Dear Readers,
As a passionate young activist in the fight against corruption and the fight for youth participation/inclusion in government decision making processes in Liberia and also a fervent ambassador for social change on the continent of Africa who have worked within the Civil Society arena for the past Nine (9) years, I would like to proffer the following awful happenings seen thus far in the Civil Society Organization. This analysis takes into consideration happenings from May 2004 to September 2011.
Throughout my life, I have worked in the private sector. I spent four (4) years working with the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia as Intern, Research Assistant, Field Officer, and Administrative Assistant to the Director proper. Also, I worked at the Nitok Consultant Company where I served as Coordinator for LWSC Customer Enumeration Project. This project lasted for Six (6) months. Later, I worked for USAID-IBI through the GSA assets control and National Assets Control and Billing Program. This project lasted for a year and the half with travel in ten (10) of the fifteen counties in Liberia. Currently, I served as Resident Director of a regional youth movement called Youth Campaigners International. YCI seeks to serve as a direct representative platform for youth in Africa and the world in general. Serving in those capacities put me in a better position to critically monitor and evaluate the workings of Liberia’s civil society organizations. My observation brings to book the question as to whether those tuff talking advocates we hear on the radio or read about in the print media really have the passion to do what they are doing or is it that they are chasing donor funding. For example, surprisingly, one could realize a pro-democracy organization applying for health related grants from the WHO, USAID and even Global Health funds compromising their relevance and legitimacy. I have resolved that Civil Society Organization by definition is a movement or group legally registered under the laws of one’s domicile to do a particular job in their area of specialization. Said movement/group must have a mission statement, objectives and vision to influencing change in said sector such that the end-users standard of living condition can be bettered. I thought to lay the foundation so that we can get into the real business. While it is true 85% of Liberian CSOs go after the money without realizing their area of concentration, the internal operations of the organization still remain awful. The behavior patterns of the staffers are bleak. The abuse of female colleague(s) in CSOs has become one major problems faced by the Liberian CSOs. Also, the issue of financial or administrative misappropriations is rated the second major problems faced by Liberia CSOs. Within the CSOs arena, there is a saying that says “Project finish, Money finish.” If that has been or is the case then what becomes of the administrative cost approved by the donor community? What happen to the overhead cost, contingency or miscellaneous provided by the donor organization?
In the next few paragraphs below, I hope to expose to you why Liberian civil society organizations do not grow and why is it that many CSOs operating in Liberia suffer brain-dream and operate in begs without having a structure offices and professional staffers. If even they have, I would also like to talk about the behavior pattern proffered by CSOs in Liberia.
To start from the least, the behavioral pattern proffered by civil society organization in Liberia is so demining and disgraceful to the extent that the only way a female colleague/staff gets a bigger position in the organization or travel on international conferences is when she agrees to have an affair or in a plainer tune go in bed with her boss. In Liberia, the ten (10) self impose outstanding CSOs has doctrinated themselves into this form of governance. In fact, three of the ten (10) self impose outstanding CSOs heads has even married their female staffers. What a shame! I wonder why can’t they keep their zipper up and forget about using their position to exploit from those girls. Again, I am pleased to inform you that if one does not dance to the tune of the music they sing, one will not have the fat stipend or might not have the foreign travel for trainings and other basic incentive. This kind of practice has desecrated the secrete field of advocacy. It brings disrepute to the CSOs movement in Liberia. While it is true there are bad apples amongst the good once, I think, unless we takeoff those bad once, the system will stay remain. If how do we do that becomes the question, I would like to say, firstly, every CSO workers must signed unto a code of conduct that prevent this ugly behavior. There must be a Whistle blower mechanism put in place to encourage staffers to report cases of that kind to both the Government and an independent committee or body set up by the international donor community.
