I read on the BBC last week that the Nigerian parliament is holding a public debate intended to gather support for a proposed bill that will officially ban the practice of homosexuality in that country. If this succeeds, Nigeria would have taken a bold legal stance against homosexuality on the continent.
While our Nigerian brothers and sisters were debating the illegality of homosexuality over the weekend, in such places as Abuja, Lagos, and elsewhere, their cousins to the west, in Liberia, awoke to a photographic embarrassment in which their Minister of State Willis Knuckles poses as a sexual protagonist in an orgy with two women.
Expectedly, Minister Knuckles has come out to admit that he is the the one in the picture, offering apologies to his wife, family, friends, the President and to the Republic for the embarrassment his action has caused. But the minister stopped short of the wise, expected and prudent action--resignation.
His refusal to step down after embarrassing the nation makes me wonder what would have happened if this had been in Nigeria. I am just curious to know what would the head of the Nigerian Anglican Church, Archbisphop Peter Jasper Akinnola, who broke away from the Episcopal Church of the United States over the ordination of gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson, have said to President Olusegun Obasanjo if one of his ministers had been caught in such gross sexual indecency? I guess Bishop Akinnole would not have had to say anything because that minister would have resigned on his own accord, fearing the rebuke of the Nigerian public that has little patience and tolerance for such deviant sexual depravity seeming so disrespectful of African women.
I even wonder whether President Obasanjo would have waited after Friday's prayers to be pressured by the late Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Mohammadu Maccido, former spiritual leader of Nigeria's 70 million Muslims. You bet not!
Fellow Liberians, I am not judging Mr. Knuckles here, neither should anyone. He made a terrible mistake and has apologized and must be forgiven-- he's human. I'm no moral compass for the Tera Connors, the Ted Haggards, and the Anna Nicole Smiths of this world. Neither am I one of the Pharisees who took it upon himself to stone the woman caught in the act of adultery.
But I have a right to demand the resignation of a minister whose sexual misconduct has brought disrepute to his office, shame to the presidency, and indignity to the nation. You have that same right as well. If Minister Knuckles were a private citizen, we would not be having this conversation. But as a public figure, he can not be caught in such an act and still expect to remain in his position.
No government official or public figure should get away with this type of behavior in our democracy. In an era where Liberians hope to raise the profile of the Liberian woman in all spheres of Liberian life, Minister Knuckles' refusal to resign undermines this effort. I call on Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's and Africa's first female President, to request the resignation of the disgraced minister, sparing her office, the women of Liberia, and the entire country the emotional pain and embarrassment of Minister Knuckles' behavior.
If the president can not act, then we need to hear the voices of the pastors, the bishops, the imams, who nourish the moral direction of the state. What is Pastor Dr. Sam Reeves of Providence Baptist Church saying? Is Pastor Reverend Trokon Lanford of Effort Baptist Church appalled by Mr. Knuckles' act? I want to know whether Pastor Wolo M. Belleh of the Bethel Cathedral of Hope will be requesting the minister's resignation in this Sunday's sermon. There has to be somebody in that ecumenical body who will raise a loud voice and tell Minister Knuckles: "We love you and forgive you, but you ought to step down."
But if our Christian community fails us in this regard, our Islamic conscience must not let us down. Are Imams Mohammed Umaru Sheriff and Imam Vangomor Tully of the the Supreme Muslim Council ready to take a stand?
Like their Nigerian counterparts, Liberian Christian and Muslim leaders must never allow such precedent, where a minister will be involved in a sexual debauchery and refuse to resign.
Is there any role for civil society, the media and opposition political parties in this scandal? Shouldn't they compel the resignation of the minister? Are newspapers and radio stations prepared to sanction the executive until Mr. Knuckles leaves the Ministry of State?
If anything, I know one group of people who will inevitably issue a call for resignation-- the men and women of the University of Liberia. I expect SUP, SIM and STUDA to demand the resignation of the minister.
I admire the Nigerians, and I know exactly what they would do in this situation. I know what they would say to President Obasanjo. They would shout in Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, and English and demand the resignation of such a minister. Can my native Liberia do the same?
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It stands to reason that Mr. Willis Knuckles should, by his admission to the act, step down. And it is also correct to admit that for many, many years moral depravity has been the number one enemy of the Liberian nation.The Knuckles' act must be seen as the eye-opener to the horrors and the demeaming adventures supposedly men in higher offices and others engage in. Let me give you an example: long before the Knuckles' saga, (a friend, let me leave his name out, told me this), John (for the sake of this story) was a manager of a thriving business on Carey Street in Monrovia. And very often the young women around the area would approach him or request for monetary assistance. He said he saw how vulnerable the women were and decided to do what they would ask for, but with the understanding that "nothing for nothing." Liberians reading this will understand what I mean.
So this friend told me that he invited one of those girls into his office and he could see the pleading eyes of the young woman, requesting for platonic assistance and nothing else.
My friend said he informed his office secretary he would not receive any more visitors that morning since he was very busy with some "business". Walking back to his chair, he made sure that the office door was locked from the inside.
Meanwhile, the young woman was there in the office, observing my friend's action. And truly she understood what she had to do to get the assistance.
And here, it is shame I write and it is shame you will read this. My friend said he went into action and engaged in a sexual encounter with the young woman right there in the office.
Another story I stumbled upon is this: visit any of the various offices in Monrovia, and in the manager's office, you will see a long chair or a couch on the side of the wall. That couch is easily turned into a bed whenever the legs are pulled backwards or extended somehow.
And again it is with sadness thatI relate this story and it is the same vein you should read it. Many women lost their dignity in offices like that.
Now who are to be blamed? It is the men and only men who feel that society has granted us the power to abuse our sisters. In a society where surviving is like war, is there anything strange to see such abuse of women? But again I need to be careful since many things are done in bedrooms that may make Mr. Knuckles' adventure seem like a child's play.
Today's Liberia has more men from all parts of the world. And it is the men who carry out such acts or some women who insist they are more turned on to engage in certain practices.
The Knuckles' saga should open another avenue for the Legislature to come up with bills that can, in a great measure, provide protection and punishment for activits. It is a crying shame that a highly respected individual like Knuckles could find himself in such somewhat debased engagement. And whether someone set him up or not, that he engaged in such a practice is heart rendering.
Like many have said, it will serve an ideal situation for him to resign from the government. But should the government insist that there is some confidence remains with Knuckles will be an attempt to encourage lawlessness and abuse.
This is a sad day for many of us who had held Mr. Knuckles with the highest excellence in human relatioships.
I share his pain but he must accept his sin and find a way to move on.
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