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.

Buttressing his point, the former interim leader cited as a quick example, Europe's borderless Schengen Area, created in 1995, which sought the gradual abolition of internal border controls and a common visa policy. In the current context, residents of the 26 member countries of the Schengen Area are allowed to freely cross borders, without having to go through fixed checkpoints.

He said by creating boundaries between people, “we stagnate (render inactive, withhold progress) development”---and urged a need to replicate the European example in the region, “to enhance diversity and promote development.”

“But if you put up blocks or obstacles, you retard civilization,” Dr. Sawyer stressed.

The Governance Commission’s Chief is not suggesting that people should be allowed to do as they wish. He is simply suggesting that governance arrangements that would ensure the smooth movement of residents of each country are put in place and effectively implemented.

Dr. Sawyer was speaking last Saturday at the official launch of a newly published book: The Land of My Father’s Birth, by Liberian author Mr. Nvasekie N. Konneh. The event was held at the Tubman Auditorium of the University of Liberia.

With reference to The Land of My Father’s Birth, Mr. Sawyer said Mr. Konneh’s story has lineages, woven together to tell, who we are, as Liberians. He said through Mr. Konneh’s narratives, “We can discern the lineages of our history and we can also see how ethnicity is constructed. “We can also see through the narratives, the divide that exist in politics and the economy that must serve as our social bond as a people,” he said.

The Land of My Father’s Birth is author Nvasekie N. Konneh’s memoir, detailing his Mandingo and Mano heritage and growing up in Saclepea, Nimba County, and the identity challenges that he and most of his ethnic Mandingoes encountered.

The book dealt with one man’s protest against a social system that had reduced him and his people to strangers in their native land, and the resilience and courage he allowed to instruct him, accompanied him on a journey that took him to several places, eventually arriving in the United States.

1,480 Copies Sold 

At least 1,480 copies of the book, ‘The Land of My Father’s Birth’ were sold to patrons last Saturday during the launching ceremony.

Chief launcher Musa Bility, president of the Liberia Football Association, bought 1,000 copies for donation to various schools. Mr. Bility said some of the copies will be used by the Renaissance Communications as a quiz book to help spread the message of the Mandingo heritage. He said 250 copies would be sent to Saclepea to share with young students of the city.

Mr. Siaka Toure of Aminata & Sons Service Stations bought 200 copies for distribution at all of its service stations across the country.  For his part, Finance Minister Amara Konneh pledged to purchase 50 copies and Associate Justice Kabineh Jan’eh said he would buy ten copies each for all the universities in Liberia.

Mr. Abraham Kromah, deputy police director for operations, bought 10 copies, while Rep. Sekou Konneh pledged to purchase 30 copies.

Meanwhile, author Nvasekie N. Konneh has been certificated by the National Mandingo Caucus of Liberia, for his invaluable contribution for telling the Mandingo story, as a miniature version of the Liberian story.

Omari Jackson contributed to this report