By E. Geedahgar Garsuah
MONROVIA: The Resident Pastor of the Trinity Healing Temple Church, Sylvester T. Toe, has highlighted the need to give honor to those to whom honor is due, placing special emphasis on the critical roles mothers play during child birth.
“As the world takes upon itself to celebrate and honor Mothers, this day and this month, we want to highlight the roles of Mothers and strongly drive home the fact that they deserve the highest honor,” Pastor Toe indicated in a sermon he delivered last Sunday.
Pastor Toe also used the occasion to urge the Liberian Government to direct more of its attention on ensuring that maternal mortality is reduced while rallying the support of his congregation to hold policymakers’ feet to the fire in addressing the rising number of death caused by maternal mortality.
He said: “There are no emergencies for pregnant mothers in this county. Let’s honor mothers by fighting to reduce the Maternal Mortality rate in our country. Let’s honor them by demanding our government, our lawmakers and our president and vice President to create adequate healthcare aimed at reducing their pains and suffering.”
“Let’s honor mothers by keeping their children healthy. Lawmakers need to enact laws that will call for all wives and concubines of all officials of government to attend medical treatment here in Liberia,” Pastor Toe intoned.
Highlighting the many crucial roles mothers play in the society, Pastor said:
“Mothers are always faced with crises caused by so many factors and challenges in Liberia, he stressed.
Their role in creation is in itself a crisis. When everyone is in crisis, mothers are asked to do the impossible.
Mothers find themselves in tremendous financial, physical, emotional, abusive, marital and other forms of crisis each day.
It is easy for a mother to go many years as a single woman who has to painfully care for her children. Whether she was unfortunately raped before bearing such a child, she never abandons her child.
Even if the father decided to be a useless and irresponsible who abandons his children just because he is in another relationship, many Mothers do not abandon their children.”
The clergyman asserted that one of the best methods to honor Liberian mothers is for the Government of Liberia (GOL) to ensure that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers get the best medical attentions through the construction substantial health facilities, managed by professional medical personnel.
Pastor Toe, however, expressed frustration over the fact that past and present government officials who are beneficiaries of taxpayers’ dollars often fly their wives, children and other associates including concubines abroad for advanced maternity and other medical treatments, while the vast majority of the Liberian women, girls, children and other poor citizens are left at the mercy of substandard and underfunded hospitals and clinics as “quack doctors” are also roaming the country.
“One best way to honor mothers in this country is for central government to afford pregnant mothers with adequate healthcare through substantial health facilities. Most times, officials of our government do not care because their wives and concubines travel out of the country for advanced countries such USA, France, UK, among others to give birth,” and to benefit from other associated privileges including citizenship in those countries.
While decrying the dilapidated conditions of state-owned healthcare facilities across Liberia and in an apparent jab at the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)-led government, Pastor Toe questioned the essence of constructing the 14 Military Hospital and other public hospitals when they are not fully supported by the government and to make them offer quality medical services for the vast majority of the poor in Liberia.
“Go to JFK, go to Redemption, the usual song is no bed; no drug/medicine or the main doctor is not here. We are not supposed to be building ‘14 Military Hospital’, we are supposed to be building 15 hospitals around the country or at least upgrading the existing ones,” he noted.
He called on members of the 54th National Legislature to enact laws beyond their personal interests and aggrandizement, to positively impact the citizenry.
In the same vein, as the country approaches the conduct of the much-anticipated October 10, 2023 Presidential and Legislative elections, Pastor Toe has cautioned voters to elect leaders who, by their deeds, and words, demonstrated fear for God, a foundation upon which, he says, such leaders will be inspired to doing right things in their services to the country.
Pastor Toe: “As we face elections, let’s honor our mothers by electing leaders that will do the right things, not leaders who will come to our mothers to buy their votes with few cups of rice and stolen public funds for personal aggrandizement.
