I Would Now Stay Home To Win Domestic Approval

The visit of George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America , amongst all other things, has put Liberian diplomacy or international relations under Ellen to its zenith. More so, it has proven Ellen's diplomatic acumen unmatched amongst Liberian presidents. There is no great man and woman under Planet Earth whom Ellen has not dined with, just in two years of her incumbency! The world's most powerful financial institutions, regarded as oracles of developing countries aspiring for economic unshacklement, have made Liberia a farm road; their doors are as well wide open twenty-four hours for Liberian financial experts. Top political and economic leaders of the world have made a beaten path through the wreckages of war to meet Ellen. Even before Bush's visit there was the visit of the revered leader of the world's deputy, if not emerging, superpower, China .

If Ellen should make a visit outside Liberia again, what would the purpose be? Who is that powerful political leader or that richest world-class entrepreneur of the world that Ellen has not met? Who has not heard the Liberian case firsthand, if at all additional foreign visits by our President would be aimed at attracting attention to Liberia 's plight? Is it not true that all nations of the world depend on the World Bank and IMF for economic survival? Who controls the United Nations? Are the twin rivals not in concrete terms the United States and China ?

Surely, justifications for Ellen's foreign travels are concretely obviated by the chain of reciprocal visits made by a swarm of world-class personalities, now crowned by George Bush, president of the world's sole superpower, Liberia 's biggest humanitarian and development donor and 25% contributor to the United Nations.

More besides, even with these glorious diplomatic gains which Liberia has netted since the Ellen took the mantle of power, the situation on the domestic front is proving otherwise. The diplomatic success story as elucidated supra is yet to put smiles on the lips of ordinary Liberians for whom all these visits are trumpeted to be necessary. The gains of foreign travels, as well as the visits of the world's powerful political and financial leaders, are yet to spill over to ordinary Liberians; the gains are yet to reduce the price of the nation's most preferred food, rice, and the prices of other essential commodities such as petroleum products, building materials, amongst others.

In other words, despite the inundation of Liberia in the last two years by renowned financial institutions and leaders of the developed world, coupled with dozens of foreign trips made by Ellen, the quality of life for the impoverished majority of Liberians is hardly improving; in fact, it is worsening--worsening to the extent that the masses of our people are hungering for and nostalgic of the days of past “dictators,” ironically including Charles Taylor who is imprisoned and being probed for crimes against humanity. While this assertion might sound stunning, it is however prevalent in the mouths of the vast majority of Liberians who think their living condition in terms of getting something to eat, to book a commercial car, to pay rent and school and medical fees and build a hut, is appalling.

While it is a good thing for Ellen charm the international community which for a protracted period of time treated Liberia with contempt and disdain, it is also important, and probably more important, for the Liberian leader to garner domestic approval. And domestic approval comes not by the splendid organization of work plan and the eloquent statement of policy as we have seen via the 150-Day Deliverables and Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (iPRS) and as we are about to see in the MDG-based Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). Rather, garnering people's approval entails deliberate commitment to and massive resources infusion into pro-people projects and initiatives. It means ensuring that social services, such as electricity, pipe-born water, education and health, amongst others, are provided not only expeditiously but also made available to all Liberians irrespective of social, geographic and political status. For Ellen to garner domestic approval which has eluded her in nearly three years, she would have to rethink our development strategy in ways that brings it out of the shell of rhetoric and theory and make direct, concrete and empirical.

Certainly, if I were Ellen, the massive international approbations enjoyed, as expressed in the frequent visits of powerful and renowned personalities would neither drive me to complacency nor consume my sense of urgency to focus the domestic front with ultimate speed and work. I would see the visit of George W. Bush as the final boost and final nail to my international diplomacy, which would keep me at home to take the multiplicity of vexing national matters with two hands and two feet.