Mary Broh: Harper City - "Vestiges of Life Once Lived."

I was in involved in a regular conversation with Mary Broh just the other day when she made a statement; that statement that she made, captured my undivided attention thus prompting this write-up.  

Before going into her statement, first, let me establish few things why Mary Broh’s observation really touched the abyss of my soul and why I take it seriously. After I’m done with this part, I will then move on to the matter under discussion.  

See, I call her Mary Broh without adding the title “Hon.”  

Why?  

There are two reasons for that: 

1^st, because she is a personal friend. So I do no disrespect to her title as Director General of The General Services Agency of the Republic of Liberia and an Honorable woman, particularly, a very important one in Liberia when I call her Mary.

2^nd, Mary is a down-to-earth-kind-of-person. She’s not intoxicated with titles and power. Like me, she agrees, power and titles are elusive and they corrode. So no one should worship them. To do so, one runs the risk of being elusive. Mary is not like that. Everyone I know calls her Mary. In her presence, I see even kids calling her Mary Broh. Other women I know will shut the kids down if they don’t add the word “aunty” or “Hon” to their names. As grown as I am, I greeted a lady whom everyone knows in Monrovia; but because I didn’t add “aunty” to her name, she refused to answer to me. Mary is not that type. Everyone calls her Mary and she always answers with no insults taken. This sort of attitude is unheard of in current day Liberia.  

3^rd, Mary is that kind of person who speaks truth on issues. Not only that, she goes the extra mile in her official and private capacity to help improve every condition within her reach. The “Next Generation” of General Services Agency is a typical example of her work. She turned it into a fairytale. 

So, if I took her observation very seriously, the reasons above readily justify that, thus the write-up.

Now, let’s get back to the issue under discussion.  

Mary and I meet every-now-and-then and engage in discussion about our country. In most cases, our discussions turned into a powerhouse.  

In this particular conversation, she told me about her first visit to Maryland. She said that she noticed that Harper is a city full of “Vestiges of life once lived.” The statement threw me off track. So I began to wonder what she meant by that. And so, I began to delve into the scheme of things using my own lenses.   

See, I was born and reared in Harper City. Evidently, I have tremendous and vast knowledge of the City.  

Harper City sits majestically deep in the keyhole and belly of the Southeastern Region of Liberia. There I spent my formative days. But I left in 1980 when I graduated high school. Customarily, during my day, graduates were expected to depart the county to embark on an academic sojourn. So I did. But two years later, I returned on a brief visit. That’s when I noticed that nothing had really changed. The infrastructures remained unimproved. In fact, they had begun to crumble. That’s when I began to see and hear Mary Broh thirty-two years in the future.  

In Harper I was opportune to live through some of the “golden” years (life once lived). So I know what was and what is now. I have a reference point! At that time, life was good. So when I reflect by looking back, it becomes quite easy for me to comprehend Mary’s observation without ill-feelings. 

Now, I want you to join Mary and me to do the calculations and comparison from the facts below.

Maryland is one of the most beautiful counties in Liberia. The evidence is apparent and resolute when you get there. Its capital city is Harper. And Harper is still incomparable after a 14-year generalized anarchy of violence that destroyed infrastructures and human resource. It has a 21^st Century state-of-the-art infrastructural design. It has 99.9% of its streets paved with concrete that have been in good shape for the past fifty or more years. By all measurements, it has one of the best (if not the best) city halls in the country with a 21^st Century state-of-the-art architectural design. Harper is well laid out by all standards. An aerial view makes the case. By International standards, its ballpark is one of the best in the country! And so is its water system.  

Notice, most great cities around the world are built along the banks of rivers, lakes and Oceans. New York, Paris and other cities are typical examples. Harper City is one of those. It runs into a cape. Slides down in Hoffman River, hugs the Atlantic Ocean and drives into Lake Shepherd. Harper City is a takeoff-your-shirts-come-let’s-go-swimming-mind-blowing type of resort. 

At first glance, the beaches beat every stretch of any visitor’s imagination. Extensive and very fascinating, they keep visitors on the edge with spellbound effects.  

The beaches are wide and long stretching from the border of The Ivory Coast to Fishtown (Harper). Undisturbed, they quietly wrap around Fishtown and slip right into Grand Kru County and then beyond.  

Harper is a city that has some of the most outstanding private homes that were built and designed by European architects and engineers. The styles into these structures are an addition to the City’s beauty. They record the age of the City living from the 1800s to present. 

The way the architectural designs of private homes are shaped in Harper, reminds one of fairytales in books that we read. The structures are amazingly profound and totally out of this world! Evidently, the builders did not just build the structures, they did so with all that man, money and Science could afford for human development.  

Some European visitors describe Harper as the “only city” they know, in most African countries, that “wasn’t built by colonial masters,” but by its own sons and daughters. Descriptively, its architectural designs have a resting place in the history of mankind.  

The structures are remarkably marvelous.  They hold within their structural designs and context the hallmark and display of the civilization of the people running parallel, if not exceeding, succeeding generations of architectural designs. 

Two families hold these robust architectural designs in their bosoms as owners. They are the Andersons and Tubmans. 

The Anderson & Tubmanic buildings are humongous and historic.   

James Anderson, commonly referred to as “old man Anderson” was former senior Senator of Maryland. He was also national chairman of The “Grand” old True Whig Party (political Party that led Liberia for a little over one hundred years). And that’s a lot of power for one man. He built his structures in a twin-size fashion. Almost everywhere he built his structures; they were two-into-one. And unmistakably gigantic. 

In the case of William Tubman, commonly referred to as “Bob Willie,” built only one huge, gigantic, titanic, colossal, and massive private residence. At first sight, by any human person in his normal mind, the structure commands an “awe” and “wow.” It sits in the heartland and doorway of Downtown Harper.  

Anderson built his big twin-size and beautiful buildings in Downtown Harper also. As a trademark, all of his buildings carry one super color of paint – green. As for Bob Willie, his color remained as yellow. 

Upon entering Downtown Harper, one sees the echelons and the tips of the Anderson and Tubman buildings towering over all else in the City like the Empire State Building with their green and white colors flashing in the distance.  

Today, upon entering the City and seeing these structures decaying, one can truly agree with Mary that these structures portray the “Vestiges of life once lived.” And that those who once lived in them, without a doubt, lived exceptional and incomparable lives. 

There are other structures that add to Harper’s beauty besides the private homes. They are the Churches. Most of them are also humongous. And most of them sit in the  sacred heart of Downtown or at the entrance of the lovely City.  

One of those is the St’ Mark’s Episcopal Church. It is huge. It has an estimated seating capacity of 1000. It sits in the heart of Downtown Harper facing The Hoffman River. It’s bounded on the West by Mechlin Street; on the East by McGill Street; in the South by Printing Street and the North by Gregory Street. The Church’s back is turned to the Atlantic Ocean. Unmistakably, all of the streets that bound the Church are paved with concrete. And that’s amazing! 

The other is The Mount Scott Methodist Church. It is also a humongous structure built by some British. It is also huge with an estimated seating capacity of 500 to 900. It has an “Uncle Ben” clock sitting on its forehead. The Church sits on top of a hill looking over Downtown Harper like a watchdog. The back is turned to the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t know why. The front faces both Downtown and The Hoffman River. It is bounded by concrete-paved streets on all sides. Maryland Avenue is in its North; McGill Street in its East; Russwurm Street sits in its south and Gregory Street is in its South.  

The St. Theresa’s Catholic Cathedral is at the entrance of the City. It is also a huge structure with an estimated seating capacity of 1000. Unlike St. Mark’s and Mount Scott, it faces the Atlantic Ocean with back turned to Town. It is bounded by some paved and unpaved streets. In its due North is Maryland Avenue; Its West is J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital and its East is Thompson Street and its South is the unpaved part of Green Street.  

There are other little churches not as huge as the ones named above. But they are as old as the City. The history behind them are as huge as the structures that tower over them. Their relevance lies in their ages and historicity explaining what Harper City used to be and what it is now. 

There are other landmarks in the City adding flavor to it. And that includes The J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital.  

Many years ago, as far back as the 60s, The J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital, named after one of Liberia’s chief justices and vice presidents, H. E. J. J. Dossen, used to treat patients as far as from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and other parts of West Africa. It was the “doyen” of medical facilities in West Africa. It had a great and incomparable medical team. Most members of the Team were well-trained Europeans. Some were Liberians who were trained in Europe and America. So it won the hearts and souls of most West Africans. Upon entering Harper, it sits on top of a hill facing the Atlantic Ocean with its back against Town. 

But something strange happened: today the story is different and so is the reality on the ground. And there’s where Mary Broh comes in – they have become “Vestiges of life once lived.” 

Some of the structures are evaded by grass and trees. The quality of the paint used that gave added ambiance has tumbled down like The Berlin Wall. The interior and exterior decorations have ruptured. This reality and condition strengthens Mary Broh’s claim as a city with “Vestiges of life once lived.”  

All of the 21^st Century State-Of-The-Art of architectural designs, have become monuments of decay. 

Notwithstanding, life is still alive in Harper City. But one thing is true about this: today’s life is unlike the past. Decayed infrastructures have abused the goodness and beauty of the City. 

Here is the million dollar question: 

Why has the offspring of the builders of these gigantic and 21^st Century state-of-the-art architectural designs in Harper City failed to enhance the legacies of the builders of the future of Harper?!  

I have my answer. Mary made hers known! So what’s yours? 

 

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

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

Is Cllr. Tarr, Attorney General of Liberia, not a liar?

Hmmm!

 

The incident of police brutality against me occurred on June 29, 2012 in the city of Pleebo. After medical treatment at two major hospitals in Harper and Monrovia, the case was reported to the Liberian government in August, 2012 for an investigation.

 

The first complaint was filed by my legal counsel to the current Attorney General of the Republic of Liberia, Cllr. Christiana Tarr. It was hand delivered to her office and signed for by her Special Assistant.

 

Normally, when a letter of complaint is received by an office, a reply (as normally expected) is always issued. That’s the foundational principle of correspondence. But Cllr. Christiana Tarr blatantly refused to reply to my legal counsel.

 

The second complaint and request for an immediate investigation came from the office of Sen. John Akel Ballout who is the senior senator of Maryland County. It was filed and hand delivered in October, 2012 to Cllr. Tarr’s office. It was also received by her Special Assistance.

 

But again, as was in the case of my legal counsel, Cllr. Tarr blatantly refused to reply to the Senator.

 

From all indications, she has been involved in stonewalling, gyrating the facts, maliciously and willfully misleading the Liberian Legislature and the Liberian people.

She has been engaged in lying. Here are few examples:

 

LIE NUMBER ONE                   One month after Sen. Ballout’s letter and two months after my Legal Counsel’s letter that never received a reply, I opine an OPEN SMS to Cllr. Tarr. In her response to me via SMS, she wrote, “Your case has been forwarded to the Independent National Human Rights Commission.” I followed up. When I checked with INHRC, the Commission categorically denied receipt of any case pertaining to mine from the Ministry of Justice.

 

LIE NUMBER TWO                  Rep. Dr. Bhofal Chambers, cited the Minister of Justice in his Capitol Building office. He asked her if she knew about my case of police brutality. She told the Lawmaker that it is true that she is aware. The Lawmaker asked her if she had tried to investigate the case. She said no. But she promised the Lawmaker that immediately upon her departure from his office, she would embark upon the investigation. When Cllr. Tarr left Dr. Chambers’ office, she never took on the case. Each time Dr. Chambers tried to reach her, she stonewalls..

 

LIE NUMBER THREE                Later on, Hon. Rev. Dr. Isaac B. Roland, representative of the Karluway District, Maryland County authored another letter of complaint requesting an immediate investigation in the matter.  The Attorney General replied and said that my case had been forwarded to The Independent National Human Rights Commission (INHRC). Upon enquiry again, INHRC categorically denied receipt of any complaint pertaining to my case.

LIE NUMBER THREE                On Friday, August 2, 2013, after my radio talk show where I threatened to repudiate my citizenship at a one-man march, the police department invited me for talks. Along with the Special Assistant of Sen. H. Dan Morias, we met with the police. We were told that the police had been instructed by the Minister of Justice to go immediately to Maryland to investigate my police brutality case, twelve months later. True to her nature, she gave the so-called investigating team my complaint. But certain parts of the Complaint were missing. I knew then, the woman is not up to any good. Indications are, she had already misled her own team of investigators prior to going on the field. Can such investigating team findings be credible? You tell me!

 

As a result of her ongoing acts of obstructing justice, I submitted a letter of Complaint to the

Senate ProTemp of the Liberian Senate, Hon. Findley. In the Complaint I explained to the

ProTemp that the current Minister of Justice has been involved in the business of lying to some

Lawmakers, misleading Lawmakers and distorting the facts to obstruct justice. As such, I am

appealing to the ProTemp to cite the Minister to give reason (s)  why she should not be held for

Contemp.

 

The current Minister of Justice, Cllr. Christiana Tarr, for some unknown reasons has been

engaged in obstruction of justice as far as my case is concerned.

 

Giving this indisputable fact, I have no other choice but  prepare myself to leave this country

and abandon my service to my country. Because, if the Minister of Justice who is charged by

the Constitution to dispense justice is obstructing justice, I see no reason why anyone can

think, Including myself, that Liberians can get justice during her term of office.

 

If the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Tarr is not a liar, then I pray ask, what is she doing in respect to

my case.?

Besides what we know she is doing in my case by obstructing justice, who knows what she has

 been involved in regarding other citizens’ cases.

 

 

 

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

MY ONE-MAN PEACEFUL, NONVIOLENT, PROTEST MARCH FOR POSITIVE ACTION AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY, MONROVIA, LIBERIA, AUGUST 14, 2013

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

 

On June 29, 2012, the murderous arm of The Liberia National Police notoriously known as the Emergency Response Unit, physically brutalized and psychologically tortured me in the city of Pleebo, Maryland County.

 

Magistrate Wesley Korko of the Pleebo Magisterial Court ordered the ERU to tear gas, handcuff, drag, beat, physically & psychologically torture and rob me of my personal money and then lock me up in jail while I was bleeding for 24 hours.

 

After medical treatment in two hospitals, J. J. Dossen in Harper, Maryland and J. F. K in Monrovia, my lawyer and Congressional Caucus off Maryland filed a complaint on my behalf asking for an immediate investigation in October 2012. Up to the present, the Ministry of Justice has been involved in stonewalling, lying Maryland filed a complaint on my behalf asking for an immediate investigation in October 2012. Up to the present, the Ministry of Justice has been involved in stonewalling, lying, distorting the truth and misleading the Congress of Maryland Lawmakers. Supplementary to that, the Liberian government continues to launch a campaign of silence in the face of the facts and pains expressed and declare to it. And that contravenes the spirit of national healing, reconciliation, justice for all and peace.

 

After I have realized that all my appeals to the Liberian government have fallen on deaf ears, I now have decided to take the case to the international community for justice, thus my one-man protest march for positive action against police brutality on August 14, 2013.

 

This March will begin from Downtown Monrovia to the US, EU, ECOWAS, UNMIL offices and then to the Capitol Building where I will interface with my  Congressional Caucus to deliver a Statement and inform them of my intent to repudiate my citizenship.

 

During my One-Man Protest March for “Positive Action” against police brutality, I will summon all peace-loving and anti-police brutality groups and persons and those who have a practical nature, all who possess idealism, dynamism and immense sense of patriotism and human rights, all who believe in goodness, truth and beauty, to unite to support my antipolice brutality campaign and call for justice so together we can built a new society where each of us will have a peaceful and tolerant future.  Our intent in this new society is for all of us to work for ourselves and enjoy what the Creator has bequeathed to us, those things that until now we have been deprived of by the Government of Liberia which holds and abuses judicial power in its hands. We have arrived at a decisive moment in time when it is no longer possible to go on sustaining injustice in this country.

 

We have the right to live without the fear of injury or being killed by the police. Our peaceful demonstration will compel the Justice Ministry to quit distorting and hiding from the truth and depriving people of justice. For Truth is the most important Core Democratic Value. Our democracy depends on truth; our government and its citizens MUST tell the truth and establish a bond between both of them. Truth MUST be the glue of that bond.

 

The right to live is a human right. The Government's primary responsibility is to protect lives and safety of its citizens not to destroy it. The Liberia National Police is destroying lives with impunity. IT MUST STOP NOW!

 

I will call on Christendom; we call on Islam; and we call on all religions built on justice to join our just cause and send a signal to the Liberian government that police brutality is wrong! We cannot sustain anymore injustice in this country at the hands of the notorious murderous police that is killing and subjecting youths, students, women, men, human rights advocates, the poor and armless and defenseless citizens and residents of this country to brutality and death.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2013

 

 

 

IT’S TIME FOR “POSITIVE ACTION”!!

 

 

 

On Wednesday, August 14, 2013, my one-man peaceful, nonviolent protest demonstration on Monrovia begins at 9am ending at 1pm. It takes off from Downtown Monrovia to the US Embassy, EU, ECOWAS, UNMIL and lastly to the Capitol Building to interface with my Congressional Caucus to deliver a Statement on my police brutality case.

 

 

 

On June 29, 2012, the notorious and murderous arm of the Liberia National Police – ERU – brutalized, robbed and psychologically tortured me in the city of Pleebo, Maryland County. I spent four days  at J.J.Dossen Hospital in Harper for medical treatment and airlifted to J.F.K Hospital in Monrovia as a referral on July 4, where I stay for three days. Effective August, I complained to the Liberian government. Twelve months ago, the Government is still stonewalling and launching a campaign of silence.

 

 

 

I have no choice but to cry out to the International community and good citizens of Liberia. Thus, my one-man March.

 

 

 

I will summon all peaceloving and anti-police brutality groups and persons and those who have a practical nature, all who possess idealism, dynamism and immense sense of patriotism and human rights, all who believe in goodness, truth and justice, to unite to support my antipolice brutality campaign and call for justice so together we can built a new society where each of us will have a peaceful and tolerant future.  My intent is for all of us to work for ourselves and enjoy what the Creator has bequeathed to us, those things that until now we have been deprived of by the Government of Liberia which holds judicial power in its hands.

 

 

 

I have arrived at a decisive moment in time when it is no longer possible to go on sustaining injustice.

 

 

 

We all have the right to live without the fear of injury or being killed by the police!

 

 

 

This peaceful demonstration will compel the Justice Ministry to quit distorting and hiding from the truth and depriving people of justice. For Truth is the most important Core Democratic Value. Our democracy should depend on it! We expect the truth from our government and its citizens. We expect to establish a bond between the Government and the people in which Truth MUST be the glue of that bond.

 

 

 

The right to live is a human right! The Liberian government's primary responsibility is to protect lives and safety of its citizens not to destroy it. The opposite is true with the Liberia Police. THIS MUST STOP!

 

 

 

I want to thank all those who have been working with me, including the Media. I will EXERCISE one of my CONSTITUTIONAL and DEMOCRATIC FREEDOMS. Under The UN Universal Declaration of Human

 

 

 

Rights I will EXPRESS my DISCONTENT and PAIN. On that day, I will cry out to a CIVILIZED world! I will cry out to CHRISTENDOM & ISLAM! I will cry to all international governments, nongovernmental organizations on human rights to help me achieve JUSTICE for those of us who have been brutalized by the murderous and notorious Liberia National Police.

 

Enough is Enough! THE KILLINGS AND POLICE BRUTALITY MUST STOP NOW!!!

 

 

 

I am Thomas G. Bedell, a social justice advocate; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia, a victim of police brutality and a candidate for repudiating Liberian citizenship

"Positive Action" Against Police Brutality

On August 14, 2013, I will conduct a one-man peaceful, nonviolent, protest March on Monrovia for “Positive Action” against police brutality and the Liberian government’s campaign of silence coupled with the Ministry of Justice’s act of stonewalling and distorting the truth.

 

The purpose of the March is to raise the issue of police brutality in Liberia, particularly in my case, on the international platform since the Liberian government believes by launching a campaign of silence, it can kill my case. Secondly, to use the occasion to REPUDIATE my citizenship and move out of the country.

 

The One-Man March will begin from Downtown Monrovia and ends at the Capitol Building. The first stop is at the United States Embassy; second stop at the European Union; third stop is at ECOWAS; fourth stop is at UNMIL. And the last stop is at the Capitol Building to meet with the Maryland Congressional Caucus. At each stop, I will deliver a very powerful statement.

 

I will also use the occasion to call upon Christendom and Islam to hear my cry and condemn the Liberian government and bring pressure to bear on it so as to change its suppressive attitude on its citizens.

 

During the March for “Positive Action” I intend to repudiate my Liberian citizenship and subsequently leave Liberia permanently and never to return again.

 

 

Because I love my country, I have given it my best.

 

In early 2006 after the 2005 Election in Liberia, when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president of the Republic of Liberia, I returned home as an answer to President Sirleaf’s call for Liberians in the Diaspora to return home and assist in her Government’s reconstruction drive after a 14-year generalized anarchy of violence that partly destroyed infrastructure and human resource on a massive scale.

 

Prior to my return to Liberia, I registered an NGO in the United States called Mission Outreach International, Inc., MOI, for short.  MOI is also registered under the Liberian Association Laws as a nongovernmental and not-for-profit organization.

 

MOI sent medical equipment to Liberia totaling three hundred thousand (US$300,000.00) United States dollars.

 

One part of equipment was sent directly to The Redemption Hospital in the Borough of New Krutown where I lived and play ball as a young man coming up. As such, I believe I owe something to the Borough. And I had to make such a contribution as a way to say, “thank you” to the Borough.

 

The other part of the medical equipment was also sent to The John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia.

 

This contribution is my way of giving back to my people, community and nation.

 

The medical equipment sent to Redemption Hospital is a “thank you” to the people of the Borough of New Krutown. They gave me an opportunity to lift my ball playing career to a higher level when I was recruited to play ball on Mighty Barrolle and The Lone Star Ball Clubs.

 

As for Monrovia, I spent my last days prior to traveling abroad to further my academic studies. So this is the best I can do for my people within my power.

 

Secondly, I organized and registered another organization by the name of KudeNumo Peace Initiative Foundation, Inc. KNPIF, for short. KNPIF is the author of peace in the Glebo Peninsula in Maryland County. This peace was made in difficult times. The two groups involved in the dispute for over three decades refused to three decades refused to reconcile their differences. The CARTER Center tried; UNMIL tried; and the Cape Palmas Catholic Diocese tried. But all did not succeed. KNPIF succeeded for several reasons. Amongst those reasons is our approach and concept resting on the principles of ASAP – African Solutions to African Problems. More so, I am fluent in the major language and culture of the people.

 

My Government, which is the current government of Liberia, has forced me to the decision to repudiate my citizenship. After spending that much money from my own pocket and compromising my security to travel from village to village delivering empowerment programs, peacebuilding and social justice advocacy, the Government did not show any appreciation but to sic its murderous police on me on June 29, 2013 to beat, brutalize, psychologically torture and rob me without judicial review.

 

I believe by leaving the country will help teach current and future governments that a citizen’s security lies in the hands of the government. And if the government fails to protect its citizens, especially the citizens that are making sacrificial contributions to the development of the country, then it doesn’t deserve such a good citizen. Another country can take advantage of that citizen’s expertise.

 

There’s where things are for now!

 

 

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

Am I to be “indicted” for my views and soon a political prisoner in today’s Liberia?

Not that I did not expect a lot of STRANGE things to happen in Liberia while I carry on my historic duty to my country.

 

I knew from day one, someone and/or something was going to distract me from my pro bon work and historic mission to the country. And that thing or person would be drag me into high level politics and brand me as a “wanted” man.

 

The day prior to my one-man protest march for “Positive Action” against police brutality, Tuesdays, August 13, 2013, having received negative information that my request for Permission to protest was going to be DENIED, confirms this.

 

One day before my March, I met a man; he’s working in the government. He voluntarily gave me some information.

 

He said an “indictment” by the Liberian government is hanging over me.

 

I did not understand what s/he meant by such serious revelation. Yet and still, I did not throw a “Cockrum” on him. I mean I did not record the voice.

 

Why am I to be indicted was the major question?

 

From all I discovered, it is because of my political and ideological views. I strongly and vividly expressed them over the past few months when police brutality forced my humanitarian, philanthropic and patriotic work to a standstill thus leaving me in Monrovia in quest for justice.

 

Here is one example that makes me believe this attempt to indict me is true:

 

In 2010, closed to 20 citizens and a resident were arbitrarily arrest and detained on false charges of ritualistic killings in Maryland County.

 

This act was not the first, the second nor the third in Maryland. In each case, most of the victims were executed by the Liberian government or killed by mob.

 

Coming out of that experience, I felt obliged to help bring this practice to a complete halt. For too many innocent people had been executed by the Government and more had been killed mob.

 

So I organized different types of protests to express our disapproval, distaste and discontent of the continued false incrimination of citizens and residents by the Government. This practice demoralized the county and its people.

 

Our protest efforts made it impossible for the Government to use this sort of backward political practice and approach to humiliate perceived political enemies.

 

We were successful.

 

Those who were arbitrarily arrested and detained were released, set free and charges dropped. All of those who were executed by the government and those killed by mob will never have a chance to vindicate themselves. Their children will forever live with this chilling experience.

 

Here is how I knew that I was a “wanted” man:

 

During the different protests in Maryland, a man within National Security, quietly and secretly informed and warned me of a possible government sponsored assassination of me. Being the man I am (properly informed on intelligence and counterintelligence) I took the information seriously. So I managed to control the situation. How? I readjusted my movements in the community.

 

By 2012, the police brutalized me. The manner in which it took place and the way the Government has been treating the matter makes it clear that this level of police brutality was premeditated.

 

Today, another person from within the Government has quietly informed and warned me of a pending “indictment” by the Liberian government.

 

Coming out of the experience of police brutality as a resolve of my ideas and ideological direction in the country, I am not taking this information and warning on my pending “indictment” by the Liberian government as a joke.

 

Believe me; the Government is serious in terms of its involvement in shutting out and keeping me off track. But I will not be deterred in the service to my country. It is a historic mission. I will give a day-to-day accounting of my experiences as long as I remain in Liberia.

 

I’m sure, if Mandela, Gandhi, Che, Lumumba, Nkrumah, Castro (of course Castro is authoring his “Reflection” on the Internet now) had the Internet as a tool as I do today, they would have done exactly what I am doing: exposing and/or preempting the Government in its every move.

 

At least by so doing, the world can know my troubles that I am faced with dealing with the Liberian government.

 

If the Government forcibly removes me from doing charity in my country and tries to drive me on the political periphery for confrotation, she can be my “guest.”

 

 

 

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