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Posted August 21, 2006
Inside Monrovia Today: 14 years vs. 150 Days
Hard times, briberies, rumors of sabotage, armed
robberies
A look at present day Monrovia through the eyes of some Monrovians
Every Liberian, home and abroad is hoping for the
better after the civil war and the inauguration of a democratically elected
government. Some Liberians abroad want to return home to contribute to the
reconstruction and nation building of their homeland as “no where is like
home.” Liberians at home are anxious to lead normal lives again after 14
years of hardship. Liberians want to take responsibility for their families’
well-being- discouraging their young ones, particularly the girls from
immorally self-indulgent behavior.
But the phenomenon remains- it takes lesser time to
destroy than to fix. It took 14 years to destroy the country, but Liberians
both at home and abroad are anxious to see things back on course in less
than six months or a year.
US Ambassador in Liberia in 1989, at the time rebels
were 45 miles away from Monrovia, warned Liberians to not allow the fight in
the capital, adding “If this happens the country will fall 100 years back.”
Did the ambassador’s presumption prove correct? Will the different damages
done to the country in 14 years be fixed in 150 days, in a year or the same
years it took to fight the war? Or can Liberians agree it will take 100
years to repair the 14 years damages.
Hard Times
It’s not easy in Monrovia. Prices of consumer goods are
not coming down. Civil servants’ pay is LD $1200 or LD$1500. A 100 lbs bag
of rice is LD$1700 or a less. A cup of rice is LD$20. Transportation fares
for busses are LD$15 and taxi cabs are LD$20 respectively. Prices for fish,
meat, and others can not easily be handled. “Times are so hard,” every
ordinary Liberian, particularly in Monrovia complains.
“Times are hard because the money is not circulating,”
Debbie Woods said. When asked what she means, she said the old lady is too
tight. “This is the new talk in town; the old lady is too tight.” According
to Debbie, during the past regimes, civil servants used to go home with
money in their pockets. She said even though civil servants were not taking
pay on time or at all, the money was circulating. She said things are
getting tougher these days.
Liberian civil servants make US$ 26.00 a month. This
amount when divided by 30 days, is US$ 0.86 a day. When divided by 31 days,
is US$ 0.83 a day. The new civil servants’ salary is US$30. When divided by
30 days, is US$ 1 a day. When divided by 31 days, is US$ 0.96 a day.
“Small pay without tips-something is not right here. We
have to spend at least US$5 a day to prepare a nourishing dish; one resident
said.
Given the aforementioned statistics, civil servants and
their families are at the mercy of God. But one marketer said in a telephone
conversation that civil servants depend on the meager incomes from “hand to
mouth” businesses run by their wives and children. “Human rights people are
complaining about child labor or abuse, but the parents are not able to
sustain their children due to economic hardship,” one Liberian said. “Today,
our beautiful young girls are turned into prostitutes-some willingly and
others through the influence of their parents,” Nathaniel Dillon lamented.
“Our country is seriously facing some moral problems,”
one religious man said.
Briberies
Ellen Sirleaf administration is serious about fighting
corruption, according to sources from within ordinary Liberian circles in
Monrovia. “Bribery is slowly but surely taking the back seat now,” Joseph
Bolah from Randall Street in Monrovia said. He said that all the eating
holes are closing; tax payers are afraid to bribe tax collectors; the senior
gobarchevs are now finding their way home from begging. “It’s not easy; the
old lady is rigid about corruption.”
But Bindu Konneh, a petit trader who sells in front of
a supermarket on Randall Street in Monrovia differs with the claims of zero
tolerance corruption fight. She said, she does not know how the fight
against corruption is succeeding at the top of government, but on the lower
level, particularly among law enforcers, things are still the same way. “I
just went to the city police headquarters to get my goods the city police
took away during their raid. My goods are short; no one gave me an account
of my goods,” she alleged.
Asked why she was still selling on the side walks after
government provided market space for marketers, Bindu said that her market
can only sell in front of the supermarket. Asked why she was breaching city
ordinance, she replied, “If the city police was serious to enforce city
ordinance, we would not be here, but they take bribes and at some point take
some of our goods home for food. “We are not trying to undermine the law,
but we all are cooperating to make ends meet, for times are so hard.”
Rumors of sabotage
A resident spoke to in a telephone conversation said
that Monrovia is tense. She said, “you can feel something similar or worse
than the Executive Mansion fire outbreak is about to happen.” Asked what
prompted her observation, she said, “Look, these people, (warlords) are
meeting nowadays. She said the Independence Day fire incident at the
Executive Mansion was not a mere accident. It was intended to have the
president killed-it’s no joke she said.
She observes that some people are still planning to
sabotage the government militarily. She said the recent incident involving
two of the SSS bosses is a bad precedent which has the propensity to send a
message out to the would-be saboteurs that the presidential guard can be
easily penetrated.
Armed Robberies
Monrovians are complaining of the
increase in crimes ranking from burglaries to armed robberies, saying
perpetrators are usually not caught. A resident in Jacob Town, said about 20
burglaries took place between July and August while two incidents of armed
robberies were reported in August. The perpetrators are still at large.
At least five armed robberies take place in Monrovia
every day, an ex-police officer said.
A group known as “Asakaba” armed with cutlasses
continues to terrorize Monrovians. “The crime rate in Monrovia is alarming.
People can barely carry their cell phones openly for fear of being attacked
by Asakaba men,” said, Joe Dillon who resides on Randall Street. Joe Dillon
said Asakaba men patrol the streets at nights with cutlasses, adding that
they would either hurt you badly or kill you when they see valuables,
especially a piece of jewelry that has significant monetary value and cell
phone. The Asakaba men threaten their preys by these words “You want your
cell phone back, buy it from us. You want your money or your life?” Joe
said Monrovia is under siege by all kinds of criminals.
A former US marine now living in Monrovia, does not
want to attribute the crimes rate to the result of the civil war or lack of
security. “Even in the most advanced world, where trained security and
technology are supposedly unbeatable, yet crimes are unstoppable.” He said
there are more crimes committed in US cities that are size and population of
Monrovia.
Saah Tamba, an accountant and self-employed Liberian,
said the only different situation he sees is the high cost of living.
“Crimes are every where,” he said. He also noted that news of sabotage will
always be in the air. “We have been living with this for a long time. It
will take time to go away. He however, advised that government must put its
house in order. “We continue to hear bad news about the chief executive and
her security. This is not healthy for both the people and the government,”
he said.
Meanwhile, eight out of ten Liberians talked to say the
Sirleaf administration is doing well so far. “We should not expect things to
be fine in a short period of time after 14 years of civil conflict,” one
University of Liberia student said. She said all what Liberians are going
through now are the effects of war.
She urged Liberians
abroad to return home with either investments or new ideas that will open
avenues for employments in the country, adding that it is universally known,
government alone can’t do it all
Writes,
Thomas Kai Toteh
tnyantk@yahoo.com
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