Independence Day!!

On July 26th, Liberia celebrates its independence (as the oldest Republic in Africa). Yesterday it marked 161 years!

 

All of us on Team Liberia managed to secure invitations to the Independence Day Celebrations in Liberia. Independence Day fell on a Saturday this year, which allowed for a weekend-long celebration.

 

(Like in the USA, some civil servants joked they were disappointed the holiday didn't fall on a weekday so that they got to take a day off! The Ministry of Gender and Development gave all of its employees a large sack of rice, as a holiday gift.)

 

Celebrations were held in Kakata, which is a city in Margibi county, northeast of Monrovia. One of the Harvard Liberia interns, Tamara Heimur, got to write an article on the significance of Kakata and Margibi county to Liberia and spent a lot of time researching the region and its history. (Fun fact: NASA has Margibi County as an alternate shuttle landing space.)

 

Red, white, and blue decorations were everywhere in Kakata, and thousands of Liberians showed up to enjoy the music, dancing, speeches, and guests at and outside the ceremony. Women's groups, youth groups, and an orphanage gathered along the road to greet the President's motorcade with their own welcome messages.

 

Many international guests came to honor Liberia's holiday. President Johnson Sirleaf had invited five former African Presidents (from Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique and Benin) to participate in the 6-hour ceremony. In addition, a special emissary of the King of Jordon (Mr. Nael Salah Hamad El Assad) came to deliver President Johnson Sirleaf a special message from the King of Jordan.

 

Besides the strong cheers for J J Rawlings (former Ghanaian President) the audience was probably the enthusiastic about the National Independence Day Orator, Dr. Sakui Malakpa. Dr. Malakpa (whose credentials were read for about 20 minutes as an introduction before he spoke, and then repeated after his speech) put forth bold and interesting proposals -- including the belief that Liberia should change the name of its capital as well as many of its street names, country motto, and flag.

 

In his speech, "Hoping on the Inevitability of Change: Our Challenges, Chances, Choices," Dr. Malakpa argued that "Monrovia" was no longer an acceptable name, as it honored an American President who had "great disdain for the blackman." He acknowledged that "the changing of the name of Monrovia is expensive. Some people will not support the idea. It takes courage and time to change the name of a capital and country." Dr. Malakpa suggested that a new capital name should reflect Liberia's true history and its 15 counties.

 

Liberia's motto -- "The Love of Liberty Brought us Here" -- also refers only to the 5% "Americo-Liberians," whose ancestors arrived in Liberia as freed slaves in the 19th century. Those who arrived in Liberia went on to deny leadership or rights to its indigenous people (who comprise 95% of the population). Similarly, Dr. Malakpa suggested that the street names within Monrovia (e.g., Gurley Street, named after Ralph Randolph Gurley, one of the leaders of the American Colonization Society) should also be changed.

 

Dr. Malakpa has a Harvard education (he got his doctorate in education from Harvard Graduate School of Education) and has been a strong proponent of rights for those with disabilities; he, himself, is blind. President Johnson Sirleaf thanked him for his speech and said his proposals were open to national debate.

 

The ceremony was long, and even President Johnson Sirleaf seemed to tire of the formalities. When it was her turn to speak, she took the podium for only about 2 minutes. Referring to a common etiquette of saying "all protocols observed" at the beginning of a speech, she opened with: "Today I can truly say that ALL protocols have CERTAINLY been observed."

 

She noted that Independence Day in 2008 was a beautiful sunny day in the middle of rainy season--the first sunny Liberian Independence Day in recent history. She remarked that this represented "brighter days ahead for Liberia."