[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN LIBERIA
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-63
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina AMI BERA, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
PAUL COOK, California TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
TED S. YOHO, Florida DINA TITUS, Nevada
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois NORMA J. TORRES, California
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois
DANIEL M. DONOVAN, Jr., New York THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
Wisconsin TED LIEU, California
ANN WAGNER, Missouri
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida
FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
THOMAS A. GARRETT, Jr., Virginia
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina KAREN BASS, California
DANIEL M. DONOVAN, Jr., New York AMI BERA, California
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
Wisconsin THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York
THOMAS A. GARRETT, Jr., Virginia
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Donald Yamamoto, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau
of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State................... 5
Ms. Cheryl Anderson, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for
Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.............. 14
Mr. Dave Peterson, senior director, Africa Programs?, National
Endowment for Democracy........................................ 28
Ms. Aurelia Curtis, founder and executive director, Weeks
Educational and Social Advocacy Project........................ 35
Mr. Rushdi Nackerdien, regional director for Africa,
International Foundation for Electoral Systems................. 45
Christopher Fomunyoh, Ph.D., senior associate and regional
director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic
Institute...................................................... 59
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Donald Yamamoto: Prepared statement................ 7
Ms. Cheryl Anderson: Prepared statement.......................... 16
Mr. Dave Peterson: Prepared statement............................ 32
Ms. Aurelia Curtis: Prepared statement........................... 39
Mr. Rushdi Nackerdien: Prepared statement........................ 48
Christopher Fomunyoh, Ph.D.: Prepared statement.................. 61
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 74
Hearing minutes.................................................. 75
THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN LIBERIA
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:00 p.m., in
room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H.
Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will come to order, and good
afternoon to everyone.
On the eve of the Liberian election, I want especially
thank Congressman Dan Donovan for recommending this important
hearing for our subcommittee before those elections and also to
speak to the future of democracy and governance in Liberia.
As we all know, of the more than 50 nations in Africa, the
United States has the closest connection with the Republic of
Liberia.
This is not only because Liberia was founded in 1847 by
freed men and former slaves from this country, but also because
of the estimated 500,000 Liberians and Liberian descendants who
live here.
Liberian cities such as Monrovia and Buchanan were named
for American Presidents and--in part of my district that I had
for 30 years before it was redistricted out--the city of
Trenton has a very large Liberian diaspora population with whom
I got very close, and still do a great deal of case work for
even though I don't represent them because that bond is so
strong.
However, most Americans are largely unaware of the long
link between United States and Liberia and likely see Liberia
as just another African country.
Most Americans are unaware that Liberia has been a major
U.S. ally since World War II and into the Cold War, hosting
U.S. communications facilities in the 1960s and 1970s, and has
received extensive U.S. development assistance including post-
war aid and Ebola aid to Liberia.
The United States has also helped Liberia build its
criminal justice sector and supported transitional justice
efforts.
U.S. has funded just over a quarter of the cost of United
Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) at a cost of about $106
million annually as of fiscal year 2016.
Liberia is also implementing a $256.7 million 5-year MCC
compact signed in 2015 designed to increase access to reliable
affordable electricity and enhance the country's poor road
infrastructure.
Bilateral State Department and United States AGency for
International Development (USAID) assistance totaled $91
million in Fiscal Year 2016. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
has made some advancement in democracy and governing during her
two terms, and we applaud her for that, following the despotic
rule of Charles Taylor.
During his term of office, Taylor was accused of war crimes
and crimes against humanity as a result of his involvement in
the Sierra Leone civil war from 1991 to 2002. He was also
responsible for serious human rights violations in Liberia as
well.
Charles Taylor was formally indicted by the Special Court
for Sierra Leone in 2003, and I would note parenthetically that
the chief prosecutor has been before this subcommittee, David
Crane, many times and has provided useful insights as to what
we need to do with regards to Syria and war crimes tribunals in
another part of the world, all of that information, all of that
wisdom gleaned from his work on the Special Court, which not
only indicted but prosecuted successfully many, and eventually
Charles Taylor, who as we all know, got 50 years and is
currently serving that sentence at The Hague.
The United States occasionally arrested the alleged
perpetrators of civil rights human rights abuses, often using
the immigration perjury charges as a vehicle for prosecution.
One of them was Charles McArther Emmanuel, also known as
Chuckie Taylor, the son of Charles Taylor.
Raised in Florida, Emmanuel became the commander of the
infamously violent Anti-Terrorist Unit, commonly known in
Liberia as the Demon Forces.
He is currently serving a 97-year sentence back in Florida
for his role in human rights violations carried out by that so-
called Anti-Terrorist Unit.
President Sirleaf was unable to, under the constitution,
run for a third term. But unlike many other leaders around the
world, including in Africa, she did not push to change the
constitution to allow a third term.
We don't know yet whether her successors can and will
continue her upward trend. Most candidates for President have
highlighted corruption.
But as our witnesses from the National Democratic Institute
(NDI) can tell us, these candidates have platforms that are
light on policy specifics.
Consequently, today's hearing is intended to examine the
prospects for democracy and governance in Liberia following the
October elections which we hope will be free and fair and
transparent.
The United States is a key provider of technical assistance
to Liberia's national election commission including the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems program funded
by USAID and the U.N. Development Programme backed by nearly
$12 million in mostly European Union funding under a multi-
faceted project from 2015 to 2018.
The election commission also receives broader institutional
capacity building support under a second $4 million USAID-
funded program, the Liberian Administrative and Systems
Strengthening.
Our Government has a significant investment in Liberia on
several fronts. The future direction of this important country
is important to the United States.
Therefore, we have a stake in the next government, building
on the advances made in democracy and governance, again, under
President Johnson Sirleaf.
Most of all, there must be much more done to minimize the
impact of corruption in Liberia. It is a serious issue and
hopefully our Government, working in tandem with a new
government, will really do a major effort along those lines.
I would like to yield to our distinguished ranking member,
Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and especially
for this timely hearing, considering that we are a few weeks
away from an election in Liberia.
So on October 10th we know that Liberians will select a new
President, Vice President, and Members of their House. The
upcoming elections mark an important moment for the country
because they are expected to lead to the country's first
electoral transfer of power.
And before we delve into democracy, governance, and the
future of Liberia, I actually wanted to take a moment to
highlight Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as she ends her second
term in presidency.
It was such an international event when she became the
first female President on the continent of Africa. In 2005, she
was charged with the seemingly insurmountable challenge of
building a country impacted by 14 years of civil war where more
than 200,000 people were killed.
Most of the national infrastructure was destroyed and the
country was burdened by enormous debt. I remember when
President Johnson Sirleaf came to the United States and to the
House many times when Power Africa was established because, if
you remember, Liberia was not included in the Power Africa
proposal, and she walked the halls of Congress until that was
changed and Liberia was included.
During her 12 years of the presidency, a decade of
sanctions was lifted and deemed no longer necessary. The
economy has drastically improved and averaged more than 7
percent annual growth.
Per capita income has risen from a low point of just $80 at
the end of the second civil war in 2003 to $700 even though the
population has increased by nearly 50 percent to just under 5
million and life expectancy is up from 53 to 61 years.
And I think that is particularly remarkable, given the
setback that the Ebola crisis presented, and the Ebola crisis
was certainly an example of what happens when the health
infrastructure deteriorates how that was--that disease spread
so quickly but yet the country rebounded in spite of it.
We know that the country has also made great progress in
rebuilding its infrastructure and its democratic institutions.
And finally, President Sirleaf has been a strong proponent of
equal rights for women and a champion for youth.
We all applaud and acknowledge her hard work which has also
been recognized by the international community, most notably
when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
I also want to point out--I was in Ghana in January for the
inauguration of the President, and President Sirleaf there as
the head of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
and to see the leadership that she took as the head of ECOWAS
in resolving the conflict in the Gambia, which certainly could
have deteriorated in a terrible way.
Returning to the topic of this hearing, which is the future
of democracy and governance in Liberia, I want to highlight
that another extremely important and final act that the
President will take is to adhere to Liberia's constitution and
step aside in order to allow the democratic process to continue
as the people of Liberia choose their next President.
I am happy to say also that President Johnson Sirleaf will
be here next Friday as part of the annual legislative
conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and we
look forward to her remarks that she will make in a
presentation a week from Friday in the morning.
I was honored to be a part of NDI's delegation to Kenya to
observe the election. I am sorry I won't be able to participate
this time in October.
I look forward to hearing from the representative from the
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), who I am sure will talk
about the upcoming observations.
I am also glad to see that we have an acting Assistant
Secretary--we have all been worried about that for a while--and
an acting Assistant Administrator to USAID. So I look forward
to your comments.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Ms. Bass.
I would like to yield to Congressman Dan Donovan.
Mr. Donovan. Chairman, I am going to yield my time for when
I chair the second panel. I will do my opening statement. Thank
you, sir.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
I would like to welcome our two distinguished witnesses
and, certainly, Donald Yamamoto is no stranger to this
subcommittee and to the work that he will be speaking to and I
want to thank him for his leadership.
He is the acting Assistant Secretary to Bureau of African
Affairs at State. He also served as Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2003
to 2006 where he was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy
toward more than 20 countries in East and Central Africa.
He served as our Ambassador to Ethiopia from 2006 to 2009
and also the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti from
2000 to 2003 and was the Deputy Director for East African
Affairs from 1998 to 2000 and he has, again, testified several
times before this committee and, again, we thank him for his
service.
Then Cheryl Anderson who is the acting Assistant
Administrator for the Bureau of Africa at the U.S. Agency for
International Development.
Ms. Anderson has more than 20 years of development
experience, mostly in Africa. Before joining USAID as a Foreign
Service Officer, she worked in USAID missions in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sudan, and East Africa.
Prior to joining USAID, she worked as a program manager for
Healthlink Worldwide and also served as a Peace Corps volunteer
in Ghana.
Mr. Secretary, if you could begin.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DONALD YAMAMOTO, ACTING ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mr. Yamamoto. Thank you very much.
I would like to submit the longer statement for the record.
Mr. Smith. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Yamamoto. Representative Smith, thank you very much.
Congresswoman Bass and Congressman Donovan, thank you very
much. It is a great honor to be back here today.
Good afternoon. Although the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic had a
massive human impact and slowed economic growth worldwide, the
response led by the United States helped Liberia overcome Ebola
and return the country to the path of building confidence.
It is hard to overstate the enormity of the challenge
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf inherited in 2005. We applaud
the respect she had demonstrated for Liberia's constitution
throughout her tenure and the positive example she has set for
the continent of Africa by her unbending respect for
Presidential term limits.
Next month, Liberia's citizens will go the polls to
facilitate Liberia's first peaceful transition of power between
democratically-elected leaders since 1944.
Despite how far Liberia has come, many challenges remain
that will fall to President Sirleaf's successor to address. On
the elections and security, the Presidential candidates vying
to replace President Sirleaf have been campaigning vigorously
since the start of the formal campaign period at the end of
July.
We are pleased that 20 registered political parties
declared their commitment to a peaceful electoral process and
many of them reaffirmed this commitment on the margins of the
ECOWAS summit in June 2017.
While the United States does not support any specific party
or candidate, we are pleased to see a robust participation in
this election.
Liberians from all walks of life are aware of the
importance of these elections and the United States stands by
those committed to support a peaceful, credible, and
transparent electoral process.
Despite very real challenges, President Sirleaf and her
administration are committed to conducting a peaceful,
credible, and transparent election.
The government has also taken steps to build systems and
processes led by the Governance Commission for the handover of
power that will occur in January 2018.
There are significant challenges still facing the National
Electoral Commission notably: Poor infrastructure, inadequate
funding, heavy rain that could complicate election logistics.
However, we are encouraged that the NEC successfully
carried out a free and fair legislative bi-election this past
February.
We are providing comprehensive program support to the
Liberian National Election Commission, civil society
organizations, media outlets in the run-up to the 2017
elections.
In addition, our Ambassador is meeting with candidates
running for President to emphasize the importance of peaceful
elections and transitioning government that builds upon the
progress made in the last 12 years.
As UNMIL looks to close out its mandate at the end of March
2018, it should be considered a success story. It has kept the
peace and gradually but steadily transferred key
responsibilities back to government.
The U.N. Mission to Liberia presently is mandated, notably,
to protect civilians, advise the Liberian National Police on
election security, and promote sustainable peace through its
radio station.
Since July 2016, the Government of Liberia has been fully
responsible for the internal security and we have seen no
discernible change in this society's situation since then.
A joint security task force chaired by the Liberian
National Police is also actively overseeing the election
security planning. This is a positive sign for prospects of
maintaining peace and stability during the electoral period.
On governance, the next President of Liberia will inherit a
more stable and secure Liberia than that which President
Sirleaf inherited in 2005.
While some drivers of instability have diminished, others
will need continued attention. These include deficiencies in
the administration of justice, official corruption, land
disputes, intertribal, interethnic, and interreligious
tensions, poverty coupled with income disparity, and a large
youth populations disproportionately affected by unemployment.
Liberia has come a long way in rebuilding state
institutions after years of conflict. Nevertheless, the gains
are fragile and there is still room for much improvement.
Official and systemic corruption drains limited public
resources, deters investment and contributes to a culture in
which working in government can be perceived more as a route to
self-enrichment than public service.
There is continued need to strengthen institutions critical
to democratic governance to ensure improvements are sustained.
As we look ahead, I can assure you the United States
remains steadfast in its support for the people of Liberia in
their efforts to consolidate further democratic gains, ensure
their government remains accountable to its citizens, reduce
corruption, ensure the responsible stewardship of scarce public
resources.
And with that, I welcome your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Yamamoto follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
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Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador.
Ms. Anderson.
STATEMENT OF MS. CHERYL ANDERSON, ACTING ASSISTANT
ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR AFRICA, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Anderson. Good afternoon, Chairman Smith, Ranking
Member Bass, Congressman Donovan.
Thank you for inviting me to speak today. I appreciate your
considered interest in how U.S. policies and assistance
programs can help Liberians consolidate a peaceful and stable
democracy in which prosperity is available to all.
USAID's development partnership with Liberia dates back to
our founding in 1961. As the largest bilateral donor in
Liberia, today the United States plays an influential role in
many aspects of the country's development.
Our programs address the underlying structural and
institutional problems that gave rise to 14 years of civil
strife and war while at the same time tackling the country's
more immediate development needs and challenges.
As the new government is formed following the upcoming
election, the United States will build strategically on the
current strong relationship.
We will identify opportunities to enhance transparency,
strengthen checks and balances and support Liberians both
inside and outside of government institutions.
This includes our work with the nation's next generation of
democratic leaders. If successful, this election will result in
the country's first peaceful democratically elected transition
of power in more than 70 years, marking a critical milestone in
the country's progress toward a stable democracy.
Recent USAID assessments indicate that citizens are excited
about the election and remain actively engaged in the political
process.
While the campaign period had proceeded smoothly to date
with political parties and candidates conducting themselves
peacefully, the National Elections Commission is still fairly
limited in its capacity.
There may by logistical challenges exacerbated by the
limited infrastructure across the country, especially given the
timing of the elections during the rainy season.
USAID continues to support elections preparations including
support to address necessary preparation that is facing the
National Elections Commission.
This support has three core pillars. The first improves the
performance, transparency, and accountability of the
commission, which, in turn, builds public confidence in the
elections.
Second, we support citizen participation in electoral
processes as voters, as activists, and as candidates, and
third, we strengthen civil society and media monitoring of the
electoral process.
USAID has partnered with local media and civil society
organizations including youth, women, and trade unions to
educate first-time and hard-to-reach voters about the stakes in
the 2017 elections, and encourage their peaceful participation.
Also, we continue to build the communication capacity of
the Elections Commission. This includes support for regular
meetings between the commission and political parties to share
information and to help resolve electoral issues before they
escalate.
USAID supported domestic and international observation
missions, continued to provide reports on the pre-electoral
process.
The Sirleaf administration remains publicly committed to
conducting a free, fair, and transparent election in October
and to an orderly transition of power to the incoming
administration. USAID remains committed to partnering with
Liberia during that transition.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge and thank you
for the critical support provided by Congress through the
United States emergency assistance to Liberia during and after
the Ebola epidemic.
With donor support, the government was able to control the
epidemic, which many predicted would have been far worse. We
must continue to invest in strengthening institutions to
further improve public administration and communication
functions at national and local levels and to enable citizens
to hold their government accountable.
This will enable the government to respond to potential
future emergencies and ensure the cooperation of the public in
adhering to public health guidance.
In summary, we believe that the Government of Liberia can
create conditions for a credible electoral process from the
pre-election period through the transparent tabulation and
announcement of results.
USAID will continue to support these efforts. We will urge
the newly-elected administration to consolidate democratic
gains through effective and accountable governance that is
responsive to the citizens and to adhere to the rule of law.
This includes developing and utilizing systems that reduce
opportunities for corruption and waste of limited public
resources.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass, and members
of the subcommittee for the continued commitment you have shown
to the Liberian people.
I welcome any questions you might have.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Anderson follows:]
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Mr. Smith. Ms. Anderson, thank you very much for your
testimony.
Just a few opening questions. One, you talked about the
reports on the free election progress. Are those reports
encouraging? Are they showing a willingness, for example, of
the various candidates?
I know State has met with the Liberian candidates to adhere
to the rule of law. If they don't like the outcome, will they
adhere to the outcome, providing it was free, fair, and
transparent?
What have those reports suggested that we are on track for
a good election or are there some warning signs?
Mr. Yamamoto. We have reporting coming in from Ambassador
Christine Elder and her team, who have been in close contact
with the National Electoral Commission and also with President
Johnson Sirleaf, who has a big stake in ensuring the next
elections are free, fair, and transparent and accountable to
the people.
So far, everything looks on track. Obviously, from the
Carter report, NDI report, and also our own reports there are
challenges and problems ahead.
But overall, it looks to be on target. We have over 20,000,
of course, poll workers are being trained through USAID and
IFES and, of course, we are looking carefully at all of the
over 5,360 polling areas to make sure that they are
appropriate.
I think one of the big factors would be the rains--if it is
raining, how people are going to get to the polling. That is
going to be a challenge, given there are only 7 percent of
paved roads in Liberia. But it is on target.
Mr. Smith. Okay.
Let me ask you, with the U.N. Mission to Liberia, which we
all know has played an integral part in disarming the more than
100,000 former combatants and has trained and professionalized
Liberia's police force to ensure law and order and to advance
women's participation in government and civil society, with
UNMIL drawing down currently and on track to be entirely out
next year, how prepared do you think the government will be.
The bureaucracy and, of course, who heads the government will
be extremely important to handle security on its own,
especially since some of the candidates have poor records of
human rights.
We don't know who's going to win. We don't take sides. But
there is a concern--I have it at least and I am sure others do
as well--about some people who have had very poor records of
human rights who could be head of state.
Mr. Yamamoto. The program for UNMIL has been a success
story and their extension past the election was really to
ensure that there remains confidence in the process.
The issue is that it has been on target to remove--they
have a token force now and I think they have done their mission
and it is really up to the Liberian security forces.
In the last elections and currently, we assess that the
defense force as well as the police still need training and
guidance and mentoring. We will be on top of that with the 200
troops and over 600 police.
Our reports right now are that they are up to the target to
meet the needs and, again, we will continue to be there. This
remains a priority, even after UNMIL leaves.
Mr. Smith. Let me just ask you briefly about the ability to
register and vote. Are we convinced that the process is, again,
transparent so that people who have signed up will find out
when they show up at the polls there is their name, they can
make their selection, and have confidence it will be counted
correctly?
Ms. Anderson. I think we can be relatively optimistic now.
We have been through the voter registration period with our
support.
I think we have seen fairly good turnout on the voter
registration with an emphasis on hard to reach voters, first
time voters, and also on women voters.
I can tell you that one of the kind of new technologies
that we have supported is that Liberians can now use their cell
phones, and many of them do have cell phones, and put in a
message that includes their voter registration ID number and
then get a message back that tells them where is the location
for them to go and vote.
Mr. Yamamoto. And just to add to that, it is, again, the
appeal process and we have been working very closely with
President Johnson Sirleaf on the judicial process and due
process, and if there are any problems from--expressed by the
candidates on one of the candidates, then that will be
addressed quickly and efficiently and effectively, we hope, and
we will be there by the NEC and of also the judicial process.
Mr. Smith. And last question before going to Ms. Bass.
Ebola and the work that was done--just nothing but kudos for
the great work that you did, the administration did, the
military deployment, all of it was just textbook on how to try
to mitigate a crisis from killing even more people.
We know Ebola is not gone. Are we convinced that we have
early warning capabilities that, should it reemerge, that it
could be quickly mitigated and hopefully eliminated?
Ms. Anderson. First of all, thank you for the generous
support and guidance on the Ebola response. There hasn't been a
new case in Liberia in 1\1/2\ years and we certainly recognize
that countries with weak health systems and with low confidence
in the public--in their public health systems that was where we
had the big problems.
So this is no time for complacence. We have invested
significant sources in the health systems and we are also
building the citizens' confidence in their own services.
So I think there have been several recent outbreaks; Lassa
fever and cholera where we were quite worried about spread and
the Liberian public health system has been able to detect them
through their surveillance system and successfully manage to
control them.
So our efforts really are to help the public health system
prevent, detect, and respond to disease and we will continue
that.
Mr. Yamamoto. Mr. Chairman, I can't overemphasize the great
work that you have done and, of course, Congresswoman Bass,
because you have really highlighted a lot of the issues and
challenges and really brought forth the things that we really
need to focus on and it has really brought the international
community focused on this and also all our groups.
And more important is the emphasis that you have all placed
on institution-building, democratic values and really through
this, strong institutions, we can guarantee and support
anything that happens--pandemics or famines or other issues.
And so thank you very much for your great work.
Mr. Smith. Again, thank you, Mr. Ambassador and Ms.
Anderson, for the great work you guys did. It is all about
teamwork and I think this is one of those times where everyone
came together and united to ensure that innocent people had not
succumbed to that horrible and dreaded disease.
Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
And, actually, since you were talking about infrastructure,
one, it is very good to hear that there has not been any new
cases of Ebola.
When I was in Liberia in August of last year, they were
concerned about relapse or it being transmitted after, you
know, the fact. And so hearing that there haven't been any new
cases is really good.
Not quite on our topic, but since you were talking about
infrastructure, I was just wondering what more you think needs
to be done now post-Ebola in terms of the health
infrastructure.
Mr. Yamamoto. I defer to my colleague just on the basic
programs that we are going to do on health. But I think overall
it is simple things. The power generation, the MCC, and the
$257 million in electrification.
You know, when we were out there in Liberia when Charles
Taylor was transitioning out, there was no electricity and we
were just amazed and shocked that this could ever happen. And
it has, and thanks to you, the MCC program, et cetera.
The other issue, too, part of the MCC has been roads,
really to bring the rural and the urban together but more
important is to get access to those in rural areas, to bring
them back for rapid treatment, et cetera.
So those are things to bring the country together and I
think those are the infrastructure. The others are economic
development and raising capacity building, particularly in the
health sector.
I turn to my colleague on the other issue.
Ms. Anderson. I agree that our emphasis has to be on
building local capacity so that Liberians can define their own
future and their own path forward.
There is a lot more work to be done, obviously, in
infrastructure and in the capacity and training of the
individuals in the public health system, at the same time
working to mitigate corruption and waste in governance and also
building the capacity of Liberian institutions to hold their
government accountable to the people.
Ms. Bass. Thank you. Thank you very much.
So I wanted to ask you now about U.S. Government assistance
to Liberia, in particular in the area of good governance and
democratization, and you could address that both from the USAID
perspective and others.
So wanting you to describe the continuity and change in
U.S. policy toward Liberia between our two administrations and
what is proposed in the budget around democracy and governance
and where we are, and if that has impacted what we are doing in
Liberia today.
And I believe, Mr. Ambassador, you were mentioning poll
workers that have been supported by our funding but I did not
quite hear what you said in terms of the number.
Mr. Yamamoto. Yes. So right now, over 20,000 poll workers
are being trained. Obviously, one of the problems for the NEC
is to get numbers and also the training.
But I defer to USAID since it is coming from USAID and
IFES.
Ms. Bass. Okay.
Ms. Anderson. We have a longstanding partnership with
Liberia, and Liberia will continue to be a relative priority
for us.
Democracy rights and governance is an important element of
our programming in Liberia and it has really been an area of
emphasis, working on governance, public financial management,
building the capacity of the judiciary, working especially on
anti-corruption, supporting civil society and the media, and
our aim really, as I said, is a government that is responsive
and accountable to its citizens and we will continue this into
the next administration in Liberia.
Ms. Bass. So what concern that some of us have begun to
have on the Hill is, one, there are the proposed cuts and,
obviously, that is still working its way through the process,
but whether or not in USAID you will be allowed to spend money
that has already been allocated as opposed to slowing that
process down because we have heard that in terms of the
expenditures that are not being really implemented is one
question. And I have a follow-up question to that.
Ms. Anderson. Yes. I think we are still continuing to be
responsible for delivering development results with the funding
that has already been appropriated and, as we go forward, if
the levels are reduced we will just have to make sure that we
are increasingly using our money more efficiently and more
effectively.
Ms. Bass. And so you got what I was saying? I mean----
Ms. Anderson. Yes, I did.
Ms. Bass. Not the future. Money that is already there----
Ms. Anderson. Yes.
Ms. Bass [continuing]. And are you free to spend it? I
don't know if you are involved at all with the famine effort.
But we allocated close to $1 billion and we are hearing that
that is being slow walked.
It is an emergency, and so is it getting out of the door or
is it being held back and will it be carried over into the next
fiscal year? I am saying that in reference to famine but we
have heard that about the democracy funding as well.
Mr. Yamamoto. Can I have 1 more minute, Congresswoman?
So we have dedicated about $2 billion since 2003 and if you
look at the last 10 years it is about $1.5 billion. But
overall, the aid assistance, even toward the end of the last
administration, was going down.
So the question comes in is, is for us we are looking at
dwindling resources across the board but Liberia, for us,
remains a priority country.
We still have, as you know, three bilateral commissions
and, of course, Liberia becomes a fourth and that is critical
and that is because of the work President Johnson Sirleaf has
done and then all the good results she has gone through and we
want continue that.
So long as we are here, we are going to continue to commit
to that. I mean, just looking to--at our own assistance as far
as assistance to the military training, to other areas, yes, it
is probably going to take some cuts. But the issue is that the
commitment is still there and it continues into the next
physical year.
I can't say what the amounts are going to be exactly. We
will have to come back to you once those numbers are defined,
but to assure you that for us, as long as we are here, that is
a priority country.
Ms. Bass. Okay. So I hear you say that the commitment is
there and commitment without resources is a little shallow.
But I also hear you saying that you are able to expend the
money that is being allocated. Is the famine money spent?
Ms. Anderson. Yeah. I will----
Ms. Bass. I am sorry?
Ms. Anderson [continuing]. Be happy to get back to you on
that.
Ms. Bass. Would you? I would appreciate that. I would
appreciate that.
And so then my final question is what are we prepared to do
after the election? I mean, as I mentioned, I was in Kenya and
thought everything went well. Kind of went awry after the fact.
But it is one thing to get through the election. Then what
are we prepared to do after the election?
Mr. Yamamoto. So the election is an event and from there
comes really the hard work to ensure that the democratic
procedures and processes that President Johnson Sirleaf has
really put in efforts to during her two terms that they will
continue--that we won't see a backtrack.
Then the other issue too is that we need to continue to
strengthen the NEC, the legal process and procedures, because
that is going to be very important to how we do the structures
afterwards.
And, again, we will be visiting Liberia constantly. Our
Ambassadors will be committed. We are going to look at what we
have to do--what areas do we need to emphasize and stress.
We are going to be continuing on MCC, Power Africa, and
also the girls' education and women's entrepreneur, which is
their two most important and, really, changing of society as a
societal program.
And then we are going to look much more closely too at
economic development to see how we can address the needs of the
50 percent youth and high unemployment rates in Liberia.
Mr. Donovan [presiding]. Thank you, Ms. Bass. Thank you,
Mr. Ambassador. Thank you, Ms. Anderson.
Mr. Ambassador, State Department has met with the
candidates--the Liberian candidates that are running for
election.
How confident are you that this relationship between our
two countries will continue in the next government,
particularly when you look at some of the human rights concerns
that many Liberians have about some of the candidates?
Mr. Yamamoto. Like I said, in two ways. First are that the
results of those elections are by the people of Liberia
themselves and I don't think that the people of Liberia are
ever going to go back to a regression of what it was prior to
President Johnson Sirleaf.
And the commitments and the developments that have been
made--I think the people are committed to those trend lines.
The second area, too, is that you have a large Liberian
diaspora in the United States. I think they are very vocal.
They will keep us on our toes if we are not focused on those
issues, and my message to the--not only the diaspora--but the
people of Liberia is that we are still committed to ensuring
that the results after the elections will be as strong and as
robust and continue because this remains a priority country.
Mr. Donovan. Thank you.
Jewel Taylor, who is the former wife of Charles Taylor,
current senator and the Vice Presidential candidate, was
reportedly in the United States this year advocating for the
release of her husband, her ex--former husband from prison. Can
you tell us what efforts are being made about Charles Taylor's
imprisonment and her efforts to have him released?
Mr. Yamamoto. You mean Charles Taylor, the----
Mr. Donovan. Yes.
Mr. Yamamoto. Okay. He is in jail for the long term. We
have not made any efforts to seek any change or adjustment to
the due process and what was adjudicated by the court systems.
Mr. Donovan. Okay. Had his wife met with folks from the
State, do you know, at all?
Mr. Yamamoto. We don't normally comment on----
Mr. Donovan. Okay.
Mr. Yamamoto [continuing]. People, but let me just say yes,
we did--we did meet with Jewel Howard Taylor and those
conversations, I think, are between us.
Mr. Donovan. We totally understand, Mr. Ambassador. Thank
you.
Mr. Yamamoto. But, believe me, messages were passed.
Mr. Donovan. Great. Thank you.
Ms. Anderson, USAID is working with the international
organizations such as the U.N. and other partners to ensure
that the election process in Liberia next month is smooth,
credible, and peaceful.
What more should the United States be doing, leveraging
partnerships that we have with others to help ensure a
successful outcome of the election?
Ms. Anderson. I think that coordination right now is very
important and we are putting a big effort on coordinating our
efforts with others--other stakeholders in the process
including other development partners, donors.
We--up until now, we are cautiously optimistic. We are
reading the reports that are coming in. I agree with Ambassador
Yamamoto that we are concerned about the logistics and the
relatively weak capacity of the Elections Commission.
It is still a work in progress, especially in light of the
infrastructure and the rainy season. So one of the things that
we have been working on with the commission is communications
because we have seen in other elections sometimes that is where
things break down.
If there is a problem, if there is a delay, people start to
get nervous and if the commission is not talking about what's
happening, even if it is a mistake or a problem, that
communication is very important.
So we have been working with them on that. At this point, I
think maybe the only other thing I would mention would be there
is a limited police presence outside of the capital, Monrovia,
and we are keeping an eye on that.
The Liberian Government was asking for additional funding
to be able to deploy the police that they have been training so
that they can actually go out to the polling station locations.
The Japanese Government recently put in a $1.1 million
contribution to that.
Mr. Donovan. Thank you.
My last question is, I know USAID is managing two different
programs on elections in Liberia, extending to next year. But
at some point, those programs are going to end.
What is our confidence level that once those two programs'
lifetime has expired the skills of the Liberian election
officials to carry on all the work that you have done for all
this length of time?
Ms. Anderson. I think you will hear more about that in the
next panel with probably more detail than I can give. But our
emphasis has been on building local capacity because it is the
Liberians' responsibility to run their elections, to monitor
them, and to participate in those elections.
So our emphasis has been on training and also anticipating
problems to help the commission deal with issues before they
escalate into big crises.
We will have to see what the future brings in terms of
future elections.
Mr. Donovan. I thank you both, Mr. Ambassador and Ms.
Anderson. I thank you for your testimony, your insight, and for
your forthcoming answers to our questions.
This panel is now adjourned. We will give a 1-minute break
to allow the next panel to come up. Thank you very much to both
of you.
Ms. Anderson. Thank you.
Mr. Donovan. I would like to take a moment now to thank
Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Bass for holding this
hearing.
I would like to also welcome and thank all of our witnesses
for being here today. I would especially like to welcome my
constituent and good friend, Dr. Aurelia Curtis, along with her
husband, Al, and her family.
Thank you for making this trip all the way down. Now you
know what I go through every week.
I've known Dr. Curtis since my days of serving as chief of
staff to then Staten Island Borough president, Guy Molinari,
where she was then the principal of Curtis High School. That is
how good we are in New York--we name our high schools after our
principals.
I asked Dr. Curtis to be a witness here today because of
her unique perspective as someone who has been an integral part
of the Liberian community in the United States.
For those of you who may not know it, Staten Island is home
to the largest concentration of Liberians outside of Western
Africa.
One of the many things that I have learned from Dr. Curtis
and our local Liberian community is their dedication to
highlighting the importance of freedom, liberty, and democracy,
because they have seen first-hand the turbulence and chaos that
arises when these principles are not upheld.
In recent years, Liberia has made strides in advancing its
democratic and development efforts while we must recognize the
challenges that we face ahead.
In less than a month, Liberia will hold elections that will
test the nation's democratic strength and stability. This is an
opportunity for the country to make history by allowing the
Liberian people to experience their first post-war democratic
transfer of power.
Looking to the future, it is this subcommittee's intention
to ensure that Liberia is able to further build a strong,
peaceful, and democratic nation.
We are fortunate to have a panel of experts including Dr.
Curtis that will examine some of the issues I touched on as
well as other important topics.
I look forward to hearing their insights as well as having
thoughtful discussions to help put into place policies that
will ensure Liberia's future as a stable democracy and
strengthen the United States-Liberian relationships.
I now yield to the ranking member, Ms. Karen Bass.
Ms. Bass. Mr. Chair, I will defer my comments until the
panel has spoken.
Mr. Donovan. Wonderful.
I would like to introduce our panel. David Peterson is
senior director of the National Endowment for Democracy. Since
1988, he has been responsible for NED's program to identify and
assist African NGOs.
He was formally executive director of Project South Africa
of the A. Philip Randolph Education Fund and a freelance
journalist in Africa and Turkey.
He has visited more than 40 African countries and is an
expert in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Aurelia Curtis is the founder of the Weeks Educational
and Social Advocacy Project, Incorporated. It is based in
Staten Island, New York, and Liberia.
As a key conduit between Liberia and the Liberian diaspora
community in the United States, this agency's mission is to
increase access to better education opportunities, expand
social development, and improve health care for the community.
Dr. Curtis, as I said, was also the principal of Curtis
High School in Staten Island, which has the largest
concentration of Liberians outside of Western Africa.
Rushdi Nackerdien is the International Foundation Electoral
Systems regional director for Africa. A founding member of what
was the Electoral Leadership Institute, he was focused on
electoral reform, capacity development, strategic planning,
project and program evaluation, and expert advice in elections
and development of e-learning materials with a special focus on
Africa.
Additionally, he has guided the African Union in revising
their election observation approach and has worked in numerous
African countries such as Senegal, Ghana, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Dr. Chris Fomunyoh is the current senior associate and
regional director of the Central and West Africa at the
National Democratic Institute.
He has organized and advised international election
observation missions and designed and supervised country-
specific democratic support programs with civic organizations,
political parties, and legislative bodies throughout Central
and West Africa.
He recently designed and helped launch the African
Statesman Initiative, a program aimed at facilitating political
transitions in Africa by encouraging former democratic heads of
state.
He is also an adjunct faculty--he is also an adjunct
faculty member at the African Center for Strategic Studies and
a former adjunct professor of African politics and government
at Georgetown University.
On behalf of this subcommittee, I welcome you all. And at
this point I recognize Mr. Peterson for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF MR. DAVE PETERSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR, AFRICA
PROGRAMS?, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
Mr. Peterson. Thank you, Chairman Donovan and Ranking
Member Bass. It is really a pleasure and an honor to be able to
testify this afternoon.
Liberia has come a long way in the 30 years since the
National Endowment for Democracy began working there in the
waning years of the Samuel Doe regime, through the civil war,
the interim government, the rule of Charles Taylor, and now two
terms of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the Ebola crisis.
Liberia's October 10 election should be competitive,
peaceful, and democratic. But Liberia's democracy should not be
taken for granted.
Having observed both the 1997 elections that brought Taylor
to power as well as the 2005 elections that ushered in Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, I can testify to the determination Liberians
have demonstrated for democracy at the ballot box.
According to Afrobarometer, 83 percent of Liberians support
democratic elections. That is a very high level
internationally.
The reports from our Liberian partners in the field
describe lively candidate debates, successful voter
registration efforts, massive civic education campaigns. They
are mobilizing youth, women, traditional leaders, security
forces, among others, to inform them about the process and the
candidates and to participate responsibly.
They are using social media, phone banks, community town
halls, radio, and even old-fashioned town criers to spread the
word.
They are monitoring the process, providing criticism and
recommendations, and some are working directly to support the
electoral commission.
According to one of our partners, campaigning has been
peaceful and mature, even in the most troubled areas. As I say,
candidates and their campaign managers have been keen on the
issues and things they can do to improve livelihoods and
environments of their people as opposed to indulging in ethnic
politics.
Though we all know that democracy is more than elections
and the challenges of governance in the interim can be
daunting, predicting the future is dangerous, especially when
it comes to the volatile politics of West Africa.
But Liberia could prove to be a reliable democratic partner
of the United States. Its democratic institutions and popular
commitment to democracy could grow stronger and its governance
could improve.
How can this happen? Liberia is not the only country in
West Africa holding democratic elections. Ghana's elections
last year were a model of efficiency and transparency as well
as being peaceful and democratic.
Gambia's elections last year were also competitive and
produced a surprising transition. In the last few years,
Senegal, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, and, of
course, Nigeria have held elections of varying quality but all
essentially free and democratic.
Sierra Leone and Guinea will hold elections next year,
which are also anticipated to be democratic. Thus, in this
regional context, Liberia is fortunate to be surrounded by
democratic-minded neighbors who are more likely to support
Liberia's democratic trajectory than to divert it.
The kinds of cross-border attacks that used to occur back
and forth between Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Cote d'Ivoire have
ended.
The steady withdrawal of U.N. and ECOWAS troops is not a
sign of fatigue or diminished support but of confidence--that
Liberia's own security institutions are strong enough to
maintain order and protect the country.
All of these governments are friendly to the United States
and as their democratic systems consolidate and mature, the
entire West Africa region should come to be regarded as an
important economic and political partner of the United States.
Liberia is special, as Congressman Smith has already noted.
Although its population is only about 4.3 million, it is the
only country in Africa that claims a special kinship to the
United States--America's stepchild, as some Liberians put it.
Its history is closely intertwined with ours from the
founding of the American Colonization Society in 1822,
independence in 1847, the long dominance of the America
Liberian elite, its service as an American base in World War II
and the Cold War, to place names such as Monrovia, the Liberian
flag, the uniquely American-accented Liberian English.
Liberians' political upheavals have brought waves of
Liberian immigrants, as you've already noted, to the United
States and, obviously, you are very familiar with their
energetic lobbying for the issues that they are concerned
about.
Most Liberians have long aspired for their nation to have a
special relationship with the United States. Liberia's economic
resources and commercial potential are also not to be
dismissed, including rubber and palm oil, iron, tourism, and
shipping.
I have run out of time. Whoever is elected President of
Liberia will be keenly aware of these relationships and will
likely want to strengthen them and take advantage of them. But
the United States also stands to benefit from a strong,
prosperous, and democratic Liberia.
In contrast to its destabilizing role in the region just 20
years ago, Liberia is now serving as a model for democratic
transition, female leadership, and national reconciliation. In
the struggle against extremists and criminal networks in West
Africa, Liberia could prove particularly helpful.
Liberia's democratic institutions are in place and
functioning but they need shoring up. The legislature, for
example, is improving its performance, according to one of our
partners that has been monitoring it for many years.
But it has not always shown the independence and integrity
that Liberians expect. Only one-third of Liberian voters
believe that members of their House of Representatives reflect
their views, according to the Afrobarometer, and one of the
popular issues in the campaign has been to cut legislators'
rather generous salaries and benefits.
The legislative budget is almost equivalent to that of the
entire education system in the country. Likewise, Liberia's
judiciary remains weak.
The Supreme Court's recent rulings of the eligibility of
certain candidates has stirred controversy and questions about
its independence.
Having seen the critical role that the court played in the
Kenyan elections, Liberians are skeptical that their own court
would be able to show the same integrity.
Liberia's local justice structure suffers from a shortage
of magistrates and lack of resources, police and prisons. Some
Liberians have criticized the special court that tried Charles
Taylor because their own justice system has received so little
support.
I will leave the discussion about the Electoral Commission
to my colleagues. I think they are better placed to comment on
that. But it is an important institution.
I should just say that Liberia's press remains independent
and lively despite resource problems. The anti-defamation cases
have tapered off and a new freedom of information act has also
been an important advance.
Civil society is very vibrant and often critical. It played
a leading role in fighting Ebola and will continue to act as a
watchdog as well as a partner with government when possible.
The labor movement and the business sector have been
gaining strength and have been partners with our own Solidarity
Center and Center for International Private Enterprise. These
nongovernmental institutions are fundamental for the success of
Liberian democracy.
Corruption, obviously, remains the weak point in Liberia's
democracy, as for many African democracies. Nepotism, ethnic
favoritism, shady contracts, vote buying, land deals, other
forms of both grand and petty corruption can only undermine
popular support for democracy and must be opposed.
Although the candidates in the election have expressed
their readiness to fight corruption as has President Johnson
Sirleaf herself, Liberians have seen very little progress.
Liberia must overcome many other challenges to consolidate
its nascent democracy. The struggling economy, massive
unemployment, dependence on the informal sector, ethnic
conflict, religious conflict, land conflict, women's rights,
environmental destruction--it is quite an agenda.
But I remain optimistic that with political will, popular
commitment, and some modest assistance from international
partners, Liberia can consolidate its democracy and steadily
improve its governance.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Peterson follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Donovan. Thank you, Mr. Peterson.
We are honored to be joined by Chairman Ed Royce, who is
the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, which this
subcommittee is part of.
The Chair now recognizes Dr. Curtis for her opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF MS. AURELIA CURTIS, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR, WEEKS EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL ADVOCACY PROJECT
Ms. Curtis. Presiding chair, my Congressman Donovan,
Ranking Member Bass, and members of the subcommittee, I thank
you for the opportunity to provide testimony today about the
role of the diaspora and Liberia's ongoing struggle for
democracy.
The military coup in 1980, followed by the horrific civil
war in 1989, which lasted almost 15 years, claimed hundreds of
thousands of lives and significantly destroyed much of the
infrastructure of Liberia.
A notable consequence of the war with the mass exodus of
Liberians seeking refuge wherever doors were open, the United
States of America opened its doors and the borough of Staten
Island in New York City became home to the largest
concentration of Liberians outside of West Africa.
The Staten Island diaspora remains the center of culture
and connections for Liberians across the United States.
Optimistic that we will be an integral part of the rebuilding
of Liberia, ensuring that it is indeed a land of liberty. The
past 12 years of peaceful governance is a foundation that all
Liberians must build upon.
My name is Dr. Aurelia NdeKontee Louise Weeks Curtis and I
serve as the executive director of the Weeks Educational and
Social Advocacy Project, WESAP. I thank you, Congressman
Donovan, for the gracious introduction.
I have worked for many nonprofit causes, but WESAP, with
offices in the United States and Liberia, now claims most of my
time and attention. WESAP has connected amputee children in
Liberia with resources in the U.S., offering them prosthetic
limbs.
When the children return to Liberia, WESAP ensures that
they're enrolled in school, providing all tuition, fees, books,
and uniforms.
A local social worker is a liaison between WESAP students
and families, supporting youth development and other family
needs.
WESAP has launched a campaign to put water wells near
schools in Liberia that have no fresh water supply and is in
partnership with two U.S.-based nonprofits to establish an all-
girl boarding school in Liberia.
With the support of the Staten Island community, we assist
families, especially immigrants and refugees from population
groups that are not commonly represented in our area.
We provide multiethnic and culturally sensitive services
that address their needs with respect and dignity. Recently,
WESAP advocated for and assisted a family to return the mortal
remains of their daughter to the United States for burial.
Princess Yates, a U.S. citizen born to Liberian parents on
Staten Island, went to Liberia on July 4th to celebrate her
grandmother's 90th birthday.
She was involved in a tragic automobile accident. According
to published reports, the local hospital refused to give her
needed medical assistance because money was not readily
available to pay for treatment.
Her mother cried. Princess sat in an abandoned wheelchair,
begging for help, until she took her last breath.
This incident highlights the critical need for timely
access to good health care, especially in a country like
Liberia with a high level of poverty whose infrastructure was
decimated by the civil war.
Following the forthcoming elections, all Liberians must
play a role indispensable to ensuring geometric growth in
access to health care and other urgent facets of sustainable
development in Liberia.
Dual citizenship--Liberians in the diaspora often wonder if
they are in fact welcome to participate in the rebuilding of
Liberia. Primary about stems from the lack of clarity regarding
dual citizenship.
The Supreme Court of Liberia recently heard a case brought
by Alvin Jalloh, a United States citizen born in Liberia to
Liberian parents, who fled Liberia as a direct result of the
civil war.
He emigrated to the United States and subsequently acquired
U.S. citizenship in accordance with the naturalization laws of
this country.
Chapter 22 of the Alien National--Alien and Nationality Law
of Liberia ``prohibits Liberian citizens from taking other
nationalities or engaging in certain acts in foreign
countries,'' including armed forces enlistments and
participation in elections.
Liberians in the diaspora are watching this case closely
because the wrong decision will have dire implications for the
talent pool that is ready to return and assist in nation
building.
A decision in this case has not been rendered. But wait.
The Supreme Court may have already ruled in this matter when it
failed to prevent several candidates in the forthcoming
elections from contesting when evidence was presented to prove
that said candidates had naturalized citizenship in other
countries.
I call on this committee to use its influence to assist the
people that you represent, Liberians in the United States of
America, to attain dual citizenship, an initial hurdle that can
be an impediment to tapping into the valuable human resource
pool that resides outside of Liberia, a country in great need.
Liberians in the diaspora stand willing and ready to
assist. But many are not prepared to abandon the country that
gave them refuge in their time of need nor should they be
forced to make such a decision.
DACA and TPS--temporary protective status for Liberia,
Guinea, and Sierra Leone was terminated effective May 21st,
2017. Deferred action for childhood arrivals, DACA is being
dismantled by the current administration.
Many immigrants, Liberians included, are adversely affected
by the decision to end legal status, especially children who
have known no other home than the United States of America. You
have heard the appeals and protests to reinstate TPS and DACA.
I add my voice to the chorus of immigrants, highlighting
the plight of thousands of law-abiding Liberians who have
contributed to the economy of this country and call the U.S.A.
home.
Please find a path for legal residence that will keep
families united and offer students the opportunity to continue
their education in the schools in which they are currently
enrolled.
A house with two rooms--the final report of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, TRC, of Liberia Diaspora Project
documents the experience of human rights abuses and violations
of international humanitarian law that force Liberians to leave
the country.
The Staten Island Liberian Community Association and Staten
Island-based African Refuge supported the work of the advocates
for human rights to document this dark time in Liberian
history.
Based on analyses of more than 1,600 statements,
interviews, and witness testimonies, the TRC report tells the
stories of trauma experienced by members of the diaspora during
the flight through Liberia and across international borders and
in resettlement in the United States and United Kingdom.
My father was among those who walked for days, sometimes
sleeping under open skies, to escape warring factions. His home
was taken over by rebels.
Even after he found his way out of Liberia and into the
United States, he continued to suffer the recollection of
atrocities. The awful ramifications of Alzheimer's disease did
not curb his desire to return to his home that he was forced to
leave by rebel combatants.
While many in the diaspora will attribute the beginning of
Liberia's civil crises to the 1979 riots, I believe that there
were many telling signs before April 1979.
Poverty, political dominance, corruption, tribalism, and
low literacy were significant contributors. Those political
landmines did not begin in 1979. The same themes were present
in interviews, the witness testimonies from members of the
diaspora.
The themes persist today and reared their ugly heads when I
spoke informally to members of the community as I prepared for
this testimony.
The civil war has left entrenched resentments and divisions
along tribal and political lines--evidenced in the diaspora,
ever present in current campaign rhetoric. There is no quick
solution to problems resulting from more than 100 years of
dysfunction in government and social practices.
The TRC report was a necessary start. Ignoring the TRC
report adds fuel to the fire and buffers the rhetoric of many
who believe there is no room at the table for them. So for many
it is time to turn the table upside down.
We cannot and must not allow stagnation to steer us
backwards. Liberians on Staten Island and across the diaspora
recognize the need for reconciliation and healing the wounds of
the Liberian nation.
When President Johnson Sirleaf inaugurated the TRC she
said, ``Our country cannot continue to evade justice and the
protection of human rights throughout our land, especially the
kind that restores our historical place among civilized
nations. Our Government will ensure that those culpable of the
commission of crimes against humanity will face up to the their
crimes no matter when, where, or how.''
The current government has not dealt decisively with the
TRC report. So the next government elected in October or
November 2017 must chart a transparent course of action.
The TRC report will not fade away into oblivion. No one
disputes the findings, even though two commissioners did not
sign the report because of undocumented dissenting views. The
Liberian Government must determine if it will implement all or
some of the recommendations.
A new commission must be inaugurated to provide a timetable
for implementation. The new TRC must have the benefit of using
the investigative body that prepared the report as a resource.
The mandate to develop a plausible plan for dealing with
the recommendation made almost 8 years ago must be front and
center in the first 100 days of the next government. Rethinking
governance with hearts in mind, Liberians in the diaspora agree
that rebuilding the physical and human capital must be top
priorities for the next government.
The close links between infrastructure development,
education, agriculture, and health care are indisputable. There
is no substitute for establishing desired goals and planning
for how one will achieve those goals.
Simplistic as it may sound, planning works. We call on the
next government to share the 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-
year plans for four key areas--infrastructure development,
education, agriculture, and health care.
Integrated in the plan must be measures on accountability
and quality control. If it is not working, the government must
be prepared to revise the plan to ensure that the established
goals are achieved.
The socioeconomic schisms in Liberia are more pronounced
than they were 12 years ago. How do we know that? Follow the
money. Money transfer companies are sending large sums of money
from the diaspora to support families in Liberia. But transfers
are also going in the other direction, from Liberia to banking
institutions overseas.
Please explain to me how it is possible for anyone employed
by the world's third poorest nation to legally amass enough
wealth to build homes locally, buy homes overseas, and still
have change to spare.
I call on this committee to ensure that pressure is brought
to bear on the Government of Liberia to institute systems that
prevent and prosecute corruption all levels.
In my other life, I would tell exam proctors your job is to
prevent cheating, not to catch cheaters. Similarly so, the
Government of Liberia must make it difficult for corruption to
persist, and when corruption is uncovered, effective
prosecution must send a strong message that a government for,
of, and by the people will not stand by idly while the people
are disenfranchised.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Curtis follows:]
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----------
Mr. Donovan. Thank you, Dr. Curtis.
We are going to enter the rest of your testimony into the
official record and take up some of those issues during the
question and answer period.
Ms. Curtis. I apologize if I----
Mr. Donovan. No, that is okay. You are very passionate
about this. Thank you, Dr. Curtis.
We are going to take a pause for a moment. Chairman Royce
has another hearing that he has to attend so the Chair
recognizes Chairman Royce.
Chairman Royce. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much.
We have got a very long history of ties to Liberia, going
back to July 26th of 1847. We know it is July 26th because that
is Greg Simpkins's birthday here and he's the staff director
and he and I have worked on Liberian issues since the '90s.
And so there have been some disappointments. We were trying
to get information into Liberia so that in her first race,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf could compete with Charles Taylor in the
election.
But he controlled all of the media and as a consequence, of
course, he won. We were very disappointed, as you can imagine,
afterwards to see what happened in Liberia with the mutilations
and the murder rate and everything that transpired not only
there but in neighboring Sierra Leone.
For a while, one of the young men who worked in my office
was a survivor. He lost both of his parents. He was from Sierra
Leone.
But he lost both of his parents to an attack by the
Revolutionary United Front, and that group, of course, had been
supported again by Charles Taylor. So it was very bad time for
West Africa.
When I chaired the Africa Subcommittee, we worked very
diligently across party lines to send a clear unified message
and that Charles Taylor needed to be brought to the bar of
justice, and against the odds, he was.
We have a respite here and in the meantime, years later, we
have seen some impressive growth in Liberia. I have been out to
Liberia and seen a number of the steps that are being taken and
I got to tell you, the U.S. has invested there to rebuild and
support democratic institutions, and as a nation confronted
with immense political and economic and, of course, security
and development challenges, Liberia has persevered.
And I would just take for a moment the time to say that, in
my view, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been leading these
efforts and I commend her strong leadership through two terms.
But she is stepping down from office, and I think this is
admirable because she is setting an example for other African
leaders now in terms of stepping down and giving an opportunity
for the next person to run for President in an open election.
I think those elections provide an opportunity to
consolidate these democratic gains. It is a peaceful transfer
of power. If done successfully, Liberia will be a model to
fledgling democracies across Africa.
And on that, I want to thank the members of this committee
because I think the members here--your continued interest in
this, your efforts to help this along--will have very, very
consequential impacts.
I see Al White's in the audience. He is the former chief
investigator of the Sierra Leone special court.
And again, for those of you who have kept this interest,
you know, for a generation, it is important. A steady hand--a
steady hand of assistance here is important.
The fact that the Liberian diaspora community--the American
Liberian community--is so involved is a huge asset to the
people of Liberia.
So as we look ahead to future engagement, we all recognize
one thing and that is that deep reforms are needed to further
address corruption.
In Liberia, just like the rest of the world, this is
something that has to be confronted and a more conducive
environment for trade and for business investment is really
needed.
So we here in the United States have got to remain a
willing partner to support this transition of power where the
will of the people is respected and upheld and beyond so that
our country, the ancestral home of many Americans, our country
and Liberia, can together continue to push for this hopeful
track.
We have a special responsibility here as Americans, and for
the Liberian-American community here, thank you again for your
engagement. Let us try to be clear-eyed. Let us make certain
that there is accountability.
Let us make certain we are on the ground in order to check
in terms of the elections. I am going to meet--I am meeting
here momentarily with the head of IRI and DNI.
We have got to make sure, you know, that all these steps
are taken and that we want to continue to help with reforms and
we insist on the inclusion of the Liberian American community.
Thank you very much for the time here, Chairman.
Mr. Donovan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We will resume with opening statements. The Chair now
recognizes Mr. Nackerdien for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF MR. RUSHDI NACKERDIEN, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR
AFRICA, INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
Mr. Nackerdien. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass, and distinguished
members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the International
Foundation for Electoral Systems, I deeply appreciate this
opportunity to discuss the evolution of Liberia's democracy.
With generous backing from USAID and international
partners, IFES supports credible electoral processes globally.
In many parts of the world including Liberia, IFES works
with its partners in the Consortium for Elections and Political
Process. Strengthening the International Republican Institute
and the National Democratic Institute.
Mr. Chairman, credible elections strengthen peace and
democracy. This is no truer than in Liberia.
Twelve years ago with the 2005 elections, Liberia was
emerging from a civil war, a war that left hundreds of
thousands dead, disabled, or displaced, a war wracked with the
use of child soldiers and an epidemic of violence against
women.
The 2005 election shattered a double glass ceiling, leading
to the first elected female head of state in Africa and the
first black woman head of state, Her Excellency, Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf.
On October 10th, 2017, Liberians will recommit to
democracy, as Johnson Sirleaf is ineligible to run for a third
term and should be congratulated for honouring her country's
constitutional term limits.
This election will mark the first democratic transfer of
political power in Liberian history.
IFES has implemented election programs in Liberia since
2004. Over time, our work has become more focused and nuanced.
In 2005, Liberia's National Election Commission, known as
the NEC, relied heavily on the U.N. peacekeeping mission and
IFES.
In 2011, it began standing independently. In 2014, in the
midst of the Ebola crisis, the NEC ably conducted special
senatorial elections.
This is progress and it relied on IFES support in several
key areas such as voter registration, results management,
campaign finance, and electoral dispute resolution.
Mr. Chairman, our efforts are yielding results. A recent
survey found that 91 percent of Liberians feel free to choose
whom to vote for while 90 percent feel free to join any
political organization.
The NEC increased its voters register from 2014 to 2017 by
15 percent to 2 million registered voters. With IFES support,
the NEC registered 67 percent of young voters.
A 2017 USAID-funded study found that the majority of
Liberians interviewed trust the NEC as an impartial and
transparent body.
In sum, without U.S. support, the commission would be
weaker, less prepared for the elections, less voters would be
registered, and less would know about the process, and the
October elections in Liberia would be more expensive.
For instance, the Government of Liberia assessed the
viability of biometric voter registration for the upcoming
elections. IFES advised against its implementation prior to the
coming elections, citing cost and logistical reasons.
The government agreed with our assessment and did not
attempt a premature or rushed implementation of new untested
technology.
This is a clear example of how mutual trust both over time
and adherence to local context leads to cost effective and
practical decisions that can stave off electoral mishaps.
Despite this progress, the NEC faces several challenges.
Liberia's road network, already unreliable, will lengthen the
delivery and retrieval of electoral materials, especially
during the height of rainy season.
The core of election officials still depend on continued
international support for both planning and implementation. A
run-off election is a highly likely scenario.
The NEC will have 2 weeks after the announcement of the
first round results for administering a runoff. This will
strain the systems. These challenges highlight the continued
need for assistance, which brings me, Mr. Chairman, to my
recommendations for the U.S. Congress.
Firstly, I thank the U.S. Congress for its robust
bipartisan funding of democracy assistance and also its
continued support.
Electoral assistance as evidenced in Liberia with Liberia's
success should start early and continue through the post-
election period to allow for flexible and responsive
programming.
Multi-year multi-election programs are the most impactful.
In Liberia, we recommend continued support to a possible
constitutional referendum to the eventual introduction of
biometric voter identification and registration and to the
strengthening of judicial capacities.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for this opportunity to
testify. The October 2017 elections will be landmark
achievement for Liberians and we congratulate them in advance.
I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Nackerdien follows:]
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----------
Mr. Donovan. Thank you very much.
The Chair now recognizes Dr. Fomunyoh.
STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER FOMUNYOH, PH.D., SENIOR ASSOCIATE AND
REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA, NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE
Mr. Fomunyoh. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass,
distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the
National Democratic Institute, NDI, I appreciate the
opportunity to discuss prospects for advancing democracy and
good governance in Liberia following next month's elections.
I focus on the elections because how they are conducted
will have significant impact on the legitimacy of the ensuing
government and legislature and the performance of governance
institutions.
On October 10th, Liberians will go to the polls to elect a
President, Vice President, and 73 Members of the House of
Representatives.
There are 20 Presidential and Vice Presidential tickets and
approximately 1,000 candidates for seats in the House of
Representatives.
Since 2003, NDI has, with funding from the U.S. Agency for
International Development and the Swedish Government, worked to
strengthen the development of democratic institutions and
practices in Liberia.
To support Liberian efforts to conduct credible polls in
2017, NDI deployed two pre-election assessment missions to
Monrovia in February and September, currently has long-term
observers and analysts in country, and will deploy an
international election observation mission for the October
polls.
The institute is also providing technical assistance to a
coalition of civil society organizations, the elections
coordinating committee. They have plans to deploy thousands of
citizen observers to monitor the polls across all 15 counties
of the country.
Furthermore, NDI is training party poll watchers from all
political parties on how to enhance transparency by monitoring
all aspects of voting on behalf of their candidates and
collecting evidence from polling stations to use in the
electoral disputes resolution process should the outcome of the
polls be contested.
Liberia has enjoyed a continuous period of 14 years of
peace since the end of armed conflict in 2003 and citizens
aspire to building a resilient democracy that delivers for its
people.
The upcoming elections will mark an historic milestone for
the country as they present an opportunity for the first
peaceful transfer of power from one elected President to
another since 1944.
According to recent focus groups undertaken by NDI,
Liberians are enthusiastic about the elections and have faith
in their ability to determine the outcome.
They home that candidates and political parties present
policy proposals during the ongoing campaign so citizens can
make informed choices.
The recent focus group research also underscored the fact
that Liberians embrace democracy not only as a means to end
conflict but also as the governance model that fosters
accountability so governing institutions can deliver on
citizens' expectations.
Should the elected leaders be unable to satisfy these
expectations, citizens may lose faith in democracy and further
disengage from the political process, hence reinforcing apathy
and stalling the country's democratic progress.
With the election campaign underway, Liberians repeatedly
stated to NDI observers that they, and I quote, ``do not want
their communities to revert to the armed conflicts of decades
past.''
The future of democracy in Liberia will hinge in the short
term on the perceived success of failure of the October polls
and in the long term on the ability of future leaders to
consolidate the games that have been made in the last decade in
improving governance and meeting citizens' demands.
If voters have confidence that the electoral process is
fair and credible and that their collective will is reflected
in the outcome, that will go a long way in laying the
foundation for greater stability, peace, and sustainable
development.
In my full written statement, I discuss in more detail the
electoral process and future prospects in the post-election
period with regards to specific entities and issues, notably,
the executive and legislative branches of government, security
sector performance, civil society, decentralization, and the
rule of law.
I would like to submit that full statement as well as the
September 9th statement issued by NDI's pre-election assistant
mission for the record.
I thank you for your time and look forward to your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fomunyoh follows:]
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----------
Mr. Donovan. I thank you very much, all of you, for your
opening statements. I will take a few moments to ask some
questions and then Ranking Member Bass will ask her questions.
Mr. Peterson, there is an international polling
organization--it may have been Afrobarometer--that reported
that Liberians have more faith in the National Election
Commission and the selection than they have in the past.
Is there anything to attribute that confidence in? Has
anything changed that confidence in our own election process?
Mr. Peterson. Well, I think the commission has had some
time to improve its operations. IFES, of course, has been
working very closely with them for some years now.
The Afrobarometer poll, as you note, a couple years ago was
finding that only about a third of Liberians had, you know,
significant trust in the electoral commission.
But from what our partners are telling us now, you know,
people are pretty confident that the commission can do its job.
But I think there has been a lot that has been invested in the
commission. It has got, you know, decent independent leadership
and that makes a big difference.
Mr. Donovan. Thank you.
Dr. Curtis, that beautiful young lady from Staten Island
who went back home--back to Liberia, suffered from that great
loss, the accident in which she was denied medical care, is
that the norm really?
Is that--is that what happens to people in Liberia who
can't pay for medical care and is there anything that our
country is doing about that?
Ms. Curtis. I think there is a lot that United States of
America is doing about it. Knights of America has been a good
friend to Liberia.
The development of Liberia over the last 12 years would not
have been possible without the friendship and the support of
the Knights of America, the government, the institutions here,
the USAID.
But we have a broken system. We have a broken health care
system that requires quite a bit. We have a broken education
system, and the--as I said in my statement, while the last 12
years of governance have been a great foundation that we can
build on, there is still much to be done.
Infrastructure development, education, health care reform,
and paying attention to agriculture, which is what most
Liberians know how to do, are going to be key challenges for
the next government.
There is so much at stake in this next election, and as a
Liberian in diaspora I am grateful that Liberia has the United
States as a partner in this and as a guide to help with
establishing accountability and--for in areas that we are not
historically good at.
Mr. Donovan. Your advocacy for dual citizenship--do the
Liberians back in Liberia, would they welcome American
Liberians going there and participating in the election process
or would they feel that there is an interference from outside
sources if we--if more and more people were involved with dual
citizenship?
Ms. Curtis. I have heard arguments on both sides. But I
tell you, Congressman, that in this election there is evidence
that there are at least two candidates that have said they have
citizenship in other countries.
So will Liberians welcome them? We will see how the--how
the votes are cast. Neither of the--actually, one of them is a
leading candidate.
So will Liberians welcome them? Let us see how the votes
are cast. But I think it is a well-known fact in Liberia that
several members of the Liberian Government and at least two
candidates in the current elections have citizenship in other
countries.
But the Alien Law, Chapter 22, says that doesn't exist and
it is illegal.
Mr. Donovan. Mr. Nackerdien, was just wondering if you
could tell us about how--again, talking about confidence, I
think in your testimony it is about 54 percent of Liberian
voters believe that the national elections back in 2011 were
free and complete and fair, and I think in 2014, 3 years later,
that was up to 78 percent.
What inspires this confidence? Mr. Peterson was telling me
about the commission. What inspires this confidence that the
Liberians have in the election process in such a short period
of time that increased so dramatically?
Mr. Nackerdien. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think the one thing that one could very specifically
point to is running an election during a crisis. The 2014
elections happened during the Ebola crisis and the commission
managed to very ably navigate a very complex time to manage
that election and that is a direct testimony to how ordinary
citizens respond to credible elections.
A process happening in the crisis I believe maneuvered--I
think that could most clearly demonstrate where that change has
come from.
Mr. Donovan. And my last question before I turn it over to
the ranking member, Mr. Fomunyoh, there are many concerns about
voter registration, timeliness.
We heard in the first panel about the rainy season now and
the timeliness of the elections, and Dr. Curtis had noted that
perhaps even the qualification of some of the candidates who
hold American citizenship or citizenship from other countries
may be a factor in when people are voting.
Do you anticipate that some of these issues are going to
have a serious impact on the elections next month and what is
your opinion on that?
Mr. Fomunyoh. Having--Mr. Chairman, having just returned
from Liberia as part of the pre-election assessment mission,
the NDI delegation raised these issues with the Election
Commission, with the political leaders as well as with
representatives of Liberia and civil society organizations.
There was a sense that the registration period did allow
for Liberians of voting age--eligible voters to register. There
was a voter verification period during which the initial
registry was made available so that citizens could verify that
their names were properly recorded on the voter rolls and now
the Election Commission is in the process of finalizing the
voter registry.
The commission has promised to make that final voter
registry available to political parties so that they will be
able to verify in time.
I think we were told by September 15 that that final list
will be available to political parties so they can begin the
process of verifying to make sure that all of their supporters
that are of voting age and that did participate in the voter
registration process will be on the voter rolls.
Of course, with every election you cannot anticipate in
advance the issues that will come up. But we will be looking
very keenly to see if any Liberians that were of voting age and
that were properly registered didn't find their names on the
voter rolls or were disenfranchised because of any shortcomings
on the part of the Election Commission or on the part of the
poll workers.
Mr. Donovan. Thank you very much.
I yield to the ranking member, Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I wanted to say a few things before asking questions and I
wanted to begin with Mr. Peterson.
You cited in your comments--you ran through a number of
countries that have had peaceful transfers of power, and I
think it is important to note that because we often focus on
those countries that don't have a peaceful transition.
And I think after the next year when all is said and done
over all of the elections that have taken place over the
continent, the vast majority are going to be a peaceful
transfer of power and I think we need to keep that in mind.
I always think it is important in the United States that we
begin to look at the continent of Africa differently and as
opposed to a land of problems but a land of opportunities.
And I also want to mention in terms of Liberia because we
keep making references to the connections between the United
States and Liberia and I, first of all, feel that connection
personally, considering that when the country of Liberia was
established it was in conjunction with African American--
enslaved African Americans and for all I know, some of my
ancestors could have been on those boats going back to Liberia.
But since the average African American has no idea where
their families come from or what happened to their families, to
me there is a personal connection.
And I think as our country begins to reconcile with our
history, we need to acknowledge that the Americans that went
over to Liberia were enslaved African Americans.
So I wanted to first ask Dr. Curtis, because you mentioned
DACA and you mentioned TPS, and I was wondering what is
happening with the diaspora.
I do have to extend to you as well as to our presiding
chairperson the opportunity to come next Friday to the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation African Brain Trust where
Johnson Sirleaf will be there.
And we will make sure that you have that information
because perhaps folks from Staten Island--it is not that far--
might want to come and attend the event and see their President
make some comments for the last time in the United States
before she leaves office, or one of the last times anyway. I am
sure she will be attending other events and I know there is one
that takes place a few days later.
But I wanted to know if you could talk about what is going
on amongst the diaspora community regarding DACA as well as
TPS, which did expire. So what does that mean? Microphone.
Ms. Curtis. I am sorry. I will address DACA first. The
dismantling of that protection for children is unfortunate, and
as an educator who serviced a large immigrant community on
Staten Island, I understand the fear that now exists with
families because it took some convincing for us in the Liberian
community and the education community to convince families that
it is okay--you should go ahead----
Ms. Bass. Right.
Ms. Curtis [continuing]. And apply for DACA.
Ms. Bass. Right.
Ms. Curtis. Now, these families have outed themselves----
Ms. Bass. Right.
Ms. Curtis [continuing]. And put themselves at extreme risk
at a time when that protection has been snatched away.
In the case of TPS, the United States of America has opened
its doors, as I said, to Liberians in a time of great need. And
even as Liberia has made great strides in reestablishing a
democracy, there are many reasons why families need to continue
to live here in the United States and TPS offered them that
legal status. Having it terminated on May 21st again put many
families into hiding again.
Ms. Bass. Okay. What does that mean? Because since it
expired, are they subject to deportation? Can ICE pass by,
since they are also outed as well?
I mean, is there a list that ICE could essentially go pick
everybody up whose TPS has expired?
Ms. Curtis. I believe ICE has access to all of the
information for people who file for TPS, and if they decided
that they wanted to do a roundup that they could. I hope they
don't.
But people who applied for TPS believed in a system that
was providing them legal status and that system now has
terminated that legal status. And so all of their--and these
were all law-abiding citizens.
Criminals don't go and register with the government. These
were all--unless they are forced to--but these were all law-
abiding citizens who were working in this country and now don't
have that.
And I am not sure that the--that the systems in Liberia are
prepared to absorb any mass migration back to Liberia.
Ms. Bass. Do you know what the numbers are?
Ms. Curtis. I don't have the numbers off the top of my
head. But I will--I will research them and let Congress----
Ms. Bass. Between DACA and TPS I think it would be
important to know what the numbers are.
Ms. Curtis. DACA, yes Congressman Donovan's office.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, and you should know that we are
working on it. So I am hopeful that we will come to a
resolution around DACA and I am hopeful that we will come to a
resolution around TPS.
My fear, though, is that how long that is going to take us.
Sometimes it takes us a long time to act. But we can act
quickly. We can, and I am hopeful that we will.
Let me--I am sorry?
Ms. Curtis. I will be reporting for you in that regard.
Ms. Bass. Yes. Absolutely.
But I wanted to talk now about or ask some questions of our
final--our next two panellists about the election and just a
couple of points.
One, I wanted to know, is the election just 1 day? As I
mentioned, I participated as an observer in the election in
Kenya, and it was 1 day but it was a national holiday so
everybody had the day off and the polls were open from 6:00 to
5:00 in the evening. And then in Kenya there was the full
observer--observation mission.
So, you know, there was NDI. There was the AU, the EU, the
Carter Center, ECOWAS, and I am wondering if it will be a full-
blown observation mission as it was in Kenya. For either of
you.
Mr. Nackerdien. Thank you, ma'am.
Yes, elections will be 1 day. Polls will be open on the
10th of October and I think people will be very interested to
see how quickly the election result actually comes back.
As far as we understand, and my colleague from NDI will
talk more about that, there are full-blown delegations from all
the major observer missions.
This is the--one of the top five elections that will be
watched on the African continent--following Kenya, Rwanda, and
there are already groups from the Carter Center--long-term
observer groups.
NDI has been there and the European Union has also been on
the ground working with domestic observer groups as well.
Ms. Bass. You know, and perhaps before you answer, you
know, Dr. Curtis raised the issue that one of the leading
candidates--his citizenship is questionable.
And I just wonder, especially given what happened in Kenya,
which was shocking to me, you know, with the Supreme Court, and
I am just wondering if this issue is a part of the campaign--
when you were there.
Mr. Fomunyoh. When I was there, we--our delegation met with
all of the top candidates and the issue was not raised directly
with our delegation.
But we also were informed that in recent months the
Election Commission as well as the Supreme Court has made some
rulings that have been diversely interpreted by different
segments of the Liberian population and we make reference to
that issue in the delegation statement.
If I could also answer on the delegations, that NDI will be
fielding a full-blown delegation. We regret very much that you
will not be able to----
Ms. Bass. So do I.
Mr. Fomunyoh [continuing]. Provide the leadership that you
provided on the Kenya delegation.
Ms. Bass. Thank you.
Mr. Fomunyoh. But we are going to take a second chance with
your schedule for November because----
Ms. Bass. Oh.
Mr. Fomunyoh [continuing]. Of the very strong likelihood
that there will a run-off election, given that there are 20
Presidential candidates and there is an estimation that none of
the candidates would be able to obtain 50 percent plus one vote
in the--in the first round.
Ms. Bass. Do they have the dates of the final or----
Mr. Fomunyoh. They don't have the date yet but it is likely
going to be at some point early November.
Ms. Bass. Okay.
Mr. Fomunyoh. We will check with your staff, certainly.
Ms. Bass. Please.
Mr. Fomunyoh. But we know that the Carter Center is going
to field an international delegation. The European Union will
send an international delegation as well as the African Union
and the ECOWAS, which is the subregional entity for West
African states.
Could I just add one last comment----
Ms. Bass. Sure.
Mr. Fomunyoh [continuing]. With regards to your
observation, Congresswoman Bass, on what has happened with
political leadership in Africa in the past few years and to
underscore the fact that when you look at West Africa, which is
ECOWAS, that of the 15 countries that currently make up West
Africa, 14 of them have had a renewal of political leadership
through the ballot box in elections that have been accepted by
the citizens of those countries as well as the international
community as credible and free and fair.
And in those 14 countries, 14 of the 15 heads of states are
serving their second term at the highest and none of them has
exceeded the constitutional mandate that is required in most of
those countries.
So when you look at the continent, West Africa has really
made tremendous progress with regards to the ability of renewed
political leadership through meaningful and credible elections.
Ms. Bass. Wonderful. Thank you very much.
And I don't know, Mr. Peterson, if you would like to have
any concluding comments.
Mr. Peterson. Well, I will just echo Chris' comments about
West Africa. I think it really has become a bastion of
democracy. That is not to underestimate the serious problems
that they have--you know, corruption, the insecurity.
But I think that we in the United States would do well to
pay a lot more attention to it. Democracy in many other parts
of the world is under a lot of pressure. But I think we can be
inspired by what is going on in West Africa.
Ms. Bass. But we need to pay attention to it, huh? Is that
what you just said?
Thank you.
Mr. Donovan. Well, I thank all of the panellists for their
insight, their experience, and sharing their thoughts with us
and I thank my friend from California, Ms. Bass, for her
participation, and Chairman Royce and Chairman Smith.
Without objection, all witnesses' full statements will be
entered into the record of this hearing, and this hearing is
now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:01 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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