Letter to Ambassador Morias

November 19, 2013

 

T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell

CANDIDATE APPARENT/SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE/FOUNDER/COPRESIDENT/KNPIF

Reevy Street, Harper City, Maryland County, R. L.
Email: osygefo@hotmail.com, geesayfannokon@yahoo.com

Cell: +231.886.920.151

 

Amb. H. Dan Morias

SENATOR/CHAIR

Maryland Congressional Caucus

Capitol Building, Republic of Liberia  

Dear Chairman Morias: 

I trust you are enjoying God’s grace and doing well with your varied responsibilities. 

On November 7, 2013, I submitted heartfelt congratulations to you via SMS on your ascendancy to the chairmanship of our Congressional Caucus. The greetings came from the depth of my heart and abyss of my soul on behalf of my revolutionary comrades at home and abroad! It is our ardent hope and wish you will wield the mantle of leadership properly! If you followed, the SMS was sent to hundreds of Marylanders in Liberia and in the Diaspora. By so doing, most Marylanders far and near are aware of your chairmanship. Thus, we can all now agree that we have passed the threshold of bickering and divisiveness and that now we are heading in the direction of county development and progress.

The occasion of this letter is three-fold: 1^st to duly inform you that the people of Maryland including youth, elders, traditional leaders and other pressure groupings that are several thousand men-strong, have petitioned me to seek the office of Senator of Maryland County come 2014 Midterm election.  

2^nd, After sober reflections, balancing all things against the past and present with respect to quarrel in the Maryland leadership which wrought untold sufferings on our people and county, I have no other choice but to wholeheartedly humble myself and with great enthusiasm accept the Petition as a new assignment to serve my people and county at a different level. I am confident I can make a significant difference and contribute to my people and county in this strict sense. Therefore, on my honor, I promise to do my best in justifying the confidence they have reposed in me. 

Sir, the people of Maryland have spoken and consolidated the Petition. Being the voice of the people it is also the voice of God! For whatever God has put together, no one can put asunder and what He has blessed, no man can curse. Therefore, please join The Bedell for Senate Exploratory Committee to extend sincere gratitude and warm sentiments to all Marylanders and friends alike, far and near, for joining this social mass movement that is now taking place throughout Maryland.  

Please be advised, The Glebos of the Western belt of the Glebo Peninsula known as the Kudemoweh Chiefdom, met in Rocktown on Saturday, October 26, 2013. Equally so, the Glebos of the Eastern belt of the Glebo Peninsula known as the Kudemoweh also converged in Wortekeh on Saturday, November 8 to reinforce, enhance and consolidate the Petition. All things considered, such convergence of our people with one solid goal of this nature will go into history as the first of its kind in most recent time. Indeed, it exemplifies the reunification of our people in concrete terms that our nongovernmental organization, KudeNumo Peace Initiative Foundation, Inc. (KNPIF) has been pursuing recently.  

Hon. Senator, we are honestly thankful to the two Paramount chiefs of both Chiefdoms: Hon. Dweh Sunday Prowd of the Numoweh Chiefdom and Hon. Nathaniel N. Huskin of the Kudemoweh Chiefdom including all clan, town chiefs, youths, women, elders and people of both Chiefdoms. Thus, we tip our hats to their farsightedness and vision in- choosing me as their candidate. 

Special thanks to the Clan Chief, Hon. Mle Wah Prowd, General Town Chief, Hon. Dweh Hodge, the Speaker, youth, women leaders and elders of Bigtown Clan. Thanks to Hon. Clan Chief Hon. Budu Clarke, General Town Chief, Hon. Alphonso Hne Wallace and a four-man delegation comprising leaders of youth, women, and elders of The Whole Graway Clan. The same goes to Clan Chief, Hon. Wade Harris and his four-man delegation comprising of youth, women leaders and elders of The Half Graway Clan. Our heartfelt thanks to the leaders, youth, women, elders and people of SpringHill. Kablakeh was well represented by its Honorable Commissioner and Town Chief as well as the youth, women and elders delegation. We are grateful to the leaders, youth, women, elders and people of Wortekeh who hosted the Confab. Without them, this Confab would not have been as successful as it was. Thanks to our donors. We couldn’t have made it without them!  

We cannot but thank Hon. Meshach Mle Bryant, chair of The Bedell for Senator Exploratory Committee, the Cochair, Daniel “The Educator” Appleton, Secretary Henry Kimba, Domestic & External Relations Chief, Phillip Mle Moore, Logistics, Robert H. Moore and Kuno Bedell, treasurer. 

The 2^nd purpose of this letter is to seek your indulgence in submitting my call for peace, full human understanding and compassion with love for our Parents’ land to the Honorable Caucus. You will agree, I’m sure, gone are the days when our leaders bickered and go into catfights.  

Please relay this call of ours to the Caucus. Having worked on the ground free-of-charge for our county and country, we have to emphatically state here for the record that politics is not is not a war. So we must be our guns into ploughshare and learn war no more. 

Our past has been a Kaleidoscope of hopes, failures and rebuffs.

In 1979, a group of our leaders were placed on the gallows and executed by the Liberian government on charges of ritualistic killing. Whether or not those charges are true, becomes another question. And we will never know the truth. Following that sad incident, Prof. Joseph Bush, John Williams et al met their untimely fate. The sole of the Prof’s feet were slashed with razor blade. Whether or not the charges against those citizens are true becomes another question. Evidently, we will never know the truth.  

Then it was another sad incident of Hon. David Clarke and Dr. Joshua N. Bedell. All of them are dead now. They died of broken heartedness. They are gone forever. Their children, relatives and friends will never see them again. Whether or not the charges against them are true, becomes another question and we will never know that truth. In any case, they all are in their graves turning over for want of justice. 

The last case was that of yours. I was present. I saw the humiliation and the injustice. Thank God for our presence as human rights and social justice advocates. You all are still alive and well.  

All things considered, most of these charges were and are politically motivated. There’s evidence that some members of the Caucus were a part and parcel of the false charges against their citizens. We don’t want that happening again. Election politics is opposition, not enemy venture. If we disagree on issue it should not be because we hate each other; let it be because we see the world differently. It must be ideological, not personal. This being the case, we are seeking your help to place this sort of practice under control. Let us vie for leadership democratically and not through personality destruction. I do not have money like others do, but I have the people and God on my side. With them, I am sure we will triumph. Otherwise, why would Peter say, “Silver and gold have I none, but in the name of Jesus, get and walk” and the cripple got up and walked? 

3^rd, Amb. Morias, I am here to also seek your unconditional and unwavering support for my candidacy. Because it represents a new dawn and dispensation, peace and unity in Maryland! It comes out of the voice of our suffering people and God’s divine promise to Maryland!  

Mr. J.A. Froude, an English writer, once observed, “When the air is heavy with impostors, and men live only to make money,… and the kingdom of heaven is bought and sold, and all that is high and pure in man is smothered by corruption, fire of the same kind bursts out in higher natures with a fierceness which cannot be controlled; and confident in truth and right, they call fearlessly on the seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal to rise and stand by them. They do not ask whether those whom they address have wide knowledge of history or science or philosophy; they ask rather that they shall be honest, that they shall be brave.… They know well that conscience is no exceptional privilege of the great or the cultivated, that to be generous and unselfish is no prerogative of rank or intellect.” 

In conclusion, allow me to borrow Revolutionary Karl Marx’s words and feelings regarding the revolution. He once observed, “If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.” 

I am, 

Respectfully,

T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell

 

Letter to Ambassador Morias

November 19, 2013

 

T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell

CANDIDATE APPARENT/SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE/FOUNDER/COPRESIDENT/KNPIF

Reevy Street, Harper City, Maryland County, R. L.

Email: osygefo@hotmail.com, geesayfannokon@yahoo.com

Cell: +231.886.920.151

 

Amb. H. Dan Morias

SENATOR/CHAIR

Maryland Congressional Caucus

Capitol Building, Republic of Liberia

 

Dear Chairman Morias:

 

I trust you are enjoying God’s grace and doing well with your varied responsibilities.

 

On November 7, 2013, I submitted heartfelt congratulations to you via SMS on your ascendancy to the chairmanship of our Congressional Caucus. The greetings came from the depth of my heart and abyss of my soul on behalf of my revolutionary comrades at home and abroad! It is our ardent hope and wish you will wield the mantle of leadership properly! If you followed, the SMS was sent to hundreds of Marylanders in Liberia and in the Diaspora. By so doing, most Marylanders far and near are aware of your chairmanship. Thus, we can all now agree that we have passed the threshold of bickering and divisiveness and that now we are heading in the direction of county development and progress.

 

 

The occasion of this letter is three-fold: 1^st to duly inform you that the people of Maryland including youth, elders, traditional leaders and other pressure groupings that are several thousand men-strong, have petitioned me to seek the office of Senator of Maryland County come 2014 Midterm election.

 

2^nd, After sober reflections, balancing all things against the past and present with respect to quarrel in the Maryland leadership which wrought untold sufferings on our people and county, I have no other choice but to wholeheartedly humble myself and with great enthusiasm accept the Petition as a new assignment to serve my people and county at a different level. I am confident I can make a significant difference and contribute to my people and county in this strict sense. Therefore, on my honor, I promise to do my best in justifying the confidence they have reposed in me.

 

Sir, the people of Maryland have spoken and consolidated the Petition. Being the voice of the people it is also the voice of God! For whatever God has put together, no one can put asunder and what He has blessed, no man can curse. Therefore, please join The Bedell for Senate Exploratory Committee to extend sincere gratitude and warm sentiments to all Marylanders and friends alike, far and near, for joining this social mass movement that is now taking place throughout Maryland.

 

 

 

 

Please be advised, The Glebos of the Western belt of the Glebo Peninsula known as the Kudemoweh Chiefdom, met in Rocktown on Saturday, October 26, 2013. Equally so, the Glebos of the Eastern belt of the Glebo Peninsula known as the Kudemoweh also converged in Wortekeh on Saturday, November 8 to reinforce, enhance and consolidate the Petition. All things considered, such convergence of our people with one solid goal of this nature will go into history as the first of its kind in most recent time. Indeed, it exemplifies the reunification of our people in concrete terms that our nongovernmental organization, KudeNumo Peace Initiative Foundation, Inc. (KNPIF) has been pursuing recently.

 

Hon. Senator, we are honestly thankful to the two Paramount chiefs of both Chiefdoms: Hon. Dweh Sunday Prowd of the Numoweh Chiefdom and Hon. Nathaniel N. Huskin of the Kudemoweh Chiefdom including all clan, town chiefs, youths, women, elders and people of both Chiefdoms. Thus, we tip our hats to their farsightedness and vision in- choosing me as their candidate.

 

Special thanks to the Clan Chief, Hon. Mle Wah Prowd, General Town Chief, Hon. Dweh Hodge, the Speaker, youth, women leaders and elders of Bigtown Clan. Thanks to Hon. Clan Chief Hon. Budu Clarke, General Town Chief, Hon. Alphonso Hne Wallace and a four-man delegation comprising leaders of youth, women, and elders of The Whole Graway Clan. The same goes to Clan Chief, Hon. Wade Harris and his four-man delegation comprising of youth, women leaders and elders of The Half Graway Clan. Our heartfelt thanks to the leaders, youth, women, elders and people of SpringHill. Kablakeh was well represented by its Honorable Commissioner and Town Chief as well as the youth, women and elders delegation. We are grateful to the leaders, youth, women, elders and people of Wortekeh who hosted the Confab. Without them, this Confab would not have been as successful as it was. Thanks to our donors. We couldn’t have made it without them!

 

We cannot but thank Hon. Meshach Mle Bryant, chair of The Bedell for Senator Exploratory Committee, the Cochair, Daniel “The Educator” Appleton, Secretary Henry Kimba, Domestic & External Relations Chief, Phillip Mle Moore, Logistics, Robert H. Moore and Kuno Bedell, treasurer

 

The 2^nd purpose of this letter is to seek your indulgence in submitting my call for peace, full human understanding and compassion with love for our Parents’ land to the Honorable Caucus. You will agree, I’m sure, gone are the days when our leaders bickered and go into catfights.

 

Please relay this call of ours to the Caucus. Having worked on the ground free-of-charge for our county and country, we have to emphatically state here for the record that politics is not is not a war. So we must be our guns into ploughshare and learn war no more.

 

Our past has been a Kaleidoscope of hopes, failures and rebuffs.

 

In 1979, a group of our leaders were placed on the gallows and executed by the Liberian government on charges of ritualistic killing. Whether or not those charges are true, becomes another question. And we will never know the truth. Following that sad incident, Prof. Joseph Bush, John Williams et al met their untimely fate. The sole of the Prof’s feet were slashed with razor blade. Whether or not the charges against those citizens are true becomes another question. Evidently, we will never know the truth.

 

 

 

Then it was another sad incident of Hon. David Clarke and Dr. Joshua N. Bedell. All of them are dead now. They died of broken heartedness. They are gone forever. Their children, relatives and friends will never see them again. Whether or not the charges against them are true, becomes another question and we will never know that truth. In any case, they all are in their graves turning over for want of justice.

 

 

The last case was that of yours. I was present. I saw the humiliation and the injustice. Thank God for our presence as human rights and social justice advocates. You all are still alive and well.

 

All things considered, most of these charges were and are politically motivated. There’s evidence that some members of the Caucus were a part and parcel of the false charges against their citizens. We don’t want that happening again. Election politics is opposition, not enemy venture. If we disagree on issue it should not be because we hate each other; let it be because we see the world differently. It must be ideological, not personal. This being the case, we are seeking your help to place this sort of practice under control. Let us vie for leadership democratically and not through personality destruction. I do not have money like others do, but I have the people and God on my side. With them, I am sure we will triumph. Otherwise, why would Peter say, “Silver and gold have I none, but in the name of Jesus, get and walk” and the cripple got up and walked?

 

3^rd, Amb. Morias, I am here to also seek your unconditional and unwavering support for my candidacy. Because it represents a new dawn and dispensation, peace and unity in Maryland! It comes out of the voice of our suffering people and God’s divine promise to Maryland!

 

Mr. J.A. Froude, an English writer, once observed, “When the air is heavy with impostors, and men live only to make money,… and the kingdom of heaven is bought and sold, and all that is high and pure in man is smothered by corruption, fire of the same kind bursts out in higher natures with a fierceness which cannot be controlled; and confident in truth and right, they call fearlessly on the seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal to rise and stand by them. They do not ask whether those whom they address have wide knowledge of history or science or philosophy; they ask rather that they shall be honest, that they shall be brave.… They know well that conscience is no exceptional privilege of the great or the cultivated, that to be generous and unselfish is no prerogative of rank or intellect.”

 

In conclusion, allow me to borrow Revolutionary Karl Marx’s words and feelings regarding the revolution. He once observed, “If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.”

 

I am,

 

Respectfully,

 

T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell

 

Maryland County: Where We Stand on What We Know & See and What We Can Do!

 

Our dear County, Maryland, faces significant and urgent challenges that weigh heavily on prospects for future growth and on the cohesion of our communities. Our shared objective is the strengthening of growth, unity, employment and the quality of life in every part of the County.

 

But entering 2014, we worry about: 1). The kind of Congressional leadership we will have, 2). reuniting our people and county and addressing rising uncertainty and high unemployment, especially youth unemployment, with all its negative economic and social consequences

 

While our County faces severe challenges, it can regain momentum by supporting socioeconomic and cultural transformation. To do so, we need: Resilient & sustainable government support and participation of our people; Determined and coordinated structural reforms and to address inequalities; greater confidence in job-creating prospects. This can be done in two ways: implementing promised reforms and renewed cooperation amongst our people and partners.

 

All leaders MUST devote the necessary political energy to deliver concrete actions to exit our crises and boost growth. Each district of the county, working through its regional leadership and through the county leadership and institutions, has a role to play. Mutual assessment process, is a solid foundation upon which we must now build. Conscious of the boost to growth, we support youth development and advancement to intensify efforts to develop a more comprehensive action plan.

 

To solve the disunity issue and youth developmental decline, rid ourselves of socioeconomic crisis and reignite growth, we need to:  Restore confidence in banks. We can do this by: Helping banks safely transport money to the county; promoting access to capital for small businesses; Continuing measures to secure bank funding for small businesses; Address youth and long-term unemployment to provide decent work prospects, along with county-specific structural reforms that are fairly implemented to achieve faster growth.

 

We believe boosting jobs and investing in human capital is the most promising way of tackling inequality. We support the work of our partners in assisting us examine realistic policy options including cost-effective social policies to cushion the most vulnerable from adversity. Investment should target skills and education and thus equip people for the future. Rising inequality calls for heightened consideration of more inclusive models of growth. We must deliver tangible improvements in material living standards and greater social cohesion.

 

We are ready to work on improving the lives of our people, administration and institutional structures, on anti-corruption measures, as well as on the business and investment framework, and on employment, education and social policies. We know when the Liberian economy falters, our poor people suffer most. We need to provide active and sustained support.

 

Each individual, hands-in-gloves with the government, has his own distinctive role and responsibility, but working in partnership, we can together achieve more than the sum of our parts. We stand ready to do what we can to surmount the difficulties ahead and to contribute to building greater confidence in the future of our county  and people.

 

 

 

I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell, volunteer worker; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality

Maryland County: Pending Environmental, Political & Economic Woes

bedell speaks & works!

osygefo@hotmail.com, geesayfannokon@yahoo.com, debamu@netsacpe.net

 

CELL: +231.692.0151

 

 

(October 21, 2010)

 

The Cavalla River swells to overflow. Transportation across the River is becoming more and more impossible. Rice, which is the staple food of Liberia and can only be transported to Maryland from the Ivory Coast, is becoming scarce in the County. As such, the population is getting nervous and nervous each day!

 

The Road from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, to Maryland is extremely bad. Almost all sea vessels travelling to Maryland are sitting in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean due to the many shipwrecks. No one is brave enough anymore to take a sea vessel to Maryland. The many shipwrecks that brought many deaths and destruction of poor people’s investment and personal belonging still haunts the people.

 

The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) controls the Air Space. UNMIL does not allow any Liberian citizen to travel to and from Maryland on any of its aircrafts without its permission. And if it does, one has to sign a Waiver on his or her life. Currently there’s no commercial airline in the area. In the event there’s one, the fare is extremely expensive for the poor to bear. Thus, nothing in terms of goods and services leaves and come to Maryland currently. The county is practically cutoff from the Republic of Liberia. Others think this means independence Maryland as it was until 1857!

 

There’s the Road problem. The Road to and from Monrovia to Maryland is completely cutoff. The current problem we face with the Road is now in Tapita (Nimba County) where it is completely cutoff. Between RiverGee and Maryland, the Road has become more difficult, if not impossible, to ply. As a result, goods cannot come to Maryland from Monrovia and parts adjacent. Shops as a result in the County, are empty. No milk, sugar, salt and basic goods and services. The Road from Pleebo (the commercial capital of Maryland) to Harper is a twenty-five minute driving time for motor car. That is ONLY when the Road is in good shape. In good time when the Road is good, it takes the motor bike ten minutes. Currently the condition of the Road from Harper to Pleebo can fairly be described as disastrous. Motor car now takes up to three hours and motor bikes up to two hours travel time. As a result, only NGO vehicles ply the Road. Why? Because they are 4wheel power trucks. And they are made for such conditions.  

 

Sand mining is adding more insult to the injury. It has opened up the sand bridge between Lake Shepherd and the Atlantic Ocean. Notice, Lake Shepherd is the second largest lake in Liberia. Currently, the Ocean is flowing into the Lake overwhelmingly to overflow. Houses along the banks of the Lake are seriously in trouble. If the Local government does nothing about the sandmining in the area, Harper City may experience a Tsunami soon. If you know what I mean!

 

We have the Asbestos problem too. Churches and houses with Asbestos are becoming a fatal problem. Each time a storm hits, it breaks Asbestos from those structures. And each time that happens, Asbestos is disturbed. When the Asbestos is disturbed, it airbornes. According to research, when one inhales airborne Asbestos, chances are he or she will develop lung cancer and/or Asbestosis. Within 30 years that person will surely die. If this is true, the fact remains that within 30 years, many of us, including staff of International NGOs and The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and little innocent children, men and women will surely die within 30 years. It might be alright for those who are already 50 years old. Because if you add 30 to 50, you have 80 years person. And that person will have enjoyed his or her life already. As for the kids who fall in the ranges of 1 to 18 years old, that’s bad news. By the time they reach the point to enjoy life, they’ll be on the way to the grave yard. So, it is very necessary we launch a campaign to save our young.   

 

As for politics of leadership, it is very bad. And that’s my opinion! Local and legislative leadership is extremely weak and backwards. Maryland County is 30 years backward in terms of infrastructure and human resource development. Harper City is closed to being a village. If the streets were not built with concrete by our forerunners, every street in the City would become a footpath. The example is visible on Marsh, Thompson and McGill streets. In fact, the concrete streets are splitting as if an earthquake has gone through the area. Printing Street is worse off. Maryland Avenue, right in the heart of the City, around Roxy Cinema, is a total mess. If repairs are not done, ten years from now, there will be no concrete streets in Harper City. The City shall return back into the Stone Age. This is no joke!

 

Pleebo, the Commercial Capital of Maryland, is worse off. Pleebo is the industrial heart of Maryland. All the giant corporations that come to Maryland are stationed in Pleebo. Unfortunately, none of them contribute to the development of the City and its inhabitants. In Rainy season, Pleebo is a total mess. Mud overcomes everything else. One cannot travel to Pleebo and expects to remain clean of mud. In the Dry Season, the situation remains the same. Dust fills every part of Pleebo. One cannot expect to go to Pleebo in clean clothing and expect to return looking the same. Dust covers every aspect of life in Pleebo. All the nostrils you see are clogged with dust. This is a health hazard! It is a no-win-situation!

 

The Cavalla Rubber Corporation (CRC) has been in operation without signing a Concession Agreement. It has promised to do so once the Government allows it to operate. When it was allowed to operate on its promise to sign a Concession Agreement later on, today there’s no sign for the Agreement. And this has been four years since it promised the people of Pleebo. As a result, Pleebo in particular and Maryland in general, receives no benefit at all. To add insult to the injury, SIFCA, which is the mother Company for CRC is bringing in another arm of its interest in the name of Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) to replace Decoris. This company too, promises to sign a Concession Agreement in due course if the Government allows it to begin operation. Out of the experience of CRC, the people of Pleebo are jittery about this promise. Therefore they are refusing to allow MOPP to operate without signing a Concession Agreement.

 

Malcolm X once observed, “A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.” 

 

This situation in Pleebo regarding another company promising to operate before signing a Concession Agreement has caused many students, youths and senior citizens of the area to go to jail. Currently, the Maryland Legislative Caucus is split on the issue. Sens. John Akel Ballout and Gloria Musu Scott are rooting for MOPP to begin operation before it can sign any Concession Agreement. Dr. Bhofal Chambers disagrees. He is the sole elected representative of the Pleebo/Sodokeh district where this Company is expected to operate. Hands in gloves with the people of Pleebo/Sodokeh district, Dr. Chambers is giving his skin to defend his Constituents.  The rivalry continues!

 

Politics in Maryland is becoming a get-rich-and-polarize-the-county game. Sens. Ballout and Scott have their hands locked in the problems in the County. Recently, the Circuit Court confirms that these two individuals lie on Cll Fulton Yancy. Sen. Ballout falsely informed the entire world that Cllr. Yancy had human blood stored in his home. After series of forensic examination outside Liberia, it has been established that the blood is chicken blood. Not human blood!

 

Previously, the Magisterial Court threw out charge of murder against Amb. H. Dan Morais. Ten others were released for lack of evidence. Look all through the bogus cases, Ballout and Scott’s finger prints are written all over them.

 

The armed hostilities between Rocktown and Wetchukeh, according to report, was provoked by Ballout and Scott for political benefit. In fact, Sen. Scott did everything in her power as a Senator to convict all the young kids who were arrested on cardboard box evidence. As a result, three innocent citizens’ lives were taken. The Representative of the Harper District, where this hostility took place, Hon. James Biney, did not foot in the area to sympathize with the bereave and console others. Instead, it was business as usual – they were in Monrovia having a great time on the Beer table.

 

Politics in Maryland is becoming a dangerous game. Come 2011, we are hoping better leaders will emerge.

 

None of the Congressional leaders have a home in Maryland. Hon. James Biney lives in his late step dad’s house. Gloria Scott snatched away her closest friend’s home. Her friend has had all her investment snatched away by the many shipwrecks. When the bank sought its loan from the friend of Gloria, the friend ran to Gloria for help. Instead of helping her friend, she took her friend’s only home and paid the bank back the loan. As a friend, one would think Gloria would pay her friend's debt. And then rent the home out and get back her money. And in the end turn her friend’s house over to her. But no! Gloria took advantage of the situation and snatched away her friend’s house. Today, she’s making profit out of the house by renting it out for her own good. Her friend is practically living in the streets. Predatory! Isn’t it?

 

Ballout is now building a motel in Harper. Shamelessly, he is building in the Cemetery on Maryland Avenue in Harper City. The Cemetery land is Public land. And no one can buy nor sell the land. But for some unknown reasons, Sen. Ballout owns a piece of land in the Cemetery. He’s building on top the graves of our Dear Departed. What sort of leadership do we have in Maryland that has no feeling for our Dear Departed?

 

Another problem is shipwreck. From 2004 to 2010 more than six ships wrecked. 99% of the passengers were Marylanders. Most, if not all, the dead are Marylanders. Majority of the victims are mainly women. Efforts to achieve Reparation is becoming impossible. Sen. Gloria Scott and John Ballout are serving as stumbling blocks to the effort. As has always been the case, these two Senators continue to mislead President Sirleaf into believing that Maryland is a violent County. And so the President continues to backslide on her promise to travel to Maryland to look into the shipwreck issue.

 

The President cannot get to Maryland by air, sea and land. All her Government officials that traveled to Maryland during the recent ship wreck, traveled through the Ivory Coast. Unless Sens. Ballout and Scott realize that Maryland economy will not grow until all the women who are victims of the many shipwrecks are compensated, Maryland County will continue to dwindle. That’s my opinion!

 

I am Thomas G. Bedell, I speak and work from on the ground in Liberia.

 

Amb. H. Dan Morias: The New Maryland Congressional Congress Chair

BEDELL SPEAKS & WORKS!

osygefo@hotmail.com, geesayfannokon@yahoo.com, http://thomasbedell.blogspot.com

CELL: +231.886.920.151

 

September 12, 2013

 

 

 

Ambassador H. Dan Morias is the most recently elected Senator of Maryland County. He was elected in 2011. He replaces Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott. Interestingly, the Ambassador came from prison and shot himself straight to the Liberian Senate.

 

The Maryland Congressional Caucus has a membership of two Senators (John Akel Ballout & H. Dan Morias), three Representatives in the Lower House (Isaac Roland, Bhofal Chambers and James Biney).

 

Isaac Roland represents The Karluway District which combines Karluway and Barrobo into one. He was elected in 2011. So he’s new on the proverbial block in the Caucus. Currently, he’s the Secretary of the Caucus.

 

Bhofal Chambers represents The Pleebo/Sodokeh District. He was elected 2005. He served for six years. In 2011, he went for re-election and won. By the time his second term ends, he will have served for twelve years in Congress.

 

James Popee Biney is the longest-serving congressman. Computing his service time, he’s been in Congress over fifteen years. He went for re-election in 2011 and won. Add the six years that he is expected to serve in this term to the fifteen years he has already served and you will have him served for 21 years.

 

The Maryland Congressional Caucus has been a contested ground; it has not been a friendly territory for all of the Congressmen and woman from the onset. It has been hostile to itself.

 

All things considered, this particular Caucus is the most academically educated one since the beginning of time of the institution of the caucus concept in the Liberian Congress. This fact should mean much to this current Caucus and its leadership!

 

The last chair of the Caucus was Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott. But the Caucus was a troubled institution.

 

This troubleness of the previous Caucus during Cllr. Scott’s chairmanship cannot be entirely attributed to her leadership style. It was largely due to the lack of unity and understanding in the Caucus that the members developed outside of the Caucus and improved in the Caucus.

 

Could she have healed the condition of the Caucus’ paralysis? Probably so. But the membership had been drastically polarized. It was totally ripped apart at the hinges. It was at an extend of being unredeemable.

 

Today, Amb. H. Dan Morias has taken the mantle of leadership. All things being considered, he has his work cut out for him. Even though he has shown a great level of leadership in the Liberian Congress when he acted in the stead of the ProTemp. He remarkably performed to expectation. But performance in the Liberian Senate is one thing; performing as the leader of The Maryland Congressional Caucus that is ripped apart at the hinges is another thing. Unlike the Liberian Senate, the Caucus had been in deeper trouble long since in terms of personal relations amongst its entire membership.

 

This is where the NEW trouble could develop:

 

2014 Midterm election is at the doorstep of Amb. Morias’ emergence as chair of the Caucus. He has to balance his leadership strategies and be able to choose whom to support during the Midterm election or all hell will break loose again.

 

The current Senator, John Ballout is seeking re-election. He is the Advisor to the Caucus. He once served as chair of the Caucus.

 

Sen. Ballout’s first cousin is Bhofal Chambers. Chambers is a Representative in the Lower House. He has declared his intent to seek the Senate also. That means he will be running against his cousin for political power. As the current Cochair of the Caucus, Chambers has all rights to expect the Chairman’s support for his bid for the Senate. Equally so, the Chairman enjoys his rights to support whomever he wishes except that his decision could damage him politically.

 

The newest Representative on the Caucus, Isaac Roland. Understandably he is jumping into the race too for the Senate. As current Secretary of the Caucus, I’m sure he will expect his current Chair to support him.

 

All of these Honorable men and Amb. Morias do work together currently. As their leader, come 2014 Midterm election, if he does not play ball well and the Caucus breaks up under his leadership, projections are the Caucus will remain splintered for a protracted period of time. It might take the Second Coming to redeem it!

 

All we can do is to wish Amb. Morias all the luck he needs to make good of a rotten Caucus getting to be good again for the common good of all Marylanders far and near.

 

 

I am Thomas G. Bedell, a volunteer worker; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality.

The Old Cape Palmas High School Building

BEDELL SPEAKS & WORKS!

osygefo@hotmail.com, geesayfannokon@yahoo.com, http://thomasbedell.blogspot.com

CELL: +231.0886.920.151

 

September 10, 2013

 

 

It was on Saturday night or should I say, Sunday morning; because it was after 12am in Liberia when I placed a cell phone call to Cousin Joshua Bedell – an exceptionally and incredibly intelligent young man.

 

On a regular basis, I call Cousin Joshua once in a “blue moon.” When I say “blue moon,” it’s not that type of “blue moon” when it takes so long. The fact that it takes a little bit longer than it should for me to call a senior and well-informed cousin of mine makes it a “blue moon” to me.

 

Each time I place this call to Cousin Joshua it’s always at night. And that’s mainly to check on him. Because in my personal view, I owe it to him and other senior relatives of mine that I am closed to or I have a good rapport with.

 

Each time I made a call to Cousin Joshua, we usually talk on minor issues. When I say “minor,” I mean just chatting and laughing. This time, the call was of a different nature.  To add more to that, it was lengthy.

 

Let me help you set the driving force behind this recent call to cousin Joshua. And also help you know what made the call different from previous calls. After that, then I can move on to the real story prompting this post. So bear with me.

 

See, Liberia is quite an expensive place to live. If you don’t believe me, as Amara Konneh, the Minister of Finance!

 

Considering the work I do as a volunteer in the country and spending my own hard-won money to carry on this work of mine, I always find ways and means to cut cost. By this, I mean, I design strategies to take advantage of certain business Promos so as to make ends meet. By so doing, it allows me to do my work without feeling the severe financial pinch.

 

Having lived in Liberia for over five years, I realized the most competitive business industry in the country is the cell phone industry (MTN). That’s my opinion. This industry has so many offers so much so, the competition gets very stiff.

 

To date, there are four cell phone companies in Liberia: 1) LONESTAR, 2) CELLCOM, 3) NOVAPHONE & 4) LIBBERCELL. All of them are continually vying for subscribers. And so they all continue to launch ongoing Promos.

 

NOVAPHONE changed its name from COMUIM. COMIUM used to be competitive. But now it is drowning in the Sea of competition. To bounce back, it changed its name and threw a monkey wrench in the competition. It starts to offer great and affordable Promos. Truth be told, these are Promos no one can just reject . Because they are great!

 

If anyone thinks I am doing commercial for the cell phone companies in Liberia, then it will be because I’m saying a lot about the cell phone companies. Why? Because this is the only competitive industry that I know about in Liberia. If this view that I am doing commercial for the cell phone companies becomes the case, then bless my heart! In order to get to my story, I thought by bringing in how the story came about is also as important as the story.

 

Now, this cell phone Company in its wake like a “sleeping giant,” came face-to-face with another giant cell phone company by the name of CELLCOM.

 

CELLCOM has been in the business of stiffening the competition with largest cell phone company, LONESTAR. CELLCOM jumped right in the competition with full force. And then “boom!” the dynamics and variables changed. CELLCOM comes with offers that no one can reject; be he a common person or not.

 

LONESTAR was left in the proverbial cold in all this activity. And so, its marketing department threw its weight into the competition. And “boyo-boy!” as soon as LONESTAR enters, the Ocean of promos engulfed every inch of the country, especially Monrovia from where I author this post. LONESTAR is offering three different promos all at once. And no one really understands how the three promos can work with one company. But all the same, it’s good; that’s business in competition.

 

First, LONESTAR offers STARZONE which gives you discount up to 100% when you call ONLY LONESTAR customers! On that Promo, LONESTAR adds another Promo - after 3 minutes of talking time which you pay for, the rest of the talk time on the phone BECOMES FREE! Along with that, LONESTAR has another offer: you buy US$5 and you get 200% bonus. Which means, you spend US$5 and get additional US$10 added to the purchase. But there’s one catch: you have to use the FREE $10 that you get as Bonus by 12am. Otherwise, the Bonus will be returned to LONESTAR. Your account in this case becomes zero.

 

In other words, all these Promos give one the opportunity to call just almost everybody one knows just to use the available $10 bonus before it is midnight.

 

And that’s exactly what happened when I called Cousin Joshua that September 22 day. I wanted to use my Bonus. And so, I raised a lot of talking points.

 

See, Cousin Joshua is my senior. He lived in Maryland long before I did. And so he knows a lot about Maryland in his days then I do. So I wanted to get a history lesson from him. He did not hesitate; he provided the lesson to me free-of-charge. And truly, I am appreciative and grateful to him. I learned some things from cousin Joshua that I did not know. I’m sure there are others who are in my shoes until now.

 

Thanks to cousin Joshua.

 

To show my appreciation cousin Joshua, I wish to share the history lesson that I learned from him with anyone whose desire it is to learn what I did.

 

And this is how it went.

 

Our concentration was wholly and solely on Maryland County, our Hometown. We talked about the five Vice Presidents of Liberia who came from Maryland with focus on only two of them - J. J. Dossen and Allen N. Yancy. We talked about their burial grounds and their residences in Maryland.

 

During that time, a cross-section of issues was discussed including our family. Joshua’s paternal grandfather – Hon. Thomas Bedell was top of the page in this family discussion. It was during Hon. Bedell’s term of office as Representative of Harper District that the Capitol Building, a 21^st century state-of-the-art real estate property was built. I found this out when I visited the Capitol Building on one of my research missions. Cousin Joshua confirmed the info. And then he told me more about our family. I can’t discuss all we talked our family. Most of it is for the family not my readers herein.

 

Than we arrived at the schools in Cape. Each time I say “Cape,” I am making reference to the whole county of Maryland.

 

Cousin Joshua has an excellent sense of history and love thereof. Besides, he lived in Harper longer than I did. And so, his command over the history in the 40s and 60s is greater than mine when it comes to what was in Cape long before my time.

 

Besides talking about other schools, we ended on Cape Palmas High School. I learned a lot. And this is what I learned.

 

Cape Palmas High School, prior to building the new campus directly opposite the Museum on Maryland Avenue, used to be on Reevy Street directly opposite the old Library next to the residence of the late Cllr. James Shannon, former Chief Justice of the Republic of Liberia. The Library was located right in the back of the residence of Hon. Theo Milton, former superintendent of Maryland County.

 

The old Cape Palmas High School building, Cousin Joshua tells me, is the building that housed the Arm Forces of Liberia personnel during my day. We used to cut through there and go pass by Teacher Viola Campbell’s house to get to Water Street.  This building had been there all these years and nobody told me it was the first Cape Palmas High School. I was shocked when Cousin Joshua told so. The building sits right on my proverbial nose and I did not know. And all my days in Harper from kindergarten to high school, nobody ever told me where the old Cape Palmas High School was located. My phone conversation with Cousin Joshua made me know all this.  

 

Cousin Joshua even pointed out to me that the late Cllr. Willie Neufville was the registrar at the time. He also told me Cousin Catherine Bedell Wood and others graduated from that old Cape Palmas High School building. “Boy!” would I have known all this had I not called Cousin Johsua? Probably not!

 

Cousin Joshua added something interesting to my history lesson. I didn’t know the late Cllr. Willie Neufville was a registrar at Cape Palmas High School and the late Joe Bush served as principal at that time. All this time all my thinking was that Cllr. Neufville only practiced Law. And I always thought the late Joe Bush became Principal of Cape Palmas High School in the mid-70s. Because I think Mr. Bush held on to this post on to the doorstep of the 80se relinquished it.

 

Until Cousin Joshua drilled me through this history lesson, I never knew all this about Cape Palmas High School, Cllr. Willie Neufville and Mr. Joe Bush. I’m sure I am not alone in this experience. There are other Marylanders and Liberians as well who were in my shoe until now.

 

Thanks to Cousin Joshua for the history lesson. We will indeed cherish it

 

I am Thomas G. Bedell, a volunteer worker; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality

Jesus and the Legal Scholar: An Analogy To The Liberian Reality

June 10, 2010

I’ve been in Liberia for more than a year. Looking at what’s obtaining on the “ground” specifically regarding how Liberians treat each other, I cannot but relate this situation to Biblical passages. Simply put, we are Christians. And so we learn very well from Christian lessons.

The Biblical “Good Samaritan” analogy is more relevant to the Liberian case as far as dealing with each other.

In the Bible, a legal expert wanted to put Jesus to a test. In fact, he wanted to get Jesus into trouble with the Laws of Rome. And so he posed incriminating questions to Jesus. He wanted to know Jesus’ thoughts about the Laws of Rome. He expected Jesus to answer him directly. By so doing, Jesus would just ride in his trap to get Jesus into trouble with the Law.

This is the question he first asked Jesus. He said, “Mr. Jesus! how can I inherit eternal life?” Jesus being of Divine Spirit knew this man’s sole intent to get Him into trouble with the Laws of Rome. The scholar did not want Jesus to slip from his hands. Because he thought he had gotten Jesus. And so he posed his questions quickly and dexterously. Jesus being All-Knowing posed a question back to the scholar. But before doing so, Jesus paused for a minute. And that was the moment the scholar took a deep breath and started talking to himself.

This is what he said to himself on the inside: He said, “Why is Jesus not talking quickly in answering my question? Why is He pausing? Has He given up on my question or what?” At first he thought Jesus would give a quick reply. And since Jesus did not, the scholar thought he had finally entrapped Jesus.

Suddenly, Jesus bounced back and asked the scholar a question. Jesus asked, “What is written in the Law and how do you read it?”

The expert got choked. He kept quiet for a minute. And then he said to himself “Dammit! Why is Jesus asking me a question instead of answering my question?”

Now this is what the scholar thought.

He thought since he wanted to entrap Jesus, he needed to bombard him with more questions. And if he continued bombarding Jesus with more questions aggressively, Jesus would say something wrong and be accused of wrongdoing.

After going back-and-forth, the expert yielded to Jesus’ question. He began to read the Law that Jesus asked him to read. After the scholar read the Law, Jesus told him that his answer was correct. Jesus then recommended that the Scholar follow what that Law says and he would inherit "Eternal life."

The expert got upset. Because Jesus did not answer his question the way he wanted Jesus to answer him. He got furious. The scholar paused for a minute thinking what else to do. And then the scholar said to himself: “How can I do this to easily entrap this man?”

Soon, he thought he had figured something smart out. He came up with a new question. This time, he thought he could get Jesus to answer directly. This is what he asked Jesus:  “Mr. Jesus, who then is my neighbor?”

Instead of providing a direct answer again, Jesus began by saying, “A man was going…”

Then the expert listened for a minute and realized this was not a straight answer. So he got choked and started talking to himself. “Where is this man going with this story?”

The scholar couldn’t understand what Jesus was doing. So he jumped in Jesus’ throat while Jesus was talking. He aggressively re-emphasized his question. But this time vehemently. He said, “Mr. Jesus, I say, who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus went on to say, “The man was going from Jerusalem …”

As Jesus was going on with the parable, the expert got too uncomfortable and uneasy. He shouted,” I say, Mr. Jesus! Mr. Jesus! Mr. Jesus!”

The scholar shouted so much, Jesus stopped.

Then the expert caught his breathe. Then he calmly asked Jesus again. But this time he posed the question as if he was speaking to an 8-year old kid. “I say, who is my neighbor. That’s all I’m asking you. Where are you going with this story of a man? Just tell me who is my neighbor?”

Jesus continued on with the story.

Jesus said “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho …” The expert clinched a fist and said to himself, “Where is this man going with this story? Why can’t He answer my question?” Not knowing what was obtaining, the scholar decided to keep quiet this time and listen to what Jesus was saying.

Jesus continued on.

“When robbers attacked, stripped him and beat him up leaving him half dead, it so happened that a priest was going down the road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man and when he saw him his heart was filled with pity. He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn where he took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. “Take care of him and when I come back. I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.”

And Jesus concluded the parable and then asked the expert, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor towards the man attacked by robbers?”

The teacher of the Law and expert reluctantly answered Jesus by saying, “The one who was kind to the man who was in pain is the neighbor.”

Then Jesus replied to the scholar, “You go then and do the same.” The expert looked for minute and just kicked the dust and said, “Dammit! And the case closed on that. The scholar went his way and Jesus went His way.

MORAL: If we help one, indeed we help the nation

 

I am Thomas G. Bedell, a volunteer; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia, victim of police brutality and a candidate for citizenship repudiation