166? That’s How Many Slaps Some of Us Need

Residents of Gurley Street were  at the dawn of July 26 morning,  rudely awakened by a band of neighbors who had turned cooking utensils (spoons, pans, plates, pots, etc) into musical instruments.  Those with the instruments were accompanied by a separate band of singers with an accompanying group of dancers.  They claimed they were demonstrating their patriotism as Liberians by jubilantly celebrating their country’s independence anniversary. They looked very beautiful in their colorful display of red, white and blue.

Afraid of Aging? (Part I)

If you are afraid of ageing, then cease to exist!

Women these days are so worked-up over aging; they seem to worry about aging more than men do. A friend of mine has been 25 years old since 2006 up to present. A 30-year-old woman (whom I know personally) posted on her facebook page last week, during her birthday, that she, too, is 25. Hilarious, isn’t it? But it is serious, too.

Nowadays, most young women do not want to go past age 25. That’s the number they all want to be---and no more. Ask one of them this year and she will tell you she is 25. Ask her again next year, she is going to be ‘25’. Try again the following year and she will still be ‘25’. That’s where she wants to be and is determined to remain stuck there forever.

Police, Auction Vendors Face-Off

Some street vendors at the corner of Benson & Mechlin Streets in Monrovia

Police in Monrovia have continued to come down hard on street vending, sometimes confiscating wares and arresting the vendors themselves. But these arrests and confiscations do not go without intense tussles between the officers and the sellers. The police are trying to maintain law and order (or should be) on the one hand, while the road-side vendors are jockeying (maneuvering in order to gain an advantage) for a living, a daily affair in which those doing the policing, seem to have the upper hand.  But the clash between the vendors and the police is only on the surface; competition amongst the vendors competing for consignment, customers and selling space, lies at the heart of the controversy.

MIA to Go after Genital Snatchers

Interior Minister Morris Dukuly

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has said that its attention has been drawn to reports of physical attacks and forceful initiations of young women and girls into cultural and traditional practices. The initiation of girls into the Sande Society have been reported to be rife in several counties. The Ministry has reminded genital mutilators of General Circular No.12, issued in January 2013. Count #3 of the Circular prohibits the use of any tactic, force, to intimidate or compel any person to yield to ritual or traditional practices, especially the forced and often unwanted removal of female genitals.

Travel around rural Liberia today and you will find that parents have devalued education and are now extolling the virtues and efficacies (values, worth, effectiveness) of the traditional methods of the Sande/Poro Societies (bush schools) over formal education for their daughters. They prefer to send their girls to the Sande bush instead of putting them in the modern school system. Were to visit the schools, you would find that most of the teenagers who should be in those class-rooms sitting at home or in training in the bush schools.

Police in Liberia, Sierra Leone 'Most Corrupt'

To The Top Of The Corruption Heap, That Is; And The Two Might Not Be Stepping Down Any Time Soon, Global Survey Suggests

As though fighting for an enviable spot in the sun, Liberia and Sierra Leone have positioned (located, placed) themselves atop the global corruption heap, laying claim to the highest level of corruption reported from around the world. And as a result of their enterprise, more than 75% of respondents surveyed by Transparency International said they can do little but to paying a bribe when accessing public services and institutions.

Sawyer Proposes Borderless Africa

Dr. Sawyer

Former interim President Dr. Amos C. Sawyer is of the strongest conviction that Africa needs no borders, as they restrict the free movement of people, which, he believes, also retards development and civilization.

Making specific reference to West Africa, Dr. Sawyer said a borderless region would create markets, enhance civilization through the movement and interactions of diverse (assorted, various) peoples from different parts of the sub-region. This, he added, would also promote diversity and minimize the unnecessary challenges to constructive identities that people face as a result of moving from one point to the other.

A borderless West Africa, according to Dr. Sawyer, will provide an economic benefit to border areas currently hindered in their development by border formalities. He also believes that this will facilitate the movement of people and goods within the region without lengthy delays at borders because of passport/laiser passer formalities.

Liberia: Sirleaf Fires Many for Corruption

Pres. Sirleaf

Robert Kilby, auditor-general of the General Auditing Commission (GAC), has been fired by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Dismissed along with him, was his long time friend, the director-general of the General Services Agency (GSA), Ms. Pearine Davis-Parkinson. The duo was dismissed “for non-compliance with, or violation of, public financial management and procurement laws.”

The pair ran out of luck early last week when an act of impropriety on their part was exposed during the ongoing budget hearing at the Capitol. It all started when Parkinson admitted to the budget committee that the GSA, under her command, signed a US$220, 900.00 contract with Kilby’s private accounting firm, Independent Software Certification Institute (ISCI), to carry out asset and fleet management, tracking and reporting system at the GSA. An additional contract entered into by the pair was a US$97, 680.00 deal for the development of a catalog system. But following further review by the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC), the Commission found “an undisclosed conflict of interest issue, as the ISCI is owned by Mr. Kilby.”

The Time Is NOW!

President Sirleaf's clarion call must claim every woman's attention

Women leaders have been told that is it up to them to become the advocates, the promoters, the facilitators, to ensure that Goals 2 and 4 of the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda are fully adopted and implemented.

Chairing the opening ceremony of the 2nd High-Level Meeting of the GlobalPOWER Women Network Africa (GPWNA), in Abuja, last week, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared: “The time is now! If not now, when? If not us, who?”

This is very true. But before going into that, let us see what these goals are:

Empower Girls and Women and Achieve Gender Equality serves as the second goal (Goal 2) of the Panel’s Report. It focuses on preventing all forms of violence against girls and women; ending child marriage and ensuring the equal right of women to own and inherit property. This goal also seeks to furnish the female gender with the power to sign contracts, register a business and open a bank account; and eliminate discrimination against women in political, economic and public life.

At the same time, Goal 4, “Ensure Healthy Lives,” would end preventable infant and under-5 deaths; increase the proportion of children, adolescents, at-risk adults and older people that need to be fully vaccinated; continue to decrease the maternal mortality ratio; ensure universal sexual and reproductive health and rights; and reduce the burden of disease from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases and priority non-communicable diseases.

We must commend President Sirleaf for this clarion call to the women’s world. Just in case you (women leaders) were still fast asleep while this fight for women’s emancipation continued to heat-up, better get out of the way now. In this fight for gender parity, if you can’t lead, we will throw you out of the way and the corridor cleared for those who are willing and ready to lead the charge.

Put a Ring on It

Do have a blissful marriage!

Ask a girl today how she met her man (partner) and she’ll probably tell you, “Oh, we met through a friend.” Not much of an answer, right? But it is truer than we think.  Meeting through a mutual friend turns out to be the most popular answer given by ladies these days. The thing is this, these women feel more secure opening their hearts to such relationships because it is assumed that friends (usually, the true one) won’t set you up with a bad person.

It is believed that there's a sort of a natural screening system in place that makes for better potential matches.  And so, setting you up with means that they are vouching for that person and strongly believe that chances for a good match---be it  for a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife---are pretty good.

And this is exactly what happened in the case of Mohammed Kanneh and Haja Mandjee Sannoh. They met through a mutual friend and the story is told that Mohammed fell head-over-heels in love with her the second he laid eyes on a photo of hers, sent to him by a mutual friend. The gesture was backed by an avalanche of good and encouraging things said about Haja. Barely three months later, the duo upped and got hitched in a traditional ceremony. Last Sunday, June 30 marked their formal marriage, graced by at least 300 persons from all walks of life.