The Editor,It’s been several decades since a Liberian President entered office with a cleaned pair of hands, for instance, before President Samuel K. Doe took office in 1980, he had dirtied his hands by his role in the death of President William R. Tolbert, and early on in his Presidency, the young Head of State (Doe) went on to get his hands even dirtier with the extra-judicial execution of the thirteen deposed government officials on the shore-ways of Monrovia waters on November 22nd, 1980. Then Charles Taylor came along, and although he marketed himself as the liberator of the people, Mr. Taylor’s hands were already very dirty when he took office in 1997, the crimes committed under Taylor’s watch, as well as the execution of a sitting President by a break-away faction of his military junta, and the many direct orders given by the merciless Liberian President to summarily incarcerate and execute opposition figures are well documented. So, now we have President George Weah, who for many years was a Liberian sporting hero, and who is perhaps the first Liberian President to walk into office with a clean pair of hands in the last four decades or so. Our hope therefore is that he (President Weah), will listen to the concerns of his people and respect what democracy demands, and understand the words of Thomas Jefferson, that when the government fears the people, then there is Democracy, but when the people fear the government, then there is tyranny. Torbor Tee WonakayExecutive Director/FOHRD[email protected]

Source: Front Page Africa January 28, 2020 00:00 UTC