Reformation for all Liberians

Liberia Needs It Now!Reformation for all Liberians
By: Sekou B. Korleh

6/10/2005

It has been too long when our country, Liberia, has suffered from lack of functional institutions. It has been too long when a few persons have always squandered the resources that belong to everybody. It has been too long since the Liberian presidents have masqueraded as the lords and owners of the LAND and everything therein. It has been too long when "the people" of Liberia have not been educated on the strength that is embedded within their power as a people. It has been too long when men have ascended to power in Liberia and have abused their oath of office. It has been too long since violators of the basic tenets of the laws have gone with impunity. It has been too long since Liberia has cried for a caring MOTHER. It has been too long since the heart-warming cry, "Help is on the way" was sounded. In deed, it has been too long since Liberia has longed for REFORMATION. The matter of fact is, Liberia needs it now!

As we approach the most important elections in our history, we have again begun to see candidates upon candidates. We have begun to hear promises shrouded in promises. But this time around we, the VOTERS, are smarter than the candidates really think we are. We vow to analyze every single word of every single speech and then dissect the track records of each candidate. We will consider the practicality in their promises, and we will vote not for them but for Liberia. We will transcend partisanship, tribal or religious commitments and vote for a genuine REFORMATION for all Liberians. In these elections, we will vote wisely; and we will vote for the best interest of Liberia. For so long we have heard that "there is light at the end of the tunnel," Liberia needs that LIGHT now!

The Reform Agenda that has been envisioned to be the driving force behind Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's candidacy promises to be genuine, firm, and too honest to ever be embraced by the beneficiaries of the status quo in Liberia. Though they are in the minority, the people who have continued to benefit from the unending circle of stealing in Liberia, will attempt to do everything within their powers to resist Ellen's Reform Agenda; a Reform that promises to refine our culture of inefficiency that is predicated upon dishonesty and self aggrandizement; a Reform that will reduce the size of the government to a small but functional size. This is the Reform that eradicates the redundancies in government but expands the private sector, whereby national resources will no longer be stolen by a few elements in society. This is the Reform that will create an environment in which every citizen will have the chance to reach his or her potential. Indeed, Ellen's Reform Agenda promises to be firm and unprecedented in our Country, but Liberia needs it now!

In Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf we see an absolute desire to reform our society that has been entrenched, for a long time, in reckless and flagrant disrespect for the rule of law. In Ellen we see the willingness and ability to sacrifice all that she has ever worked for only for the purpose of building a vibrant and functional institution in Liberia. From her eyes protrudes a message that sounds like "Enough of this stealing! Enough of Presidents acting like Lords. Enough is enough!" From her words one can literally see a small but spotlessly clean and a "well to do" Country where rice farms, coffee farms, schools, airports, hospitals, factories and laboratories are busy twenty-fours around the clock. Under Ellen's presidency one can clearly create a mental image of a functional society where children are neatly dressed in school uniforms in the morning hours and they are giving kisses to their parents and happily heading off to school. The creation of such a functional society where everyone has the chance to enjoy the fundamental aspects of life is a difficult task, but Liberia needs it now!

As we get ready to vote, remember that the T-shirts, face caps, handout foods, and the political rhetoric that the other candidates offer to you do not matter as much as the REFORMATION that Liberia needs now! Vote wisely and remember that Liberia Needs It Now!
______________________________________________________________________The author, Sekou B. Korleh, holds dual degrees in Psychology and Political Science from Temple University. Sekou Korleh is a political activist and official member of many political movements. He can be reached at Skorleh@aol.com.

Debt Cut Is Set for Poorest Nations

Debt Cut Is Set for Poorest Nations; Deal Would Cancel $40 Billion in Loans

Finance Chiefs Cancel Debt of 18 Nations

Finance Chiefs Cancel Debt of 18 Nations
By ALAN COWELL, NY Times

Published: June 12, 2005

LONDON, June 11 - The world's wealthiest nations formally agreed Saturday to cancel at least $40 billion of debt owed to international agencies by the world's poorest lands, most of them in Africa.

After late-night talks in London, the finance ministers of the Group of 8 industrialized nations announced that the deal, long in negotiation, had been intended to avoid damaging the ability of international lenders like the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund to continue helping other poor countries.

"This is a historic moment," said John W. Snow, the United States Treasury secretary, one of the participants. "A real milestone has been reached."

The deal on Saturday was expected to ease the 18 poorest countries' annual debt burden by $1.5 billion. They are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. All must take anticorruption measures.

Gordon Brown, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, asked at the news conference whether debt relief was also conditional on good government practices by the recipients, said part of the deal was for poor countries to use the money they saved on debt servicing for health, education or the relief of poverty.

The agreement came after months of negotiations in which the United States had been pressing the other Group of 8 countries - Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia - to agree that the solution to poor countries' indebtedness was to cancel their debt burden completely rather than seek simply to ease it by taking over interest repayments.

"It is my hope today that this reform will conclusively end the destabilizing lend-and-forgive approach to development assistance in low-income countries," Mr. Snow said. In the future, he said, "grants would be used to ensure that countries do not quickly reaccumulate unsustainable debts."

The agreement, which followed talks in Washington this week between President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, was struck less than four weeks before the Group of 8 leaders hold a summit meeting at Gleneagles, Scotland. Mr. Blair is the current chairman of the Group of 8 and has placed the relief of African poverty along with global warming at the head of an ambitious agenda.

Advocacy groups and charities have pressed for a deal on debt relief for years and some welcomed the agreement on Saturday, saying it cleared the way for a broader announcement on combating African poverty at Gleneagles.

"We want a comprehensive breakthrough on more, better development assistance as well as trade reform at Gleneagles and with debt mostly taken care of we can keep up the pressure for a large package," said Seth Amgott, a spokesman for a coalition of American charities and advocacy groups called ONE.

Some other groups noted that 44 more countries were still burdened by debt to international lenders. Britain is also pressing for a doubling of international aid to Africa, but it is not clear whether that goal will be reached before the Gleneagles summit meeting.

Significantly, a statement by the Group of 8 finance ministers did not formally exclude other initiatives to fight poverty, including a tax on airline tickets proposed by France and Germany and a British proposal to raise money for poverty relief on international financial markets.

Both of those ideas are opposed by the United States, but their inclusion seemed to be part of a trade-off to secure agreement on the cancellation of debt. Asked about American opposition to an aviation tax on Saturday, Mr. Snow said, "Our position is the same."

Mr. Brown said Group of 8 countries had agreed to compensate the World Bank and the African Development Bank in particular for forfeiting interest payments on poor countries' debt, so those groups would have the income to make new loans to other countries. "We could not contemplate a situation," he said, where debt cancellation for some poor countries was made at the expense of other poor countries.

The United States agreed to pay up to $1.75 billion in compensation to international lenders over the next 10 years, while Britain agreed to pay up to $960 million. Other Group of 8 countries made their own, undisclosed pledges; more pledges are expected from other members of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund this year.

Mr. Brown said the agreement on Saturday would immediately affect some $40 billion in debt, including servicing costs. But the amount it will actually cost the Group of 8 to compensate the international lenders is $16.7 billion - a calculation based on the payments the international lenders would have expected to receive from 18 debt countries between now and 2015, the officials said.

Over all, international lenders are owed some $55.6 billion, Mr. Brown said. The finance ministers said Group of 8 members would compensate the World Bank and the African Development Bank for their losses. But the International Monetary Fund would be able to use "existing resources" of its own to cancel the $6 billion it is owed by poor countries. Mr. Snow said this would require "no use of gold" - rebutting proposals by Mr. Brown for the I.M.F. to sell or revalue gold reserves to finance debt cancellation.

18 Countries To Benefit G8 HIPIC (Highly-Indebted Poor Countries Initiative)

Twenty-seven countries are eligible for debt relief under the HIPC (highly-indebted poor countries initiative). The 18 that have reached completion point, and will therefore qualify for immediate debt relief, are shown in bold:

Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia

Plucky's Notes: Liberia is probably among countries to receive future debt relief when requisite conditions are met.

Cautious welcome for G8 debt deal (Many African Countries To Benefit)