Liberia National Day Graced by Colo. Political, Community Leaders 

Africa Agen­da

Atten­dees at the Liberia Inde­pen­dence Day cel­e­bra­tion in Col­orado includ­ed Hon­or­able Hen­ry Saah Foko from Liberia (far left); CU Regent and can­di­date for gov­er­nor of Col­orado, Hei­di Ganahl (mid­dle left); Ron Bouchard, can­di­date for Ara­pa­hoe Coun­ty Coro­ner (mid­dle right); and busi­ness­man Casper Stock­ham (far right). July 30, 2022

AURORA (Africa News Mat­ters) – On the evening of Sat­ur­day, July 30, natives, friends, and well-wish­ers of the African nation of Liberia filled the cor­ri­dors and ball­room of the Hol­i­day Inn Express in Auro­ra to cel­e­brate 175 years since its independence. 

For­mer­ly a US ter­ri­to­ry, Liberia was found­ed by freed Amer­i­can slaves on July 26, 1847. His­to­ry tells us the coun­try is the old­est demo­c­ra­t­ic repub­lic on the African continent. 

Invit­ed guests to the event came from far and near. They came not just to cel­e­brate the coun­try’s his­to­ry, but also to expe­ri­ence what may be the trans­for­ma­tion of the coun­try from a colony into an inde­pen­dent nation.

The pro­gram includ­ed time for food, music, and prayer for a nation that has seen its own share of socio-polit­i­cal tur­moil and upheavals. 

The speak­ers includ­ed polit­i­cal and com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers in Col­orado, and from the Liber­ian cap­i­tal of Mon­rovia. Atten­dees sang both the Amer­i­can and Liber­ian nation­al anthems and offered remarks about why they were gath­ered for the year­ly event. The mes­sage was clear and full of talk about nation-build­ing and uni­ty that tran­scend­ed nation­al boundaries. 

The Unit­ed Liber­ian orga­ni­za­tion of Col­orado (ULOC), led by Pres­i­dent Ebenez­er Nor­man, said they did not want to do this alone.

“So tonight my job is to talk of the peo­ple who are build­ing our com­mu­ni­ty,” Nor­man began his remarks. One of the peo­ple he men­tioned was Rep. Naquat­ta Ricks, a native Liber­ian and Demo­c­rat who is a mem­ber of the Col­orado leg­is­la­tor and who rep­re­sents parts of Auro­ra in House Dis­trict 40. 

Nor­man cit­ed leg­is­la­tion that he said Ricks recent­ly helped pass, includ­ing a reduc­tion in bus pass­es, as well as a reduc­tion in the fees for driver’s licens­es for Col­orado res­i­dents. Oth­er recog­ni­tions includ­ed stu­dents who were giv­en schol­ar­ships and busi­ness pro­fes­sion­als giv­en recog­ni­tion for their work in the community. 

Ernest Tweh, a mem­ber of the ULOC urged his fel­low Liberi­ans to put aside their polit­i­cal dif­fer­ences and work for the com­mon good of their native country. 

“As we cel­e­brate 175 years of exis­tence and ever cog­nizant of the fact that a uni­fied and peace­ful Liberia comes first and fore­most…,” he said. 

Candidates for Office Reach out to the Community

The line­up of speak­ers includ­ed can­di­dates for state office in the upcom­ing U.S. midterm elections. 

“I want to send you my best wish­es on the cel­e­bra­tion of Liberia Inde­pen­dence Day,” said Pam Ander­son who is con­test­ing the office of the Col­orado sec­re­tary of state. Ander­son, a Repub­li­can, tout­ed the impor­tant role of the sec­re­tary’s office in the reg­u­la­tion of elec­tions, busi­ness, and com­merce, the very things that she said form the foun­da­tions of a free and demo­c­ra­t­ic society.

“My work in the office of the sec­re­tary of state real­ly typ­i­fies some of the things that both of our coun­tries share and the val­ues that we hold.” 

Hei­di Ganahl, the Repub­li­can can­di­date for gov­er­nor of Col­orado and the keynote speak­er for the evening, took to the podi­um to con­grat­u­late Liberi­ans on their country’s independence.

“My mis­sion is to take back Col­orado and give it back to all of you,” she said.

Ganahl, cur­rent­ly an at-large mem­ber of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Col­orado board of regents, talked about hope and oppor­tu­ni­ty, some­thing she said both Liberia and the US share in common. 

She said the edu­ca­tion of chil­dren is one of her pri­ma­ry goals and she hopes to use the office of gov­er­nor to help reduce the rates of sui­cide, and drug addic­tion among chil­dren in the state, and to help bridge the gap in read­ing, writ­ing, and math for the state’s children.

“Liberia Can Only Be Built by Liberians” — Henry Saah Fako

Per­haps the high­light of the evening came from remarks made by the vis­it­ing Hon­or­able Hen­ry Saah Fako, an elect­ed offi­cial rep­re­sent­ing Liberia’s Dis­trict 9, who urged his fel­low Liberi­ans to make a con­tri­bu­tion to the devel­op­ment of their country.

“Today’s Liberia, what­ev­er we have learned from the dias­po­ra, what­ev­er we have under­stood from the dias­po­ra, in terms of infra­struc­ture devel­op­ment, in terms of devel­op­ment, I think the most impor­tant and best thing you can do is to go home and do a sin­gle thing for your com­mu­ni­ty that would trans­form your com­mu­ni­ty,” Saah Fako told the audience.

Saah Fako applaud­ed the work of Liberi­ans who he said stud­ied in Amer­i­ca but decid­ed to return home and give back to a nation that needs their support. 

He cit­ed the lead­er­ship of for­mer Pres­i­dent Ellen Sir­leaf John­son, as well as cur­rent Pres­i­dent George Weah, all elect­ed demo­c­ra­t­i­cal­ly, for lead­ing Liberia from a tumul­tuous time into peace and prosperity.