Liberia must fight its fake news epidemic to fight the pandemic

In a startling Afrobarometer survey earlier this year, 66% of Liberians said they are “unlikely” to try to get vaccinated against COVID-19. An even higher 86% said they believe “prayer is more effective than a vaccine in preventing coronavirus infection”. Much of these attitudes are due to fake news or misinformation. These problems are not new to Liberia, but there is no doubt they have escalated recently. The increase in internet penetration and social media use – particularly among younger urban dwellers – has allowed false information to spread further and faster than ever before. Meanwhile, two major events in 2020 saw enormous fake news campaigns. Continue reading...

Why Liberians shunned the 2020 referendum — and what’s the future for constitutional change?

After years of a participatory constitutional reform process, Liberians shunned proposals for constitutional change in the 2020 referendum. Nevertheless, the state of democracy remains in need of reform, and given the repeated calls for constitutional change, the issues may be revisited in the future – writes Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei. Continue reading...

The Current LACC Lacks The Legitimacy To Fight Corruption — It Must Be Reconstituted!

On February 15, the Executive Director of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) accused the Vice Chairman of the LACC board of violating the Constitution of Liberia, the national code of conduct and the LACC internal code of conduct. The core of the allegation was that the vice chairman committed acts of corruption, and that the LACC was investigating him. The vice chairman has since denied the allegations and accused the executive director of incompetence. This was the first time for the LACC, since its creation in 2008, to announce that it was now looking within to identify and investigate alleged acts of corruption committed by a senior member of staff. This development is sufficient to leave one second-guessing the reaction of President Weah given his promises to fight corruption; and questioning whether the current board of commissioners can command both the moral legitimacy and public support it would need to execute their mandate given the gravity of the allegation. Continue reading...

Liberia’s Constitutional Referendum on Dual Citizenship and Reduced Political Tenure

Liberians will in December 2020 go to a referendum to vote on proposed changes to their country’s constitution. If approved, the proposals would reduce the duration of presidential and parliamentary terms, allow double nationality, and change the timing of elections. Adopted in 1986, the constitution was suspended several times during the country’s civil wars (1989 – 2003) to make way for extra-constitutional transitional governments formed at peace conferences. Proposals for a new constitution during the last transitional government (2003 – 2005) were poorly received by the warring and political factions and the international organisations that facilitated the peace process. Understandably, the stakeholders were preoccupied with efforts at disarmament and demobilization of armed groups and the return to civilian rule. But the failure to reform the constitution before the return to civilian rule in 2006 left a major aspect of the transition unaddressed and Liberians have yet to settle on a stable constitutional future. Continue reading.

Liberia’s long-awaited constitutional referendum: Debate on alternatives to by-elections

Seven years after Liberia’s former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf established a Constitutional Review Committee to comprehensively review Liberia’s 1986 Constitution and make proposals for reform/amendment, the country is yet to conclude the process of reform. For years, activists have called for a comprehensive reform of Liberia’s constitution to make provisions for new generation of rights such as rights on citizenship, women’s rights and political participation and the decentralization of power to local tiers of government. The process has been inconclusive largely due to a lack of consensus among the political leadership on the constitutional future of the country. Also, the lack of political support and commitment from Sirleaf herself to the reform was evident as her Government did not provide adequate financial and political support to the work of the Committee. For the bulk of its financing, the Committee relied on international donors whose support were determined by their own intervention objectives. Continue reading...

Prioritizing Education: Why Should We Care?

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei

From May 21 to May 23, 2018, the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders in the education sector will meet at a summit to talk about issues in education in Liberia. The summit will be held under the theme of “Prioritizing Education: Why Should We Care?” I have deliberately chosen this theme as the title of this piece for several reasons, not least because I want to contribute to the question of why we should actually care as a participant in the this week’s summit. There are indeed deluge of reasons why we should care, and at the centre of all is the survival of our cultures, our languages, our civilization, and above all our peace and stability. It cannot also be gainsaid that the overall survival of our country is hinged on the level of education we attain. There is sufficient evidence from across the world that level of education has a causal relationships to economic growth, social advancement and democratic development.

The primary proxy for measuring levels of education in a society is the basic literacy rate - the percentage of people who are able to read and write. A recent report by the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) suggests that the literacy rate has reached an impressive 64.7% compared to the 42% reported 10 years ago by UNESCO. The disaggregated data indicate that 54% of women are literate compared to a whopping 77% of men pointing to a conspicuously huge disparity in access to education between men and women. But not much is spoken of functional/skilled literacy which has to do with the availability of skilled labor for the rapidly changing and dynamic domestic and global labor markets. Are Liberians at home having access to training opportunities in the fields of new technology, or strategic areas that the domestic labor market requires to thrive? The numbers that come close to answering this question are unflattering. A 2014 report by the Governance Commission indicated that from 2009 to 2013 eighty percent (80%) of all graduates from higher education institutions majored in business (56%) and the social sciences (24%). In the highly technical areas, the number of graduates were a negligible 1% for engineering and 4% for agriculture during the four-year period studied.

The numbers from the secondary school level – mainly scores - are even more appalling. The year 2013 was an alarming year in the education sector: nearly one-third of candidates who wrote the senior high school certificate exams administered by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) failed; not surprisingly, 25, 000 students who wrote the entrance examination for admission to the University of Liberia failed to achieve the minimum grade for admission. In her reaction to the appalling developments, then President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf described the educational system as ‘a mess’, vowing to fix the problem by completely overhauling the entire system. The most notable overhaul then involved cleaning the education payroll of ‘ghost teachers’, changing the leadership at the Ministry of Education, deploying more teachers to rural areas, and distributing more text books and teaching materials, among others. Mr. George Werner, the Minister of Education appointed in 2015 to reform the system, developed a strategy romantically entitled ‘From Mess to Best’. Werner’s reform measures were strongly criticized as unsustainable and unrealistic by traditional stakeholders in the sector. With Sirleaf’s unflinching support Werner rolled out his plans which included a controversial privatization program. But after all of the showboating by the new Minister, the 2016 and 2017 WAEC results pointed to the fact that the system was still wanting of critical and substantive reforms: nearly half of all candidates who wrote the exam failed in 2016 while 2017 recorded a failing rate of 41%. Not much has been done since and public spending for education during the last five years of the Sirleaf administration was an average 16% of the national budget. In an apparent admission of failure to reform the sector, Sirleaf’s ‘reform’ Minister wrote on social media that “education does not promote equality and shared prosperity. Education alone is not enough to make anyone a “good” leader.” While this statement was made in the heat of a political campaign, it however pointed to the mediocrity and half-heartedness with which the Sirleaf administration approached the question of education in Liberia. To Sirleaf’s credit, enrolment increased heavily during her administration; but in the end, Sirleaf left the system worse off than she met it, if learning outcomes measured by WAEC scores is anything to go by.
The above reasons are why we should not only care about education, but actually prioritize education service delivery as a critical function of the state. Prioritizing education means reforming the system to respond adequately to contemporary labor market demands and acceptable international standards. This would require direct policy interventions such as increased financing and rigorous accountability mechanisms in the education sector if we are to improve on learning outcomes, student scores, and develop the next generation of leaders for our country. Recent actions by the government in the area of education financing are sadly not too encouraging. A recent analysis of the 2018-2019 National Budget by a local think tank, the Center for Policy Action and Research (CePAR), suggests that there has been no progressive and fundamental departure from the Sirleaf’s model of education financing which kept the sector underperforming year after year.

In addition to the issue of poor financing is the current governance arrangement which to a large extent contribute to the inefficiency of the system. The arthritic bureaucracy at the Ministry of Education contributes highly to the poor state of monitoring, supervision, and logistical support to educational institutions across the country. The system is heavily centralized despite the promulgation of an education sector decentralization plan in 2011 which provided for the creation of an education board in each county. The need to fully implement the school board program remains as urgent as it was when the policy was adopted seven years ago. As I wrote elsewhere in 2013, Liberia needs fully established and institutionalized local boards to function as relevant and credible local authorities on education sector governance. Decentralizing local decision-making, implementation authorities and resources will enable local education boards to implement national education policies and to have sufficient control over such things as licensing of teachers, school supervision and monitoring, school feeding and subsidies to schools. Under such arrangement the central Ministry will retain responsibilities in regulating and promulgating national policies on education, while the local boards lead in implementation.

The current g government was elected on a campaign of ‘change’ including providing affordable and quality education to every Liberian. Considering President Weah’s continued emphasis on alleviating the sufferings of Liberia’s poor through pro-poor service delivery initiatives, education must be considered a national emergency given the system’s current deplorable state. As a national emergency, all needed support would be required for reviving and sustaining the system so that it produces competent and functionally literate citizens. Thus, as a first start for this administration, there is a need to reconsider the current proposal for education financing in the forthcoming budget year when the government will actually begin implementing its own budget. More financing to the education sector is needed to provide for more support to services in the sector beyond just servicing the payroll.

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei is Chairman of the Liberia Education and Training Foundation (LITEF). The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

Liberia in 2016: A review of major indices, global development and their implications for the 2017 debate

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei

The year 2016 has come and gone, and like many other years, it recorded its happier times and moments of grief for families and societies. It seems the key moments of the year were marred by numbing surprises like Brexit and US 2016 elections; and miseries for humanity and societies as many tragedies were recorded. Some, like the earthquake in Ecuador, and the Zika epidemic among numerous other disasters, were beyond human imaginations. While the disasters may be natural, there are arguments that poor environmental governance has led to human vulnerabilities. Yet others, like the ongoing carnage in Syria, South Sudan, and the numerous failings of the states and the economies in Africa can partly be attributed to of lack of social order, and failing political leaderships.

Citizens have reacted to these events and failings of their states by using accountability mechanisms available to them worldwide. Strike actions and protests have increased. In some parts of Africa electoral democracy took a different shape. Electoral systems seem to be gaining legitimacy and reliability as was seen in South Africa, The Gambia and Ghana. In these countries campaigns were marred by tough competitions in an environment of uncertainties for the electoral outcomes, and ruling parties were punished for their failings. In some countries like Niger and Zambia ruling parties were rewarded by voters. These are credible credentials to build upon.

The situation in Liberia has been no different from the global collective. Liberia has been a victim of both natural disasters and break down of order, and together, it is strikingly clear that Liberia’s recent calamitous experience with the Ebola virus and the current state of a receding economy are symptoms of a weak state and failings of the national institutions.

Eleven years after the return to civilian rule, the country continues to ploddingly climb the ranks of the various development indices, but sadly, no progress has been made to migrate from the realm of the ‘lows’. For example, despite the numerous progress made since 2005, Liberia has not moved beyond the category of Low Human Development on the Human Development Index of 2016. On the measurement of state fragility, Liberia remains on the ALERT according to the Fragile States Index (FSI) of 2016. However, the Index shows that there was an improvement in 2016 compared to 2014 and 2015 when stability, apparently due to the social and political ramifications of the Ebola epidemic, was under threat. Two major factors continue to heighten the potential for instability according to the FSI: the unhealthy state of the economy and the uneven distribution of the outcome of this poor economy; i.e. uneven economic development. The latter shows that distribution of economic outputs in terms of social development remains skewed in favor of a minority segment of the population. A state on the ALERT in the FSI is a state that displays features indicating that the society and institutions are susceptible to failure.

Liberia’s overall governance score improved in 2016 on the Mo Ibrahim Index, compared with a poor rating in 2006. This means, the long-term stability (albeit fragile) has provided opportunities for the reorganization of the state and the society. This was also confirmed by the Corruption Perception Index released in January 2016 showing that perception of corruption among Liberians is on the decline. However, the figures show that perceptions in 2012 were far better than today. Interestingly, the release of the CPI in January 2016 was followed a few months later by the busting of a corruption cartel operating at the highest echelon of the political leadership. Behind this cartel were hidden characters dubbed as Big-Boy1 and Big-Boy2 who only few days to the end of the year were discovered. A robust multi-agency taskforce comprising the Executive Mansion, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ministry of Justice has been working to probe this further. But these individuals operate in a larger cartel enabled by their positions in society and the weaknesses of the institutions they head. It cannot be gainsaid that this same cartel had a hand in the alleged corruption that led to the collapse of the National Oil Company of Liberia. It is this cartel that must be dismantled in its entirety to pave the way for Liberia’s promising future.

What then can we blame for such perennial weakness and fragility of the state more than a decade after the peace accord? How do we organize the state and the structures of power and authority to deal with corruption, solve our problems with the economy, and deliver basic services in healthcare, education and housing? As Liberia prepares for elections in 2017, these are questions that need to be at the front of the policy debates leading to the elections. The indices cited above, notwithstanding their limitations and scopes, are useful in guiding the debate and shaping the policy programs of the competing parties and interest groups in 2017.

But as we enter 2017 a review of the model of state-building that has left Liberia in a state of ‘arrested development’ needs to be done for reshaping the post-2017 development agenda. This is a greater responsibility of the policy committees of political parties and organizations mediating the 2017 debate. I have contested the present model of state-building pursued in Liberia over the last decade and I argue for a robust constitutional reform for the reordering of power and authority relations through decentralized governance. The current model has focused on perpetuating the centralized authority, and has engaged state-building with quick-fix approaches resulting in unsustainable gains in the economy and infrastructural development. Ignoring major state-building elements such as constitutional reform and national reconciliation, or the cavalier treatment of these two crucial issues, had left the numerous reforms and the investments in the economy and infrastructures on a shaky foundation.
The emerging patterns in international politics and developments in powerful countries are also relevant to the 2017 debate in Liberia. In the political West, the ideological far-right movement now dubbed as the ‘Alt-Right’ has gained momentum and winning resounding victories across Europe and North America. Their policies are based on conservative economic programs, closed society, racism and an end to immigration. In Britain, they succeeded in winning a referendum to leave the European Union, which has been founded on liberal social and economic values. In the United States, they succeeded in electing Donald Trump thereby endorsing his messages of intolerance and racism and professed ultra-conservative agenda. They are mobilizing in Germany and France and with prospects of winning national elections this year. The dominant narrative explaining the electoral success of the ‘Alt-Right’ movement is the argument that an elite order is being overthrown by a revolutionary grassroots movement. I disagree with this narrative as I view this trend rather as a remobilization of elites exploiting anger against the liberalization of the world which promises social equality, increase in global trade, and the end of racial dominance.

These developments have greater ramifications for a country like Liberia. Liberia’s current economy, driven largely by foreign capital, development aid and remittances from emigrants is being sustained by the longstanding liberal policies and traditions of these western countries. The political success of these “alt-rights’ is premised on the overthrow of this liberal order. They threaten to withdraw their countries from liberal organizations promoting free trade and development aid; they intend to run a protected economy which could limit the flow of foreign direct investments to poor countries. Liberia is vulnerable and could suffer immensely were these ‘alt-rights’ to fulfill their electoral promises. How does Liberia position itself to build and sustain a viable economy and maintain a strong state in the face of these threats? How can Liberia engage the global economy as a meaningful actor, given its geographic position with a long coastline, abundant natural resources, vast arable land, virgin forests and dual currency regime? These are questions that should shape the ideological content of the debate in 2017. Whatever the outcomes of the debate maybe, a new line of thinking on the economy and the political leadership would be needed for Liberia to depart from its failed past and challenging present to embrace a promising future.

-In the Cause of Democracy and Social Justice the Pen Shall Never Run Dry!

From Africa to Calais Jungle: Why African youths are risking their lives to enter the developed world

Frustrated, angry and desperate, many young Africans have no faith in their own countries and the extant political leadership. They have dreams of prosperity but have resolved that these dreams cannot bear fruit here. Africa for them is an infertile land. Their belief is based on what they have come to learn from different media sources: social media, television and radio; and this is backed by their local experiences. For them the best of life’s opportunities are in the West - Europe and the United States; in fact, anywhere other than their home country or the African continent in general. And they are determined to reach those shores of ‘respite’ by all means possible. Read more

Beyond the Disease: How the Ebola Epidemic Affected the Politics and Stability of the Mano River Basin

In late 2013, the Ebola virus was diagnosed in the forest region of Guinea. By mid-2014, it had spread alarmingly in the countries of the Mano River Basin – Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. By the time it was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August 2014, at least 1 711 people were infected and 932 people had died from the virus.1 The Ebola virus was an alien phenomenon among both healthcare workers and ordinary people, and the affected countries lacked the capacity to respond effectively. The lack of proper response mechanisms at the beginning of the outbreak enabled the virus to spread rapidly, with a 90% fatality rate among the population, leaving citizens – mostly those in densely populated slum communities – in despair and desperation. What became further at risk was the stability of the three countries, two of which – Liberia and Sierra Leone – were still recovering from civil conflicts that had ended a decade earlier. While the crisis was largely health-based, it gravely affected political and security situations, leading observers to predict collapse, violence and a possible return to war. Read more..

THE ROAD AHEAD - Keynote Address Delivered at the 11th Closing Ceremony of the Elizabeth Blunt School (Chocolate City, Gardnersville, Liberia)

July 10, 2016

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei, Keynote Speaker

The Proprietor
Mr. Oliver Saylee, Principal
Members of the teaching staff
Graduates and student body
Parents and Guardians
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen

Today is a great day for us all in this hall as we all have many accomplishments to celebrate through the great works of the administration and teaching staff of the Elizabeth Blunt School. Some of us are celebrating our graduation from the Elizabeth Blunt School; some of us are celebrating our promotion to a new class; the teaching staff is celebrating the quality outputs of their hard works; While parents in particular are celebrating all of the accomplishments here that are the products of the hard works of both the school and the students.

I am therefore very grateful that I am here not just to speak to you all, but to join you in celebrating the success of the Elizabeth Blunt School and the success of its students. I am a living testimony of the quality of the teaching staff in this school, because the man who first taught me how to read, and write, Mr. Moiforay Massaquoi is a faculty member of this school. He is a strong and strict disciplinarian with a deep passion for education and training. Mr. Massaquoi remains a role model to thousands of young people today who passed through his tender hands. I am therefore convinced that with his kind in this school, we all can be assured of smart and disciplined students.

I recall vividly the years of the early 2000s when this school was established. I remember it gained fame in those days for providing free education to internally displaced persons who had fled the war in Lofa County and other parts of Liberia. The founder of this school, Mr. James Mamulu of blessed memory had a great vision which led him to establishing this renowned institution. The greatest tribute we can all pay to his memory is to ensure that his vision continues to live on.

And that vision is to provide quality education for the children of Liberia. It is because of the farsightedness and the big dream of Mr. Mamulu that we are all here celebrating various accomplishments today. It is therefore my plea to the administration of this school to continue to make this dream a reality.

In March 2015, I met Ms. Elizabeth Blunt, the benefactor of this school, in Nigeria. And we briefly discussed about the progress and future of this school. She expressed concerns about the sustainability of the school. I am sure this is a concern for the administration as well, and I am convinced that necessary strategies are being worked out to keep this school functioning and providing quality education to the young people.
I will be speaking to you all today on the theme THE ROAD AHEAD. No one knows the length of the road ahead; neither do we know what lies on the road for each of us. Those are the wonders of the God we all worship. He alone knows everything.

However, we are able to prepare ourselves to face whatever lies ahead. And that preparation is through obtaining home training, formal education, and building good and lasting relationships with our neighbors, friend and colleagues. There may be many other ways, but the underlining principle is to follow conventional path defined by the society in which you live, or by the religious belief and values you subscribe to.
The road ahead, obviously, is not a straight path, it has hills and valleys, it is full of challenges, and it is full of fortunes and misfortunes. In the end, those who are well prepared are those who accomplish their dreams along the way.

Today, we celebrate the realization of our various dreams, but the road is still ahead. We are graduating from K-II, Grade Six and Grade Nine; and our parents are proud. But the road ahead which will lead us to finishing Grade 12 and even college is challenging, but also very promising and exciting. It is important therefore that we brace ourselves for those challenges.

And I encourage all parents and sponsors here to continue to work and hold the hands of these students in continuing on the road. Without your support and mentorship, it is difficult to determine how they would continue on this journey; but I can safely say here that your pieces of advice, your financial and moral support and the encouragement you give them will make them to realize their life long dreams along the road they have chosen to trek.

In his poem the ‘Road Not Taken”, The 20th Century poet Robert Frost talked about two roads diverging in the woods. He took the road that was less traveled and realized that by taking that road it made all the difference.

The road not frequently traveled is the best road in making life’s journey; but sadly a lot of us traveled just one road which in most instances divert from the conventional values and practices our society generally expect of us.

Let us therefore take the road that is not frequently traveled. That is the road that calls for respect for parents, teachers, and others; that is the road that calls for good citizenship and the respect for the rule of law; the road not frequently taken is the road that calls for sincerity and honesty in our dealings. It is road that calls for progressive development and unity.

Today, many of us have taken the other road, and when we take the frequently traveled road without thinking and calling ourselves to order, we bring anarchy to our society, and we destroy each other by cheating, stealing and even killing.

Today, there is much discussion about the poor state of education in Liberia. Our education system has broken down because the road frequently taken today in our schools are that of corruption which comes in the form of bribery. We are all guilty of this corruption – parents, teachers, and students bear equal responsibilities. To solve this problem therefore, we must all divert and take the other road and we must all contribute to solving this problem.

Without addressing corruption in our education system, we run the risk of producing functionally illiterate people through our school systems. It is important that school administration put in place strong systems of check and balance that periodically review and evaluate teachers output which must be measured against the performance of the students.

Elizabeth Blunt School has to be a leader in the education sector by setting good standards for your students and your teachers. You have to get on the road that is not frequently taken, which obviously is the best road. This school is already on the path and can be counted among the best in Gardnersville. Adding more qualities require adding innovation to your teaching styles, your disciplinary techniques and introducing your students to new programs.

As the world is fast advancing in technology, this school must work harder to introduce students to new technologies and new skills that match the world market. This requires adding technological and basic vocational skills to your curriculum at least at the junior high level. By doing this you will be preparing your students for both the academic world and the job market which are both require for the journey on the road ahead.
Finally Ladies and gentlemen, THE ROAD AHEAD is unending and rocky and full of challenges, but it is left with each of us to make it passable. Experience tells that those that seek good training and sound education are those who make the journey easier and are those who make the best contribution to the development of our society.

I embolden us all therefore to hold hands and support each other in unison in making this great journey together for the development of ourselves, our community, and our country. That journey should gain new energy today. The graduates and students here today must be seen as the bearer of that energy. They must get our attention, our support and our encouragement as they continue this journey on the ROAD AHEAD with new level of energy.

Thank you so much, and may God bless us all!!!!!