President Joseph Boakai is under immense pressure to reorganize his eight-month-old government amid widespread discontent and criticism.
By: Naneka A. Hoffman
Brewerville, Liberia, September 26, 2024 – The Bishop of the New Water in the Desert Pentecostal Church in Brewerville, Montserrado County, Dr. Kortu K. Brown, is recommending to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to throw out those he terms as “Jonahs” in his government.
With barely nine months into the new Unity Party-led government, the storms of allegations of confusion, improprieties, and insincerities seem to grow every day, sending conflicting signals about whether or not President Joseph Boakai’s government is capable of safely sailing the six-year ship to shore.
Expressing serious concern about the current state of affairs in Liberia, Bishop Brown urges President Boakai to take appropriate action to calm the rising tides and enable him to govern with ease and results.
“There seems to be some ‘Jonahs’ in President Boakai’s governance,” he says, insisting that to calm things down to allow for effective governance, “President Boakai will have to throw out some of the Jonahs in his ship. Otherwise, the sail will continue to be rough.”
According to the Holy Bible, more than 2000 years ago, God sent Jonah, a biblical prophet, to Nineveh to preach repentance to the people and warn them to desist from wickedness.
The Book of Jonah 1:2 recalls that God told Jonah to “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before Me.” But Jonah failed to obey and instead hid himself in the bottom of a ship, attempting to escape.
Bishop Brown, a former president of the Liberia Council of Churches, says time is of the essence, and Liberians don’t know how much time they have to do what is required.
“We can’t say it is still too early to act because we don’t know God’s plan,” he warns.
He rhetorically maintains that if there are ‘Jonahs’ in the ship, “President Boakai must act now to ensure that the ship sails smoothly and that Liberians can continue to trust his ability to lead them in peace and quietude.
He continues that when the shipmaster approached Jonah in the ship to ask why he was sleeping while the storm battled the ship, Jonah didn’t respond, but when the occupants cast a lot to determine who was responsible for the problem, the lot fell on Jonah.
“The prophet finally admitted that he had the problem and that he should be thrown into the sea, which the Captain did immediately to restore calm to the ship”, he narrates.
Bishop Kortu Brown underscores that leaders must admit when they’re wrong, noting that part of the bigger problem with Liberia is that people in official circles make up many false stories to get by.
He commends Prophet Jonah for being real when he was discovered hiding at the bottom of the ship, quoting Jonah as saying, “Take me up and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake, this great tempest is upon you.”
Bishop Brown wonders who is responsible for Liberia’s growing uncertainty and confusion.
He made the statement early Wednesday in a Morning Prayer meeting at the New Water in the Desert Assembly Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Brewerville. Editing by Jonathan Browne
