15 Reasons Why You Should BOYCOTT: Why Celebrations after 8 months are a mockery – September 17 is of no essence with 96.5% unemployment rate, 80% Rural Poverty, 60% lack of electricity, etc.
Martin K. N. Kollie writes…
Get to work. End this pageantry. It is a gimmick. Learn from your predecessors. You don’t have luxury of time to get it right. Plan, prioritize, and optimize amid scarce resources and competing priorities. The people want solutions and not celebrations. The solutions are not found in partying and pageantry. Enough of this horseplay.
Jamborees don’t put food on anyone’s table, send children to school, minimize poverty, create jobs, and improve human development. It is time to focus on work, work, work, and finding sustained solutions through structural reform(s). It is fair to say 8 months is not enough of a time for a government to turn things around, but it’s also unfair to call a group of suffering, unemployed, and vulnerable people to celebrate within this same 8 months. Celebrate what?
Why “rescue” supporters and U.P partisans should boycott September 17 (The Green Day) partisans:
1) 73.5% of public officials have not declared their assets as required by law (LACC, 2024).
2) The unemployment rate in Liberia is 96.5% (Ministry of Labor, 2024).
3) No one has been held accountable for ‘looting’ Liberia after 8 months. The people voted for accountability and justice.
4) Six (6) out of 10 Liberians still don’t have access to electricity. This is 60% (World Bank, 2024).
5) 3.83 million Liberians constituting 69.9% have no internet access (Global Digital Report, 2024).
6) The 8th poorest country worldwide is Liberia (Global Finance Magazine, 2024).
7) Eight (8) out of 10 Liberians (80%) living in rural Liberia are still POOR (World Bank, 2024).
8)2.2 million Liberians (47%) are food insecure (World Food Program, 2024).
9) 1,100 women and 8,510 children die every year during childbirth in Liberia (World Health Organization, 2024).
10) 51% of Liberians live on less than US$1 a day (World Food Program, 2024).
11) While senior public officials “big shots” earn thousands of USD in paychecks, civil servants are not even earning a living wage ($150 on average). A dime was not added to their salaries for FY2024.
12) The Human Development score of Liberia is 0.487 (Low HDI). Out of 193 countries, Liberia ranks 177 in terms of life expectancy, educational level, and income per capita (UNDP, 2024).
13) On a scale of 0-4 in terms of safeguards against corruption, Liberia ranks ¼. This is 25% (Freedom House Report, 2024).
14) Rule of Law (Independent Judiciary) score in Liberia also accounts for 25% (Freedom House, 2024).
15) There are 366,584 street children in Liberia most of whom are vulnerable to drugs and abuse (Ministry of Gender, 2024).
We call on President Joseph Boakai and his team to focus on addressing these pertinent issues/concerns. The expectation of Liberians remains high. Celebrating “Green Day” for a few fat-salary “big-shots” to merry-make amid these serious crises and structural imbalances is of no essence and should be boycotted. Get back to work. It’s time to work and find concrete solutions. Campaigns are over. Stop sensationalizing development.
Activist Martin K. N. Kollie writes…
