AFRICAN PANORAMA
“GOOD PLAYERS DON’T FIGHT OVER JERSEY”




By Siahyonkron Nyanseor
S-CLOPD Staff Writer


November 18, 2011


Lawrenceville, Georgia:

History makes strange bedfellows because it has the tendency to repeat itself. It repeated April 14, 1979 on November 7, 2011 with similar events which occurred when the government of William R. Tolbert, Jr. provoked peaceful demonstrators of the Progress Alliance of Liberia (PAL); its members, supporters and bystanders, causing the deaths of scores of unarmed people, wounding numerous more.

I often wonder about this behavior of most African leaders. Why do they continue to repeat the same old mistakes - imposing their authority and employing fear to hold onto POWER. The only answer that can explain this behavior is the Liberian idiom – “Good players don’t fight over jerseys”. Who  remembers? These African leaders behave like “Cats licked their faces”. So they continue to throw rocks and hide their hands. They also push up fire for HELL to break loose and apportion the BLAME on the UNARMED VICTIMS who did nothing for their government to treat them like ANIMALS. If they're a "good player like OPPONG, they don’t have to “FIGHT OVER JERSEY."

The Liberian Run-Off Presidential Election is like a soccer match; we refer to the not so good players as FECEE, BONOAH and TAMNAN; the ones who FIGHT OVER JERSEYS’ #5, #7 & #9; only to give up these jerseys when the good players arrive on the field. This analogy applies to the recent behavior of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her Unity Party (UP) government when they invaded the headquarters of CDC on the grounds that its leadership refused to play by their RULES – to PARTICIPATE IN A RUN-OFF ELECTION whose PLAYING FIELD IS NOT LEVEL.

When we last checked, it is a RIGHT provided by the Liberian Constitution to engage in a PEACEFUL PROTEST when they feel their RIGHTS are being violated or violated by the government that is supposed to PROTECT THOSE RIGHTS.

It is sad for an organization such as the Liberian Council of Churches that is supposed to be CHRIST-LIKE, proactive, will behave like JOHNNIE COME LATELY; to engage the injured group to reconcile during a crisis. RECONCILE WHAT? This is just another way of saying to the victims, give up your RIGHTS, the government that violated it will always be RIGHT because it has the RAW POWER. This is HYPOCRATICAL! If the Jesus we serve is called to mediate a dispute such as this between CDC and Ellen’s Unity Party government, He will surely side with CDC, and not RECONCILE with a government that refuses to admit their WRONGS. These old tactics of mediation employed by the Unity Party (UP) government and the Liberian Council of Churches will do the Liberian people no good because the truth is on the side of CDC and the 99% of the Liberian masses.

Even worse, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf played a key role in the 14-year civil war that caused the deaths 250,000 Liberians, and thousands of others physical and psychological injuries; destroyed the entire infrastructure and major social and health services. Her government is now bent on holding onto POWER “by any means necessary”.  How does this government intend to accomplish this? Employ and send out “Journalists” like Gabriel Williams, Rodney Sieh, et al, on a PR Smear Campaign to manufacture ALL SORTS OF LIES – including IMAGINARY ONES. One such article titled: “Danger of Using the Media to Incite Violence in Africa: The Recent Case of Liberia”; was published on the credible website of The Liberian Journal on Tuesday, November 16, 2011.

According Mr. Williams: “The CDC officials and members reportedly took to the airwaves and made such statements: ‘The government is killing us indiscriminately … More than 15 persons, including pregnant women and children have been slaughtered …We call on all our supporters to get ready for action …

“Those individuals who spewed their venom of hate and threat of violence live on the airwaves immediately after police clashed with supporters of CDC at the party’s headquarters when the CDC supporters reportedly proceeded to stage an unauthorized demonstration, blocking traffic and setting tires on fire in the street. When the Liberian police and UN peacekeepers moved in to stop the illegal demonstration, they were attacked with stones and other missiles by the hooligans. The police responded with teargas, but the situation deteriorated to a point that the police reportedly fired on the protesters resulting in a loss of life, while there was some looting and vandalizing of property.”

In this PR piece, Mr. Gabriel Williams resorted in KARTO journalistic practice – imploring the use of MISINFORMATION. If he were a student of mine taking Journalism 101, I would give him “F+” for writing such an article without supporting evidence. Nowhere did he show that the independent media which at least appears  sympathetic to  reporting the views of the opposition, reported the news any other way, than reporting the news as they see the issues. What Mr. Williams, a paid employee of the government failed to say is, the independent media exercised its independence NOT TO REPORT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS THEM TO REPORT. How could reporting the CORRECT NEWS incite violence? We challenge Journalist Williams and his associates to provide all evidence on which his so-called case study is based.

We are here to serve notice on those that will post anything on the World Wide Web that CANNOT BE SUBSTANIATED BY IMPARICAL FACTS to be ready to hear from the OPPOSITION’S RAPID RESPONSE TEAM (ORRT). The government may have ALL the MONEY to spend but what the government does not have is patriotic, compassionate and dedicated individuals; we are true believers in working for the 99% of the Liberian people; whereas, the government’s KARTO Journalists are like MERCENARIES, they are not loyal; many of them will even work for the DEVIL if the DEVIL’s purse is RIGHT. That’s the difference between the KARTOS and the ORRT. We will not allow any UNTRUTH be told about Cllr. Winston A. Tubman and Ambassador George Manneh Weah  without response from us.  IT IS A PROMISE!

If Mr. Williams was paid to write the article he wrote, he needs to refund the MONEY to his BOSS because he did a VERY POOR JOB. This is no research! However, we will give Mr. Williams the benefit for the time he took to write this article, which is referred to as an EDITORIAL. We are sorry, the article did not measure up to what an EDITORIAL SHOULD BE. And if the article is based on research, it should have been correctly written under the title:

“The Danger of the Unity Party Government Using the Media to Incite Violence in Liberia: The Case Study of the November 7, 2011 Invasion of the Party Headquarters of CDC”. And the topics to cover in the study should have been:

a)Government Used Brute Force Against Innocent Unarmed Liberians

b)Killed More Than Five, Causing Bodily Harm to More than 25 Persons

c)Illegally Shut Down Independent Radio and TV Stations

d)Arrested and Detained More Than 85 Members and Supporters of CDC

e)Kept Government Radio and TV Stations Open to Accuse CDC of IMAGINARY
          VIOLENCE

f) It Appears that the Government EMPLOYED various Liberian Newspapers and
          KARTO JOURNALISTS to ENGAGE in PR Work for the Government to SMEAR the
          OPPOSITION’S REPUTATION

What contributions have the so-called BIG, BIG BOOK PEOPLE  made towards the Liberian people, yesterday and lately? And who among you BIG, BIG BOOK PEOPLE can boast of being the number 1 person in your choose profession in the WORLD? None of you! Yet, many of you have the audacity to BIG-MOUTH, the ONLY LIVING PERSON TO HOLD THAT DINSTINCTION – AMBASSADOR GEORGE MANNEH WEAH: AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR, EUROPEAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR, and FIFA FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR.

While the WORLD has recognized GEORGE MANNEH WEAH’S GOOD DEEDS and made him GOODWILL AMBASSADOR, Liberians who benefitted from his good deeds are the ones “crabbing” (pulling) him down, when all AMBASSADOR WEAH  and the CDC want to offer is the same COMPASSION HE EXHIBITED during the CIVIL CRISIS. The Child that is truly great is not President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf but AMBASSADOR GEORGE MANNEH WEAH.

I suspect the reason for all of the negative press that Ambassador Weah and Cllr. Winston A. Tubman are receiving is out of “pure” jealousy towards both men. They have grassroots followers to whom you Big, Big Book people refer to as hoodlums and gronna boys (and girls). These people are Liberians; they too need to benefit from the wealth of the nation that the 1% Elites and their KARTO Journalists are misusing like the CROOKS ON WALL STREET. 

Finally, those of you who continue to refer to Cllr. Winston A. Tubman as a “Popoman” are forgetting your “OWN” Liberian History. Our country is unique because it is like a “Tossed Salad”. Liberia is populated with a mixture of people from everywhere. Liberians are made up of, the country people (of which I am proud to be), the Americo-Liberians, people history mistakenly referred to as Congo (Congor) people, Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Guineans, Ivoirians, Togolese, Senegalese, Jamaicans, Barbadians, Trinidadians. In our country, we also have Liberians who have English, German, Dutch, Lebanese blood; even Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has a German ancestor. If you do not refer to her as “not from here”, the Barclays, Kings, etc. as foreigners, how dare some of you refer to Cllr. Tubman as “popoman”. Remember, “If you pull rope, rope will pull bush”. So, if you do unpopular things to the people, you will also become unpopular, and no amount of bribery can buy ALL of them off.

Let’s be fair fellow Liberians; none of this propaganda is worth destroying one’s reputation, particularly as a journalist, in such a small, closed society.

The heading of this article: “Good Players Don’t Fight Over Jersey” should remind our readers that the loser should honorably accept and take a bow when defeated, rather than force victory to the detriment of all.


About the Author: Mr. Siahyonkron Nyanseor is the Coordinator of the Supporters of the Coalition of Liberian Opposition Parties in the Diaspora (S-CLOPD). He can be reached at siah1947@gmail.com.