Don’t tie development to dual citizenship

Grand Kru County Representative Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa argues that his recent bills Plenary, seeking dual citizenship and land ownership right for people of non-Negro decent are key to President George Manneh Weah achieving his development agenda for Liberia.

Rep. Koffa, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee made the assertion in an interview with reporters at his Paynesville residence outside Monrovia recently.

We beg to differ with the Grand Kru Lawmaker that his native Grand Kru and yea Liberia lack development strategically because Liberians are not carrying two passports and non-Negroes are not right to land ownership.

Fundamentally, we think his arguments land on lazy premise, because the learnt lawyer is insinuating that President Weah, who received the overwhelming confidence of the Liberian people at the ballot box to govern this country by delivering peace, development and economic prosperity would short land because Liberia does not dual citizenship and grant land right to white people.

We totally disagree that Liberia, so endowed with enormous resources has not developed because citizens are not legislatively allowed to hold dual citizenship and divided loyalty or non-Negroes owning land here. Instead, the real problem has mismanagement and lack of priority by past administrations.

President Weah himself acknowledged this recently upon his return from
France. Attending an intercessory service held at the Dominion Christian Fellowship Center in Congo Town for his safe return, he pointed to mismanagement of assistance specifically from America and other countries by previous administrations, which had kept this country down.

Besides bilateral support, pieces of evidence abound across the country about how taxes paid by foreign concessionaires were siphoned by past leaders, leaving those areas in which those concession companies operated without development.

The stories of the former LAMCO in both Buchanan and Yekepa following decades of operation are frustrating. Similar situations of neglect are in Bong Mines, Lower Bong County where the former German-operated Bong Mining Company exploited ores, and Bomi Hills, now Bomi County.

These failures were not because white people are not citizens or Liberians are not granted dual citizenship, but greed and selfish leaders had ignored the plight of the people, taking all for themselves.

Therefore, for Rep. Koffa to insinuate that the two propositions are key to President Weah achieving his development goals presupposes that they must be legislated at all cost or else, the Weah-led administration is not heading anywhere in terms of development.