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LUSENE DUNZO: AN HONORABLE & COMPETENT LIBERIAN
Feb 6, 2006
EDITORIAL
Since 1980 when the William Tolbert-led regime was overthrown, coupled with the civil war that lasted for more than a decade, thousands of Liberians have sought refuge in various countries, including the United States. As immigration restriction gets tougher from countries to countries, Liberians, especially those residing in the Western Hemisphere, have acquired dual citizenship as a part of gaining the required legal status in their host countries. Those that acquired dual citizenship did not do so because they don't love or hate their country, Liberia. They did so as a mean of obtaining better, living status in their host countries. Among the many Liberians who have acquired dual citizenship is Lusene Dunzo, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s chosen nominee for Deputy Minister of Public Works. But Mr. Dunzo is not the first Liberian whose dual citizenship status has made headlines.
George Weah, one of the frontrunners who won 40% of the votes in the just ended presidential election at some point became a French citizen. There was even speculations that the newly elected president, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and several leading candidates have Liberian and American citizenship. But it was only George Weah whose dual citizenship status got a higher level of official review. According to some views, the Election Commission decided George Weah's case as "lack of sufficient evidence" because some of the leading candidates had the same dual citizenship issue as Mr. Weah. If the Election Commission had banned Mr. Weah from running on the account of dual citizenship, it would have embarrassed some of these leading candidates and divided the nation.
From the way things look, it's obvious that there are Liberians with dual citizenship serving in top positions within our government. While some of these Liberians have answered "no" when questioned about their dual citizenship, Lusene Dunzo did the honorable thing by informing the Liberian Senate that he acquired dual citizenship. The relevant question then becomes, does that take away the fact that Mr. Dunzo loves Liberia and is capable of helping in the country's reconstruction process? The answer is of course no. The fact that must be appreciated about Mr. Dunzo is that he is an honorable and competent Liberian who did not lie under oath like some have done in the past. In our nation where there has been little to no honesty from our political leaders, Lusene Dunzo has proven to be a solid example for honesty--a quality that is desperately needed in Liberia.
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