VOICE OF A PATRIOT

Restoring the Dignity of the Lower House

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei

Informative, educative and entertaining was the Star Radio Day-Break-Liberia Program of April 2, 2007, exactly at 6:00 A.M. when I heard the voice of the crowd-pulling and influential voice of the young enterprising political activist of the Congress for Democratic Change, Assistant Secretary Acarous M. Gray. I was just about to begin my preparation for a new and fresh day when Mr. Gray asserted that by 3:00 P.M. the CDC will announce the most ‘marketable, acceptable, and winnable’ candidate to contest the Speaker election of the Legislature slated for Thursday. After My early morning prayer, I was bombarded by several thoughts that led to a one-on-one characterization of the 16 CDC Representatives in the lower house. However, I spent my day in bewilderment and complexity of thoughts as to who is actually endowed with those qualities as described by Mr. Gray.

Though I had been opposed to a by-election in the lower house since the resignation of Snowe, but I have also come to believe that what ever the plenary decides upon , as long as it takes course, I must advocate vigorously for credible people to take over and restore the political dignity and moral sanctity of the lower house. Lately in the afternoon, my intellect was released from its confounded prison when I heard the name of the All-time charismatic Teacher and Civil Leader, Hon. Edward S. Forh announced as the candidate for the speaker position by the CDC. I began to sample the views of some of Liberia ’s emerging intellectuals who frequently assemble on Carey Street to exchange views and comments of our contemporary time. On the aggregate, Hon. Forh was described beyond the Gray’s categorization. He is not only seen to be marketable, winnable, and acceptable, but also seen as a middle-man politician who stands as a bridge linking the aspirations of the masses to the challenges and courage of their leaders. Though his days in the classroom are memorable and still yearned for by students, but his surfacing into the National Legislature came at a time when the people of Liberia had longed so much for his kind.

While people have begun to push forth arguments and analysis about the position of Speaker, my advocacy remains focus on restoring the good image of the House of Representatives that must mirror its obligations to the people on a cohesive and progressive platter. Considering all of the candidates in the race, our lens of critique must be pointed to their individual abilities to ascend and properly discharge the duties of the office of Speaker. Forh’s candidacy neutralizes the solution. His social background and his role in the past reflects the dreams and aspirations of the people for a sincere public servant, and the declaration of his candidacy by the CDC simply balanced all social and political inequalities for a unified Lower House

The locust of derangement and malfeasances that is grotesquely bulldozing the reverence of the Lower House needs not to be combated along factional, sectional or party line any longer. A classroom teacher like Edward Forh needs only attention and quietude in his class, and every student will take the best lesson. His managerial and administrative skills backed by his personal commitment to pursuing a wholesome functioning society in Liberia is powerful enough to silence the brouhaha in the Lower House and set the basis to avoid future occurrences. His discipline and adherence to ethics and the rule of law is sufficiently vigilant and insurmountable to protect the Constitution and other approved laws of Liberia against violators. His courage and determination to stand for just causes and echo the views and aspirations of his people makes him an icon of national unity capable enough to unite and preside over the activities of the First Branch of Government. From his advent into civil activism, like his success in organizing the Liberian Organized for Change (LIBOCH), I have known him to be a man of broad imagination, dramatic personality and boundless inspiration that society will long benefit from, because he had chosen to explore the frontier of pluralistic doctrines for his people. He is a man whose recent emergence into the body-politics of Liberia must be credited not only to his role as a teacher and mentor, or his brilliance as an intellectual, but also to his conviction that one day his people shall live in unity and perpetual peace.