Famous in Monrovia

Our Africa Program Associate, Shaya Gregory Poku, was recently in Liberia to see our program activities there.

Driving through Monrovia’s streets, it is readily apparent that this is a country that is rebuilding itself. The international community’s role in the rebuilding is evident—their presence is felt nearly everywhere. Another NGO headquarters pops up every few minutes, their well-known logos dot the cityscape on cars, billboards and buses:

“Real men don’t rape.”(The IRC)

“Stay in School.”(Save the Children)

Buses are stamped, “Donated from the People of India.”

It’s hard to imagine what the place will look like once they leave. Many Liberians are certainly grateful for the support of the international community, but they also wonder why the world didn’t intervene sooner during the two civil wars, when action could have been preventative rather than restorative.

For now the roads are improved, something for which people thank President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. They also speak of her hard stance against corruption, something echoed by the many anti-corruption posters around the city. Liberians, especially many Liberian women, are proud of having elected the continent’s first female head of state.

Her home is purposefully nondescript. The official presidential palace was damaged during Liberia’s long war and is still being repaired.

Signs are intentionally absent from President Johnson Sirleaf’s current residence, and Shaya would have missed it altogether had our Finance Officer, Tenema, not pointed it out. The only sign that someone important lives there, are the women gathered in front. They come to express their gratitude or to share grievances, imploring the President to address an issue in their communities.

A longtime admirer of Africa’s first female head of state, Shaya immediately whips out the camera…

Minutes later she and Tenema are being pulled over by two officers who’ve hitched rides on passing motorcycles. Because of limited funds, many of Liberia’s police lack their own vehicles and must rely on civilians for transportation.  Pictures are not allowed of the residence, they tell her sternly; for the president’s security.

She didn’t realize, she says. There were no signs. There are no signs for the same reason there are no pictures, they say. On the verge of letting them go with a warning, the officers receive a call from the residence. Shaya and Tenema must return to the residence with them for more questioning with the president’s security detail.

SFCG’s recent report about Security Sector Reform in Liberia is fresh in Shaya’s mind; and she scans the officers’ faces for a hint of what punishment may come.

It turns out Shaya’s picture-taking had the misfortune to coincide with President Johnson Sirleaf’s motorcade leaving. Why was she taking pictures? Is she a journalist? What is the purpose of her trip to Liberia?

SFCG Liberia offices

The mood changes dramatically when she reveals that she works for

Search for Common Ground, or Talking Drum Studio (TDS)—as it’s known in Liberia and Sierra Leone.  They love those shows they say! Especially, the radio drama Today is Not Tomorrow, it has a great message. Does she do any of the voices of the characters? And about the show’s main villain,  infamous his corruption? He’s awful!

Established in 1997, during the short peace after Liberia’s first civil war, TDS has a strong and well-deserved reputation in the country and widespread popularity. It continued to operate even through the violence of the second civil war and has been one of the main ways SFCG brings issues of governance and conflict to a wide audience.

The officer let Shaya and Tenema go eventually, sans photographs, but their response is one Shaya finds often during her stay in Liberia. Everywhere she goes it seems someone knows Talking Drum Studio. Even going through customs, the officer’s face lights up when she learns that Shaya works for Talking Drum Studio.

As SFCG-Liberia’s National Programs Officer, Jimmy Sankaituah, said “our country is small and struggling, but we are proud of our progress, and SFCG’s role in making it so.”