MONROVIA – A familiar critic has turned President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s own record back on him. Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe reminds the President that he once criticized former President George Manneh Weah’s government over insecurity, crime and drugs. Criticism was legitimate then, Gongloe argues, and cannot become illegitimate now. He places today’s critics in a tradition running through Albert Porte and Tuan Wreh. He also cites the 2024 Supreme Court ruling against Boakai’s nominations to tenured posts. His prescription for the President is blunt: listen, correct what is wrong and explain. The commentary arrives as opposition voices grow louder. It tests whether the government can tolerate the same dissent it once practiced. THE ANALYST reports.
Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe has reminded President Joseph Nyuma Boakai that he was himself a strong critic of the government of former President George Manneh Weah, urging the President to let the people talk.
In a public education commentary in defense of freedom of expression, Gongloe noted that while in opposition, Boakai publicly criticized insecurity, violent crime, drug trafficking and what he considered failures of government to protect the people.
“Criticism was legitimate then; it cannot become illegitimate merely because the critic has become President,” Gongloe declared. Criticism, he argued, is the soul of democracy, and Liberia has a long tradition of citizens questioning those in power.
A Long Tradition of Dissent
Gongloe recalled that Albert Porte became one of Liberia’s most prominent voices of dissent during the Tubman and Tolbert eras, while Tuan Wreh also challenged the Tubman system. Under President Tolbert, he noted, Togba-Nah Tipoteh, Gabriel Baccus Matthews, Amos Sawyer, Dew Mayson, Oscar Quiah, student leaders and many others openly questioned government policies and demanded political and social change.
Even during the authoritarian regimes of Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, he observed, Liberians continued to speak out, often at great personal risk.
“So, Mr. President, let the people talk,” Gongloe wrote. He recalled the late Nagbe Sloh once saying on ELBC that in a democracy, “you talk your own and I talk my own,” and the late Joe Mulbah often reminding Liberians that “jaw-jaw is better than war-war.”
It is better for citizens to fight with words and ideas than with guns, he stated, describing that as democracy’s greatest safety valve.
What Critics Help Leaders See
Criticism, Gongloe further argued, can help a government see what it may not be seeing, noting that a President surrounded by officials who always say “yes” may never hear what ordinary citizens are experiencing.
He cited the rule of law as an example, pointing out that Boakai criticized governance failures while in opposition, yet in 2024 the Supreme Court ruled that his nominations to several already-occupied tenured positions violated the incumbents’ due-process rights and ordered the nominations revoked.
“That is precisely why public criticism and judicial scrutiny matter,” he maintained.
Gongloe disclosed that he, too, has criticized many governments, stating that the evidence is on his body and the memory will remain with him until death.
He said he continues to criticize government and provide solutions, and is criticized by others in turn. When he commends something the Unity Party (UP) government does well, he noted, some Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) partisans criticize him, and when he criticizes the government, some members and supporters of the UP call him a CDC sympathizer.
Silence, Not Criticism, Endangers Democracy
“That is democracy,” Gongloe asserted, adding that people will always peacefully and respectfully disagree and that it helps a president and other officials of government to know that the people are thinking. His advice to the President, he said, is to let the people talk, stop complaining, listen, correct what is wrong and explain where the government disagrees.
“Criticism is not the enemy of democracy. Silence is! In fact, silence is a very dangerous enemy of democracy!” Gongloe concluded.