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>> What suffered but also those were victims in fact that this gang up is about as I said Together we can talk about we can come a intellectualizing put all of this being a question. The politics of the barrier if you don't have food to eat if I don't have water to drink if I don't have it actually the library man it's very easy to for the premise that the meringue got something to drink food to eat the rest everything it will be all right but if there's no electricity there's no water you cannot pay for their children then you're going to be a problem so we have to address those immediate why we're looking at the long term we can look at those immediately that will provide jobs and we provide start in crime I think that will help our Liberian people.

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Thank you very much. Thank you Mr Clinton. For the presentation. And I want to assure you that it will go a long way in helping us to realize our mandate. You talk about economic groups that were already present in the country before. They set the scheme. When we were small Grimalkin going to school we learned history in school.

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And our history learning started from. The secular us and we saw nothing taking these innocent people a cellphone one aspect on Buckley It passed the chief. So. It came as something different I heard you see there was this thing ethnic tribes in Liberia you know before the settlers came and so I would like to know.

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Could you please mean those trends that were present if they are pressing if you put it in your presentation to us. OK And then where did these people come from OK and how it is distributed in the country OK before the settlers came this is my question in ten.

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OK what are some percentage sure I will give it to you because I want to take much time to think I still you know but I'll give that so you need something from of a presentation so that you'll be able to but I think it's very important for us to know that in fact one of the things that I'm doing have a can of undertaking a task I am doing a comprehensive history of Liberia we don't have a comprehensive history of Liberia.

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In Ghana our press has accepted that and so I will see my purpose of doing that is to come up with a documents that you know will represent the Liberian people when I was a student at Covington. And I'm going to say something that we know I had a dialogue as you call it a dialogue it's not a debate it's a dialogue between myself and my professors or Jews have gone or will claim to be the story and of Liberia will now that you know and I'm sure he knows now that now he's not I mean you know.

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My dialogue with him was how can we because when I was a student I read those proms Next I called them pamphlets books to me but he called them books and we were forced to abide in my students. How can you have those kind of pamphlet that only talk about the coming of the settlers from their own state and they minimized the rule of indigenous as an Indigenous person yourself so you know it was but so to touch I have undertaken to.

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Right a compressive history of like we're I'm still walking I'm hoping I'm working very hard on it I'm hoping that he will be out and on so that for consumption so that will just see how that will help to revisit our history as a people thank you and it also has.

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To look at the history of the country which commission of. The side for sure to make sure that those things that I'm missing from our history the place there so that we know more about it country especially if you look up on county we had on woman. Chief or Leader or queen or whatever where.

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You cannot find it in the history of the country but she play a very important Yes in our history if you look at content until it came into one counted because my dance walk away Griebel to provide it. Whereas other people who fusible violin for you know if I said it will be building and so we need to bring all these things into our history so that our children will learn about human indigenous people I grant you so much that the very first time I mentioned that I was the speaker quite recently they have the bomb county convention in Atlanta and I was axed to be the speaker for the convention and I brought that for the very first time and somebody said I Did you know that you know so one of the things that I did when I was a student is to look at that kind of history how did current on coming into being you know in bank County.

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Yes it's a beautiful yes OK I have two short questions for you Dr could. You talk us into a joining of the different US in the different presidency. Misspoke. Of some of what obtain at the time but basically. From a left perspective. I am looking at precedent told that the reason being that I was born in a Tuchman era but.

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For my generation told what was the war we knew he was the president when I was in school and was assassinated when I was in junior high school. Tall going into a deuce a lot of policies that. I go about in the a lot of people are arguing over those policies but equally so the other side of the argument is that the top he would have been the ought to be president perhaps had he not been assassinated earlier in his life or in his administration for example he introduced the format of Majerus policy he also introduced a total involvement for higher heights and he introduced a war war against ignorance disease and poverty and also reform of the educational system I remember.

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In high school junior high school he introduced a system where students entering the university who had pass Bush subjects to English and math could get a scholarship to go to the university as a form of incentives to encourage higher education He also introduced software lions in food production as were introduced or the various I recalled your offices into the different counties in the talk now also introduce a lot of policies that people thought were good leg to even do it is debatable and the reunification of Liberians and he brought in a lot of indigenous into mainstream politics.

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Now with what has happening here with these two presidents basically toward someone like me and asking the question and I pose that question to you what what happened was when all. Because all these policies. If nothing else. Seems to be very decent policies that would have definitely moved the country forward what went wrong there was he misunderstood.

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It was that of a struggle or conflict in my second question is it all that has happened to our country in terms of the destruction in the evil in the hitcher way. To one do you think lead plays a part in what is happening Liberia if he does how much of a part do you think greed has played in the destruction of this country thank you when I think of.

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The policies of TARP money in and told but first a question of the open door policy of TARP money how open was that policy. To incorporate. The indigenous groups within that karma if it is a book that is written out of that called growth without development yes there was there were policies for growth but was that development in terms of the manpower that was between I would say no that was growth without development total involvement these are very symbolic and cost ideas but in terms of the implementation of those ideas I was also.

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A high school at the time and I remember we used to go to told what. Song that was used to leave us dry where we used to go and talk to him about our aspiration and our ideas and and we were really at all these ideas of totally involvement and I to what extent that structures were put in place for these total involvement rather than holding individuals because we used to go again said we want to be totally involved how can we as young people you know we can't pay our school fees Well parents can.

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How can we be totally involved in in this process of developing the nation it was very difficult so they're very cosmetic but in terms of the implementation we did not see that question of greed there is no doubt in fact greed at. City Place if we gots to the decadence that we do see Liberia yet many people believe First they have monopoly in terms of position and monopoly in terms of ideas and as a result of that we have seen that people have amassed benefits I mean that we were looking at from a qualitative kind of research just looking at the resources that we do have in Liberia when you take the resources that you have in Liberia and you look at the population it's enough to get around how can one group small elite group monopolize all of this and just make it for themselves and since they're what we're seeing all of those that have come to power in fact there are many liberals believe if you want to be if you want to be rich just be a minister or be the president then you'll be rich instead of going to have to walk for the people it's a group of course played a very important part in terms of a situation where we had.

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Thank you very much Professor Cohen for your. Presentation. Only limitation of time. Perhaps may not be able to the questions I would like to ask and. But just to one of two things I like to draw attention to and first. Is the linkage I think I didn't I didn't.

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Get. But in see highlight that the linkage of economics to the evolution of politics in Liberia. And how that has enhanced the. Slide into authoritarianism. And and like I say because of the limitation of time perhaps if we look at the history of Liberia especially in the in the in it in seventy S. or economic decline.

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Private that Libya was competing has ships plying exporting produce and and what have you but with the. As one of the it in seventy's we saw how that growth based basically on trade faltered as a result of. An even competition between labor and traders who were then not using the steamships that Europeans are using and all of that helped facilitate if you look at our history you see that as a close linkage between economic decline and political authoritarianism so to speak but most importantly.

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I. Would like to find out from you see where the linkage can be drawn to the role the U.S. has played in talk about the U.S. but. The rule the U.S. played in if in the founding of the Liberian state as a matter of fact the composer of the United States' national anthem was one of the founders of the American color vision society.

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The rule the with a plea of one point you know history I was considered a strategic partner of the U.S. was considered I killers heel of the need to alliance but with the decline of the Cold War the whole situation changed and. What the saw was like a hands off policy but we saw that in ninety five elections that we do stall.

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The U.S. secretary of state said by African standards elections are free and fair when I beers are complaining about unfair. Elections and how the results of polling I don't remember with a secular state then but but it will show. You he said balanced in its elections are free and fair.

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And and also the rule the the US has played us official government policy has played in the destabilisation of Liberia. Including the assassination of President Obama and all of that but again like I said time perhaps does not permit us the luxury to explore all of this and so I will just stop right here thank you very much well let me just say that.

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You know time is not on our side as you saw in eighteen seventy Liberia was in that in fact at one point Germany and other countries wanted to come in and help Liberia we saw that that problem in the United States a hold on. We have very much interest in this country and area so there's no doubt that that economy that was a very significant will be.

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It client of the situation and Brazilian are very true in Islam and we don't have time to be able to do that but a question of the role of the United States when I came to the United States I was very much trouble because all of the things that we were told about our relationship with the United States and first the first shock that I had was when someone introduced me somewhere and said This is a casting.

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This is these guys coming from Libya are so large and you remember the time Libya was not in the good books of the United States and everybody kept looking leaving I say Hold on hold on not Libya Liberia so people have told us about how. This great ally with the United States and even people here don't even know where Liberia is don't even know that the American Liberians left here over the have this long relationship don't even know that but people don't even know in terms of how do you night now my dearest supported United States during the Second World War people don't know that that's why we have dot com A guy got here and people don't even know that during the Industrial Revolution period when there was this.

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Competition between England and the United States it was Liberia's rubber live a very significantly people don't know that kind of history so you very well and so that means. At the time where we had our own problems we looked at the United States as a result of this relationship but it's also important for us to understand the United States clearly a very significant role in terms of the problems that we do our door came to the another state and got those ideas about going back about all the question about indigenous people in the crater and then they supported the war for the period of time and then when the Civil War when the was not in writing checks somebody to get out so you for the bad person look for another bad person to come and take that bad person up and without that person doesn't do what you want to do to look for another black person today that's the kind of policy that the United States so there's no doubt.

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That the United States has been that clear a road whether good or bad in terms of the establishment of what has become every still continue. I said to the president recently you know I had dinner with friends in Atlanta and we had dinner with her one I told her I said our president I know you're going to you're going to hate me for saying this but I don't think I will forgive you for allowing the base to come to Nigeria when all the other.

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Countries where by by having peace to come over there why should we be the one you know but it's just kind of situation because we always think that we have this long history with the United States and we always have one but united and in fact one of the the secretary of state said it very well we have no more economic interest in Liberia strategic interest in Liberia so we don't care what happens in Liberia you can destroy you America you can do whatever we don't have any more economic interest and it's very clear even today.

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Thank you very much talked of condé for the refutal of doing history. And how like to ask you to question. Their percentage when you talk about the governance during the process from ninety four to two thousand and then he talked about the indigenous people. What was life like audible even ship being truly indigenous people before their arrival of the set of US They were very Korea in fact I was into mean lean and intermarry In fact we do have evidence in terms of their laws in terms of.

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That was not not I don't want to paint a picture here where we can say that everything was perfect in terms you know because there were people fighting for nine there were people doing other kinds of things but to a large extent there were some kind of cordiality and some kind of college geology if you like that brought these groups together so that they'll be able to interact with each other.

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A piece that I wrote with regards to this kind of interaction that went on with regards to the indigenous groups how they were in and time will be able to permit me to elaborate on that with me guys. But bilat the question of ethnicity did not suffer in Liberia until modern day politics became the throne because he thought that ethnic groups I mean because you can even see even during the war it doesn't matter whether you belong to the right at new group or not people still were killed.

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Even though they were belonging to the you can even say Well I'm trying to say no but you're not. So the point I'm making is that a new city did not play. A divisive road with regards to what happened prior you're to what became known as modern day politics in Liberia what we're seeing now in terms of a new city surfacing as a divisive element is because leaders have used this and poured it out for people to be gay to see that they can have protection within their own groups and to isolate supporters so therefore it has become what one writes I say trying to scramble for prominence you know among these ethnic groups as a result of these pluralization that we see so in initial stage there was this meanly and I hope we will go back to that because even more now we can't even tell the difference between the different groups because of these you know we belong to the same religion we are we now intermarry we do have.

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You know that should be able to provide the kind of unity that we need to come together. And the last question would be as an expert in history there are some misconceptions as to what actually happened can you clarify. As a long story It let me just put it in basic terms.

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This question of black where light skin and dark skin created the dissension whereby. I am kind of a lead story about corruption that end up getting in each year are out indeed on God's you know whatever you did to him God stick you know we're still trying what we do have on each of our eyes very tentative and subject to a kind of revision but it's this fight that was going on between the light skinned.

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Settlers and the dark skinned settlers and Egypt I've been a dark skinned settlers were just kicked out of the place and use all kinds of allegations against him so that he will not continue his presidency. Thank you very much for coming to the commission. Well thank you very much but tell me making a presentation to Millie Thank you Bill.