Rejoinder: In Defense of Over 25 Years of What I Have Tried to Nurture

When Dr. Fahnbulleh wrote in “Now they know”: That “the wretchedness of the inner soul can be determined by our interaction with people, colleagues, acquaintances and friends. There can be no other determinant of the viciousness and crudity of the ‘self’ than the way we relate to those who accept us willingly into their confidence.

The vicious man will scheme, lie and pretend, but in the final analysis, he will return to the defining traits of his character and invariably leave a trail of broken relationships, deals of treachery and unconscionable perfidy”, I took huge time in understanding why he wrote with such huge might. Now and only now that I know a few touches behind his comments and I tend to agree with every line.

Any and all attempts at character assassination should be taken seriously. Any type of accusations about morality needs to be taken seriously. That is why since February 8, 2011, I have remained quiet to give everyone the opportunity to say their say on one hand and on another to give the bank the opportunity to make it statement. Now that the latter group has issued an official statement, I am obliged to respond.

Let me however hasten to commend Madam President for the confidence reposed in me as a member of a generation that constitutes a whopping sixty-three percent of the overall population of Liberia. While I may not be the best in this generation of fine thinkers, it was in the sacred wisdom of President Sirleaf to ask me to help in the rebranding and reconfiguration of our country. I am and will always remain sincerely grateful for that noble opportunity.

I was always confident that at the end of the day this will be found to be just an election year attack and an attempt to gun down my character. It was just an empty propaganda to impugn what I have built for years now and will not be very surprised if another story is concocted. Those who have an orthodox mindset and disagree with my campaign for accountability and socioeconomic transformation have created this propaganda. There has not been and will never be a tiny pinch of truth in it.

The consummate lie which seems to have been manufactured in a fit of anger, devoid of any real substance was instead riddled with flares of ignorance, baseless accusations and slanders, and incoherent ramblings. It was just an outrageous and vicious attempt to assassinate my character, nothing more nothing less! And for me, image is what people think we are but integrity is what we really are. If a man’s integrity is called into action, the man should repel his damaged integrity.

Although in actuality, what is been spewed out by a group of perennial underachievers does not deserve much of an attention at all, I have decided to address myself to it briefly for the sake of clarification.

Let me now begin to correct some of the misconceptions. I joined ECOBANK as a Cash Management Officer. During my stay at the bank, I managed a little of One Hundred Million United States Dollars (100,000,000.00) and over Nine Hundred Million Liberian Dollars (900,000,000.00). I handled that huge amount over time with a lot of care and I’m very proud of that. In December of 2009, there was a collection of mutilated bank notes from all of our cash centers and branches around the country. I supervised that collection. During the detailed count at the CBL, an amount of USD 5,788.00 was declared as shortage out of more than Two Million United States Dollars. As a matter of the bank’s policy and as supervisor, I fully accepted responsibility. I can say here without any hesitation, I have got no remorse for taking that responsibility.

In fact, all bankers and those with at least a professional background know that shortages are more than normal. Only flunkies and lackies misread and misjudge them. As one writer puts it clearly, “I will try to leave out my own disappointment with the tawdriness of their arguments, the skewness of their logic and the barren assumptions that borders on useless tittle-tattle”.

In July 2006, the Executive Mansion was gutted with fire during the Independence celebrations. Amid of the allegations of foul play and blame game, Hon. Morris Dukuly diligently accepted responsibility. Two months after the fire incident, it was established that it was owed to electrical fault. Today, it can be proudly said that he has done nothing wrong.

Just in January 2011, chief Palestinian negotiator, Asif, accepted responsibility for the leaking of sensitive information dumped into public circles. Even though it is established that a member of his team leaked out the confidential memo, he took responsibility. In showing leadership, people take responsibility they don’t bend their tails like cowards.

How much can I say other than safely saying, I now feel much vindicated. The bank has spoken and has issued me a testimonial. It puts to rest all of the twisted logics. Even if I were to die today, I will lie happily in my grave awaiting judgment day.

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M. Boakai Jaleiba, Jr. Email: jaleibaboakai@yahoo.com. Cell: 00231-6569-729.