Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says current disturbances and confusion across Liberia are triggers of a poor nation.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia, March 13, 2025—Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf frowns on what she describes as triggers of a poorer nation exhibited in Liberia, especially by Liberians and uncoordinated government affairs.
Speaking on Tuesday, March 11, 2024, at her residence in Monrovia, on a special edition of the program “Changing Minds, Changing Attitudes,” Madam Sirleaf said disturbances and confusion across the country are triggers of a poor nation.
According to her, standoff between the Liberian National Police and commercial motorcyclists should be halted immediately to save the nation.
Madam Sirleaf indicates that when President Joseph N. Boakai took office, everyone agreed that one year was very early to speak, and he needed time; therefore, nobody should make it difficult for him to carry out his agenda.
Madam Sirleaf argues that if everybody, mainly government officials, the branches of government, civil Society, and citizens, had done their share of responsibility in an orderly and peaceful manner, it could have made things peaceful for the President.
But she contends that everyone is doing his or her own thing, warning that Liberia has done so much to come down and reminding Liberians that whenever the country does well, it rises and escapes poverty and poorness.
The Founder of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development reminds us that Liberia is seen as an example of a nation that has had two successful political transitions. Its two former heads of state reside in the country while current President Boakai moves the state’s agenda.
“I don’t know why all this is happening. Liberia is a poor country; we don’t need to make ourselves poorer by our own actions. Liberians don’t like to work and take responsibility. Look at what we have and what we can do. I hope people can read the statement I delivered recently and see the enemy today. If you read my statement, you will know that I’m not against any branch of government”, she notes.
The former President points out that silence is wrong, and people shouldn’t speak against wrong and practice it too.
Meanwhile, responding to Nimba County senatorial candidate Samuel Kogar’s statement against women candidates, the former President says it is shameful and notes that he should be placed in history.
Recently, Kogar, who is currently a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, discouraged citizens from voting for women candidates in the April 22, 2025, Senatorial by-election, citing outdated traditional norms.
He suggested that women should only be seen when a man speaks, saying that no woman can replace the late Senator Prince Johnson, except himself.
But Madam Sirleaf wonders what Rep. Kogar thinks about his daughter and his wife, whether he wants them not to succeed based on their own energy, urging him to rethink his decision and be remembered in history.
“Anyone who makes that kind of statement against women now belongs in history. They belong in the archive of history because they are not in tune with the world today”, Madam Sirleaf reacts. Editing by Jonathan Browne
