Published: June 29, 2026
MONROVIA – The keynote speaker at the inauguration of the Federation of Liberian Youth has called on the government to respect the federation’s court-backed leadership and treat it as an independent development partner, while cautioning the new officials against turning the organization into a political tool.
Siafa Bahn Kemokai II urged national leaders to become genuine bridges for youth development rather than bureaucratic obstacles, and challenged the new FLY leadership to remain independent, serve all Liberian youth and resist political patronage.
He spoke Saturday during the inauguration, held in Monrovia under the theme “Strengthening Youth Leadership for National Transformation.” The ceremony brought together senior government officials, youth leaders, civil society representatives and other dignitaries, and marked the official installation of FLY’s new leadership following a prolonged electoral dispute that the courts ultimately resolved.
Opening with a story about an old cotton tree in Grand Cape Mount County, Kemokai likened the federation to an enduring national institution whose survival depends on collective stewardship.
“Many years ago, in a village in Cape Mount, there stood an old Cotton tree at the center of the town. The tree was the largest tree anyone living in the village could remember. It is so large that its shade alone could shelter the whole village square,” he said. “Under that tree, palm-wine tappers gathered every evening, elders held council, children learned their first lessons, and the whole community settled its disputes. The tree had stood since before the oldest grandmother could remember, and the people had come to believe it would simply stand forever, the way we sometimes believe our institutions, like FLY, will simply endure on their own.”
Kemokai, a public administration lecturer, diplomat and Special Assistant to Justice Minister and Attorney General Cllr. N. Oswald Tweh, said FLY has served as Liberia’s statutory umbrella youth organization for more than five decades. The body has survived political transitions, civil conflict and post-war reconstruction because it continues to give young Liberians a unified national voice, he said.
Reflecting on the federation’s recent leadership dispute, Kemokai praised all parties for choosing legal processes over violence.
“To the outgoing leadership, to every contestant, and to every FLY stakeholder who had a part in this dispute: thank you for choosing the law over lawlessness and the courtroom over chaos,” he said. “That is rope and clay applied to a cracked trunk, the discipline that binds a wound instead of letting it split the tree in two. In a region where youth political contests have too often ended in confrontation, FLY has shown that young people can disagree fiercely and still resolve that disagreement peacefully and lawfully.”
He questioned whether state institutions have shown the same respect for the judicial process.
“If young people have shown this much discipline in resolving our own house’s dispute, a fair question follows: has the state shown the same respect for the outcome?” Kemokai asked.
He warned that governments cannot urge citizens to trust the courts while refusing to recognize leadership validated through judicial decisions.
“A government that asks its young people to trust the courts cannot then treat a court-validated leadership as though it does not exist. That is not merely inconsistent; it undermines the very rule of law the state asks its citizens to respect,” he said.
Kemokai said his remarks were not meant to embarrass anyone but to encourage honesty and institutional accountability.
“It is on this basis that I call on our national state actors to be true bridges of youth development, not obstacles dressed up in bureaucratic language,” he said.
Youth and student organizations must be allowed to organize freely, elect their own leaders and engage government through legitimately elected leadership, he said.
“This is not a favor the state grants; it is a right, and it is good governance, because independent youth movements provide a vital check and balance on the conduct of the state itself,” he said.
Kemokai also warned the new leadership to preserve the federation’s independence.
“FLY must never be reduced to the wings and caprices of any individual or political patron. Rather, it must be treated by the state as what it truly is. FLY is a key development partner of the Republic of Liberia, with a seat at the table, not a constituency courted only at election time,” he said.
Turning to the new officials, he reminded them that they were elected to serve every young Liberian, not themselves, political patrons or factions within the federation.
“Every young person, in every county and every community, regardless of political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, or economic status must see the impact of FLY,” he said, adding that a national youth organization must never serve sectional or partisan interests.
Kemokai also pointed to what he called one of FLY’s greatest institutional shortcomings, the absence of a permanent national headquarters despite more than 50 years of existence. He challenged the new leadership to mobilize support from government, the private sector, the diaspora and development partners to build a permanent home for the federation.
“It is precisely here that innovation must replace lament. I therefore challenge this new leadership, and all of us gathered here, to make history together. Let our generation be remembered as the one that finally gave FLY a national headquarters through creative partnerships with government, private investors, the diaspora, and development partners. All it takes is determination and innovation,” he said.
The true success of the government’s ARREST Agenda would not be measured by speeches but by whether youth organizations such as FLY are treated as genuine partners in national development, he said.
Concluding, Kemokai urged the new officials to safeguard the federation’s independence and called on government leaders to respect lawful institutions and support youth development.
“To the national leaders, be bridges, not barriers. And to every young Liberian listening: the law that resolved FLY’s dispute is the same law that will protect your future, if we remain disciplined enough to trust it,” he said.
“Fifty years lie behind us; a stronger Federation, a stronger partnership, and a transformed nation lie ahead of us. Let us go, then, and build it.”
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