THE FOUNDING OF Liberia in the early 1800s was motivated by the domestic politics of slavery and race in the United States as well as by U.S. foreign policy interests. In 1816, a group of white Americans founded the American Colonization Society (ACS) to deal with the “problem” of the growing number of free blacks in the United States by resettling them in Africa. ButLiberians’ aspiration for total freedom was guaranteed on July 26, 1847.
ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2023, it will be exactly 176 years since the country’s independence and it’s a proven fact that all of the struggles were driven by the fervent desire to ensure a new dawn, a LIberia of inclusiveness, economy stability, job creation, food sufficiency, as well as a vibrant educational, health, security, infrastructure, and agricultural sectors.
SADLY, ALL OF the above are still imagination, especially as the country continues to crumble with them, and with absolutely nothing substantive to prove that it will actually be actualized or becomes an actuality.
THESE HAVE LEFT Liberians, especially those with like minds and desire to fulfill their dreams, with skepticism and curiosity as to possibilities of achieving their full potentials.
LIBERIA HAS HAD a turbulent history since its foundation, which has hampered its progress as a nation. Growth in the country’s political and economic structures has been constrained by failed leadership.
AT 176, THE country remains confronted with lots of challenges such as preparing a productive human capital to run its abundant natural resources that have been either mismanaged or left discarded without anticipated development dividends.
IN A WORLD Bank Poverty & Equity Brief on
Africa Western & Central, Liberia specifically in April 2021, it says Poverty in Liberia remains widespread, with more than half of the population 50.9 percent below the national poverty line, according to the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
THIS TRANSLATES INTO roughly 2.3 million Liberians who were unable to meet their basic needs. Around 68 percent of the country’s poor live in rural areas where poverty incidence is 71.6 percent, more than twice as high as in cities (31.5 percent).
IN ADDITION, 44 percent of the population lived under the extreme international poverty line of $1.90 per day. Poverty in Liberia is projected to increase over the next few years, driven by increasing food prices, lower commodity prices for minerals, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
THE PROPORTION OF poor households living below the international poverty line of US$1.9/day (2011 PPP) is projected to increase to 52 percent in 2021. While it is difficult to gauge precisely the welfare impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, households are expected to be affected negatively due to potential impact on employment, particularly the non-farm self-employed in urban areas, high food prices, restrictions on trade, and losses either in terms of the sale of productive assets or consumption of working capital as they try to cope.
THOUGH WE ACKNOLEDGE the little commitment by this government and other governments, we believe less has been done in curbing this suppression on the lives of Liberians.
JUST LIKE ECONOMY growth, major sectors are engulfed by an overmastering constrain, and all of these have been attributed to the fact that corruption remains the biggest problem, couple with the lack of political will.
WE PLACE EMPHASIS on economy growth because it’s a proven fact that if the lives of the citizens are improved, it helps in delivering an improvement in all sectors. As such, we believe more needs to be done.
