It is not known whether the timing and the substance of the dual nationwide speeches of the two political archrivals was a matter of mere coincidence or a deliberate planning on the part of one or the other.

	• Pres. Johnson-Sirleaf

But there is something easily discernable in both the timing and the issues raised: the two speakers, all of elitist backgrounds, did not want the historically refreshing date of April 14 to come to pass without giving the nation and people a fresh awakening of, and way out from, those vexing issues and problems that dynamited the body politic on this date 29 years ago.

And the two prominent Liberians, despite their diametrically opposing political angles, identified most of the problems and the issues commonly. Points of divergences, understandably, were high in terms of the solutions and the urgency and approaches.

The Analyst Senior Staff keenly listened to Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Cllr. Charles Brumskine yesterday and figures out the imprints of the clash of their rhetoric.     
  
Yesterday, April 14, brought to sharp remembrance in Liberia the day on which the ailing vertebrate of national harmony, social justice and peace was severely fractured, sending the Oldest African Republic diving in the seas of instability, disintegration and collapse from which it is yet to fully recovery.  

It is a day that Liberians should use, said an observer, as monument and platform upon which to soberly reflect and chart a new radical course of lasting peace and prosperity.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her longtime political rival Charles Walker Brumskine rose to the admonition. They presented their various perspectives of the state of nation, and what is possibly tenable in keeping the postwar country on the steady course of recovery and development.

It could not be readily established how the two landmark orations came on the same day; Sirleaf’s at about 10:00am and Brumskine at 1:00pm. However, at the day’s end, Liberians were nearly filled with a mountain of national problems, their justifications, and solutions.

Sirleaf, a longtime activist and politicians, did not speak as she did in the 1980s and the 1990s, when nearly every policy of the incumbent was solvable and solvable nearly immediately. She spoke like a president, like any other past Liberian President.

Yes, there might be a multiplicity of pressing problems, but from the perspective of the President, the solutions were not all within the reach of government; some needed time and some needed external assistance. Brumskine, a former Senate Pro Tempore during the early days of Charles Taylor’s rule, was it diametrically differently. Acknowledging there were problems, the solution is home-grownable and only needed the political will.

• President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf & Cllr. Charles Brumskine

Brumskine commenced his speech with a couple of commendations in apparent appreciation to government and its partners for number of strides that they have made in the are of infrastructure rehabilitation, debt relief, sanctions on diamond and timber and international diplomacy.

“The steps the President and her government have taken in the past two years that raised funds to liquidate the arrears on the country’s debt to the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank are highly commended, and the Liberty Party heartily congratulates the President for the success,” Brumskine said in the nationwide radio broadcast.

“We commend President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the progress her government has made over the last year, all of which were enumerated in her Annual Message to the Nation. Therefore, at the risk of redundancy, we note the repaving of the Jallah Town Road, the repair works that are currently being carried out on Tubman Boulevard and the Robertsfield Highway, among others.

We also congratulate the President on the renovation of public buildings, such as the Capitol Building and the Temple of Justice. Of course, we have been hopeful that the President would prioritize the renovation of the Executive Mansion, the seat of the Presidency, as well as the infrastructure of the University of Liberia.

Again, we congratulate the President and her government for the work done in the Security Sector, as evidenced by the training of more soldiers, police and immigration officers. It is our sincere hope that this will translate into true security and protection of the average Liberian.”

President Sirleaf was also on target with self-exaltation: We are pleased that our country continues to receive the support and partnership that supplements our effort to accelerate implementation of our development agenda…

As you know, last week I joined President Kufuor of Ghana and President Mbeki of South Africa along with thirteen other world leaders in a Progressive Government Summit. In subsequent bilateral talks, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown responded positively to our request for support for our justice system, particularly the Police and the judiciary--this is in addition to ongoing support for our health and education sector and for civil service reform.

I also visited with President Gbargbo of La Cote d’Ivoire who decorated me with that country’s highest honor for my work in the development of Africa over the years. He also confirmed the decision of Cote d’Ivoire to join the Mano River Union and we expect that he will participate in the Union Summit which is scheduled to be held in Monrovia next month… Through the effort of the Vice President and our Representative at the United Nation, a delegation from Cuba has just ended a visit which we expect to result in Cuban doctors to serve at our hospitals and clinics in the very near future.

A high level delegation is expected later this month from the China Africa Development Fund to look at possible support for our Economic Free Zone and investment in the mining and agriculture sectors.”

Having partly agreed on a few things mention, there were specific topical matters that witnessed a clash of thoughts; these included the rice crisis and the galloping pace of prices.

Sirleaf: “We are aware that the cost of commodities, particularly food items with emphasis on rice, is increasing worldwide. This is because the demands from countries, whose population are larger and richer, have overtaken the production or supply of these commodities.

There is also the diversion of traditional food products to bio-fuel production. We cannot control the increase in the world market price but we can do some things on the domestic side to bring relief to the population. In fact, the government has already taken a major step by removing the US$2 tax on a bag of rice. This implies a revenue shortfall of over US$3 million.

Brumskine thinks the government can do more than suggested by Sirleaf: “Although the government has no control over world market prices, the government can certainly do something about profiteering by local business persons, the inefficiencies and corruption at the Port, and other government agencies and ministries, as the President repeatedly admits.

Could the oligopolistic structure of the rice market have something to do with the high price of rice on the Liberian market? By the President’s own estimation, a bag of rice is overpriced. Therefore, in addition to the US$2.00 tax that the President promised to waive, the price of a bag of rice can be further reduced by another US$2.61.

	• Cllr. Charles Brumskine

A reduction of US$4.61 from a bag of rice would go a long way in helping the people…We will be requesting members of the Legislature to pass a bill repealing all taxation, direct and indirect, on rice. We again implore the President to support that bill and sign it into law, for love of country and the people.”

There also were the issues of human rights, corruption, good governance on which the two April 14 orators propounded diverse views in terms of urgency and strategy.   

While the President thinks these matters find solutions in the creation of the Human Rights Commission and Anti-Corruption legislations, amongst other things, Brumskine opines that credible political will, coupled with Constitutional reform and the independence are institutions such as the Judiciary and the Elections Commission, is a critical benchmark for good governance.

Sirleaf: “The slow progress in this regard is not a lack of political will or a weakening in my resolve. We have relieved officials of their positions where there was evidence of dishonesty. We have several cases involving past and current officials that are before the courts.

We are awaiting Legislative action on the Anti Corruption Commission and the Code of Conduct that will provide the legal basis for certain action such as the Declaration of Assets.

We are supporting the General Auditing Commission in its audit program which is ongoing. It has just proved more difficult and sometimes frustrating at the slow pace of due process which limits us in providing details to the public on the basis that those accused are deemed innocent until proven guilty.”  

Brumskine: “For the first time in the history of “good governance” in Liberia, President Sirleaf has appointed a city mayor. Sadly, a narrow majority of the Supreme Court upheld the President’s appointment as constitutional. Today, it is not just a Liberian president who is wrong, but also the law has been made wrong…The President recently dismissed a magistrate, which she has the statutory authority to do.

But even the dismissal of a magistrate by the Executive, without proven cause, undermines the independence of the judiciary. The statute, as worded, lends to mischief that contributes to the overly powerful presidency—a serious threat to the development of democracy in Liberia.

The statute must, therefore, be amended to delete the provision that allows the removal of a magistrate from office “at the pleasure of the President.” No official that performs any judicial function, even a magistrate, should be subject to dismissal at the will and pleasure of the President. That would only further erode the independence of the judiciary.”