to you today, I am most gratified by the
caliber of the delegations of  our own African Governments, Foreign
Governments, partners and local partners as well, who have come to join us
to celebrate this triumph of democracy in our country. I am particularly
touched by those you see - our dear brothers, the delegation from the United
States, headed by the wife of President Bush and my friend, our mediator,
who has been with us so long and brought us to this day. We pay homage to
all of you. We respect you. We welcome you. Bien vene a tous.

My dear Brothers and Sisters of West Africa: You have died for us; you have
given refuge to thousands of our citizens; you have denied yourselves by
utilizing your scarce resources to assist us; you have agonized for us, and
you have prayed for us. We thank you, and may God bless you for your support
to Liberia as well as for your continuing commitment to promote peace,
security, stability, and bilateral cooperation within our sub-region - and
beyond.

I wish to acknowledge the stewardship of the National Transitional
Government under the leadership of its former Chairman, Mr. Gyude Bryant,
for their contribution to peace and to the successful electoral process. I
also recognize and thank the former National Transitional Legislative
Assembly for their service to the nation. And I welcome the members of the
52nd Legislature who were sworn in a few moments ago. Distinguished Ladies
and Gentlemen, I congratulate you as you assume your individual
responsibilities of representing our people. I look forward to working with
each of you as we strive to build a better nation.

I thank and applaud our gallant men and women of the Armed Forces of Liberia
who have rendered sacrificial service to our nation and are now being
willingly retired to facilitate the training and restructuring of the new
Armed Forces of Liberia.

I also thank the leadership and gallant men and women of the United Nations
Military Mission in Liberia who daily labor with us to keep the peace that
we enjoy.

Fellow Liberians, Ladies and Gentlemen:  No one who has lived in or visited
this country in the past fifteen years will deny the physical destruction
and the moral decadence that the civil war has left in its wake here in
Monrovia and in other cities, towns, and villages across the nation. We have
all suffered. The individual sense of deprivation is immense. It is
therefore understandable that our people will have high expectations and
will demand aggressive solutions to the socio-economic and societal
difficulties that we face.

Our record shows that we are a strong and resilient people, able to survive;
able to rise from the ashes of civil strife and to start anew; able to forge
a new beginning, forgiving if not forgetting the past. We are a good and
friendly people, braced for hope even as we wipe away the tears of past
suffering and despair. Our challenge, therefore, is to transform adversity
into opportunity, to renew the promises upon which our nation was founded:
freedom, equality, unity and individual progress.

In the history of our nation, in the history of every nation, each
generation, each Administration is summoned to define its nation's purpose
and character. Now, it is our time to state clearly and unequivocally who we
are, as Liberians, as your leaders - and where we plan to take this country
in the next six years.

Political Renewal

First, let me declare in our pursuit of political renewal, that the
political campaign is over. It is time for us, regardless of our political
affiliations and persuasions, to come together to heal and rebuild our
nation. For my part, as President of the Republic of Liberia, my Government
extends a hand of friendship and solidarity to the leadership and members of
all political parties, many of them sitting right in front of me, which
participated in our recent presidential and legislative elections. I call
upon those who have been long in the struggle - and those who recently
earned their stripes - to play important roles in the rebuilding of our
nation.

Committed to advance the spirit of inclusion, I assure all Liberians and our
international partners and friends that our Government will recognize and
support a strong democratic and loyal opposition in Liberia. This is
important because we believe that our democratic culture and our nation are
best served when the opposition is strong and actively engaged in the
process of nation building.

Moreover, we call upon our colleagues of all political persuasions now in
the Diaspora to return home and join us in meeting this exciting challenge
of national renewal.

We make a similar appeal to the thousands of our citizens who continue to
live in refugee camps throughout the sub-region and beyond. We recognize and
sympathize with your plight and will explore with our development partners
ways and means to facilitate your early return home as a national imperative
for our renewal and development.

To those who are still internally displaced, we pledge to work with our
partners to get you back to your communities to enable you to start the
process of rebuilding your lives.

We must have a new understanding. Your job, as citizens, is to work for your
family and your country. Your country's only job is to work for you. That is
the compact that I offer you today.

A New Era of Democracy

My Fellow Liberians, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Ours has certainly not been an easy journey to where we are today. Indeed,
the road has been tortuous and checkered. The tendencies of intolerance of
each other's opinion rooted in parochial and selfish considerations - and
greed - have driven us into our descent into recent tragedies and paralysis
as a nation and as a people. These negative national tendencies have, in the
past, bred ethnic suspicion and hatred, led to injustice, social and
political exclusion. They have also weakened our capacity to peacefully
co-exist as a people with diverse socio-cultural, economic, and political
backgrounds. Consequently, we have witnessed needless generalized conflicts
that have profoundly affected the Liberian family, the foundation of our
society.

I know of this struggle because I have been a part of it. Without
bitterness, or anger, or vindictiveness, I recall the inhumanity of
confinement, the terror of attempted rape, the ostracism of exile. But I
also recall the goodness and the kindness of the many who defied orders and
instruction and saved my life, and gave food to the hungry and to give water
to the thirsty. I recall their humanity - and thank them.

And so, my Fellow Liberians let us acknowledge and honor the sacrifices and
the contributions of all as we put the past behind us. Let us rejoice that
our recent democratic exercise has been a redemptive act of faith and an
expression of renewed confidence in ourselves. Let us be proud that we were
able to ultimately rise above our intense political and other differences in
a renewed determination as a people to foster dialogue instead of violence,
promote unity rather than disharmony, and engender hope rather than
disillusionment and despair.

My Administration therefore commits itself to the creation of a democracy in
which the constitutional and civil liberties and rights of all of our people
will be respected.

Economic Renewal

In a similar quest for economic renewal, we start on the premise that we are
a wealthy people. Our nation is blessed with an endowment, rich in natural
and human resources. Yet, our economy has collapsed due to several civil
conflicts and economic mismanagement by successive governments. The task of
reconstructing our devastated economy is awesome, for which there will be no
quick fix.

Yet, we have the potential to promote a healthy economy in which Liberians
and international investors can prosper. We can create an investment climate
that gives confidence to Liberian and foreign investors. We can promote
those activities that add value in the exploitation of our natural
resources. We can recognize and give support to our small farmers and
marketers who, through their own efforts over the years, have provided
buoyancy and self-sufficiency in economic activity. We can revisit our land
tenure system to promote more ownership and free holding for communities.

This will call for a transformation of our economic vision into economic
goals that are consistent with our national endowment and regional and
global dynamics. We will ensure that allocation of our own resources reflect
those priorities formulated on the basis of sequential measures of
structural change that need to provide this transformation. And we will call
upon our development partners to likewise recognize that although they have
made significant investment to bring peace to our country, this peace can
only be consolidated and sustained if we bring development to our people.

With this in mind, we are working with our partners to identify key
objectives and deliverables in the first one hundred and fifty days of our
Administration, which coincides with the remaining budgetary period of the
former government. We must meet our commitment to restore some measure of
electricity to our capital city. We must put Liberians back to work again.
We must put our economic and financial house in order. Most of all, we must
revive our mindset of courage, hard work, honesty, and a can do spirit.

Our strategy is to achieve quick and visible progress that reaches
significant number of our people, to gain momentum, consolidate support, and
establish the foundation for sustained economic development.

For the long term, more will be required from us and our partners. We will
formulate a multi-year economic reconstruction plan tied to a Poverty
Reduction Strategy Program that relieves our country from a staggering
US$3.5 billion debt and paves the way for acceleration in our national
effort to make progress in the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals. We will also tackle the HIV/Aids problem, thereby enduring that this
threat to our human capital and growth and prosperity is addressed.

Governance

We know that our desire for an environment for private sector-driven
sustainable growth and development cannot be achieved without the political
will and a civil service that is efficient, effective and honest. The
workforce in our ministries and agencies is seriously bloated. Our
Administration will therefore embark on a process of rationalizing our
agencies of government to make them lean, efficient, and responsive to
public service delivery. This will require the creation of a meritocracy
that places premium on qualification, professionalism, and performance.

Bonding

Fellow Liberians, Ladies and Gentlemen:  Across this country, from Cape
Mount in the West to Cape Palmas in the East, from Mount Nimba in the North
to Cape Monsterrado in the South, from Mount Wologizi in Northcentral to
Mount Gedeh in the Southeast, our citizens at this very moment are listening
by radio - some are watching by television. I want to talk to you!

As you know, in our various communities and towns, our children have a way
of greeting their fathers when they come home after a long, tiring day of
trying to find the means to feed the family that night and send the children
to school in the morning. They say, "Papa na come."

For too many times, for too many families, Papa comes home with nothing,
having failed to find a job or to get the help to feed the hungry children.
Imagine the disappointment and the hurt in the mother and the children; the
frustration and the loss of self-confidence in the father.

Through the message of this story, I want you to know that I understand what
you ordinary citizens go through each day to make ends meet for yourselves
and for your families.

Times were hard before. Times are even harder today. But I make this pledge
to you: Under my Administration, we will work to change that situation. We
will work to ensure that when our children say "papa na come", papa will
come home joyfully with something, no matter how meager, to sustain his
family. In other words, we will create the jobs for our mothers and fathers
to be gainfully employed. We will create the social and economic
opportunities that will restore our people's dignity and self-worth.

We will make the children smile again. The thousands of children who could
not present their voting cards, but repeatedly told me whenever I met and
shook their hands that they voted for me. Indeed, the voted with their
hearts. To those children and other Liberian children across this nation, I
say to you: I love you very, very much. I shall work to give you hope and a
better future.

Now, I would like to speak in particular to our youth. You are out there.
You can believe my word that our Administration will do its utmost to
respond to your needs. We will build your capacity and empower you to enable
you meaningfully participate in the reconstruction of your country. We will
give you the education that you asked for, and the skills training that we
know you desire. We shall actively pursue the Kakata Declaration resulting
from the National Youth Conference held in 2005 and the implementation of a
National Youth Policy and Program.

Corruption

Fellow Liberians, we know that if we are to achieve our economic and income
distribution goals, we must take on forcibly and effectively the
debilitating cancer of corruption. Throughout the campaign, I assured our
people that, if elected, we would wage war against corruption regardless of
where it exists, or by whom it is practiced.

Today, I renew this pledge. Corruption, under my Administration, will be the
major public enemy. We will confront it. We will fight it. Any member of my
Administration who sees this affirmation as mere posturing or yet another
attempt by another Liberian leader to play to the gallery on this grave
issue should think twice.

In this respect, I will lead by example. I will expect and demand that
everyone serving in my Administration leads by example. The first testament
of how my Administration will tackle public service corruption will be that
everyone appointed to high positions of public trust, such as in the Cabinet
and heads of public corporations, will be required to declare their assets.
I will be the first to comply, and I will call upon the Honorable Speaker
and President Pro-Temps to say that they comply.

My Administration will also accord high priority to the formulation and
passage into law of a National Code of Conduct, to which all public servants
will be subjected.

My Fellow Liberians: If we are to achieve our development and
anti-corruption goals, we must welcome and embrace the Governance and
Economic Management Program, which the National Transitional Government of
Liberia, working with our international partners, has formulated to deal
with the serious economic and financial management deficiencies in our
country.

We accept and enforce the terms of GEMAP, recognizing the important
assistance which it is expected to provide during the early years of our
Government. More importantly, we will ensure competence and integrity in the
management of our own resources and insist on an integrated capacity
building dimension initiative so as to render GEMAP non-applicable in a
reasonable period of time.

Foreign Policy

My Fellow Liberians: Our nation's foreign policy has historically been
rooted in our core values as a nation and people in the practices of good
neighborliness, non-interference in the affairs of other nations and
peoples, peaceful co-existence, regional cooperation and integration. These
values will continue to guide the conduct of our foreign policy under my
Administration. Our foreign policy will take due cognizance of the
sacrifices and contributions that have been made by our brothers and sisters
to restore peace, security, and stability to our country. We will therefore
work to be a responsible member of sub-regional, regional, and international
organizations, including the Mano River Union, Economic Community of West
African States, African Union, and the United Nations. We will do all that
we can to honor our obligations, past and current, and enforce all
international treaties to which our country has subscribed.

To our sister Republics West, East, and North of our borders, we make this
pledge: under my Administration, no inch of Liberian soil will be used to
conspire to perpetrate aggression against your countries. In making this
commitment, we will work for a new regional security that is based upon
economic partnership aimed at enhancing the prospects for regional
cooperation and integration.

My Fellow Citizens: Let me assure you that my Presidency shall remain
committed to serve all Liberians without fear or favor. I am President for
all of the people of the country. I therefore want to assure all of our
people that neither I, nor any person serving my Administration will pursue
any vendetta. There will be no vindictiveness. There will be no policies of
political, social, and economic exclusion. We will be inclusive and
tolerant, ever sensitive to the anxieties, fears, hopes, and aspirations of
all of our people irrespective of ethnic, political, religious affiliation,
and social status.

By their votes, the Liberian people have sent a clear message! They want
peace; they want to move on with their lives. My charge as President is to
work to assure the wishes of our people. We will therefore encourage our
citizens to utilize our system of due process for settling differences. We
will make sure that we work together as a people, knowing, however, that we
will forcefully and decisively respond to any acts of lawlessness, threats
to our hard earned peace, or destabilizing actions that could return us to
conflict.

As we savor the new dawn of hope and expectation, I pledge to bring the
Government closer to the people. The days of the imperial Presidency, of a
domineering and threatening Chief Executive are over. This was my campaign
promise, which I intend to keep.

And now, before I close, I would like to talk to the women - the women of
Liberia, the women of Africa, and the women of the world. Until a few
decades ago, Liberian women endured the injustice of being treated as
second-class citizens. During the years of our civil war, they bore the
brunt of inhumanity and terror. They were conscripted into war, gang raped
at will, forced into domestic slavery. Yet, it is the women who labored and
advocated for peace throughout our region.

It is therefore not surprising that during the period of our elections,
Liberian women were galvanized - and demonstrated unmatched passion,
enthusiasm, and support for my candidacy. They stood with me; they defended
me; they worked with me; they prayed for me. The same can be said for the
women throughout Africa. I want to here and now, gratefully acknowledge the
powerful voice of women of all walks of life.

My Administration shall thus endeavor to give Liberian women prominence in
all affairs of our country. My Administration shall empower Liberian women
in all areas of our national life. We will support and increase the writ of
laws that restore their dignity and deal drastically with crimes that
dehumanize them. We will enforce without fear or favor the law against rape
recently passed by the National Transitional Legislature. We shall encourage
families to educate all children, particularly the girl child. We will also
try to provide economic programs that enable Liberian women - particularly
our market women - to assume their proper place in our economic process.

My Fellow Liberians: We are moving forward. The best days are coming. The
future belongs to us because we have taken charge of it. We have the
resources, and we have the resourcefulness. We now have the right
Government. And we have good friends, good brothers and sisters who will
work with us. Our people are already building our roads, cleaning up our
environment, creating jobs, rebuilding schools, bringing back water and
electricity.

We are a good people; we are a kind people. We are a forgiving people - and
we are a God-fearing people.

So, let us begin anew, moving forward into a future that is filled with
promise, filled with hope!

"In Union Strong, Success is Sure! We cannot - fail. We must not - fail. We
will not - fail."

God bless you all - and save the Republic.

I thank you.




 



 

 


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