Liberia: A Focus On Improving Democracy For The Amos Sawyer Foundation

By Ajong Mbapndah L

With crucial elections drawing closer in Liberia, the Amos Sawyer Foundation is hard at work with strategies, plans and programs that will enhance and strengthen democracy in the West African Nation.  The nascent Foundation, created and named in honor of the seminal legacy of late President Amos Sawyer is working on a series of events and activities in Liberia and in Washington, DC, to beam the spotlight on democracy at work. In a Q & A with PAV, Frantz Sawyer Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation sheds light on its vision, the legacy of President Amos Sawyer, events coming up. perspectives on the upcoming elections in Liberia, developments across West Africa, and more.

May we start with an introduction of the Sawyer Foundation?

Frantz Sawyer: The AMOS CLAUDIUS SAWYER FOUNDATION  is an independent and non-partisan Foundation incorporated in honor of my father Professor. Amos Claudius Sawyer, the former president of the Republic of Liberia. The foundation honors the legacy of Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer by addressing the multiple issues of Democratic Governance, Rule of Law, and Peace building; the issues he spent his life promoting in Liberia and the West African sub region of Africa.

How long has the Foundation been in existence and any significant projects or events it has worked on ?

Frantz Sawyer: The Foundation was registered in Liberia on July 2022 and in Chevy Chase, MD, on Jan 2023. Since its inception the Amos Claudius Sawyer Foundation has embarked on two low hanging fruits projects: Civic Education as it relates to voting and voting registration. We have partnered up with a few local NGO and first-time voters’ groups to carry on educating citizens in the top populace counties, Lofa, Montserrado, Nimba, Bassa and Margibi on the voting and voting registration process and also to educate the citizens on what to look for in candidates that are seeking political offices.

Lastly the foundation will be sponsoring the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates in Liberia.

How do you situate the vision and work of the foundation in the context of present-day Liberia?

Frantz Sawyer: The Foundation will host an in-house think tank. The think tank will be established to conduct research to generate primary data and knowledge on critical governance issues in its immediate constituency (being Liberia) at a first instance, West Africa and Africa. This will be aimed at addressing the massive knowledge gap in policy making in Liberia (and the continent as a whole) as well as ensuring that all of the Foundation’s priorities, programmes, projects and engagements are informed by evidence regarding the instance of pertinence. We will analyze governance and public policy issues with aspirations of policy relevance and academic excellence. To this end, the Foundation will partner with leading organizations and institutions (universities, research institutions, other think tanks, development agencies, etc.) The Foundation’s research will be informed by questions on the analytical and normative issues that practitioners in governance and public policy face. Building bridges between academia, political leaders, business, and civil society requires effective communication.

Working separately or in collaboration with governmental, non-governmental, bilateral, multilateral, political, non-political and other entities, the Foundation will vigorously pursue avenues for the establishment  of strategic partnerships and the strengthening of existing ones to develop practical operating frameworks for successfully carrying out the multiple programmes, projects and other activities aimed at promoting the principles of Good Governance, Local/National/Regional/Continental Peace, and Security across all landscapes;

The Sawyer Foundation will offer policy advisories to the Liberian government, other actors in the public governance space of Liberia (governmental, non-governmental, private, etc.) This will be informed by its research as well as knowledge generated through its partnership with other stakeholders. These advisories will be in form of policy briefs, media engagement and dissemination activities.

For those who do not know President Amos Sawyer, do want to talk a little about the man and his legacy in Liberia?

Frantz Sawyer: Professor Amos C. Sawyer my father was a Liberian citizen who worked tirelessly for peace and the establishment of democratic governance in his home country Liberia as well as for the establishment and strengthening of institutions and processes of democratic governance and development in Africa.  He has a distinguished record of public service in Liberia and Africa and an impressive record of academic achievements. 

After the military takeover in Liberia in 1980, he was called upon to head the National Constitution Commission to draft a new constitution for Liberia, as a major part of the transition to civilian rule.  In 1990, when Liberia was engulfed in civil war, he was called upon to serve as President of the Interim Government of National Unity and tasked with the responsibility of leading the search for peace among Liberians.  Since Liberia’s return to constitutional rule, following the holding of democratic elections in 2005, Professor Sawyer was active in the efforts to ensure that Liberia’s institutions and processes of governance are more accountable, participatory, efficient and effective, meeting standards of good governance. At the request of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, he took up the position of Chairman of the Governance Reform Commission of Liberia (now Governance Commission of Liberia), the body charged with the responsibility of crafting reform policies and implementation strategies for sustaining peace advancing reconciliation and attaining good governance in post-conflict Liberia. He also served as Lead Convener of the Zero Hunger Initiative designed to advance Liberia’s achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on eliminating hunger.

It was under my father’s leadership at the Governance Commission that the Commission played the lead role in crafting Code of Conduct for public and civil servants, establishing the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, the National Policy on Decentralization and Local Government, the Land Reform Commission, the National Vision Exercise and the roadmap for managing the 2017 post-elections political transition, among other deliverables. 

On the African continent, Professor Sawyer is well known for his work in promotion of democratic governance and socio-economic development through regional integration. He has led numerous missions on peacebuilding and elections observation and has been deeply involved in the strengthening of civil society and the building of African capacity to sustain institutions and processes of democratic governance.   He served as Chairman of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an affiliate of NEPAD, after serving as a Member of the Panel for two years. Members of the Panel have the responsibility of leading technical missions to review the performance of APRM member-countries in critical areas of political, economic and social governance.  He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (ACDESS).  

Considering the contributions of President Amos Sawyer in getting Liberia out of a complicated moment in its history, may we know the recognition- if any that he received from successive Liberian administrations?

Frantz Sawyer: Since retiring from the Governance Commission in January 2018, Professor Sawyer has been engaged in the area of citizenship education in Liberia, maintaining that the nurturing of citizens who are informed and efficacious is indispensable to sustaining peace and democratic governance. A set of citizenship education textbooks for use in Liberian schools is being completed under his aegis. He has also been participating in high-level discourses on deepening democratic governance in Botswana, The Gambia, Nigeria and Liberia.   

Professor Sawyer has been thrice decorated by his county. In 2011 he was accorded Liberia’s highest distinction, the Grand Cordon of the Knighthood of the Most Venerable Order of the Pioneers. He is the recipient of the 2011 Gusi Peace Prize. In 2015, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) by the University of Liberia, and in 2017 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) by Indiana University. 

 Elections are due in the next couple of months, are there any contributions the Sawyer Foundation is making towards the success of the process?

Frantz Sawyer: Beside the civic education/voting education project, Presidential and Vice-Presidential pending debate projects the foundation will be hosting a series of Fireside chat with Presidential Candidates in the Washington DC area in collaboration with Hudson Institute and USC Election Cyber Security Initiative on the upcoming elections. The foundation will also in collaboration with MOE be training election monitors and observers.

From the last election cycles that we have seen, where have you seen progress and what areas need improvement?

Frantz Sawyer: There’s always need for capacity building training for the various CSO, NEC (National Election Commission) in terms of voting and monitoring/observing the electoral process. There’s dire need for funding the second-round election that’s on the horizon.

All in all, there’s excitement in the air of a peaceful election thanks to the international partners and the current administration. More work needs to be done.

The ECOWAS sub region that Liberia is part of has experience about seven coups in the last couple of years, what do you make of this and how concerned should other countries be including Liberia?

Frantz Sawyer: It is very troubling to see seven military coup in the Ecowas region predominantly French speaking countries. Coup or Military intervention is never the answer for change, rather Democratic procedure is always the solution. It is vital to strengthen our integrity institution so that good governance can prevail, which at all the time solves most of our problems.

What do you make of the way ECOWAS and the broader international community have responded to the crisis in Niger?

Frantz Sawyer: I am NEVER a proponent of military intervention in a sovereign nation. Never. Diplomacy is always the best approach. I hope the ECOWAS community would reconsider and go back to the drawing board and come out with another plan of action.

Looking at Liberia today, what gives you hope for its future and what are your fears?

Frantz Sawyer: I feel very optimistic of our democracy in Liberia. Clearly sure the multi-party system that my father fought for exists. We now have 20 or more candidates seeking the highest office in the land. We still need to focus more on the dire issues facing our citizens and less discussion on personalities.

Lastly it is very important to strengthen our integrity institutions in Liberia, more transparency in government and more engagements with the citizens.

*For More Information the Amos Sawyer Foundation, visit https://amosclaudiussawyerfoundation.org/