Monrovia — Dr. Lawrence Konmla Bropleh, the Special Envoy and Advisor to President George Manneh Weah at Liberia’s 175th Flag Day Celebration says Liberia is on the path to development, national growth, and transformation, something he says is irreversible.
The Liberia Flag, after the Declaration of Independence on July 26, 1847, was first raised on August 24, 1847, and is known as Flag Day.
Dr. Bropleh, the orator of the day, grew up in Upper Buchanan, part of the former colony, the Bassa Cove. According to him, he was taught by his late mother, Joanna Elizabeth Davis Bropleh, a Public School Teacher during my kindergarten years.
He recalls how cardinal it used to be to invoke allegiance to the Republic of Liberia each time he salute the Flag and say the following words: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of Liberia, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Speaking at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmun Street, Dr. Bropleh said the path to the inclusion of all in the decision-making process of Liberia, the path to availing the country to friendly partners and other nations and investors for economic and infrastructural growth is irreversible.
Dr. Bropleh added: “The path to unhindered human capital development, the path to freedom of thought, association, speech, and religious tolerance, are irreversible paths.”
“We must remain on an irreversible path of respecting the rule of law and allowing our justice system to work independently for everyone, regardless of their social or political opinions, connections, alignment, and differences,” he said.
Bropleh at the event said as Liberians celebrate 175th Flag Day, the flag is not just a mere piece of cloth that is intended for decoration. However, the flag he says must be seen as symbiotic, something that he says can unite Liberians.
“As Liberians, our Flag stands as a Lighthouse, steering and guiding each of us to calm shores where our school-going children will be taught in their civic classes the value of the Flag, how it stands for respect and not disrespect, dignity and not inhumanity, love and not hate, reconciliation and peaceful co-existence as a people, that symbiotic guidance that invigorates us to seek the ‘we consciousness’,” he said.
Disunity, the Consequences of Lack of Development
Bropleh says despite the gains the country is making, Liberians should not allow their political decisions, religious differences, and other disagreements to continue to pull them apart. The consequences he said will result in a broken society.
“The returnees and the indigenous, after uniting and inhabiting this land for over 200 years as one people, and one nation, must not be seen again in this 21st century, tearing each other apart, and fighting against each other in a way that only sets the stage to bring our country down on the basis of our political differences,” he said.
Dr. Bropleh continues: “If we allow disunity to put us against each other, rather than embrace one another, the consequences would be the lack of development, economic growth, education, quality healthcare, and prosperity for ourselves and our posterity.
“All of us, no matter our tribe, our religion, political party, age, education, and class, we belong to one nation and we pay allegiance to one Flag, the Red, White and Blue national ensign.”
“Hence, we are in this together, no one is more Liberian than the other, so when we find ourselves awakened to the dawn of a new day, let us strive to peaceably move our nation forward and not backward, upward and not downward by the things we do and say about our nation and each other,” he added.
We Must Keep the Peace
Liberians next year will be going to the polls to vote for their leader. Still speaking, the Special Envoy and Advisor to President Weah called on citizens to remain peaceful during and after the election processes.
“In 15 months, our nation will hold General and Presidential elections. It is no secret that there will be bitter exchanges of words and not blows during the period of campaigning, and elections will be held, the votes counted and winners announced, all of this while we as a people must be cognizant that we must keep the peace,” he said.
“As Liberians, a people united by a singular goal of seeking to live as a free and independent people from the humiliating bondage of slavery, torture and abuse, we can only remind ourselves that it’s only through unity, patriotism, love and co-existence that we can keep the light of freedom shining on the African continent.”