On Thursday, President Bush will be stopping in Liberia for 5 hours to meet with President Sirleaf. Monrovia’s hotels are awash with American security and presidential advance teams. Roads that have sorely been in the need of repair are suddenly being torn up and re-paved – all because the motorcade will be passing over them. Fences are getting re-painted and decorations are going up on the unoccupied Executive Mansion. This is a big event for Liberia. Rumor has it that Thursday might even be declared a national holiday. On Saturday I attended a meeting of the traditional chiefs from the 15 counties. In his opening remarks, the chairman of the National Traditional Council said, “in Liberia, we have Jesus Christ. Not so?†The chiefs affirmed. “On Thursday, God is coming.†Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Jesus Christ and President Bush is God. That’s one way of putting it.
