LETTER FROM SACLEPEA: The Difference

By Musa Hassan Bility

As I travel across our country, from villages to towns, from marketplaces to city centers, I see a difference. I have campaigned before, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. I have been on all sides of political outcomes—victory, defeat, and renewal. But never before have I found myself at the center of a campaign that is not just about winning, but about meaning, about redefining the Liberian political journey itself.

As the head of the Citizens Movement for Change, I now see that difference. I see why the people are choosing this path. At first, I wondered if it was about personality, whether Liberians were drawn to celebrity, sympathy, or sentiment. But what I have found is far deeper. Coming from where I come, being part of a minority tribe, belonging to a minority faith, and having lived through the doubts that come with both, I should have been at a disadvantage. And yet, I find Liberians embracing the CMC with hope and reason.

That is the difference.

It tells me that something profound is changing in the Liberian consciousness. People are beginning to think differently about power. They are beginning to understand that leadership is not a gift to be received but a responsibility to be earned. I have asked young people across the country whether they prefer the fleeting pleasure of being handed money or the lasting reward of development and opportunity, and overwhelmingly, they have chosen the latter. That is the beginning of national maturity.

The growing resonance of the CMC is genuine. It comes from a people who are tired of the same faces trading power, tired of the same promises recycled every election cycle, tired of leaders who seek office without answering hard questions. We, as leaders, must now be ready to answer, to present not just what we intend to do, but why we did not do it before when we had the chance.

As the next election approaches, those who have ruled or are ruling must face two questions for every promise they make: What is your new plan, and why did you not fulfill it when you had power? That is the burden of experience, and that is the weight of accountability.

The CMC stands ready, not with rhetoric but with resolve. We are building a foundation of visible, local development across Liberia, one community at a time. We want to be known as the party that builds, the party that solves, the party that works. We are proud of that. We accept that our path is harder, but it is the right one.

A new phase of Liberian politics is unfolding, one where citizens will not just cheer their leaders but question them, one where they will not just receive but reason, and one where doing a little now will mean the promise of doing more tomorrow.

The difference is here.

And Liberia is finally ready for it.