The Liberia National Red Cross Society will on Saturday, July 24, 2010 dedicate its second Disaster Management Center in Sanniquellie, Nimba County.  The project, which has a guesthouse component as well as training (conference) facilities, will be officially dedicated by the President of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.(The first Disaster Management Center was dedicated in Harper, Maryland County in February, also by President Sirleaf.) 

The Center, which costs US$ 350,000.00, is part of the Liberian Red Cross’ drive towards self sustainability.  It will also serve as a regional base for quick response in the event of any disasters in the Northeastern and central parts of Liberia. 

The Liberian Red Cross’ Disaster Management Center is one of the projects expected to be dedicated by the Liberian leader during the country’s 163 Independence Day celebration which will be officially commemorated in Sanniquellie, the capital of Nimba County.  

Also as part of activities surrounding the July 26 celebrations, the Liberian Red Cross will distribute relief items to a number of communities in Nimba including patients at the G.W. Harley Hospital in Sanniquellie, the Sanniquellie Central Prison, and two project communities: Karnlah and Gbeleyee. 

The President leaves for Nimba County on Thursday for celebrations marking the 163rd Independence Anniversary of Liberia. The celebrations kick off on Tuesday, July 20th, with the dedication by the President of the University of Liberia Campus in Fendall, and of newly constructed low-cost housing units in Walokor Town, near Fendall.

On Tuesday, the President will host an Investiture ceremony at the C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium in Monrovia to confer distinctions on a number of our citizens and other distinguished personalities. About 15 personalities will be honored, some posthumously.  Prominent among the honorees are: Hon. T. Ernest Eastman, a former Foreign Minister; Mr. Roland Barnes, an administrator and diplomat; Mr. Ramses T. Kumbuyah, Director-General of LACE; Paramount Chief John Strutter of Nimba County; and Gbessie Kiazolu, a Liberian cultural performing artist.

By way of information, this year’s National Orator is Monsignor Father Robert G. Tikpor, Pastor Emeritus of the St. Kizito Catholic Church in Paynesville.

As part of the events marking the 163rd Independence Anniversary celebrations, the President will dedicate a number of projects. Among them are: the Agricultural Technical Demonstration Center, in Gbarnga, and the Tappita Hospital, both of them gifts of the Chinese Government; Nimba Community College; as well as markets, schools, clinics, administrative buildings, and more.

 We wish to point out that measures being put into place by the Special Security Services (SSS) are intended to ensure that the President and her VIPs are provided maximum security protection at all times. The measures are intended to curb the constant intrusion into the Presidential convoy by unauthorized vehicles. They have nothing to do with any security threat as is being construed in some circles.  The Special Security Services is only enforcing strict measures to ensure that the President and other VIPs are adequately protected, particularly during the festive celebrations.

Other members of the Committee are Ezzat Eid, Frans Joubert, Binyah Kesselly, Paul Sethi, Richard Tolbert, Paul Maubah, Willis Knuckles, Monie Captan, Medina Wesseh, Cecelia Brown, among others.

Who exactly defines, asserts, defend and protect continental Africa’s best interests? Why are too many Africans regurgitating acerbic criticisms of China by America and European nations- western nations who have in fact had 600 years of dominance in Africa?  Many western nations have enjoyed unbridled and unmitigated monopoly of African human and material resources. Therefore why whine when China begins to make inroads in Africa?

China has in recent years increased her presence globally, and more particularly so, on the African continent. China as a matter of fact, recently invested $28 billion dollars in several nations on the African continent, and this full-swoop investing of billions of dollars by the Chinese went unheralded by westerners and surprisingly unsung by Africans as well.

There is a cut-throat stiff competition between America and Europe on the one hand and China on the others, and there is no secret in the revived scramble for the resources on the African continent especially resources of the hydrocarbon type. An economic and industrial resurgent China is in dire need of sustained and uninterrupted energy supply and as a consequence, China has, in pursuit of her national interests, as she should, entered bilateral agreements with the nations of Angola, Nigeria, the Sudan,  Venezuela etc. The African nations which have received an upsurge in investment from China have hydrocarbon in common.

A great number of African intellectuals, academics and public policy commentators, journalists etc, have stridently criticized China. These Africans are quick to adopt the self-serving arguments of the United States and European nations while the Africans, seemingly ignorant and blissfully unaware  that Africa’s best interests  are  never what motivates or inspire and animate the scathing criticisms by America and Europe against China’s investments, continue to criticize China . Recently, a commentator on this important battle between American, Europe and China for Africa wrote a very keen observation which I found prescient, profound and quite astute.

He said , “If China needed another prompt that the European powers have finally woken up to the fact they were losing the competition for the Africa pie, it came with France’s bid to recapture lost ground this month.”

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy presided over the 25th Africa-France summit in Nice where for the first time he tacitly acknowledged the success of China’s expansion in Africa by calling on French businesses to emulate it.”

“Without mentioning China by name, Sarkozy declared it was time for Europe to use infrastructure investment along with development aid and fight to increase its influence in Africa once again.”

“Africa is our future… the African continent is asserting itself more and more as a major player in international life,” said Sarkozy. “We cannot govern a 21st century world with a 20th century institution”.

There seems to be too many Africans who naively and childishly hold tenaciously to the belief that Americans and Europeans are seeking the best interests of continental Africans and peoples of African descent, as these Americans and Europeans define issues and set the arguments about African issues. This occurs in annoying regularity whether the issues are cultural, religious, economic, or the matter of democracy and good government.

Africans who have criticized China’s investment models in Africa have been quick to accuse China of not asking African nations’ political leaders about political institutional developments, respect for human rights etc. The truth is, Americans and Europeans have been present in on the African continent unchallenged, and without a scintilla of competition for 600 years during which they inflicted slavery, colonialism and apartheid on Africa.

America and Europe also imposed their Christian religion and languages which include English, French, Portuguese, Spanish etc. President Obama visited China and he forgot or neglected to badger and chastise China’s record on Human Rights, the rule of law, due process and  democracy.

History clearly indicates that African peoples have been left in the lurch by foreign powers from America and Europe and the pathetic underdevelopment, the abject poverty and the desperate human conditions on the African continent has zero input from China and Chinese corporation. The nadir economic and political conditions in Africa are directly related to slavery, colonialism, apartheid etc and China have had zilch role in all of these.

Sometimes  one is left to just wonder  whether African intellectuals, commentators and journalists  are naïve, oblivious, or are part of a paid conspiracy against the continent, or why else, would anyone adopt definitions of issues and supporting arguments  which are contrary the evidence, the facts and Africa’s best interest, both short term and long term. Whose side are these Africans on?

 There is a raging debate which has persisted for a while now. And it is of concern to me in a triumvirate sense. The outcome of this debate will have tremendous ramifications for Africans. Such outcome will reverberate throughout Africa for hundreds of years.

Foremost, is the impact any outcome of this debate, or contest, between America and Europe on the one hand, and China on the other, what the consequences on Africa will be? Secondly, what effect will this pressure being applied on China have on China’s forays into Africa. But most urgent of all my concerns here  is whether African public intellectuals are attentively  following this debate or contest wills or spheres of influence between these superpowers , and whether we are seeking to influence the debate-contest and the eventual outcomes.

On August 11, 2009, an uproarious and rancorous event occurred in the Republic of Congo during public questioning of Secretary of State,  Hilary Rodham Clinton of the United States time in that central African country. Madam Secretary of State was said to have bristled testily, when the questioner appeared to have asked her, what her husband, the other world famous Clinton, thought of a reported meddling by the World Bank  in a contract or loan from the Chinese, which is reportedly being frustrated and truncated, because the World Bank has been pressuring the government of the Congo. I regret that Madam Secretary of State appeared to have faced what probably was a sexist questioning or mindset, or what is now said to be a mere misunderstanding arising from misinterpretation of a question rendered in French.

But here are the crucial questions which ultimately should be addressed by Washington in connection with the questioner‘s concerns. Why should any foreign institution or foreign government interfere in the internal affairs of the Congo? And why should the World Bank or the United States government or any of its departments or agency, be remotely connected in any way  to the reported attempt to thwart contracts between the Congo and China, two politically independent and sovereign nations?

In recent times, there have been these sorts of contracts and loan twists and turns in Nigeria-China interactions, so perhaps, we now know the sources? And is Nigeria’s open dealing with China really the reason for the snub of Nigeria recently? But why must Nigeria, nay Africa, let Westerners have monopoly of doing “business” or exploiting Africa?

History is our witness, and the evidence establishes and demonstrates incontrovertibly that America and Europe do not have clean hands regarding the human conditions in Africa. History bears the facts of America and European horrid brutalities in Africa. How it is therefore, America and Europe are shouting the loudest about China’s forays into Africa?

 It is often said that those who seek equity or those who come to equity should come with clean hands. Regarding Africa, Americans and European hands are soiled most putridly. The preachments which we now are hearing from America and Europe, are mere pretentious and farcical preachments. America and Europe are pots, and if anything, China is kettle, and it is oxymoronic to find pot calling kettle black.

For starters, America and Europe have been in Africa for almost a thousand years, and evidences abound  of how America and Europe have pauperized Africa by stripping the continent of tangible and intangible resources. Those range from human beings during slave trade, to raw materials during industrial revolution and since. More recently, stripping of Africa of gold, diamond, petroleum and cheap labor.

China was not involved in slave trade of Africans. China was not involved in colonialism of Africans. China was not involved in imposing foreign religious on Africans. China was not involved in imposing foreign languages, such as English, French and Portuguese on Africans. China has not been involved in the assassination of African political leaders. China has so far been doing business in Africa, in ways, not any way as egregious as Union Carbide in Bhopal India or Pfizer in Nigeria

The West does not brook competition for resources or business or hemispheric influence, and there lays the West scurrilous attack on China’s foray into the African continent. Only the gullible will believe that this is about Human Rights or Labor Practices or Best Business Practices, history has abundantly borne this out. In Nigeria, environmental pollution degradation by oil companies from America and Europe who have engaged in unbridled oil spillages and gas flaring. And Pfizer pharmaceuticals, which experimented its toxic concoctions on the innocent lives of Nigerian children in Kano City Nigeria, a thing Pfizer would never do in America or Europe! China so far, at least, has not engaged in the egregious practices for which many

American and European companies in African and most of the developing world are infamous.

Africa did not benefit from Western slave trade and colonialism in Africa and Westerners can be sure that Africans are no retards unaware of Africa’s best interests. On the other hand, African public intellectuals and of course, by what is African political leadership, should make it abundantly clear and certain to the Chinese that Africa need partners, friends and investors, but not re-colonization by anyone, from the west or east. The Westerners should hands off Africa. Let Africa chart her own course and path to progress, development and advancement. Africa have been stifled with strictures endlessly.

As for labor practices and pollution, oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria and elsewhere has not shown that companies and corporations run by Westerners are interested in Best Business Practices or Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Good Citizenship. Persistent oil spillages in Nigeria. Ruinous medical experiment in Kano Nigeria by Pfizer and activities of such as the ones by Union Carbide in Bhopal India are clearly indictments against phony and pretentious claims by Western business in the Africa and the rest of the developing world! Westerners have not laid any good precepts, and China cannot do any worse than Westerners have done. It is certainly better to have a wider pool of options of Foreign Direct Investments in Africa.

China invests wads and wads of dollars in America. China in effect underwrites a great deal of American public debt and why then is it that America does not tell China to go stuff her dollars elsewhere, because of her infamous record on democracy and human rights?

And I will say it a million times if I have to. Africans should be very wary of persons, such as umbrella sellers who also double as meteorologist in the habit of always predicting or forecasting rains.

Africans, including Nigerians of course, should want to know why America accepts money from China without even a whimper or murmur inclination to hinge such on and about China ‘s political economic systems and without raising issues about democratic forms of governance and human rights etc

Essentially therefore, Africa has nothing to show for a thousand years of Africa’s contact with America and Europe, unless of course Western Imperialism is considered a benefit to Africa. History does show, that Africa’s contact with America and Europeans, have only brought to the average African, endless sorrows, tears and shedding of bloods. Weapons of conflicts in African nations are not supplied by China.

The scramble for Africa, the white man conquest of the African continent had no Chinese input or participation. And lest the world forgets, China was not invited to the so-called Berlin Conference in which Western powers “shared” African amongst themselves, as if pirates dividing illegal loots. The Irish-Anglo historian, Thomas Pakenham wrote a book which he recounted the scramble for Africa. He detailed interventions in African affairs, encapsulates the horrors and brutalities meted upon Africa by Westerners, still evident today!

China was not invited to it, and China played no roles when Victorian England, Germany and rest of Europe partitioned Africa. And arbitrarily assigned African peoples to different European so-called mother countries of Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and others.

And now, it is China, Russia and the United States at scrambling anew, for needful resources to oil their economies, all puns intended! And Africa remains a great source of plethora of resources for industrial powers.

Africans should determine their own fate; apologies to President Obama. America and Europe must hands off Africa and allow Africans to determine who worthy and meaningful partners are. Africans are able to determine who are the true friends and partners of the continent.

African public intellectuals and political leadership, must insist that only Africans may rightly determine where Africa’s interests will be served and served with commitment and dedication, and above all, with respect. Westerners have for centuries sought prestige, strategic resources at Africa’s expense. For centuries, Africa has served Western expediencies, and needs in human cargoes, gold and diamond now, petroleum oil, to lubricate Westerners’ economic engines, while leaving Africa in poverty, and worse, actually ridiculing Africa for being poor and backward.

A thousand of years is proof enough of the abysmal and dismal effects of appalling methods used by Westerners in Africa and Westerners’ interventions in Africa have had no measurable beneficial effects and the Chinese have never been involved nor played any roles or parts in the nefarious activities by Westerners which have degraded and dehumanized Africans and the human conditions on the African continent. I therefore do not see the why Africans must allow Westerners, these same Westerners, of whom we are thoroughly familiar.

Westerners with blood in their hands; Westerners who now pretend to be acting in Africa’s best interests, be warning Africa against the Chinese “invasion and takeover” of Africa! The truth of the matter is that, Africa have in the past been bullied and stampeded into plied for Westerner health, wealth and happiness for far too long, and if the relationship between Westerners and Africa were a marriage, Africa should have had or demanded for divorce or separation long ago. Africa should be free to have “an affair” with the Chinese! Westerners have taken Africa for granted for hundreds of years. So perhaps it is time for Africa to tell Westerners that papa got a brand new bag.

Why is China being criticized for having no political views, on local matters in African nations in which the Chinese are making some inroads? Put conversely, why does the United States accept money from China to finance American public debts without a whimper or murmur about China’s Human Right records or and Chinese non-adherence to the fine ideals of democracy, freedom, liberty and the rule of law? But instead, President Obama upon assuming office and inheriting the economic meltdown; actually singled China out and appealed to China to continue to have faith in the resilience of the American economy. As he urged China keeping the tap of more dollars flowing into the American economy; this, even though, China already has more than a trillion dollars invested in purchase of American public debt.

Why would Westerners ignore all the “evils” reeking off China’s clothes, when the bell tolls for Westerners? But, the same Westerners are trepidations and stampede to warn Africa off, of, Chinese pungent undemocratic ways, and perverse-putrid human rights abuses, only now, because China is giving the Westerners a run for their money in Africa? Western self-interests of course! In China’s forays into various African nations, Westerners finally have a fidelity challenge. Let the competition begin, I’ll say.

The European Federation of Liberian Associations and the Liberian Student Association in Ghana have partnered to champion developmental agenda for and among Liberians in and out of Liberia.

This partnership agreement came into being in a closed-door meeting held between Delegates of EFLA and Executives and Patrons of LISA-GH at the Green Oak Hotel, Accra, Ghana, May 31, 2010.

According to the President of EFLA, John Brownell, EFLA first got in touch with its prospective partner (LISA-GH) through facebook, and subsequently began investigating the authenticity as well as its aims and objectives. EFLA was then convinced that the two Organizations were relatively moving in the same and rightful direction in championing national development.

A Founding Member and Advisor to EFLA,  Mark Miller, a Liberian Banker and Philanthropist based in the Kingdom of Belgium, said, ‘’EFLA sees LISA-GH as equal partner and working with us at this level  will be a long time partnership which could benefit each Association’’. Also with pictorial and documented evidence, he enumerated the programmes and projects EFLA had and currently undertaking in Liberia in the areas of Education, Health, and Small-Scale Businesses as well partnering numerous youth groups in Liberia.

He, however, stated that though the Federation’s two-week trip to Liberia is geared toward some charity purposes, this time, its focal mission  is to represent a dual purposed agenda such as the Issues of Dual Citizenship and Diaspora Presidential Voting Rights to the Senate, Youth groups, and appropriate entities including the general public. 

Concerning Petitions, EFLA wishes to champion such petitions based on the concerns of its members and other Liberians of Negro-Descends who are either born or Citizens of European Nations but want to be recognized by their Country of origin as Liberians because  Diasporan Liberians have been key contributors to socio-economic well-being of Liberia especially during and after the recent post war Liberia, through donations, remittances and or projects/business ventures  needed  to augment  the elections of those who govern the Nation.

Mr. Miller added that‘ EFLA is not pushing these agenda because of personal favour or the soon coming 2011 General Elections, rather, if petitions are accepted, it  leaves it to the Law-Makers and people of Liberia to work out their own modalities and timeframe’. This was in response to some questions raised as how EFLA can assure the people of mechanism to either prevent or track attempts to abuse both petitions when granted.

To the effect of the Associations’ promising partnership, LISA-GH, was offered a slot of representation for EFLA’s two-week Liberia trip and with a unanimous decision, the Acting President of LISA-GH, George Fabio Collins was asked to represent LISA-GH to Liberia.

Mr. Collins on his part expressed the Association’s gratitude for the partnership and pledged the Association’s full non-political affiliations for the betterment of mother-Liberia.

 Allison Hughes, a senior Liberian Lecturer at the University of Ghana at Legon, and a PHD Candidate in Physics, who is a founding Executive of LISA-GH since established in 1993, now Advisor to LISA-GH, stressed that Liberians in the Diaspora are key stakeholders in whatever happens in Liberia. He said the idea is good and  hopes that positive responses are gathered as the EFLA interacts with its target groups. He also advised the Delegates to solicit signatures along side the verbal responses, which could be shown to the Liberian Senate. He then encouraged LISA-GH to take advantage of the partnership for the benefit of mother Liberia.

EFLA, is a non-governmental or non-political umbrella Entity of European Liberian Organizations and Associations, established and registered in Belgium  but includes those in France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland while the rest do include Poland, Norway, UK and the Kingdom of Belgium.

The Objective of EFLA is to foster and enhance closer relationship, fellowship, and cultural and social development between Liberian Organizations in Europe to maintain concrete and constructive tie with Liberians at home (Liberia) thereby contributing to the development through programmes and projects.

 LISA-GH is also a non-political and non-profit making registered student Body aims to fostering Academic Excellence for National Development as well as championing the welfare of Liberian students at every level in Ghana, such as innovating or exploring encouraged avenues for the enticement of Liberian Youth in Ghana to prioritise education as the key factor for self and national empowerment.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of Liberian refugees living in the Liberian Refugee Camp at Buduburam in Ghana are confused over another verification process undertaken both by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR and the Government of the Republic of Ghana.

Since the issuing of UNHCR identification cards in October 2003, Liberian Refugees do continue to undergo series of verification exercises by the UNHCR and the Ghana Government without any concrete action taken to mitigate their plight. This situation seems to put the refugees in a state of dilemma.

The ongoing exercise, this time with a different nomenclature dubbed “Liberian Refugees Profiling Exercise”, began on the May 24, 2010. Although indicated to have ended on the 18 of June, 2010, the exercise is still in process.

Notices placed on the Settlement’s Information Board by the UNHCR-Ghana, do state, “this is a profiling exercise to ascertain your profile for a better identification of your protection needs and the application of the most suitable durable solution”. The notices also state that the Profiling Exercise is a protection tool. It is necessary because it will definitely give refugees the chance to participate in the durable solution offered by the UNHCR and Ghana Government. And the failure of any registered Liberian refugee to partake, may limit his/her opportunities to benefit from UNHCR and the Ghana Government’s durable solution options.

Notwithstanding, the UNHCR and Ghana Government’s durable solutions are yet to be spelt out by the notices on the Board.

Thousands of refugees’ names enlisted have been pasted on the Information Board with specific scheduled dates to meet personnel (Interviewers) who comprised of the staff of the UNHCR, Ghana Refugee Board, Ghana Immigration Service and Settlement Management.

Questions being asked which relatively seem not to be different from previous verification exercises held in 2007 and 2009 respectively are as follows:

-          Do you want to return to Liberia? If Yes when; If No Why?

-          Do you want to be locally integrated? If Yes or No Why?

Although the refugees have repeatedly said in previous exercises that they don’t fancy repatriation to Liberia at this time due to the fact that many lost homes and relatives to call home, the same questions continue to be asked every time

The continuous issue of Verification exercise continues to yield no fruitful result to the expectation of the interviewees (Liberian Refugees).Besides many Liberian refugees think such exercise raises eye-brows and calls for serious concerns among them. 

Some state that if the UNHCR and its implementing partners are interested in information about Refugees, they (UNHCR/Partners) should make reference to their database, since every information is computerized.

In another development, the $900,000 multi-purposed buildings project funded by the UNHCR-Ghana at the Buduburam Refugee Settlement, has been completed and turned over to the Ghana Government to be used as Gomoa District Offices of Ghana Police Service and Ghana National Fire Service as well as dwelling Apartments of Ghanaian Personnel who are and would be assigned at the Settlement, in addition to a Fire Service well equipped with  4×4 pick-up and another 4×4 Pick up for the patron unit of the Gomoa District Police Force.

These projects are among numerous building projects and other facilities donated by the UNHCR-Ghana that  the local Community continues to benefit from due to the stay of the Liberian Refugees who  fled into Ghana because of the brutal rebel incursion and economic hardships since 1990 to present, but have little to show as Refugees in terms of Education, Medicare, and other Socio-Economic opportunities/benefits.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I want to officially welcome President Sirleaf to the Oval Office.  I have been an extraordinary admirer of her work for many years now.  I fondly recall the speech that she delivered in a joint session of Congress when I was still in the Senate. 

The United States and Liberia are close friends, long-standing partners, and Liberia is now emerging from a very difficult period in its history.  Part of the reason that it has been able to emerge is because of the heroism and the courage of President Sirleaf.  Her own personal story obviously is extraordinary — somebody who came from being a prisoner to the first female President not just of her own country but also on the continent.

And over the last several years, what we’ve seen is a continued determination on her part to have a full accounting of some of the tragedies that took place earlier — making sure that the country is refocused on development, being willing to tackle corruption, which obviously plagues not just Liberia but countries throughout the continent of Africa.  She has been committed to rule of law.  She has made strides in reforming her judiciary. 

And in all these endeavors, I want to make sure that the people of Liberia understand and I certainly want you, Madam President, to understand that the United States is going to be a constant friend and partner in these efforts.  We are working with Liberia on a food initiative that will help to create greater food security and independence in the country.  We continue to work with the Liberian government on issues like maternal health and education. 

There has been extraordinary cooperation between our two countries in the issue of counterterrorism as well as drug trafficking, because unfortunately the western coast of Africa increasingly is seen as a place where drug traffickers internationally may be able to operate with impunity.  And so on all these issues, we have been able to cultivate a strong partnership, a strong relationship, and I want President Sirleaf to know that that will continue. 

I also want to commend her for her commitment to democracy.  There are going to be legislative and presidential elections in 2011.  And part of President Sirleaf’s legacy is that she will continue to usher in a sense that democracy is the regular way of doing business in Liberia.  And in that way, she can be an example for countries like Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire and Niger that I think can — should look to Liberia as an example for democracy and rule of law.

So, Madam President, welcome.  We are grateful to you for your extraordinary work.  I still recall in your speech that part of the reason you ran was because you wanted to see the children of Liberia smiling again, and I want you to know that we have that same hope and that same dream for Liberia and will be there with you every step of the way.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON SIRLEAF:  Mr. President, I want to thank you very much.  I’m extremely proud, extremely pleased, to have this opportunity to meet with you.  In 2006 when our government stopped, we inherited a broken country — devastated by war, people displaced, infrastructure broken, institutions dysfunctional — but we said that we were going to make Liberia rise again.

I come today on behalf of the Liberian people to say that we’ve made a lot of progress in that commitment.  We’ve been able to maintain peace for seven years now.  And I say that today, our children who are entering first grade have known — not known a gun and not had to run, and that’s great progress. 

Our security sector reform, with the United States’ support, has come a long way with the training of our new army.  Today, we’re reopening our economy — our mining, forestry, and agriculture sectors.  We’ve tackled our debt.  We’re beginning to provide basic services by restoring infrastructure such as roads, clinics, and schools and lights and water — things that our people have been deprived of for more than two decades. 

And we’re also establishing the rule of law and governance.  Freedoms — we say today, that all freedoms, basic fundamental freedoms, are allowed in the country.  And we’re very proud of that.

We have challenges, and I’ll be the first to admit that — challenges in national capacity because most of our brains left the country.  I want to thank you for your approval of the DED that extended them for 18 months, allowing them to stay a little bit while we prepare to receive them.  Corruption; the rule of law; our judiciary system and its weakness; unemployment among the many young who did not have the opportunity to go to school, who knew only war and violence in their young days. 

But those challenges we see as the ones that we have to tackle.  And the progress we have made enable us to have the commitment and capacity to meet those challenges.

I want you to know that the United States has been a great partner to us.  We could not have achieved the progress that we have had if we had not had the support in those initial days when we were just scrambling and looking for the ways to be able to go forward.  The U.S. was there as a great partner. 

And so the administration as well as the Congress has been very supportive of us.  It has continued through these four years.  And I’m just here to say that the return on your investment is beginning to come.  We hope that that return will be even greater in the next few years when we consolidate the peace and when we are able to deliver basic services to our people.  I bring you greetings on behalf of the Liberian people.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Excellent.  Well, thank you so much.  Thank you,  everybody.  Thank you, guys.

A group of 124 organizations from more than 25 African countries released a declaration today
calling on African governments to advance accountability for grave international crimes at the review conference for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The conference, which will take place in Kampala, Uganda from May 31 to June 11, 2010, is being convened to discuss amendments to the court’s treaty.

“The civil society declaration is a strong showing of support for positive African government action at the Kampala conference and for the ICC more generally,” said Oby Nwankwo, executive director of Nigeria’s Civil Resource Development and Documentation Center. “While some leaders have tried to paint Africa as against the ICC, our voices are testament to the fallacy of such claims.”

The declaration was developed in consultation with multiple African civil society groups that have collaborated on issues relating to Africa and the ICC over the past year. The declaration does not address proposed amendments to the ICC statute, including aggression, but provides views on other issues of importance for the ICC that will be covered at the conference, such as the impact of justice on victims and cooperation with the court.

The review conference’s location in Uganda adds to its significance, as the event can help forge a stronger link between the ICC and Africa, the declaration said. The review conference will also be an important opportunity for victims and civil society to be heard on the ICC.

Governments have the opportunity to make concrete commitments to advance support for the court at the conference in the form of pledges. The declaration urges African states to pledge to assist the ICC, including by working to establish a liaison office at the African Union and by enacting laws to implement the ICC treaty domestically.

“The Kampala conference offers an exceptional occasion for African governments to help advance the global fight against impunity,” said Mohammed Ndifuna, executive director of Human Rights Network-Uganda. “Our leaders should use the conference to restate their commitment to justice for victims and pledge to take steps to assist the ICC.”

The signature list for the declaration includes endorsements up through May 24. However, more signatures are expected throughout the conference, and an updated version will be made available once the conference ends.

The Ethiopian regime, in power for two decades, took, in the words of the smooth talking and Machiavellian Prime Minister, “a calculated risk” during the 2005 election. In the same interview Mr. Zenawi went on to add “one of the most enduring qualities of our party is not to make the same mistake twice.” This time around EPRDF took no chances and no déjà vu.

After the dubious 2005 election, the Ethiopian government slowly but surely emasculated the country’s fledgling free press, using a draconian press law that went into effect despite international condemnation and local outcry, followed by a similarly heavy-handed legislation enfeebling an otherwise budding civil society.  The two combined to take the steam out of an already fragile and fatally fractured pro-democracy movement.

At the absence of independent media and a vibrant civil society, Ethiopia’s regime enjoyed a free-ride,  in the government’s own language an incumbency advantage, leading up to the 2010 election marred with irregularities.

In the closing days of the campaign and for the most part on Election Day, the western media, whose traditional role was limited and incomplete, provided wide coverage, albeit superficial for the most part repeating old clichés. However, blogging proved to be an indispensable alternative in a country where state-sanctioned and state-controlled media predominate.

Considering the regime’s vow to mute-out all  media critical to its policies and practices, for example the Prime Minister’s openly admitted jamming the U.S government funded, Voice of America, I was pleasantly surprised come election day inundated with a dearth of real-time information.

In that regard, the newly rebranded addisnegeronline.com, andinet.org and abugidainfo.com ruled the way. On the other end of the continuum, much like in Iran and other countries that recently held elections, social media such as Facebook offered the much needed free-speech neighborhood, even if only virtual.

According to a FaceBook informant based in Addis Ababa, prominent Oromo -Ethiopian websites including Opride, Gadaa, EthioMedia, Nazret and EthiopianReview, among others, remained blocked throughout the Election Day. At Opride.com, we are able to validate this claim as the site registered zero visitors from Ethiopia, quite an unusual day since it is one of the most frequently accessed sites.

Much like the second “national election” in 2000, the 2010 election was uneventful, lacking drama, or surprise.  It was marked with a record low turn-out indicative of the lack of competition and voter apathy. Yet, the intriguing real-time nationwide Election update by AddisNeger reporters kept us — the Diaspora — interested and somewhat connected to the events in the country. That I think shows a tremendous potential for the opposition, democracy and human rights activists in charting the next course of the struggle against a ruthless, cunning and highly entrenched dictatorship in Ethiopia.

Wide-Spread Report of Intimidation and Irregularities:

The bloggers generally painted a bleak picture. Intimidation of opposition activists and supporters, observers and a host of irregularities are reported throughout the breath and length of the country. The situation was most dire in the Oromia region, where the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), regime’s affiliate, was pitied against Oromo People’s Congress (OPC). The flashpoint was Ambo, a hotbed of Oromo Nationalism and a history of opposition to the regime, dating back to the waning days of the previous regime when EPRDF was a ragtag rebel army, less sure of itself. Ambo was peculiar in the sense that it saw high turnout. Fearing the outcome the regime barred all opposition observers from the polling sites.

The situation was not any better in Tigray, where the ruling party faced its first challenge from disgruntled former members. In Tambien where Siyye Abreha, a popular leader of the opposition and a former defense minister ran, security forces fired into the air and gunned video camera to scare off would be opposition votes.

The situation in the capital, normally a bastion of the opposition, was not any different. False reports of withdrawal from the contest forced Negasso Gidada, a former President (a nominal position) and a former member of the ruling party, to issue a frantic rebuttal, but the damage was already done.

When Results Start to Come In The Coming Days: What to Watch For?

The opposition is made to melt away empty handed with their tails between their legs. Unconfirmed AddisNeger and Opride sources show, no opposition leader secured seats. Absent from the new parliament are Dr Marara Gudina, Siyye Abreha, Hailu Shawel, Aregash Adane, Beyene Petros and many others. Even the pro-government Lidetu Ayalew, maligned by the opposition as an EPRDF Trojan Horse, is not spared. The EPRDF came out with vengeance and wiped out the opposition from the electoral map. 

Medrek: What’s next?

Electorally speaking, Medrek is all but extinct. It was a highly incoherent hodge-podge amalgamation of interests to begin with and now that it is rendered into disarray, the immediate question is whether it would bow down to the fear unleashed by the EPRDF and accept the lopsided result or reject it as a blatant assault and a blemish on democracy.

The regime has upped the ante. An albatross in the form of trumped up charges is hanging over the neck of most of the opposition leaders. Merera is implicated in the murder of a policeman. It is a preposterous and baseless allegation but enough to intimidate into submission even a proud man such as Marara.  Gizachew and Mr. Shawel served time in the aftermath of the 2005 election and will be loathe to ever going back to Kalitti. Siyye was incarcerated for six years under bogus charges of corruption. Bulcha Demeksa, the unflinching lion of the rubberstamp parliament, has already called it quits.

The public is too intimidated to come to the rescue of the opposition. Many have lost nerve as to see any glimmer of hope on the horizon. Support for the opposition carries the certain prospect of imprisonment, dismissal from work, harassment; loss of business and employment opportunities.

Given their woeful lack of independence, the courts are a dead-end as an avenue to seek a judicial redress.  The electoral board is an arm of the EPRDF. The international community is unlikely to come to their aid, either. The Chinese and the Asians would not risk their burgeoning investment in agriculture, construction and mining. The rise of the Al-Shabaab in next door Somalia sends shivers in the West. And hence, the West is too preoccupied with the “war on terror” to risk alienating a reliable ally.  The sense of stability that Meles promises to provide, however short-sighted, would drown the call for democracy and human rights. The African Union is too beholden to the status quo to even symbolically challenge a person at the head of the club of Africa’s Big Men.

The Future of Ethiopia: Development without Freedom

For Meles Zenawi, the Chinese example he has been touting is more than an academic interest. The Prime Minister’s talk of the model of Southeast Asian Tigers is more than intellectual curiosity.

The EPRDF leader believes, economic development is the quickest route to political legitimacy. The reason is that rapid progress requires a “developmental state”. The thesis is that the public would be amenable to lack of political liberty if the regime delivers the economic goods.  EPRDF cadres are openly talking of a 50 year reign in the footsteps of the Chinese Communist party. That is to be “the new black.”

Non-Violent or Armed Struggle: Revisited

The 20 year old political experiment is coming to an abrupt end. EPRDF is not going to allow being unseated at the ballot box. Armed struggle has also not delivered. Even the ONLF, the most militarily active resistance group, is reduced to a ghost of its recent past. OLF is no more militarily. Eritrea, to whom those aspiring to lead armed resistance against EPRDF gravitated over the last decade, is too weak, not to mention too confused, to lend a hand. The Eritrean regime is no friend of democracy and freedom in Ethiopia and cannot be counted on as an ally in the fight against EPRDF. 

The Oromo movement as we come to know of it has failed to change. Without a fundamental restructuring and consolidation, it is on the verge of kissing the angel of death. OLF, the most promising of all Ethiopian rebel groups, is too busy with its internal divisions. Many of its 1970s era leaders are oblivious, deaf and blind, to the radically transformed reality on the ground. Pro-Ethiopia groups are either wedded to the barren election-based strategy or old dreams that can no longer be realized.

The dire situation calls for a novel approach, a brand new course of action. The youth, especially students, need to be at the forefront of this new movement. The Oromo need to abandon playing only in half of the soccer field if it hopes to win an entrenched and adroit enemy playing on all positions and corners of the field and also outside.  The Amhara groups need to relinquish taking the Oromo factor as an afterthought. Clear now than ever before is, EPRDF cannot be removed unless the Oromo is at the center of the struggle.

The Youth of Ethiopia has to learn from the successful example of the Serbian student movement. To adapt the strategy to Ethiopia one has to take into account the issue of diverse interests. The Oromo could not do it alone. The Amhara could not do it either. The two could also not do it by excluding the rest of Ethiopians. The coming of Tigrean elites to the opposition camp is an added value in that regard.

Unlike the students of the 1970s, the rallying motto needs to be democracy and freedom. The land issue and the general question of the dispossession of the weak, poor and vanquished by the powerful has become a central issue. Students need to organize around these central issues or choose to forgo political liberty as pipe-dream and an unrealizable ideal and march forward with the vanguard party, EPRDF. Welcome to a sister country of the Communist China.

To the opposition, paraphrasing Charles De Gaulle, “you might have lost the battle not the war”, and at the end we shall Overcome!

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 Oromsis Adula is the Editor -In-Chief of Opride.com, a multimedia weblog that aggregates Oromo, Ethiopian and Horn of African news. Oromsis writes regular news commentaries and Op-Eds on current issues that affect the Oromo people in Ethiopia.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia should demonstrate leadership in accelerating the establishment of the country’s Independent National Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint letter to the president today.

The 2003 Accra Peace Agreement, which brought Liberia’s years of armed conflict to an end, called upon the Liberian government to create an Independent National Human Rights Commission, and in 2005, the Independent National Commission on Human Rights Act was passed into law. Five years later, the government and parliament still have not established a human rights commission in Liberia.

“The government’s failure to establish the Human Rights Commission has stymied progress in protecting human rights in Liberia,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “An effective Human Rights Commission would help foster a culture of human rights in a country scarred by war, violence, and impunity.”

The Liberian government’s failure to establish the commission undermines Liberia’s postwar recovery, respect for human rights, and its anti-corruption agenda, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. While plans to establish the commission remain in limbo, the country has experienced ongoing violence and internecine conflict, striking deficiencies in judiciary, police, and corrections operations, vigilante justice, and high incidence of rape of women and girls. It is just such problems that the commission would be designed to address.

Establishment of the Human Rights Commission has met repeated roadblocks over the past five years. Most recently, in February 2010, the Liberian Senate rejected all proposed commissioners without offering any public explanation - and rejected them a second time in March, after the names were resubmitted in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the process. A new, reconstituted vetting committee, headed by the former head of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Pearl Brown-Bull, was set up in April to select new candidates.

“The President needs to demonstrate leadership in pushing for the prompt establishment of a functioning independent and effective national human rights commission,” said Etelle Higonnet, West Africa researcher at Amnesty International. “It should be one of her top priorities.”

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the Liberian government to help ensure the success of the new committee by making public the official budget and time frame for vetting commissioners, involving civil society in the process, and ensuring that the committee’s work will be fully transparent. The groups further urged the Liberian Senate to consider the confirmation of nominated commissioners individually and not as a group.

“We are concerned that the selection process for commissioners is not adequately transparent with respect to process, time-frames, budgets, guidelines, or civil society consultation,” Higonnet said.

Under the Independent National Commission for Human Rights Act, the commission is mandated to monitor and report on human rights violations in Liberia, as well as to review and, where appropriate, act on the recommendations of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, released in December 2009. Some of the recommendations, including the establishment of a hybrid international-national tribunal to prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed during the armed conflict, and the barring from public office of former supporters of the warring factions, have sparked considerable controversy.