Liberians and their rice business is no joking matter. Rice was what started the first contemporary civil uprising. People said that politicians at the time used the government’s decision to increase the rice price to rally the citizens into mob action. Riots ensued. Lootings broke out like never before in a country whose capital city was adorned with department stores without steel doors that were always left unmanned day and night. In the riot’s aftermath, people died. Properties were looted. Few months later, President William R. Tolbert was disemboweled in his Executive Mansion bedroom when the NCOs from the Barracks stormed the Executive Mansion. Since April 14, 1979, Liberia has never truly recovered.
The current rice shortage on the market is happening at a critical time when the country goes to elections in about 12 months from now. The average Joe Blow on the street doesn’t know how come a 25kg bag of imported rice that he brought few days ago for about LD$2,400 is now sold for LD$5000 or more, if he can even see it to buy. And as citizens continue to beat their brains over how their staple has suddenly turned to “gold dust”, Senator Abraham Darius Dillon is leaving clues all over the place why the rice shortage and price increment are occurring concomitantly.
In a recent social media post that he made before taking his sabbatical to the United States, Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon, who also goes by the nickname “The Light”, candidly disclosed that the government of Liberia is refusing to allow importers to slightly increase the rice price imposed by the world market because the government feels that doing so would be bad PR. But worse than that, Dillon is saying the Government has refused to pay the US$11 million that was passed in the recast budget to help importers subsidize the extra costs of importing rice on the Liberian market for public consumption.
“The government is refusing to allow importers of the commodity to slightly increase the price imposed by the world market. The govt thinks allowing a slight, reasonable and justified increase would be a “bad public relations” against it in the name of politics and elections. Further, the govt agreed to provide some subsidy to the Importers to help stabilize the price in order to have the commodity available and affordable even with a slight increase.
“Toward this end, the Legislature intervened. We passed a RECAST Budget that included $11M USD to help Importers subsidize the extra costs. Unfortunately, the govt has failed to pay the amount to the Importers. The Finance and Commerce Minitries are responsible for this. The money has not been paid to the Importers.
“Sadly, the President of Liberia seems completely clueless and lost here to the extent he is blindly assuring that rice is in country and available, that it is opposition that is blowing false alarm about “no rice on the market.”
“The President will not dare ask his Ministers of Finance and Commerce to account for the $11M USD. The Legislature will not demand Budget Performance Report for accountability. The money may be gone but no one will be made to account, and the people will be left to suffer.
“And when few of us ask the hard, real and uncomfortable questions for answers and redress in the general interest of the people, the WEAHians will come defend the very things they are suffering at the hands of the govt. They are even blaming Opposition for the scarcity and increase!” Dillon lamented.
The scarcity of the country staple has now created a nasty conundrum for some of the government’s public relations functionaries. The chief PR man at the National Port Authority (NPA), Malcolm Scott, has become the latest casualty, having lied and posted cooked-up photos of rice shipments that he claimed were in the country to address the rice crisis.
