By K. Ericson Sayee

MONROVIA, July 29 (LINA) – Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh has expressed his opinion on the statement made by the orator of Liberia’s 177th Independence Day against the United States of America, terming it as incorrect and that the U.S. has been Liberia's long-standing partner.

"The United States is our partner, our friend, and our ally. Truth be told, if not for the U.S., Liberia would not exist today. We would have been broken up and absorbed by colonial powers," Senator Konneh said.

Senator Konneh's response comes in the wake of the national orator's statement against the U.S., during her oration at the official indoor ceremony of the nation’s 177th Independence Day on July 26, 2024.

The orator contended: “Truth be told, the USA has taken more from us than we have received. Liberia is nobody's stepchild.”

Senator Konneh took to his social media page on July 27, 2024, and indicated that although the U.S. was the last to recognize Liberia's independence, as the orator rightly stated, the United States was the protector of the country's independence, "saving us from further annexation by the United Kingdom (Sierra Leone) and France (Cote d’Ivoire)".

He added that most of Liberia's core and endearing infrastructure - RIA, JFK, Port of Monrovia, to name a few – were built by the United States furthering that when Liberia was besotted by war and self-annihilation in the 1990s, it was the United States that stepped in 2003 to end the violence and bring about the peace we enjoy today.