Africa-Press – Liberia. Ahead of the 2023 general and presidential elections in Liberia, the former President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) Mr.
Christopher Zeohn Neyor, has stressed the need for political parties in Liberia to document a single political platform to combat against corruption, instead of riding on the gullibility of the society to proffer bulky platforms that only benefit a select few in government rather than the masses in the country.
Mr. Neyor observed that as Liberia approaches the critical 2023 political season, politicians and political parties are preparing platforms summarizing what they would do if they get elected.
He added that those who have “painstakingly created their agenda for action will criticize those without such a manifesto as lacking vision for leadership of the country”.
According to him, no political party in Liberia has been able to scrupulously implement its platform after ascending to state power due to corruption. Mr. Neyor assertions were contained in a statement release in Monrovia from the United States over the week end.
He observed that once a president gets elected and is sworn into office, all of his “expert” advisors, many of whom were authors of the platforms for their respective sector, are given key senior and junior Cabinet positions in government.
According to him, the “well-crafted platforms give way to clandestine deal makings for personal enrichment”, leaving the ordinary Liberian citizens to suffer the most. Mr.
Neyor added that the platform for affordable and reliable access to electricity is never looked at; while the plan for health -training of doctors and nurses, equipping hospitals and expanding clinics is thrown out of the window when a political party ascends to state power.
He emphasized that the agenda for education and skills building is normally put on hold by elected governments, the action plan for food production, food preservation and processing is too costly to implement, and the “designed road map for massive youth employment around the country can wait and wait and wait”.
“The campaign platform is replaced with massive corruption in governance.
The government’s performance is anemic and cosmetic across the board to give the people the false impression that it is working yet the lack of enthusiasm for accelerated national transformation shows glaringly.
They come back to the platform when it is time for re-election as if the people are fools”. “The reality is that no political platform ever gets the attention of a party once they get into state power in Liberia.
The platform unfortunately has just become a campaign slogan and is never used as a blueprint for governance as it should be. The reason why? CORRUPTION”.
Public thieves
With the exception of just a few, Mr. Neyor observed that most public servants are “public thieves” who used their positions of stewardship for our collective resources as a platform for their own aggrandizement.
“When these officials are out of power they speak and present themselves as saviors on white horses but as soon as they taste power, their greed for ill-gotten wealth begins to show and the welfare of the people becomes secondary”.
Mr. Neyor emphasized that “this ugly side of this corruption entrenchment is the growing public expectation that when one gets a public post it is an opportunity to amass wealth and those who do not are fools”. He pointed out that “campaign platform serves no useful purpose for people with such a mindset.
Piece of document not worth
He observed that many of the platforms proffered in the past are worthless documents that are of no benefit to the Liberian people. “Do we continue to promote political platforms? The platform has become a piece of document that is not worth the paper it is written on when it comes to execution regardless of the party that wins”.
He stated that since corruption remains the cancer that has been eating every Liberian government’s ability to provide food security; health services including water and sanitation; quality education; reliable and affordable electric services; security and economic empowerment for the people, among others, a “one-item platform to kill corruption is what Liberia needs at this moment in history”.
Tasked to write Energy Platform
Mr. Neyor previously served as the Managing Director of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) and Senior Energy Advisor and President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) during the administrations of former Liberian Presidents Samuel Kanyon Doe and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
He played a pivotal role in advising Madam Sirleaf and the former Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy on post war power restoration, spearheaded writing of the current Liberia National Energy Policy (LNEP) and initiated the conceptual framework for full development of the nearly 1000 MW capacity of the St Paul River basin.
Mr. Neyor is currently the President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Morweh Energy in Liberia. The group is engaged into both local and international consultancies on the energy sector. He has been tasked to write the Energy Platform of a candidate he supports come 2023.
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I have been tasked with writing the Energy Platform or updating the energy agenda (platform) for the candidate I support but in recent weeks, I have been pondering the benefit of such time consuming exercise.
You see, this is not the first time I have prepared platforms for presidential candidates; I have done so in the past outlining a plan of action for energy, my area of expertise, to create a vibrant energy sector inclusive of how we can achieve reliable and affordable year-round electricity throughout Liberia” Mr.
Neyor stated. He continued: “The sad story is that when those candidates got elected presidents, none of the plan of action in their energy platform that consumed so much time and energy in its development got attended to.
Neither was pro bono expert suggestions offered while in office given any consideration to examine their benefits to the country. The same can be said of the platforms or recommendations for all the other sectors, education, health, roads, agriculture, youth unemployment, etc”.
Mr. Neyor pointed out that he will use the opportunity to urge the candidate he supports to run a “one-item anti-corruption platform and we all, who are advisors and supporters, swear to uphold that platform when elected”.
Benefits of a one-item platform
He assured that with a one item anti-corruption platform along with a strong inclination to execute from the get-go, the transformation of Liberia will begin.
“Killing corruption from the very beginning of an administration with a Jerry Rawlings type of commitment will bring to life the enthusiasm and energy to resuscitate all the dying sectors -energy, agriculture, roads, health, education, security, employment and citizens wealth creation.
I support a one-item platform for the 2023 legislative and presidential campaign and that is an ANTI-CORRUPTION platform. There must be a Jerry Rawlings among us to help free our country from corruption and set it on a new path of development and human progress”.
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