Sen. John Akel Ballout, Snr, is
a current senator of Maryland County. He and I developed a problem over the
short time I am visiting Liberia as a volunteer worker. And this problem has
reached an alarming stage. The reason why it reached this stage is because the
young man is confused who his perceived political enemies are. He thinks I’m
one. But I am not!
See, I came to Liberia on my
own account and volition. I reside in the United States of America. I know it
is difficult for the ordinary person to comprehend why a young man like me would
chooses such a task – work as a volunteer within a revolutionary thought
process.
See, I read Ernesto Che
Guevara, Frantz Fannon, Walter Rodney, Fidel Castro and many other
revolutionaries who came long before me all the time. I began reading about
them since I was a high school teen. One day, in life, I thought I would do
some of the things they have done or continue to do. They left their own
personal successes where they were born or grew up and attending universities to
go out and “ground” with their people and others in other countries. That’s why
today I am fully engaged in this sort of work to move my nation and people into
modernity. This decision on my part to leave all I have worked for in the US and
come to a “dry” land to work and hope to achieve progress for the people and
nation is domestically costly to me. But if a man decides to stand up for what he
believes, he has to pay the price that comes with the belief he holds. That man
needs not complain. That’s why I am not complaining of all the ills that befall
me in the process. I am up and measured to the task. Let those who wish to rip
apart my character and/or my reason to work as I do, do so freely. But I can
assure them, they cannot undermine my work. After all, I have passed the most
troubling stage of this work in Liberia. The time I thought I would fail but
did not, has passed on. I’ve swallowed the Pain. I went through it all like a
man. It hurt. But it is paying off! Everything else now, is as cool as cold
water.
Let me convict myself before I
convict Sen. John Ballout.
Normally, I won’t hang around
individuals a lot. Because there is tendency in our Liberian setting to get
used to certain people and then don’t correct them when they go wrong. Because
if get used to them and correct them when they go wrong, they take serious
offense. They feel shouldn’t correct them. Because you are a friend of theirs. For
me, I don’t believe this at all. I believe I should tell my friends the truth.
Because when I lie to them, then I am not a good friend to them. Here is the mistake
I made in the John Ballout case for which I must chastise myself: Sen. Ballout
drew me too close to him. And I sort of let myself go all the way. See, Sen.
Ballout is a man who doesn’t like the truth to be told to him in his face. Even
how hard one tries to do so in privacy, he takes serious offense. And you what
else he does? He keeps speech. And leaders should practice keeping speech from
his or her citizens and/or constituents simply because that citizen criticizes
him. So I was wrong to allow myself to get too closed to the Senator. It made
him feel I would pat him on the back if he did wrong. During the time I was
closed to him, he did me favors. Actually, I don’t think they were favors that
he did me. He was using me to cover up some of his wrongdoings. But little did
I know all this until when we fell off. I was definitely wrong having not told
him that I never compromise principles. I was wrong I did not tell him
equivocally that I hold allegiance to a Cause not to individuals. Up to now, I
still believe he and I have allegiance to the Cause of Maryland. And there’s
where I thought he and I were standing for Maryland. I thought we were pursuing
Maryland issues together. And that he and I know that without him or me, Maryland
has to still move on.
I told him Ballout that I do
not believe in the “slap-one-jaw-and-show-the -other jaw” sort of principle for
peace. I told him that I believe in the “Tooth for a tooth” principle – The Law
of Retribution! Since I consider myself as a true revolutionary, a progressive
and a decent man, I always have respect for every human person (old, young,
rich, poor &c). But I categorically emphasized that I however do no bow
down to any man! I obey all laws. And I love everyone. But if anyone put his
hands on me, I surely will send him to the cemetery without a second thought. I
impressed upon him I believe all humans should respect each other irrespective
of status in society. So, if anyone insults me and I caution him to
discontinue, but chooses not to stop, I am under obligation to defend myself.
And there’s where self-defense comes in. I informed Sen. Ballout on all of
these. Probably I did not make myself very clear. So he fails to learn. If I
did not make all of these things crystal clear to Sen. Ballout, then I take the
responsibility for not being able to educate him as to who I am and what I
stand for. Therefore, I convict myself on that ground!
Now, let me convict Sen.
Ballout.
The Sen. is an arrogant man. He’s
power drunk! He doesn’t take advice. He is antagonistic. I know all this
because he shows all this to me. Let me drive you through the point that makes
me attack his citizenship. I’m in Liberia for three years. I work from village
to village; from city to city and from hamlet to hamlet. In many cases I try to
connect Sen. Ballout with my work. But the Senator decides to attack me for no
apparent reason. At one point I ignore his attacks. But the more I try to
ignore his attacks, the more he keeps coming at me. I had to put on my “No
nonsense” gloves and boots to repel him. He keeps on attacking me in the public.
He says I come to Liberia calling myself revolutionary. But according to him, I
have not visited my late Father’s hometown. What he means by that baffles, my
mind. I begin to ask myself why would this man choose to attack me on grounds I
refuse to go to my Dad’s hometown. I can’t figure this out! At one point I thought
he was just trying to be funny. Because I did not come to Liberia to serve one
group of people. I see Liberia as one people one destiny. When he continued
this tendency, I began to think he was not joking anymore. Because he won’t
relent. Certainly, I feel he is seriously undermining my work. So I seriously
warned him. I explained why I am not visiting my late Dad’s hometown. But the
warning does him no good. I guess he thought he had me cornered. Every time I
try to explain about my work to my people and what I see as the problem in our
country, Sen. Ballout tried to undermine. But check this out: Ballout himself
has not been to his Father’s hometown in Palestine.
Well, just so you know, my
late Father’s hometown is Rocktown in Maryland County. Ballout is correct when
he says I had not been there until just recently. When I got in Maryland, I
took my Program to Barrobo which is far away from my Father’s hometown. Most
people thought I would have focused on my late Dad’s hometown. But I didn’t.
The reason is, in the US, I helped organized a group of individuals from my
Dad’s hometown. Together we began to help the Town. Today, it has one of the
best educational systems in the rest of the villages in the entire Maryland. So
when I got to Maryland, I thought I should help decentralize development. So I
went to other villages other than my late Dad’s. This is what Sen. Ballout has
been using against me. As a result, Sen. Ballout forces me to defend myself. He
forces me to ask him if at he has ever visited his late dad’s hometown (Palestine)
if he thinks I have not visited mine (Rocktown). I think this is as fair as it
can be. Our Immigration and Naturalization laws, ours is Patrilineal (that
means we look at where your father comes from). It is not matrilineal (where
your mother comes from). Because our Constitution emphatically states that only
people of Negro descent can become citizens of Liberia. Now watch the tricky
part. The Constitution states this OPENLY. But the Liberia Immigration &
Naturalization Laws defines and restricts the Stipulation. It addresses issue
in this way. If one is born on to one parent (most especially the father) who
is not of Negro descent, that one will have to choose his or her citizenship at
the age of 18 in a court of competent jurisdiction. If he or she fails to do
so, he or she forfeits Liberian citizenship. This is just a gist! In Sen.
Ballout’s case, it is he who has the problem not me. My late Dad and mother are
all of Negro descent. My Dad comes from Rocktown. Sen. Ballout is correct. I
barely visit the place. But does that mean I don’t care fro where my late Dad’s
from? As for him (Sen. Ballout) his dad is from Palestine. His dad was not a
Negro or of Negro descent up to his passing. And so if he (Sen. Ballout) will
use the fact that I barely visit my father’s hometown as a way of trying to
demoralize me, he needs to think again. Because he will be under obligation to
tell us if he has ever visited his father’s hometown in Palestine. And that upon
reaching maturity has renounced any other citizenship acquired by virtue of one
of his parent being a citizen of another country?
This is what the Constitution
of Liberia says on the citizenship question of those with one parent a citizen
of Liberia and the other of another country who’s not of Negro descent:
Article 28 “Any person,
at least one of whose parents was a citizen of Liberia at the time of the
person's birth, shall be a citizen of Liberia; provided that any such person
shall upon reaching maturity renounce any other citizenship acquired by virtue
of one parent being a citizen of another country . No citizen of the Republic
shall be deprived of citizenship or nationality except as provided by law; and
no person shall be denied the right to change citizenship or nationality.”
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