Official Anniversary Message of the Chairman of the Vanguard Student Unification Party (SUP) marking the 52nd Anniversary Celebration (December 9, 2022)
Delivered by:
Cde. Mustapha N. Kanneh- Chairman-SUP
President and Board Members of the University of Liberia;
Members of ULFA; Members of ULSA
Veterans here present and in extension;
Student of the University of Liberia and Student-militants of the Revolutionary Vanguard Student Unification Party;
First, we pay esteemed homage to Wuo Gappie Tappia, Wiwi Dabbah, Marcus Dolo, Tonia Richardson, Momolu Lavala, and all cadres of the Vanguard Student Unification Party and the Liberian Progressive intelligentsia who paid the supreme sacrifice with their lives in the national democratic revolution of this country.
For us, these men and women are national heroes and heroines, for they embodied the baronial characters of relenting nationalism and selfless discipline and were willing to even pay dearly with their lives in fighting that which suppressed their people and condemned them to primitive existence.
Today is not the establish date for the anniversary celebration as stipulated in the constitution of the Student Unification Party, but we deem it necessary to adjust the celebration to this day because of some constrained circumstances. As we go about celebrating this day every year, what we cannot avoid or make unnoticed in our gathering- are the memories and remembrance of Wuo Garbi Tappia, Lawrence Moore, Irene Nimpson, Gwenderlyn Dabah Wilson and the other comrades who fell to death while in defence of Massescracy. Let’s all stand for a moment of silence in honor of them.
Cde. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, our awe-inspiring Keynote Speaker and Chairman Emeritus of our party, Comrades and friends, members of the fourth estate, cadres and veterans of the Liberian progressive intelligentsia, conscious university students- especially the #FixTheCountry Generation, leaders of the 31st Politburo and Central Committee, committed and disciplined militants profoundly leading the fight for a glorious homeland, cadres, stalwarts, sympathizers of Liberia’s lone surviving yet progressive institution, the never-relenting and never diminishing revolutionary Vanguard Student Unification Party-SUP!
Today is a remarkable day not just in the existence of our cherished Vanguard Student Unification Party, but the Liberian state as a whole, for the intrepid existence of this Party, has been the only fighting force for the social transformation of this country, and agitating for the harnessing of the natural resources of the country along the line of equanimity, and probity thus creating prosperity for the people, I mean a society that gives meaning to the dreams and aspirations of the people and transforms the talents of the young people into a mechanic tool for the wholesome building of a Liberia civilization, soaked within the Pan African heritage.
This is why the advocacy of this party has never been confined just to the narrow fence of the University of Liberia but has been a wholistic endeavor that deals with the social problems of the state and provides panaceas to the systemic flaws that debauch the state and keep the people in inertia. From 1970 to today’s date, comrades, this has been the path this party has traversed. This is the great Vanguard Student Unification Party for you!
Reflecting on how far we have come as an institution, the hurdles of struggle we have initiated, the price we have paid with the blood of some of the noblest and brilliant of our comrades, and our survival under some of the most wretched tyrannies in the chronicles of world history, comrades, we believe there are more genuine reasons why this journey must continue unabated with more vigor and staunch commitment for the questions of poverty and injustice remain unanswered in this country and the African continent as a whole.
We believe the fight for socialism, Pan-Africanism, and the unification of the continent in the dream espoused by Nkrumah, Fanon, Mandela, Tambo, Nasser, Tipoteh, Matthews, Kaunda, Fahnbulleh, Blyden, Cabral, and all their progressive contemporaries are now more relevant than the founding days.
Perhaps, many are yet to understand where we stand on the ideological question of the world and would like to once again make known our position that the Vanguard Student Unification Party is a Marxist-Leninist (Democratic Socialist) institution with a Pan-African approach to solve the African problems of economic exploitation, foreign monopoly capital, historical injustices, and neocolonialism. This is the Vanguard party for you!
Thank you all for joining us this time for what we hope will be a rewarding and engaging exchange.
I want to begin my brief discussions by honoring the wonderful people who have offered me the joy of thinking about the world in radical ways: parents, veterans, stalwarts, ideologues, professors and activists who have taught me Pan-Africanism, revolutionary pragmatism and emancipatory politics, and who continue to encourage me to be more and more critical and engaged in a radical yet peaceful and progresssive manner in the activities of my advocacy and political sojourn.
Comrades and friends, we are the only institution in the political history of this country that has continued to raise loft the banner of the workers, the peasants, and the poor masses of the Liberian people at a towering peak with no iota of compromise for this amount of years and more determined to do so than ever before. SUP is the only party that set examples in responding to the stages of historical developments of the people of this country and it has kept the banner of resistance and the character of genuine struggle against oppression and the debasement of our people for over five decades in this country.
This is why the class enemies will never forgive us! Whether it is the moribund True Whig Party with arrogant posturing of Chauvinism, the despotic military junta of Doe and backward ethnic divide and broad day looting of the Interm Goverments, the criminal tyranny of Taylor, the Sirleaf mafia rule of mass thievery, or the current Weah gangster rule of misfits career scoundrels, these people will never forgive us in standing to their misrules.
Comrades and friends, like all before us, our generation is confronted with a complex task and we are conscious of the burdens and fetid consequences that comes with it. The last decade in the existence of our party has been very challenging but worthwhile in terms of the experiences we have had which have made us to retooled and rectified some of our strategies and program to fit the given circumstances.
We took over the party as chairman at a moment in the life of our country when our democracy was fast degenerating with corruption and bad governance becoming the normal order of the day and no one dares challenge the Weah tribal fascism but yet SUP was the last man standing to be tried and proved its historical struggle credentials of that unwavering voice of the Liberian people. The moment presented us with the options of standing for the honor of the country and the dignity of our people or perishing in cowardice. This was and is the situation we are confronted with.
Like all conscious generations of revolutionaries would do in history, we weighed the options and made choice, whether to struggle or perish — we chose the former. Not that which is fashionable and perhaps easy, but that which tries man’s soul and defines his character. We chose the path of struggle for the homeland and the social advancement of our people, the path to fight for justice, liberaty , fraternity and equality, and to defend our democracy. And since the making of that choice, comrades, we have been forever willing to pay the price associated with said choice even if it is at peril of our lives.
In our commitment to this, we would go on to organize the biggest resistance rally in the recent history of our country-styled #FixTheCountry, mobilizing the Liberian behind the banner of popular actions to demonstrate our unrepentant discontent over the way the Weah-CDC fascist is teetering the country on the brink of collapse and devastating explosion. In this #FixTheCountry campaign we persistently exposed the excesses and imbalances this government is inherently engulfed with and how discredited it is.
This is the fact that angered them to use thugs and goons to violently attack us on July 26, 2022, before the US Embassy for they trembled at our unyielding resolve to take them on. They attempted to take the lives of our comrades, especially Cde. Christopher Sivili alias Walter Sisulu and others including Abraham Nulah, Dave Howard, Paul Dolo, George Darsaw and others on that day. We survived simply because it is said men of destiny have charmed lives.
And never must this Weah government think that we have ever forgotten this situation! And as a way of demonstrating our determination to struggle and not waver because of intimidation, we responded on August 24, 2022, peacefully and furtherly put the regime on trial again. And we assure more of the mass actions going forward!
As we’ve tagged this year’s anniversary “Advancing New Dawn of Massescracy through Systemic Transformation, Democratic Governance and Electoral Transparency in Liberia; A Patriotic Call for Genuine Change-the Liberian People’s Agenda, we’ve come to remind our people how the democratic systems in Africa has failed and that Massescracy is the best leadership style that suits the governance systems on the continent.
Massescracy is the government that provides rulership for the people, of the people and by the people. A system that’s void of few rule while the majority languish in tartars and obscurity. Since the entry of democracy in our political sphere, there has been huge form of political malpractices and bad leadership on the citizenry of not only Liberia but the African people.
The systemic transformation that we need to balance our governance is far from the Weah-led administration. We cannot give a perfect score card to an administration that’s surrounded by sanctioned government confidants. We’ll never say yes to a President who leaves his fundamental responsibility to satisfy his social ego, using taxpayers money to support his unexplained travels abroad.
We’ll clap not for a president who spit on us with a government of poor health sector poor infrastructure, no agriculture investment, insecurity, lack of integrity and lack of electricity; whereas the RIA highway hitherto remains a death trap at night due to lack of electricity. We’ll give no salutation to a government who frowns on gender sensitivity and youth empowerment. A government that bastardizes the uprightness of women and its youths but yet give aliens and foreigners the privilege to insult their existences because of the crumbs government officials received from them.
The case of fallen Princess Cooper, Fahnboto, Emmanuel Cooper, Gifty Lanah, et al who were killed mysteriously is a clear reason why we will not kowtow in the powwow of such irresponsible and don’t care goverment. In SUP, we believe in the inclusion of women, security and economic advancement in every facets of society and not the other way around. We’re cognizant of the impeccable and numerous roles women and youth has played hitherto.
From the dark days of the revolution till now, women and youth have always rendered extreme sacrifices which today we can boast. That’s the reason why we give a huge stage to women’s participation in our party as well as provide cadet training for other young comrades The Presidium bureau of our party has never rested in pushing genuine women-affected issues on the land. We prioritize the rights of women and have provided a huge opportunity for their ascendency at the Politburo, the highest-making body of our institution.
As we gear toward the electoral process, as part of the theme is captioned “Democratic Governance and Electoral Transparency”, we call for a free, fair and transparent elections. The freeness of this electoral process begins with conduct of a credible census, citizens’ engagement, voters registration and voters roll updates, sensitization of the electorates on the voting guidelines et cetera.
Next, I would like to situate my ideas within the geo-political context of the popular uprising that continues to take place around the world as people organize against neoliberal policies of advanced capitalism and the resultant of gross inequalities of wealth, health, and education.
Accompanying the intensifying neoliberal crises – manifested through the financial crisis, food security crisis, and struggles over land reform and landed property – is an ever-expanding militarization. The US military has more bases and more personnel stationed in more countries than ever in its history. The US Africa Command is one component of the US military’s current phase of expansion, including millions of dollars of military equipment, arms, and training in African nations and in the middle east.
The deteriorating condition of Liberia and Africa at large on an industrial scale is something that should claim the concern of veterans, stalwarts, ideologues, militants and cadres of the nation-state thereby allowing them to have a thoughtful mind to extinguish these factors that are engulfed with the proclivity of rotting the Liberian people into wretch, tatters and economic degeneracy; and that which are tools of the advanced capitalist system- neoliberalism.
The revolutionary transformation of this West African nation, Liberia, and African cannot occur without the overthrow of capitalism/neocolonialism through the courageous participation of noblemen, women, and the student unification party who have always been in the vanguard with other national patriotic movements since the 1970s to current.
The Student Unification Party (SUP) we know, at no time in society have the history of compromise and cannot abandon the suffering of the ordinary people. The indignation of the African people on the own soil caused them to go revolutionary. This and many more are the reasons the Vanguard Student Unification Party operates so as the People Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) that was guarded by cadres Augustinho Neto and viriato da Cruz ,the FRELIMO of Mozambique that struggle with the people of Africa, The African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) that was led by Amicar Cabral, a brave soldier of the African people’s revolution.
Umkhonto Sizwe- the arm wing of the ANC of South Africa that confronted the Apartheid in the heydays of Colonialism, The South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia that was led by Sam Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) which was led by the progressive class of Liberia (Tipoteh, Matthews & Fahnbulleh et al) and many other heroic and patriotic movements in Africa that stood frame in rationalizing injustice and inequality in the most radical form where their militants and cadres paid the ultimate sacrifices for these decisions. This is our contemporary moment as we celebrate the 52th anniversary of the Student Unification Party.
Finally, as we go to the 2023 elections, and like the theme for this anniversary depicts: “Advancing A New Dawn of Massecracy through Systemic Transformation, Democratic Governance and Electoral Transparency in Liberia; A Patriotic Call for Genuine Change- the Liberian Peoples’ Agenda, we want to be emphatically clear that Madam Davidetta Brown Lassanah, the National Elections Commission chairperson is wrongfully proceeding in the management of the processes leading 2023 general and presidential elections.
The conflict of interest in the bidding process for the contract and the unjustifiable postponement in the voter’s registration all speak volumes to the sinister intent she wants to handle next year. We want to state here categorically that Madam Lassanah should stop all these ugly gimmicks that got the proclivity to plunge our country into tension during the 2023 elections and focus on doing her job in a profound yet credible manner void of partizan inclination. We want to make it known to madam Lassanah that SUP will settle for nothing less than a free, fair transparent, and credible elections process as we go to the 2023 General and Presidential elections.
SUP will not sit silently to see Madame Lassana lead the Liberian people into a elections full of discrepancies and ill-fated practices. SUP will condone no elections that’s surrounded with corrupt election commissioners. SUP will give no attention to a electioneering process of gerrymandering that will not be inclusive of people in the high ways and byways, elections must be decentralized.
SUP will resist any contaminated elections with courage and will gravitate the Liberian people towards a democratic process that is free, fair and credible. Liberia at this crucial point will not be abandoned by the Vanguard Party unlike Mr. Weah who has abandoned the State for 48 days.
As we know again, the Student Unification Party is the hub for intellectualism and radical politics in the Republic and will not sit and allow political flunkies and ideological misfits to dictate the course of election activities as we approach 2023 elections, SUP will be actively involved.
Its militants and cadres are the ones who are the backbones of all the leading political institutions in this country and we like to assured that the militants, cadres and stalwarts of the revolutionary Vanguard Student Unification Party will be at forefront of national debates and the decision-making process of our country comes 2023 and beyond.
On this note, we want to urge all militants, cadres, stalwarts and veterans of SUP ready themselves to execute the task at hand which to rescue our beloved country from black fascism, mass looting and gangsterism from these political laggards, misfits and career scoundrels. Until this mandate is executed, the redemption struggle of Liberia continues unabatedly.
Thank you all…
Long Live Massescracy — Long live SUP
Gwei Fei Kpeh — the struggle continues unabated!
