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Monboe by SUprofAs we lunched at the Krystal Oceanview Friday afternoon, our local guide and “fixer,” Francis Nyepon, leaned over to explain the swell of noise intruding from the table some 20 feet away.
Was it an argument over a gambling debt?
Girlfriend issues?
A dispute over how to split the bill?
Soccer fans talking “smack”?
“You’re going to hear a lot of this,” Francis advised. “They’re talking about the election.”
When we approached them, we discovered it was an impressive lunch club. Two were members of the Congress for Democratic Change, a leading opposition group to the ruling Unity Party.
William K. Morris, a Liberty Party member in the group, said the election didn’t just come up in the flow of conversation. In fact, the group of 10 or so gathered on the hotel’s Atlantic Ocean overlook with a set agenda to frame the noon-hour discussion. (Today’s post features a “sound bite” from Saydee Monboe, executive director of the Center for Trauma Counseling and Conflict Resolution, discussing the role of a free press in the election season. Watch for three others’ comments in the coming days this week.)
Among the lunch table talking points:
- Funding for parties competing in the vote, to keep the competition somewhat fair.
- Promoting a compulsory service initiative for young Liberians, who would be required to serve for nonprofits or the government.
- Guaranteeing citizen access to government buildings.
Four group members agreed to pass a voice recorder around the table to address the question, “How important is the media role in the upcoming vote?”
They spoke with a passion revealing their genuine civic conscience.
At the table:
- William Morris, Liberty Party member
- Ronald Mendscole, secretary general of the Youth League of the Congress for Democratic Change
- Saydee Monboe, executive director of the Center for Trauma Counseling and Conflict Resolution
- Amos Swaray, national director of press and public relations, Congress for Democratic Change