Role of Exiles in Liberian Reconstruction

Some have asked whether the Liberian exiles should be allowed to return to play a part as leaders in the political rebuilding of their country. It is said by some that the exiles have no part to play. Some say that only those who suffered through the civil war should now step forward to lead Liberia into the future.

I would like to answer those individuals today. In making my answer, I have called upon the wisdom of Reverend Doctor Daniel Gueh, who said "Let the Exiles return to rebuild Jerusalem." Twenty-five hundred years ago, the Babylonians fell upon the nation of Israel, conquered it, and took its leading citizens away into exile. Most of the people of Israel remained, but they were without leadership, and unable to rebuild Jerusalem.

We are told in the Bible that when Cyrus, the King of Persia, overthrew the Babylonian tyranny, he freed the exiles from their captivity. God then chose the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah to lead the exiles back to their own country, where they could use the skills, knowledge, and resources they possessed to rebuild Jerusalem. According to the Book of Ezra, Chapter 1, verses 2-4:

Thus said Cyrus the King of Persia, the Lord God

of Heaven had given me all the kingdoms of the earth;

and he has charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem

which is in Judah. Who is there a

. . .
rom 1944 to 1980, Liberia made progress. Often it did not make enough progress, yet it always made some. Each year the Liberian people had a few more roads, a few more schools, a little more hope for their future and their children's future. Now, let us compare what those leaders gave to Liberia, and see how it different it was from what the leaders who ruled by the gun for a quarter century have brought to Liberia. We have had a leader whose came to office by butchering his predecessor, and whose first public act was to drag thirteen leading citizens out to a beach, tie them to stakes, and shoot them to death as television cameras rolled. From such a beginning, was it a surprise that the progress that Liberia had made since 1944 began to unravel? We have seen fraudulent elections and bampaigns conducted by terror. We have seen Samuel Doe murdered in his turn, and his place taken by another murderer, Charles Taylor. We have seen innocent children, future leaders of our country, thrown into trucks, taken to a military base, and buried alive. We have seen leaders who raised private armies of mercenaries to invade their own country. We have seen children taken from their homes and drugged in order to turn them into child
. . .

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Approximate Word count = 1854
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)