By noon tomorrow Saturday June, 23, 2012 the mortal remains of Tom Kamara will finally lay to rest. By tomorrow the last drops of tears will escort Tom as his mortal remains is interred.
After tomorrow his memory will only exist in the minds of thinkers and writers and all those who shared his philosophy as far as the advocacy for social justice was concerned.
The name Tom will certainly be quashed in the in print of the Democrat newspaper which he owned and nurtured until his demise. However, the name Tom will ever so long remain in the repository of history as one who stood the test of time; braved the storm; held the bull by the horn and kept the light of truth burning in the Liberian society, especially during the dark period in Liberia when press freedom was reduced to the size of a grain of sand.
He held the bull by the horn in terms of planting the seeds of social justice in the wake of rampant societal cruelty. He barked at the ills of the society in the face of ill-mongers, most of whom were imperiously accustomed and cultured. He saw the society as filthy, corrupt, wicked and socially and economically lopsided, something which put him at loggerheads with those powers that be.
Indeed, Tom was right in the way he saw the society- socially dim, economically depressed, and culturally undefined, etc. The society is just what Tom saw it-far from social and economic changes-far from the practices of prudent democracy-far from the wheel of nationalism and patriotism-far from national reconciliation and integration, etc.
The mindset of squandering wealth against the interest of the state and people remains predominantly the way of life. The older folks-the recycled politicians see themselves as the all time political heirs of the state. Hence, they revolve from one political administration to the other with the frame of mind to make themselves while the state lies in ruins-no paved roads, no electricity, no defined system to guide the society, etc.
In Liberia, the attitudes of self-seeking, the love for wealth, the abuse of the law, double-standard game, pretending to be something not real, etc. stands as the order of the day. In Liberia, honesty does not pay; instead the heroes and heroines are the corrupt ones and those who master how to praise the leadership.
The honest people are regarded the weak and feeble ones and therefore kept at the back bench just in the cold.
In Liberia, the crooks make their way through because they are prepared to blackmail others. The crooks are traditionally loved by most, if not all leaders in Liberia. Hence, imminent promotion often awaits the crooks who see not the future as far as national growth and development is concerned.
In the wake of this unchanging attitude the growth and development of the country in line with the prevailing civilized norms appears thin, if not non-existent. Worst of all the culture of nepotism and favoritism are being practiced at the highest level.
One may be just correct to assume that Liberia is a slave in its own land. It is pathetic that most of those found as the forerunners of state serve the nation with half hearts. Outdated and bereft of any tissue of nationalism they care less what happens to the state and people. They are selfish and greedy in addition to being wicked to those they work with. Most of them have their families out of the country and thus they care less who lives in the dark. Hence, the state is presently at war with the culture of rampant corruption, something which is replica of the ugly past. As though Liberia will not be there tomorrow, most people are amassing unto themselves wealth through dubious means and would boast of going scout free only because they enjoy the will and pleasure of the president.
Indeed, looking through the eyes of Tom and seeing the compounding ills, the permeating poverty, the social injustices, the rampant abuse of the poor people’s rights and the high level of deceits and sycophancy, one certainly feels dejected, aggrieved and down-spirited.
The fact is that it hurts to see battalion of theories far removed from their practices. It hurts the soul to see the nation’s wealth being taken away by foreigners in concert with highly placed individuals. It hurts to see once so-called progressives doing just the same old things that had contributed to Liberia’s appalling situation. In Liberia, progressivism is just a way of gaining recognition and a space on the political platform. As I now see it based on the attitudes of the so-called progressives it is useless to crave for change when the advocates of change are themselves not the examples of the change so professed. I think instead of the pens mourning for Tom they should start a tougher war against those who are causing havoc for the Liberian people.
