Liberia’s former Deputy Foreign Minister, Elias Shoniyin has criticized the country’s Foreign Service during the reign of former President Dr. George Manneh Weah.
Speaking recently when he appeared on the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) in Paynesville, Mr. Shoniyin said Liberia’s Foreign Service witnessed a significant decline during the last six years.
He disclosed that during the last six years, Liberia did not have ambassadors at 11 of its embassies around the world. This, he said did not speak well of the country as it relates to diplomacy.
“…I think the government wasted so much money deploying an embassy when you know you are not going to assign ambassadors to those roles…,” he said.
Mr. Shoniyin pointed out that if a government does not assign an ambassador to its embassy in another country, it is not helping the country diplomatically.
He contended that a charge d’affaires will not be effective as an ambassador considering that he or she will not have that voice at meetings and conferences like an ambassador.
The former deputy foreign minister said the Weah Administration should have shut down those embassies in the 11 countries rather than wasting the country’s resources.
Commenting on the new leadership at the Foreign Ministry, Shoniyin, who is the Dean of the Cuttington School of Global Affairs & Policy, said he’s impressed with the initial steps taken so far in a few months.
The Foreign Service, he said requires a full reform, something, he believes Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti is effectuating.
He said the Foreign Service currently has about 200 employees who were deployed without going through the merit-based system at the Foreign Ministry.
“We have people in the foreign service who shouldn’t be there in the first place,” he observed.
Shoniyin also hailed the decision of the foreign minister to recall diplomatic, official, and service passports issued to former officials for six years.
He explained that globally, passport law requires that diplomatic, official, and service passports should be issued for two years and not six years as was done by the past administration, saying “This was a disservice to the country.”
He hopes that Minister Nyanti and her team will go deeper in their efforts to reimage and redeploy Liberia’s best to represent the country internationally.
