Liberia's Iron Lady: Legacy at Stake

Liberia's Iron Lady: Legacy at Stake (Guest Commentary)
By: Theodore T. Hodge
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was nicknamed Liberia's "Iron Lady." Upon reading her professional and political biography, it seems fitting to assume she deserves the nickname. The nickname was first conferred upon Britain's Margaret Thatcher, by her fans and admirers.
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WWW.THELIBERIANJOURNAL.COM (The Liberian Journal)

why should a woman have 'iron' attached to her name to signify strength? ellen should have rejected this initially but wanting so much to be part of the 'boys' club', she glorified this...esp during the campaign of 2005. iron or not...she is a strong woman. she need to wake up small and deal with these freaking mary brohs.

krazzy wrote:

............. she need to wake up small and deal with these freaking mary brohs.

PLease explain yah

mary broh, recently nominated to the position of city mayor, went on a 'rampage' down waterside-burning market stalls of petty traders. when asked by the press why she was doing this (since she was not yet confirmed) and who gave her the authority, she said she was working as a 'concerned citizen'. she brought a group of women, hammers and fire. they broke and burned as the marketers watched in anger and confusion. the npa fire truck was on the stand by in case the fire spread to stores. according to broh, she is acting because the city is dirty and she is concerned. i saw that on tv last night and wondered.

Several marketers lamented that the early Monday morning operations was not announced and caught them unaware leading to their new zincs, costly planks and other materials completely burnt by the Monrovia City Police under the instruction of new City Mayor Mary Broh. FPA Photos


President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf newly-appointed head of the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), the entity responsible for maintaining city ordinances yet to face confirmation hearings before the Liberian Senate, Monday morning commenced work with the setting ablaze of market tents along the main streets in the waterside general market downtown Monrovia.
Accompanied by a group of women chanting the slogan “Women O Women, Women” Madam Mary Broh and the team of women assisted by the Monrovia City Police started the operation as early as 6:00 am local time when marketers were still at home preparing to return to their normal business for the day.
Thick flames of smoke
To the utmost surprise of many marketers, the entire waterside General market was consumed by thick flames of smoke as the new MCC head ordered the breaking down and subsequent burning of all market tents along the main streets in the densely populated market center.
New Morovia City Mayor Mary Broh leads patrol of Monrovia in the wake of demolition day Monday. Broh, on Monday, ordered the breaking down and subsequent burning of all market tents along the main streets in the densely populated market center. “This other thing is real fire for fire. We just came this morning and saw all our market tents on fire. Nobody told us to break our tents down so that we can take our planks, zincs, tarpaulins and other materials for keeping to help us build our tents different places. We just came this morning getting ready to put our market outside only to see everything on fire around 6:00 this morning, how they can treat human beings like this” a weeping marketer told Frontpageafrica.
Several marketers lamented that the early Monday morning operation was not announced and caught them unaware leading to their new zincs, costly planks and other materials being completely burned by the Monrovia City Police, headed by Madam Broh.
“We are not saying people should not do their job, but they're suppose to inform us to say 'dogs, we give your three or four days to breakdown all the market tents,' but to just come, while we were coming to sell this morning and see our expensive planks and zincs on fire is really bad, or because we do not have blood, so people must treat us like this”, a weeping Madam Comfort Nah told this paper.
Some of the marketers in conversation with Madam Mary Broh, expressed frustration over the exercise and said they have been paying fees to the Liberia Marketing Association, and see no reason why their market stalls should be declared unwanted when they are paying for the spaces the tents were erected.

'People breakdown my house'
Solomon Payah, a middle age man weeping, told FrontPageAfrica that all of his belongings were left in a tent in which he was living and was completely broken by the police, destroying of all his household utensils and wearings.
“My people, your see this kind of thing ah, the people breakdown my house with everything inside, they na even tell me to take my things outside. All my things na spoil, how I will manage oh God”, Payah stated.
For Payah, he believes the MCC should have notified them ahead of time to enable them take away their belongings to family members, or friends and uproot their zincs for future use, but lamented that these materials were forcibly destroyed by the police.
'Nobody must sell' - in front of stores
“Some of us na get anywhere to live so if they want to break down our little Congo, they must tell us some day before time, but to come just start doing this thing is really looking at us like we not even human beings”, weeping Payah said.
NO WHERE TO GO “Some of us na get anywhere to live so if they want to break down our little congo, they must tell us some day before time but to come just start doing this thing is really looking us like we not even human beings.”
- Solomon Payah, whose home and belongings were set ablaze Monday
Several marketers interviewed said the government through the MCC should have found a new location to relocate them before carrying out such demolition process.
The newly appointed head of the Monrovia City Corporation promised to discuss the concerns raised by the marketers about the payment of fees for the spaces they are occupying with the Liberian Marketing Association, but said the tents are making the city filthy.
“Nobody must sell in front of these stores; I don’t want to see market tents around here any longer. I am warning you store owners to not allow anybody sell in front of your stores”, Madam Mary Broh warned a local Fulah merchant.
Monday’s demolition of market stalls has been viewed as a real beginning of Operations Clean Monrovia with many describing the new MCC boss as a ‘No nonsense’ person who is noted for ensuring discipline wherever she works.
Madam Mary Broh prior to her new appointment, served as Deputy Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA), where she was appointed to help rescue the port from increased criminality which led to the stealing of containers and imported goods within the vicinity of the port.
Upon taking over, Madam Broh policies were opposed by many people who visited the port on a daily basis to get their daily bread.
She termed them as hustlers and said “We don’t want hustlers in here, if you have no business in this port do not come here,” and she was seen daily chasing people from entering the port.
Before going to the NPA, Madam Mary Broh helped the Division of Passport at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by expediting the process of obtaining a Liberian passport which until then, took up to three months by making the process to now take three days.
She introduced several changes at the Division of Passport and got rid of bureaucracies attached to getting a passport at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is not clear how Broh's actions - on the first day on the job will play out, or affect Sirleaf's base among the market men and women.

On Monday, Sirleaf's Press Secretary Cyrus Wleh Badio said the Executive Mansion was hopeful that based on the urgency of the tasks of the Mayor of Monrovia, the Liberian Senate will in due course invite Madam Broh for confirmation. Badio said the Mayor-designate has in the meantime been carrying out familiarization tours of some of the areas in Monrovia visited over the weekend by President Johnson Sirleaf. "The President, you may recall, reminded street peddlers and owners of makeshift structures that Government would demolish the structures to give the city a facelift. That process, it is our understanding, has already begun," said Badio.

Within the national context, Thatcher showed tremendous support for the free market economy to the extend that public spending which included subsidized feeding for school kids were cut during her term as Secretary of State for Education and Science. For this she was named: Margaret Thatcher, the milk snatcher. Her stubborn stance with respect to her views and principles is clearly stated in her famous speech lines: "You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning." The fact that she was female played a major role in the care she placed on her reactions and decision-making. However, she could be seen as revering her position so much that she was able to handle criticism without a flinch. Gardner states that she was careful ‘to challenge but not disrupt’ what was seen as a man’s world.



On the international scene, Thatcher was seen as an ‘unreconstructed cold warrior’ and also the ‘Iron Lady’ connotating strength despite her sex. Interestingly, the Liberian president is also called by this title, given her political imprisonment and track record of zero tolerance for ‘bullshit’.



Thatcher also extended her belief in the free market system so much so that she used this to rationalize and justify economic and political disparities globally. With respect to the anti-apartheid movement in white supremacist South Africa, Thatcher referred to Nelson Mandela as a ‘terrorist’ and that majority rule was not a priority. On the home scene, she had little empathy for poor people and immigrants, some of them from her society. According to her, in Gardner’s Leading Minds, ‘I am not ruthless but things have to be done’. Another one of her infamous pro-free market quotes was, "In a system of free trade and free markets poor countries - and poor people - are not poor because others are rich. Indeed, if others became less rich the poor would in all probability become still poorer."⁴



Her leadership position was marked by great strength despite the controversies. Her strengths were her analytical abilities, physical strength, decisiveness and resolute nature. These strengths can also be viewed as tragic flaws, which affected her leadership judgment, decision-making and actions. ‘She sought to control everything, rarely delegated authority, slept for only four hours a night, and fixed her eyes on every detail during her waking hours.⁵ Her supporters and enemies saw her as domineering.



Eventually, she lost the support of even friends when her nature propelled her to take on single-handedly issues related to the formation of the European Union, trade unions, the civil service and other like issues. Her downfall also came as a result of the increasing national economic disparities that she believed that the ‘invisible hand’ of the market would fix. Her struggle to centralize power and authority, which in essence meant centralization to herself, within the government, was also key in the issues that contributed to her resignation and before that the resignation of many government officials. The growing discontent of her leadership style became palpable.

Reviewing Thatcher’s leadership from the point of view of organizations, it is easy to see her operating in the structural frame which complements her need to maximize her personal power, since accountability and responsibility were seen from the stance of her personal values. The process of centralization was also key to her leadership style. Her strive to centralize all power in one unit-herself- clearly attributes the structural leadership to her leadership frame. According to Bolman and Deal, ‘organizations work most effectively when environmental turbulence and personal preferences are constrained by norms of rationality. Structure ensures that people focus on getting the job done rather than on doing whatever they please’.⁶ In the case of Thatcher, the views of the other-them- did not matter. The goal was to keep the policies of the structure; and this goal was entrenched in her personal preferences and views.

Her failure to see leadership as a mutually, non-coercive relationship resonates negatively for me. Her view of individuals being less that systems and ideologies is also difficult to reconcile with the human resource frame, which I consider to be important in the face of the role of people in organizations. Her failure to acknowledge the plight of people outside of her country and race is disgusting to me, regardless of the power and clout she had. My perception of a leader is one who encompasses his struggles and geographic terrain, holding an idealistic view of infusing strength and support to other struggles. Thatcher, to me, is callous along the lines of racism. Her economic beliefs, which supports globalization sees the poor as mere pawns in the system of global interconnectedness.

A powerful leader is not one who is opinionated to the point of alienating both supporters and foes. She states with respect to trade and global sweatshops: "Whether manufactured by black, white, brown or yellow hands, a widget remains a widget - and it will be bought anywhere if the price and quality are right. The market is a more powerful and more reliable liberating force than government can ever be." Concerning the perceived ideals of social and economic equity, she states, "There is much to be said for trying to improve some disadvantaged people's lot. There is nothing to be said for trying to create heaven on earth." To put closure to the matter, she again states, "In a system of free trade and free markets poor countries - and poor people - are not poor because others are rich. Indeed, if others became less rich the poor would in all probability become still poorer." She was a true depiction of a callous, cold and calculating leader, who refused to even acknowledge the plight of immigrant populations in her country, Great Britain.

Great Britain, being Thatcher’s organization, suffered greatly and worked in the political frame where everyone is clamoring for scarce resources, including decision-making power which was centrally focused on the head, Thatcher. It was difficult for Thatcher to delegate responsibilities, given the enormous self-confidence and high level of intolerance she has for indecisiveness, which can be defined as anyone who did not think on her wavelength.

I believe that three important aspects of good leadership are honesty, the ability to create and maintain trust; reflective, the ability to review one’s decision-making and put a judgment on it in order to correct mistakes and replicate successes; knowledge, understanding what needs to be done and serving as an example for others; and effective communication, sharing information and active listening. The behavior of a leader has to be characterized by an open, transparent and accountable attitude. The perception that a leader is always right as a leader does a disservice to these tenets. Consequently, decision-making affects the people who are being lead. In essence, an effective leader is one who acknowledges and supports mutuality within an organization, in this case, the government of Thatcher and works with respect in achieving the team’s purpose. This was her tragic flaw.

Finally, I agree that Thatcher had great influence and was respected by many. Leadership is dynamic and does not have a uniform tactic. She was an innovative and direct leader whose message did not always resonate with her audience. She did not consider their fears, goals and concern. Her attitude of intolerance and impatience also had an impact on her strengths. Her focus on centralization; and her unilateral style of decision-making does not resonates with me positively. The blind face that she extends to the problem of her people is summarized by this British in a BBC survey: Mrs. Thatcher stands for most of us can regard as truly 'British' in society today. Her strength of conviction, and skilful rhetoric made her respected throughout the world. I would go as far as to say that she is personally responsible for some of our most basic freedoms that we seem to take for granted these days. For example, the freedom to hate all things foreign, especially French, German, and Argentinean. The freedom to wantonly destroy public property and abuse authority figures such as teachers and policemen. The freedom to feel content in a state of long-term unemployment. The freedom to spend many happy hours in railway stations waiting for trains to arrive. And in case we have forgotten, Mrs. Thatcher, even before she was prime minister, had the foresight to relieve schools of the responsibility to provide free milk to pupils throughout the country. Thank you Mrs. Thatcher, for helping to make Britain the country it is today.



Works cited:



1. Thatcherism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism



2. ibid

3. Garder, Howard (1997) Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, IN, HarperCollins



4. Thatcher and foreign policy on South Africa

http://www.newmatilda.com/pdf_storage/459.pdf



5. Garder, Howard (1997) Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, IN, HarperCollins



6. Bolman, L. G. and Deal, T. E. (1997) Reframing Organizations. Artistry, choice and leadership 2e, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass







Quotations (websites)



Quotes on Third World Retrieved 02/07/2006

http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/thatcher.php





Quotes: Survey of British citizens on Thatcher’s legacy Retrieved 02/07/2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1878902.stm

Wow! Krazzy I had no idea of that. Why hasn't this woman been arrested? She had no legal authority to do what she did. Dammit, we are soooo friggin confused!

i almsot cried last night. what do we do write a letter to ellen or mary broh or a press release, analyzing what she did? ahn know mehn but...

or work to stop her confirmation? i saw this woman during international women's day at the city hall. she was walking up and down the aisle asking people to put their phones on vibrate...if you do not do it now, we will fine you. sitting in a group of close to 1000 women (some non-liberian), i kept wondering

Actually, I tink a strong letter of criticism will open a few more eyes. People if a certain class were readily able to understand and identify with the insult of what Min. Bropleh said/did. A similarly strong-worded LTE about this action and how it trashes the dignity and integrity of ordinary folks who are simply trying to eke out a living in a barren landscape will make some people justifiably uncomfortable. Here is my fear Krazzy: We are swinging the pendulum too far back in the other direction out of some kind of gender loyalty. True the history of gender exclusivity and discrimination in our society smells up to high heaven but now it feels like there is an all out war or anyone who is "undesirable" and more often than not it seems those are the poor. I think this craziness does more than simply serve as a threat to Ellen's legacy. To me the more important issue here is the threat to the movement for social justice USHERED in by ordinary women who later supported EJS.

FVCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! This really pisses me off.

i think so and most women agree...we are afraid to call a spade a spade because ellen is the first female blah blah and if we criticise her, we will be diminishing some sort of national glory.

for this situation, i see a government that does not plan and is disrespectful of people based on their socio-economic status. someone cried last nite: ellen johnson, u kill my husband with yor war, now u break my market table...how i will feed my children. i felt anger, fear and shame. broh was asleep, knowing that her tomorrow was predictable. these people may have to wait for a few months to get some sort of decent apology from the woman they made president. george weah was too close to the hoodlums...he wouldn't make a good president.

hmmm

I swear. Liberians bring that same waterside selling mentality to America. They think everything revolves around them. How long has it been since government after govt have tried to get the people off the streets. They continuously go back and put up their planks.

Those who ply the sidewalk have rights too. I think the sidewalk walkers should stage a rally against the sidewalk sellers.

As for Mary, she is just doing the same thing Jesus did, driving out the merchants from her father's house and streets, nada is wrong with that.

As for Ellen and her name, she did not ask for it so she cant say "I dont want it." But I know that she said that the iron is not as it implies, "hard as iron," it is rather more like her iron will to have survived the Doe and Taylor's regime.

krazzy wrote:

i think so and most women agree...we are afraid to call a spade a spade because ellen is the first female blah blah and if we criticise her, we will be diminishing some sort of national glory.

Sounds like the fear some Blacks in the US have about criticizing the so-called leader

krazzy wrote:

............a government that does not plan and is disrespectful of people based on their socio-economic status. someone cried last nite: ellen johnson, u kill my husband with yor war, now u break my market table...how i will feed my children. i felt anger, fear and shame. broh was asleep, knowing that her tomorrow was predictable................

Now if this is not the height of irresponsibility, I don't know what is. Given what we've just emerged from, people in leadership need to have a heightened sense of things. Sh*tting on everyday people like this is NEVER a good practice. Why we can't learn???

if she wants to play a biblical role, she shd try being the virgin mother re her name. the GOL is the dutybearer...if we had to take their responsibilities, everything will fall to pieces...that is why we elect them. the bottomline is respect and planning. MPW plans with individuals whose homes are on the road, giving them at least 6 months to break the portion that shd be broken as they construct the roads. who the hell is mary broh to break market stalls and burn them while the npa truck stands by...the war is over; no one person calling herself 'concerned citizen should have this power even if she and ellen drinking something together.

ellen loved the iron lady name. when they called her other names recently, she took the people to court. don't let her fool u gadyu. u too smart.

gadyu wrote:

I swear. Liberians bring that same waterside selling mentality to America. They think everything revolves around them. How long has it been since government after govt have tried to get the people off the streets. They continuously go back and put up their planks.

Those who ply the sidewalk have rights too. I think the sidewalk walkers should stage a rally against the sidewalk sellers.

As for Mary, she is just doing the same thing Jesus did, driving out the merchants from her father's house and streets, nada is wrong with that.

As for Ellen and her name, she did not ask for it so she cant say "I dont want it." But I know that she said that the iron is not as it implies, "hard as iron," it is rather more like her iron will to have survived the Doe and Taylor's regime.

same script. women groups who questioned changes in the anti-corruption document were called 'rebels'.

Traveller wrote:

krazzy wrote:

i think so and most women agree...we are afraid to call a spade a spade because ellen is the first female blah blah and if we criticise her, we will be diminishing some sort of national glory.

Sounds like the fear some Blacks in the US have about criticizing the so-called leader

krazzy wrote:

............a government that does not plan and is disrespectful of people based on their socio-economic status. someone cried last nite: ellen johnson, u kill my husband with yor war, now u break my market table...how i will feed my children. i felt anger, fear and shame. broh was asleep, knowing that her tomorrow was predictable................

Now if this is not the height of irresponsibility, I don't know what is. Given what we've just emerged from, people in leadership need to have a heightened sense of things. Sh*tting on everyday people like this is NEVER a good practice. Why we can't learn???

sara i am here...what's up? u see the story?

SSDD!

da what, Traveller?

Same Sh*t Different Day!

You would really think after everything that has happened over the last few years, SOMEONE would stand up and say "whoa, ya'll really need to slow down." EJS is allowing people to continue dehumanizing folks IN HER NAME. Left unchecked, I can only imagine what the end result could be.

conflict and a lost elections a few years from now.

.....and severe disillusionment. When you think about it, a post-1980 pattern is repeating itself. On April 13th folks thought they were experience a radical social revolution. Then came the executions, the beatings, the wanton stealing and disrepect for human dignity. When folks finally looked up we were in a full tilt heading toward civil war at top speed.

I join this discussion at the tail end, but one thing is clear and that is the functioning of government is not clearly understood by the "new kids on the block" leaders.

The moral and ethical paradigms of this debate are clear. If we were to put ethics, morality and emotions aside and really look at this objectively, we will identify the gross incompetence, irresponsibility and lack of wisdom demonstrated in conducting the affairs of an office of government.

I am not sure that she requires confirmation, as the city mayors fall under the purview of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, the offices held by the mayors should be managed in the best interest of all constituents. As dutybearers, city mayors should have the maturity and presence of mind to be able to balance the need for development with the rights of constituents. The marketeers have the right to information about their trespass (possibly alleged). It should not have been taken for granted that they are aware of said trespass.

In the process of clearing public property (the streets), private property should have been turned over. Even in the great U.S., when people are evicted for non-payment of rent, their personal property are placed on the street for them to retrieve. They are not burned or destroyed.

The act of the new City Mayor reeks of anarchy. Rebels behave this way; true leaders do not. Leaders are to lead by example, and this is not setting a good example of how to deal with issues. There should be mutual respect and mutual accountability. In this regard, who is liable for the property losses sustained by the victims? Had they been given a notice and had they not adhered, they would clearly be liable. But this was not the case. They were not given notice. In this regard, the government needs to start preparing compensation packages. In addition, she should be reprimanded for her blatant disregard for law and order.

Government has to take responsibility for this act and should clearly demonstrate that the rights of individuals will be respected at all times.

on point!!! the bad thing is that mary broh does not have monopoly over such attitude. the infomation minister's is more of a verbal kind.

The president is not making wise decisions and is still carried away by her loyalties to her inner circle. She has seen on too many occasions that they have led her astray and embarassed her domestically and internationally. The mistakes of the past are resurfacing.