THE SYMBOLIC BULLDOZING of the Coalition for Democratic Change’s (CDC) headquarters at Bernard’s Seashore on August 23, has achieved greater than clear contested land. It has torn open a festering wound in Liberia’s political and institutional panorama — one which reveals the decaying requirements of public discourse, the corrosion of state-run media, and the rising tolerance for abusive, unprofessional conduct amongst prime officers.
AT THE CENTER OF this storm are two people: Deputy Director Common for Rebranding on the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), D-Movement Flomo-Yarbo, and his superior, Director Common Eugene Fahngon.
THEIR ACTIONS, BOTH independently and collectively, have solid an unforgiving highlight on the Liberia Broadcasting System — not as a beacon of nationwide communication, however as a cautionary story of institutional collapse and political conceitedness.
FLOMOS’ NOW-INFAMOUS Fb submit, written within the fast aftermath of the CDC headquarters’ demolition, was not a gaffe. It was not an emotional slip. It was a calculated act of gloating, clothed in state-issued apparel and delivered from the ruins of a once-symbolic political base. “Mission achieved large time. In my historical past ebook, CDC is now homeless. No extra tires burning on public street once more with they being homeless oooo,” Flomo wrote, grinning from floor zero. This was not public communication. It was public mockery.
WEARING HIS OFFICIAL LBS-branded jacket and flanked by a government-funded broadcasting workforce, Flomo didn’t seem as a civil servant. He stood as a political agitator, relishing the second not with reflection or professionalism, however with the reckless glee of a partisan soldier.
THAT THE DEPUTY Director for Rebranding — a task created, in concept, to foster public belief and unity — would descend to this stage of public provocation is not only ironic. It’s damning.
BUT PERHAPS MORE disturbing than Flomo’s juvenile habits is the response — or deliberate non-response — of his boss, Eugene Fahngon. When the press, notably FrontPage Africa, reported Flomo’s distasteful submit, they fulfilled their position in a democratic society, holding these in energy accountable. Fahngon, nevertheless, responded with vitriol, not in opposition to the misconduct of his deputy, however in opposition to the press itself.
“FrontPage Africa is a rubbish newspaper,” he ranted on social media, later doubling down in a podcast tirade. In these moments, Fahngon did greater than lash out. He laid naked the rot on the coronary heart of Liberia’s state broadcaster. This wasn’t the frustration of a frontrunner betrayed by a staffer — it was the fury of a person who sees scrutiny as insult, who views journalism as a risk fairly than a service to the individuals.
FAHNGON’S RAGE was not nearly defending Flomo; it was a declaration of intolerance for criticism, a warning to the press to remain silent or endure assaults. And that’s the place the deeper decay begins to indicate. The issue is now not only one official’s poor judgment. It’s a systemic tradition that rewards loyalty over accountability and impunity over accountability.
IF FLOMO’S remarks have been immature and offensive, Fahngon’s response was institutional betrayal. The Liberia Broadcasting System, funded by taxpayers and mandated to serve all Liberians no matter political affiliation, is being weaponized — not for public enlightenment, however for private vindictiveness and political score-settling.
THIS IS a betrayal of mandate. It’s a rejection of media ethics. And it’s an erosion of democratic norms.
IN A NATION nonetheless recovering from civil battle, the place wounds of division and mistrust stay tender, such habits from prime communication officers is not only reckless — it’s harmful. Public broadcasting in any democracy should function a stabilizing drive, a reliable supply of knowledge, and a mannequin of impartiality. It should keep away from even the notion of partisanship, particularly when political tensions are excessive.
INSTEAD, WHAT Liberia has witnessed is the hijacking of public media by voices extra keen on antagonizing than informing. When the general public broadcaster’s rebranding officer mocks political opponents and its director normal assaults the press for overlaying it, we should ask “what, then, is LBS being rebranded into”?
THE CDC headquarters demolition, whereas legally backed by a court docket ruling favoring the heirs of Martha Stubblefield Bernard, has morphed right into a public relations catastrophe — not due to the ruling itself, however due to the celebratory, mocking posture taken by Flomo and the defiant, retaliatory stance of Fahngon. In politics, notion is usually extra highly effective than truth. And the notion created by these males is one in all partisan triumphalism, not justice.
EVEN IF the CDC’s occupancy of the Bernard property was illegal, even when the eviction was warranted, the general public posture of state officers should be one in all accountability, respect, and restraint. As an alternative, Liberians noticed gloating. They heard cheering. They watched as these entrusted with informing the nation grew to become provocateurs — feeding a cycle of humiliation that does nothing to advertise reconciliation or institutional credibility.
THE BOAKAI administration now faces a vital check. The President, who campaigned on integrity and a break from the corrosive politics of the previous, should show that his guarantees have been greater than marketing campaign rhetoric. To disregard the conduct of Flomo and Fahngon is to condone it. To excuse it’s to sign that state establishments are nonetheless instruments of the ruling get together — that nothing has modified, besides the faces in energy.
ACCOUNTIBILITY MUST be swift and unequivocal. Flomo’s actions, apology or not, advantage disciplinary overview and, at minimal, suspension. Fahngon, for his half, should be held to a good increased normal. His assault on the press undermines Liberia’s democratic material and sends a chilling message to journalists and whistleblowers alike. He can not stay on the helm of a nationwide broadcaster if he believes his position is to insult watchdogs fairly than uphold transparency.
THIS IS NOT about defending the CDC. It’s not about justifying their prior governance or their lack of the Bernard property. It’s about one thing extra elementary: the type of nation Liberia aspires to be. A democracy the place the rule of regulation is exercised with dignity. A society the place public officers are held to requirements of decency. A media panorama the place establishments like LBS are trusted as a result of they serve the individuals — not the get together.
LET THE rubble at Bernard’s Seashore stand as a monument to poor management till these answerable for exploiting it are held to account. Let this episode remind each civil servant and state communicator that their phrases matter, particularly when the nation is watching. Let it remind the Boakai administration that the credibility of governance doesn’t lie in legal guidelines handed or courts convened, however within the on a regular basis conduct of these appointed to serve.
LIBERIA CANNOT afford one other era of leaders who suppose public service means partisan celebration or press intimidation. The street forward calls for maturity, equity, and the braveness to right what’s improper — even when the wrongdoers put on the identical political colours.
WHEN REBRANDING turns into ridicule and fury replaces accountability, it’s not simply opposition events which can be made homeless. The actual casualty is public belief — and with out it, democracy itself begins to crumble.
