By Wonderr K. Freeman, Attorney, CFCS

Reggae Legend Robert Nester Marley (aka Bob Marley) sang a famous verse in the reggae classic “Get Up, Stand Up” (1973), chanting “you can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time”. According to the website ‘Quote Investigator’, this verse traces back to USA’s Abraham Lincoln (1886) and, even further, to the French Protestant theologian, Jacques Abbadie (1684). Well, we are in Monrovia, Liberia – in 2025 – and the political elites (Unity Party [UP] and Congress for Democratic Change [CDC]) really believe that they can “fool all the [Liberian] people, all the time”. However, this quote shows we cannot dismiss three hundred and fifty years of political wisdom so easily.

Liberian politicians’ dominant strategy: dangling shining objects

Shiny Object [Syndrome] is the metaphor used to describe in phenomenon in which people grasp for “straws”, for superficial things, superficial investments or approaches, which serves more as a distraction, than a well-thought [business] policy or plan of action. But politicians being pragmatic people, having been successful in the past with dangling shining objects in front of Liberians, and getting away with their fraud – living extravagantly – believe they can use the same strategy over and over and again. These politicians, especially the ruling UP, having being elected on a promise to rescue Liberians from “unemployment, poverty and destitution”, and having no real plan to “rescue” the people, have resorted to dangling “shining objects” in front of them – believing that, of course, these are people that can be fooled all the time. What better way to do this than dangle “gigantic earth-moving equipment”, aka yellow machines, across the counties (provinces) as a constant reminder that the government (GOL) is working – “just look at these big machines”? Yellow machines, big and gigantic, are classic shining objects! They are, of course, big, shining, and meaningless!

Liberia’s current socio-economic status as seen by the global community

Liberia is poor and destitute, and the civil war excuse no longer suffices. Liberia has had at least twenty years of uninterrupted peace. Yet, under the leadership of UP, which has dominated the Executive Branch, and CDC, likewise, the Legislature, Liberia’s unemployment crisis, poverty, and destitution have continued unabated, even deteriorating. What have been the dividends of peace? These failed parties, UP and CDC, want us to constantly compare one to the other. They call it the lesser-of-two-evils doctrine. But why should a free people restrict their choices to two failures? This doesn’t make any sense! To evaluate and appreciate if Liberia is making socio-economic progress, we must compare Liberia with other similarly situated countries, geographically, like in West Africa/Africa, or with other developing countries. The constant comparison of UP with CDC (and vice versa) is an exercise in futility. There is no sense in continuously comparing “failure” to “failure”. To succeed, one must compare failure to success, not failure (UP) to failure (CDC). This unfortunate comparison has got to end!

So, to understand where Liberia is economically, we must compare Liberia with [preferably] Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, other sub-Saharan states, and other developing countries. And if we focus on such comparisons, we will soon come to realize that Liberia’s is lagging, not by a stretch, but by “miles and miles”. The following graphics show that Liberia trails its neighbors on many socio-economic metrics, whether it’s GDP per capita, Human Development Index, or Foreign Direct Investment. Leveling up to other countries in the region requires a serious economic policy rethink, not gimmicks or shining objects. Why is Liberia, independent since 1847, still competing with South Sudan (ind. since 2011), for spots at the bottom of the human development index? Why is Liberia’s GDP per capita more than two times smaller than the sub-Saharan average? Why is Liberia no match for regional neighbors when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment? These are the questions Liberians should be asking themselves, instead of the frequent useless comparison between UP and CDC. Instead of dancing for “shining objects” dangled by the dishonest leaders in UP/CDC – i.e., dancing for yellow machines – we should be asking ourselves, why is a country birthed in 1847 still at the bottom of human development measure, when other countries in Africa are making significant headways (e.g. Medium HDI, Kenya, Namibia, Ghana, Angola, etc.). Our ruling elites refused to address these systemic issues, but continue the age-old strategy of dangling shining objects in our faces. Is it that we Liberians can be fooled all the time? Being fooled all the time defies logic and ordinary common sense. When will Liberians say enough is enough? When will we say no more?

The plain truth about the yellow machines that cannot be washed away

1. It began as an attempt to extort the country of millions of US dollars. The Office of the President, via Mamaka Bility as its agent, first told the public that the equipment were valued at USD 84 million. Upon loud public outcry, the same quantity of machines would go on to cost USD 22 million. In any serious country, this would have been a basis for a parliamentary inquiry, as well as a public prosecutor inquiry, and some people would have, in fact, gone to jail. But no, this is Liberia, people are jailed for “insulting” public figures, not for stealing or attempting to extort USD 60 million out of Liberia.

• The entire procurement of the “yellow machine” failed to follow the laws on public procurement, public finance, or the annual budget or criminal code. President Boakai without any compunction told the Liberian legislature that he was acting upon a “gentleman agreement” with his long-time friend. Again, in any serious country, disavowing the laws of the country, including the budget law, and the Constitution, would have been cause for impeachment and removal from office. But no, this is Liberia. The ruling elites operate via business-as-usual, and business as usual for them means stealing as much as possible in the shortest time possible.

• There was no planning or public debate about the relevance of these machines. Moreover, the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) sub-contracts most of its work and focuses on regulation, monitoring, quality control, and supervision. Buying a large stock of machines makes little sense in such circumstance. After all, contractors are supposed to provide their own equipment. Why is the MPW trying to own a huge stockpile of equipment when it no longer does the actual work, but subcontracts same independents businesses? 

• Development is a law and institutional issue. Failure to establish institutions or abide by laws and procedures leads to state dysfunction, economic stagnation, unemployment and destitution. Believing that one can violate our public finance law(s), public procurement law(s), budget law, and criminal laws and still believe that equipment procured (under these circumstances) will lead to development is lunacy. Laws and institutions are an integral part of development. Compound that with something as ludicrous as a “yellow machine” committee, [and even more ludicrous] led by an ex-felon, BJ Samukai and you will soon realize that our current leaders have no respect for the citizens. They see “shining objects” as some kind of magic wand!

Liberia has a serious problem with unemployment, stagnation and poverty. Getting out of this predicament requires serious economic thinking and planning. Grasping for shining objects may be temporarily soothing, but in the end, if the economic conditions of the citizenry do not improve, these celebrations and chest-beating will come to naught. Saddling Liberia with unnecessary debts over ill-thought of plans or “white elephant” projects will just lead to more unemployment, more economic stagnation and more poverty.

Wonderr K. Freeman is a Liberian Investment Attorney, Political Economist, Accountant, and Certified Financial Crimes Specialist (CFCS) currently based in Minneapolis, USA. Mr. Freeman’s professional interests span the intersection of law and economics, including the political economy of development, economic justice, international trade/investment law, and financial crimes law. He can be reached at [email protected]. He blogs at https://wonderrfreeman.com