Liberia: Reminding Of MICAT’s Belligerence

21 June 2011

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Your Excellency!

In our Memo to you in May this year, a little over a month ago, we took up with you the discourteous posture of officials of the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) in addressing dissents and qualms from critics and politicians and other members of public regarding the policies of your administration. And we requested you, in the Memo entitled, “Suppress MICAT’s Belligerence”, to do the honorable thing of calming their intellectual temper and urge them to be more civil and professional.

It seems you have been too busy to pick up our earnest advice or to muster the moral and political courage to tell the folks manning that taxpayers’ ministry to stop turning their offices into partisan propaganda cells or a domain of verbal thuggery because the whole nation relies on them to serve as the macrocosm of decent communication and civil discourse. We are therefore obliged to repeat ourselves in this latest Memo to you.

Perhaps you haven’t been following developments, but the volleys of crude words coming out of the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), hitting the persons and characters of opposition people and groups are growing in intensity and they do have their impact on you as head of government around whom the larger part of the verbal feud is tied.

Describing critics and/or opposition people political dogs, Taliban, lunatics, raining insults on them and vowing to continue to “go [in the] gutter” with them–something that officials of that Ministry make a habit–is impugning on you as head of state and painting a dishonorable impression about you regime which brags of tolerance, intellectualism and civility.

Let’s once again hasten to say, as we did in our May Memo to you, that we are not in support of anyone–including opposition politicians–who likewise had gone, or is going, gutter or disrespecting or unnecessarily lambasting or discrediting you or your government. We strongly frown at the use of profanity or verbal obscenities to address national issue no matter who’s involved. Civil discourse is as critical and imperative to peaceful co-existence as political tolerance. But we think those in Government have greater burden to prove and demonstrate greater care and leadership in shaping national attitude than anyone else.

As the current ruling elites whose tenure comes as a result of political triumph over several other national actors, and the fact that you preside over the collection and utilization of state resources, you become the target of unfailing suspicion and criticism and should expect that at times these criticisms might go awry. Even at that, as our people say, ‘you don’t run out of the bathroom naked racing after a mad by who had just stoned you’.

National leadership which is a crown you bear is not only meant to be exercised in terms of political governance; it is also, amongst other things, meant to be exercised in other facets of life, including civil discourse. If you had ever intended endeavoring to be seen as a leader of responsible intellectualism and tolerance, the folks at the Ministry of Information are petering out such a desire significantly.

The Ministry of Information, by law, is the agency of Government that promotes information sharing and constructive communication between the governors and the governed. It serves–or should serve–as conduit or vehicle by which the governors report to the governed. It is supposed to be an agency that explains government policies and takes the aspiration of the people to the government.

If someone tries to misinterpret or misrepresent government policy or government achievements, the Ministry of Information as a domain of expert communicators properly sets the records straight. It should be the last agency of government to run out of words or explanations that woo and captivate the population appreciate even the least the government achieves for the people. Even if some expressions against the government are crude or unpleasant, the Ministry as the agency of government reserved for superb communicators must provide answers that turn those obscene words into tacit embarrassment and regret for those who utter them. Experienced and trained communicators are able to do that–to remain civil in reacting to brutal comments and yet win a discourse. And we thought MICAT had such a class of people to do just that.

Regrettably that is not the case. Besides curses and vituperations, the hallmark of present MICAT officials, there are threats out to go further in the gutter. The rule at MICAT now is, an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.

What happens if everyone goes into the gutter? When politicians go gutter on the political field? When civil servants go gutter in their offices? When children go gutter in their homes and communities? Wouldn’t that show that you, as leader of this country, have lost control of leadership?

We think you need to sanitize things at MICAT. We know at times it is tempting and it appears soothing when one’s “men” engage his or her enemies in a more robust manner. We know how it feels when one’s “boy” becomes more zealous and loyal as to lay down his or her life, let alone curse, an opponent. But in the situation of post-conflict Liberia, in which many people are careless about the consequences of their actions, and particularly towards elections where everyone or every bloc is grimly determined to prevail, going into gutter could leave the entire country perforated with huge holes that might be sufficient and capable to drown the population.

If there is any institution of government that needs to calm the storm, it is MICAT. And if MICAT is defaulting, it is you who must exercise the leadership. And the surest way to proceed is first to suppress the belligerence and overzealousness of MICAT. Only you can do it.

Thanks for granting us this time.

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