Politics

Sorry to all for letting so much time lapse between this and my last post – especially since that last one was kind of bittersweet. (I’m back dating these posts to correspond to my journal entries) I’ll chalk it up to the fact that the internet has been down frequently, but it’s really also this heat, which makes it hard to think, much less put together a coherent idea.

So there is still lots to tell. Way back on October 11th, I woke up bracing myself for another harrowing day of teaching and was pleasantly surprised when some of my students came by our guest house, crowded around one of the wire mesh windows and shouted in as I ate my porridge- “Sis Kim, no school today!!” That’s something of a comment on how casually the school is run, but it’s really my introduction to Liberian politics. On October 11th, Liberians were given the first opportunity to elect a president after several years of a UN-run interim government. Nearly the whole camp was fasting and praying and many schools were cancelled in honor of the day. Even from a few countries away from the action, it was an exciting time. The refugees on camp cannot vote, but they probably have as much (if not more) of a vested interest in the outcome than those still in Liberia, and almost all are happy to talk politics.

Most people have an opinion about the 22 candidates, even if it is that there are simply too many candidates to achieve any meaningful consensus (a popular opinion). Most, however, prefer one of two choices – George Weah or Ellen Johnson. Weah is a former footballer with less than high school education and the conventional wisdom on camp is that he is the man to unify the country at least in the role of a popular figurehead, but many have doubts about his political acumen and decision-making ability. Ellen Johnson has the experience and political savvy (I think she worked for the World Bank), but she has had ties to Charles Taylor (former warlord president now in exile), so some fear her presidency will fracture the country.

For the most part, people seem to be doing a combination of holding their breath in anticipation of peace, at the same time as they roll their eyes at the prospects of any kind of immediate change. The other day some of the kids who play outside our house were singing a song that kind cuts to the chase. It goes like this – “Liberia, Liberia, Liberia, Liberia. One day Liberia will be free”