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 I have just read another of Yanqui Zaza’s articles about corruption in Liberia. It seems like he is on a crusade against corruption in Liberia but his anti-corruption crusade is different from the one that has been spearheaded by newspaper such as Frontpage Africa. In its crusade, Frontpage Africa has exposed many government officials who have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Some prominent examples of recent are the former Information Minister, Rev. Dr. Laurence Bropleh and Chairman of the Board of Director of MTA, Mr. Jackson E. Doe.
What makes Zaza’s crusade different from that of the Frontpage’s is that he is simply trying to proof that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is directly or indirectly engaged in business activities in Liberia through some relatives and close associates. This, according to Mr. Zaza, is a “conflict of interests.” Zaza goes on to say that the president can’t serve two masters (the interest of Liberia and the interest of profit making). The president’s supporters in her defense have continuously said that she is not engaged in any business activity while serving as president of Liberia. They have said that whatever Zaza is saying is an allegation that he cannot prove with hard facts. Some of them think that Zaza is one of those perpetual critics who will criticize no matter how much is been accomplished by the administration in Liberia.
In this article, I am not trying to disprove Zaza, nor am I trying to prove that the president is not involved in any business activity directly or indirectly. What I am trying to say is that it should not be surprising or a big deal if the president or any official of government is directly or indirectly engaged in business provided they are doing so within the confine of the law. Elsewhere in the world, particularly here in the United States, government officials including the presidents are directly or indirectly engaged in some profit making ventures. They are either owners, or share holders of companies, or have money invested in stocks.
Let’s look at some examples of successful politicians in other countries who are also directly or indirectly involved in business. Let our first example be the former president of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana. According a profile I read of Mr. Ravalomanana on line, he “was in his early 20s when he abandoned the academic road to become a businessman. He started producing home made yogurt which he sold on the streets of Antananarivo off the back of his bicycle, with the help of his wife Lalao. Less than two years later, assisted by the Protestant Church, of which today he is the vice president, Mr Ravalomanana managed to secure a loan from the World Bank to purchase his first factory.” Accordingly, his business empire, TIKO, is the “largest non foreign owned company in Madagascar.”
Let’s look at Michael Blooomberg, the city mayor of New York City. According to March 2009, Forbes magazine’s report, Michael Bloomberg is worth $16 billion dollars. His businesses generated a profit of $4.5 billion since 2008, making him one of the “most successful billionaires in the United States during the recession, and the world's biggest increase in wealth in 2009.” When he became mayor of New York, he did not throw away his business. While he’s mayor, his businesses are still being operated and making profits. One interesting fact about Bloomberg is that he only takes an annual salary of $1.00 as the city mayor of New York.
Senator John McCain and his wife Cindy McCain are said to be worth between 45 million to 100 million dollars. How they made this much? Your guess is good as mine. And President Obama is a successful author who has earned millions of dollars from book sales. Up to now, not only are his books selling well, books written about him by other people are generating millions of dollars as well.
In our own country, Liberia, there are quite a number of government officials that had their own private businesses. Tommy Bernard was one of them and his son, Archie Bernard, also a business man, was a senator during the regime of President Samuel Doe. George Weah made millions of dollars as an international soccer player. I am sure he has his money invested in some businesses (the only one I know is his King FM radio station in Monrovia). If he should become president in the future, he will certainly not going to throw his businesses away. Before becoming president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf worked as a banker for some high profile banks, including Citi and World banks. I am sure that as a banker, she knows something about business and I won’t be surprised to believe she has some investments before becoming president and she may directly or indirectly have some investment either in or out of Liberia. According to published reports, couple of her children followed her foot step into banking. These are just few examples and the list could go on and on. So I don’t think Yanqui Zaza’s article, “Pres Sirleaf business interest, conflict of interest?" should be considered a startling revelation. It is one thing to be a public official and own a business entity and absolutely another thing if that business venture is found violating any law of the country.
Taking all the above into consideration makes me to wonder why people like Yanqui Zaza are trying to make a big deal over the fact that close relatives and close associates of the president are engaging in business in Liberia while elsewhere it’s not so much of a big deal. I believe that people with proven records of success as mangers of their own entities have different motives for public service than others who have not even built a kitchen for themselves and see public service as means of creating wealth they cannot accumulate on their own. The challenge that poses is whether we expect our leaders to be poor with no income beyond their salaries even if that may not be sufficient to take care of them. Shouldn’t it be logical to think that when a person has not built even a kitchen for himself he would be more tempted to steal when he’s in position of trust than someone who is financially secure through private investment?
Reading through Yanqui Zaza’s articles, one may come out with the conclusion that he and people that think like him find people guilty for waning to be rich through business ventures. It is such a mindset that is perpetuating poverty in Liberia. We are not inspired or motivated by other people’s success. We despise them. When our neighbor is living in a nice house while we are living in a zinc shack; when our neighbor is eating three square meals a day when we can barely afford one; we hold him or her accountable for our impoverishment. This reminds me of my hard working mother who made donuts, soap, sold snuffs, and operated a shop which made her relatively well off compared to some of her neighbors, and because of that in the eyes of some of her neighbors she was guilty of her success. It didn’t matter to them how much effort she put in, but the fact that she was doing well was enough for some people to hate her. There are many stories of people who were killed by the fighters for this very reason.
Reading Zaza’s articles reminds me of those killers who killed people whose success they thought was responsible for their suffering. People with this mentality are still in Liberia. They feel like they are poor simply because other people are successful. They seize other people’s homes and make them their own. It doesn’t bother their conscience that other people struggled to build those houses which they want to take false ownership of. It doesn’t bother their conscience that they are depriving the legitimate owners their right to live in the homes they worked hard to build.
In my response to one of Zaza’s articles on EveryLiberian listserv, I said, “The war is over and Liberia needs economic recovery. I don't see anything wrong with people who have connection with the president engaged in business in Liberia. The question for me is whether there is a case of unfair business practice where businesses belonging to president's relatives or close associates are preventing other people from doing business in Liberia.” In my email on the listserv, I told Zaza that “America will not be America without its Henry Fords, Donald Trumps, Bill Gates, etc. It is these entrepreneurs with profit making motive that fuel the American economic that has attracted me and Yanqui Zaza to come to the US seeking for greener pasture.” I went on to say that “The president has been going everywhere encouraging foreign investors to come to Liberia. She has also been encouraging Liberians to come home for the same reason. If there are Liberians who want to take advantage of the opportunities to make business and make some profits, let them go ahead and do so even if they happen to be relatives and close associates of the president.”
While it’s a good thing that independent media and individuals are up in arm against corruption in Liberia, it is very important that we have clear evidence of what we are talking about rather than speculate. In view of this, Yanqui Zaza’s challenge is to prove that businesses owned by the president’s relatives or close associates are violating any law of the country. To just say they are engaged in business activities is not enough to say they are guilty. If he wants to be taken seriously in his anti-corruption crusade, I will advise that he comes out with solid statistics that will show how those relatives or associates of the president are guilty of unfair business practices, how they are defrauding the government of taxes they should be paying to our national coffer, or whether they are fairly treating their employees and how those businesses are not benefiting Liberia in any way. Since Liberia is a country of law, one will expect that the law will go after businesses that engage in unfair business practices.
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About the author: Nvasekie N. Konneh is a Liberian poet and write and veteran of the US Navy. He’s the author of the book of poetry, “Going to War for America.” Since 1992 up to present, Nvasekie Konneh has written extensively in newspapers in Liberia and the US. His articles and poems have appeared in many newspapers and websites. Nvasekie Konneh currently resides in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, where he has completed a memoir, The Land of My Father’s Birth, chronicling his experience of growing up in Liberia, his refugee life in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in the early 90s and his nine years of service in the US Navy. He can be reached at
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