Former President Sirleaf’s Legacy in domino effect?

Earlier this year, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stepped down as Africa’s first democratically elected female leader after a two-term presidency to usher in Liberia’s football icon turned politician George Weah as her successor. The election was marred by controversies and allegations of malpractices by contending parties to which the Supreme Court of Liberia found non-egregious. In 2006, Madam Sirleaf took over a country recovering from over a decade of civil war that racked a death toll of over 250,000, a nearly empty  fiscal reserve, poor infrastructure, lack of basic services, non-existent electricity, exuberant young population some of whom were former combatants still in possession of firearms and  mounting of other challenges. Little did she know her country would later come to deal with Ebola and over 4000 of her compatriots, the highest in the region of affected countries, would pay a hefty price with their lives.

She would later work to restore electricity, connect counties through roads, rebuild bridges, restore pipe bone water in some communities, create a civil service that attracts some of Liberia’s best, restructured the police and army and bring dignity to the security sector and improve the education and health sectors. While she worked hard to restore, resuscitate, rebuild, and build many sectors, she also upheld the fight for women’s political and economic empowerment and has inspired many women across Liberia and beyond. Initiatives such as the Sirleaf Market Women Fund, the Economic Empowerment Program for Adolescent Girls & Young Women, the Adolescent Girls Division of the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection and many more were all anchored during her leadership.

Despite many visible achievements that I am unable to cover here, many pundits have questioned Madam Sirleaf’s legacy, including on the gender front, noting of her failure to appoint more women at higher levels of ministerial positions even though many women were appointed as deputy and assistant ministers, deputies of public corporations and associate justices of the Supreme Court .

Although women accounted for a smaller number of her kitchen cabinet in the executive branch,, her bravery and audacity to challenge barriers of women’s political participation and contest the country’s highest public office, winning twice, not only presents a break from the “old boys club” but a domino effect that has inspired many women to step on the stage when the opportunity presents itself.

While it may appear that fewer women are getting elected, this phenomenon can be explained. In 2005, Liberia had a special election with the suspension of the constitution. New electoral rules were adopted by the National Elections Commission. One of such rule was mandating political parties to ensure a minimum of 30% representation on their political party list to be presented. Parties were obliged as a result, 14% of women were elected to the legislature. In 2011 and 2017, the elections were constitutional and the 30% clause was not enforceable. Only 10.2% and 12.3% of women were elected respectively. However, in 2017, out of 785 registered candidates, 123 were women. This accounts for the highest in recent election history. This manifest that women are beating the odds and that the legacy of Madam Sirleaf is far from complete.

One woman who is taking a note or two from Madam Sirleaf’s manuscript is Cornelia Kruah Togba. Having completed coursework for Master of Arts degree in International Politics & Economics in the United Kingdom, she saw the need to step forward and contest for the representative seat in her district that was made vacant by the election to the Senate of her- soon to be- predecessor.

With the odds against her, she is leaning on the quest to provide a different kind of representation for the people of District #13 in Montserrado County, something they have not seen since 2005.

Being the youngest in the race with limited financial and logistical resources against her major contender who enjoys not only presidential endorsement from the ruling party, state logistics and personnel at his disposal, she faces an uphill battle.

While there are structural barriers prohibiting women’s political participation, resources and attaining political party endorsements remain a challenge.

District #13 is one of the highly populated districts with a majority of young people. Challenges of unemployment, infrastructure, health care, women’s empowerment, community voices, and ownership are a major concern. These are issues that high on Madam Kruah-Togba’s agenda. 

Just in the course of the campaign, with meager resources, she has embarked on unprecedented self-help initiatives to uplift her district. Initiatives such as paving feeder roads previously impassable, providing street lights in communities that are in darkness and many others.

As the most qualified candidate in the race, who has a well-developed legislative agenda, Madam Togba hopes to bring the needed change her district in particular and Liberia in general desire.

With her years of service in the government of Liberia at the Ministries of State, Public Works and most recently Education, she comes with an understanding of government’s bureaucracy and the work it entails to getting things done.

She was also a student leader at the Stella Maris Polytechnic working to ensure cordiality with the administration and the student body. Additionally, an organization she recently established, the Young Women Empowerment Network to contribute to Liberia’s human development sector is becoming a leading voice for women in public service. These are skills important in dealing with a diverse group of people to negotiate on behalf of the people of her constituency.  As the candidate of the Coalition of three key opposition parties including Unity Party, Liberty Party, and the Alternative National Congress, she is better placed to build a bipartisan approach to passing key bills for the country.

I have known Madam Kruah-Togba for little over 5 years now. We have shared friendship, professional relationship, and sisterhood. Most importantly, our both love and passion for Liberia is invincible. More than anything else, I believe she will better serve the people of District 13. She will deliver her promises and sure protect the interest of the people.

It is my hope that she will join forces with other members of the Women Legislative Caucus to pick up the pace on the rape bill that is near amendment, the Domestic Violence Act, the political representation bill and many others.

Cornelia is a member of the new generation of Liberia’s political actors and public servants who are poised with every fiber in their being to rewrite the country’s story that is often told pejoratively. Electing a young woman like herself who have lived and understands the challenges of her district will not only be beneficial to the people of her district, it will serve as an encouragement for young people who constitute the majority of the population and young women to step up and ensure an impactful domino effect.

*Domino effect is a chain of reaction that is produced when one event initiates a succession of similar events.

Diaries of the Innocent: The story of Salimatu (Part II)

At home, she was cut!
We grew up speaking Vai. Mommy is Vai inside out. Daddy, hmm, he got a whole lot of ethnicity thing going on. But one thing crystal about my family is that we are of the Mande speaking group. There you will find Vai, Mandingo, Gola, Mende etc. Put daddy there, he would speak all those languages perfectly. I wouldn't be a stranger in Cape Mount, Bomi, Gbapolu, Lofa and Sierra Leone. Daddy shares all those lineages and because he did, and as patriarchy depicts, I share similar. To sum this up, we are of the Mande clan. The Sande Society is a big deal for my people. It is a cultural practice that has lasted for as long as life itself. It is a way of life of my people. There is the economic part too. Unlike Matu and the Fula tradition, there is a whole lot of ceremony about the Sande Society. Families lived to see their daughters initiation. I know this not just by reading literature and being of the Mande clan but by the proximity of how close I came to it for several years. We lived in Samukai camp, Upper Caldwell where Sierra Leonean refugees sought refuge during their crisis. We were not refugees neither were we Sierra Leoneans. We were too poor to handle the challenges of Liberia at that time and with the rumors of war, a refugee camp was the safest zone. That meant free school, free medical, free food and most importantly safety. Though it came with its own baggage, my parents would settle for a better system for their children then-refugee life- We became "Sierra Leonean Refugees". The Camp was predominantly occupied by the Mendes.(the largest in Sierra Leone ) When they came to Liberia, of course, their culture would follow especially when culture is a people's way of life.We lived about 5-7 minutes walk from the Sande Bush. We could hear the girls sing daily, we would pass by the bush to fetch water, to go to the creeks to do laundry.(Washing) Our kind of laundry was nothing fancy" no electricity involve, no washing or drying machine whatsoever. In fact, we never knew what those were. We only read about them on the tags of our clothes with instructions like "Machine Wash with like colors, tuber dry, iron as needed"..lol...we didn't understand what those words were. Our kind of doing laundry was like you taking a tub full of dirty clothes to the creek, dip the tub in the running water, get some water, throw in your clothes, rub soap on them, hit them as hard as you can on those huge rocks until the stains are out. Rinse them with clean water and lay them on the street, grass and whatever was available. That was our dryer.No, we didn't die and didn't get any rashes from the clothes being placed on the ground for drying.Normally, when we were going to the creek as young girls we would go in group or supervised by an older person for fear of us being caught by the ladies of the Bush and send to sande or on the other hand some girls would want to put their families in "problem " they would escape home and run to the Bush.. Once you are in there, your family will have to do everything to cater for your needs. Food clothing and everything. The ceremony is huge no joke. And that also lured young girls into it. The ceremonies are like: after the girls spend some time in the bush (here, timing varies. From 3 weeks to several months and it also depends on how financially fluid your family is.), when it is time to brought out, there would be dance everywhere on the camp for the members and it's like all day all night. Now finally the girls made their first outdoor appearance- they would be dressed in all white. White satin like shorts and bras made of white wool beautifully patterned and white headties. They would all be covered in white chalk from head to toe, face included beautifully designed. Of course as a young child who wouldn't want that? They would sing and dance the whole time. They would visit the elders and zoes in the town singing and greeting them. They would go home to greet their families too.This would take up half the day. Of course, we would leave our chores and follow them around the whole day to every corner of the town. When they are about to retreat to their bush we would run from them. On their first appearance, they don't sleep in the town. At the end of the day, they would go back to their bush. The bush was like a house with one entry faced outside and fenced with Palm tree branches all around in a circle that you wouldn't see a thing from the outside beside the face of a house outside and the fence. I was the quiet but stubborn one. My kid sister was the outgoing and frisky one. We would do all our ish, but we'd dare not venture closer to the bush. On their final appearance, mannn, this was the thing! The night before, it is like no sleeping in the town. Drums, Sassas and all kinds of traditional instruments. Singing, dancing and everything in between. This would go on until the girls are prepared to come out. There is an obvious OMG moment when they step out.This time, they would be beautifully dressed in all kinds, colors and make of fabrics. Their makeups would all be "fleeking", hairstyles would be popping and footwears wouldn't be left out of the party. Indeed the occasions are colourful. Unlike their first appearance, this time they wouldn't be doing any dancing. People would do all of that for them.They would only walk slowly around the town and return greetings. There would be someone holding for them an umbrella over their heads. This whole celebration would also involve the drumming, singing etc. During both appearances, they would receive money, gifts and any token of appreciation. From this time to about two weeks, they would be treated as queens. During the first days at home, their porches would be redesigned to welcome the new queen. The porches would be covered with new fabric to create a cover for where the queen would sit. A chair would be designed with beautiful soft pillow where she would sit. A table to put her feet on. She would eat three times a day. Someone would be on duty at her call. There would be someone there to fan her. She would change outfits twice or three times a day. This was no joke. Indeed a queen! She would sit from A.M. TO P.M. People would troop in to greet her. On the fourth day, she would go around dressed up to greet people and receive gifts. They would take their umbrellas along. This was so beautiful and colourful. As kids my sister and I had one day plan to mimic the ceremony. Our mom and aunt weren't home and we decided my kid sister and myself would be the zoes. Our two cousins were the girls. We took mom's hair relaxer and relaxed our cousins hair. We took everything from mommy's makeup to shoes to new outfits and everything. We dressed up the girls and sat them down on our porch and used mommy's wrapper (lappa) to create the blinds for the girls. After our hard work, the girls were both seated and we decided to go get them food. Before we turned, we saw our friend running toward us nearly breathless. By this time now the news had gone around in our neighbourhood to let our friends come and join us to play Sande. Jumah, after managing to regain her life, tells us that there was one of the Sande women coming in our neighbourhood.She was the Sande announcer going around with announcement for the members. If she catches us playing Sande, we would all (the girls, my sister and I, our friends who'd come to witness) be taken to the bush. Upon hearing that, oh boy, our cousins started crying, we all were confused. They jump down from their chair. We begin ripping everything apart.Removed the blinds, tried to undress the girls to their normal self and reset our house. We tried. we failed . You see, in our town they provided "safety nets" for all their members. You are not allowed to talk back at a member or even exchange words harshly. You and a member should never fight even if you both are age mates or classmates. You both are not on the same level. You are called names and provoked. In school, you can be the smartest, you are still ranked lower as per their scale. 
After I left Matu's house that day, I couldn't sleep. My head would go all over just asking myself why...I would retrospect on our life in Samukai Camp and my Sande experiences and would say to myself, poor Matu didn't get all that celebration that would've made her mentally escape her agony for a little while. She didn't get that!
The Sande Announcer arrives at our Sande Playing station, we have not succeeded in clearing everything and certainly, the girls aren't completely undressed. What happened next? Follow the story.

A letter to Papas from your daughter: Only if you could listen to my silent voice

Inspired by the many daughters (including me) i have worked with.

 Dear Papa; Only if you could listen to my silent voice.

You know you are my father
The male example in my life,
But you spend all your time building your expectations
You want this child to be the best among the rest
The diamond among the stones
Your major worries are my school fees and food fees
It takes more than that Papa;

You work long hours, long minutes, long seconds
I know you believe you are the best dad
But really? I know you are doing your best
I know it is harder than we may think
But I know you still remember “all work without play, makes not smart Papas”
Easy na Papa

Your expectations are so highhh
When I’m in error, I run from your wrath
I rather Mom hears it
And you wonder why we gravitate to Mom?
I am never spare when in the wrong
Spanking and more spanking

But really dad, sometimes, no, most times
All I really want is Me and My Daddy time
Only me and you, not the whole family, that can come later
Buy me that lovely dress or outfit
Take me to dinner or outing, what about going to dance
Let’s bond
Let’s lecture, no, not the school, homework etc lectures
Let me know the other side of my Dad
How about knowing this your little girl outside of the image you have made her build

Come on Papa, you are human, you are not flawless
Yes me too. Most times I just want to talk to a man
Yes my first man, my Papa
You think my friends can’t gossip about you in the community
Talk to me; let me talk to you,
Know my friends, I mean male friends
Let me be free and open to talk to you on ANY subject matter

Not too long those boys will start writing, calling, texting and poking me
They’ll be like “They love me like fish love water, I’m their personal person,
Their love is like Jackie Chan, etc”
How I’m I suppose to know where the red-lights should be
Or when it’s on green?

Don’t wait until it’s too late Papa
When it gets to a point where your little angel turns into a monster
When you start to throw her out of the house
When you wished you saw it coming
You know you could have been more involved
Let’s talk, let’s lecture, let’s chat, let’s bond.

Love,
Daughter