The ongoing agitation calling for the full accountability of the leadership of Mr. Kai Farley, Superintendent of Grand Gedeh County swelled up yesterday, when a prominent citizen and a former Senatorial candidate during the 2020 Special Senatorial Mid-term election, William Nyanue, said he was lending his full support to the cause and call on the new elected Legislative Caucus of the County to take a definitive stand where she stands on the issue as the state of affairs of the county continues to deteriorate.
In a release issued and signed by him, Mr. Nyanue said that in early March, 2022, a group of citizens under the auspices of the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee” submitted a petition to Superintendent Farley requesting him to meet with their concerns, among which are lack of reliable power supply in Zwedru, presence of foreigners in the county’s forest engaging in farming and gold mining operations, benefits accruing to the county from the gold mining operations, reporting on the management and investment of county development funds and management of the county’s road construction equipment.
He said not being able to meet with the superintendent, the group reportedly submitted its grievances to the President of Liberia, asking him to relieve the superintendent of his commission.
“I am issuing this press statement today to indicate my unqualified support for the issues raised in the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee’s” petition. As a former Grand Gedeh County senatorial candidate, I feel it is important that our people know at all times where I stand on issues that affect the welfare of the county and its people.
“The issues raised in the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee’s” petition are some of the issues that I have been raising now for quite some time, including during my 2020 senatorial campaign. I, therefore, welcome the partnership of the Committee in this effort calling attention to the unacceptable management of our county. The county needs all of its sons and daughters of genuine patriotic sentiments to join in this effort. That is why I am today calling on all those who aspire to lead our people, including those who contested for legislative positions during past elections, including in particular the 2020 mid-term senatorial election, as well as those who are now planning to contest in 2023, to let their voices be heard on the very critical issues that the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee” raised in its petition. The county’s aspiring leaders cannot pontificate about advancing the County’s interests only at election times and then go into hibernation when the election seasons end or wait for their opinions to be sought before speaking out on issues critical to the county’s development”, he said..
Mr. Nyanue who formerly served as President of the Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas (GGAA) said that in the past, the previous leaderships of the county Caucus did not always serve the best interests of the county, often paying deaf ear and blind eye to critical issues that hampered the development of the county, adding that some members of the Caucus have even been privately accused of being the hidden hands behind some of the mismanagement issues in the county.
“There is no better way for the new leadership to demonstrate its preparedness to bring light and positive energy to the work of the Caucus than to let our people know now where it stands on the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee’s” petition, which simply formally catalogued long standing grievances”, Mr. Nyanue.
He challenged his compatriots whom he called “true patriots” to work together to usher in the county a new day of accountability, stressing that the county’s current leadership, headed by the superintendent as the President of Liberia’s Vice-gerent, must expeditiously and formally address the issues raised by the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee” and others, including him:
He then raised several issues which he wants for Superintendent Farley to address, among which are the presence of foreigners in the county’s forests who are engaged in gold mining and agricultural activities, the benefits that accrue to the county from the many gold mining operations scattered around the country, as well as the environmental damage mitigations that the county is promoting/advocating, public disclosure of all funds that accrue to the county from several logging companies operating in the county as part of their social responsibility obligations, full disclosures on all issues surrounding the county’s road construction equipment, including in particular why it was leased to a private firm working in Sinoe County; proceeds from the lease; and documentary confirmation of the conditions of the equipment at the time of procurement—whether used or new, efforts being exerted, either through the use of the county’s road construction equipment or through lobbying with the national government, to rehabilitate the section of the Monrovia-Zwedru Highway from the Cestos River to Zwedru among others.
“The raising of issues concerning the proper management of Grand Gedeh County often irritates the relevant authorities because they view the exercise of this vital civic duty as a personal affront. This view of things frequently leads to shouting matches between those, like the “Grand Gedeh County Senior Citizens Grievance Committee” in this instance, who are seeking answers, and those in authority to whom the questions are addressed. This posture only “muddles” the water and causes the real issues to get lost in the noise. I am, therefore, calling on all those who, like me, are calling on our leaders to account for their stewardship of the offices they hold, to remain resolute and persistent in their calls for answers and actions, but civil in their engagements. We must, at all times, resist the temptation to reduce our discourses to personal attacks and name-calling which only create unnecessary factions and divert attention and energies from the real issues”, he concluded.