Haiti: The imperative of now.
Over the past few weeks, there has been a resurgence of insecurity, particularly in the number of kidnappings that have been reported. Those who have political power in Haiti – I avoid calling them leaders because they are operating outside the laws or any norms – have decided that it was better to respond with a strategy of propaganda rather than develop and implement policies to protect the population. And yet, even with the best propaganda machine, the President, his de-facto government and interim police chief cannot refute what we all know, which is that all of Haiti’s indicators are on red.
Whether one is a supporter of the current administration, agnostic or in opposition, it is impossible to deny that our country is facing one of the most difficult and dangerous periods it has ever seen. Here are just a few highlights:
Although IHSI (Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics) is closed because the staff is protesting the nomination of an unqualified Director to head it, we know that unemployment is growing because businesses are either reducing staff or closing.
The most recent report from BRH (Bank of the Republic of Haiti) indicated that inflation for the last quarter of 2019 was at 20.30% and most economists are reporting that it [inflation] may already be as high as 25%.
BRH estimations are also in line with estimates that prices of local and imported products have soared by upward of 20 to 30%.
According to the CNSA (National Food Security Coordination ), the increase in food prices is the leading cause of the increase in the number of people who need emergency food aid. They estimate the number to be 3.67 million. about 35% of the population. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates this number to be closer to 4.6 million people or about 40% of the total population in which over 57% of them are women and 45.5% are children.
There is no parliament, no budget, no legitimate Prime Minister or government. Indeed, even the international “partners” who are supporting this government cannot provide it with ANY financial support because of its illegitimacy.
The country is ranked 182nd out of 190 countries in the 2019 Doing Business report issued by the World Bank.
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) which were already low decreased to USD 105 millions dollars in 2018, from USD 375 million in 2017. It was as bad in 2019 and will likely be far worst in 2020.
The foundational basis for the state and simplest justification for its existence is to protect its citizens from violence. By all indicators, this administration is failing at that basic responsibility. Meanwhile, the executive branch of the Haitian government and some members of the international community, particularly the UN, are claiming that the country is safe. Yet, many of those same countries are raising the travel advisory and advising their citizens to "avoid non-essential travel to Haiti due to the potential for civil unrest throughout the country." The UN Special Representative for Haiti believes that the reports of kidnapping are baseless and are part of a disinformation campaign by the opposition. Yet, she travels in an armored car followed by two back ups.
However, can they ignore the news from yesterday, in which we heard of the terrible murder of Jean Rubens Eugène. Jean was killed when he went to pay the ransom for five young colleagues from "Le Phare de la Cité" church, who themselves had been captured the Saturday before. Can we all just ignore these reprehensible acts and forget the lives lost. Can we all be complicit in this cover up?
As a society, we have become complacent and in fact complicit when it comes to illegality, injustice, immorality and just pure evilness. We accept the unacceptable even when we know who are the miscreants, criminals and scoundrels even as they devastate our communities and the country. Yet we invite them to our homes to socialize. We see officials who are earning the equivalent of $2500 a month build multimillion-dollar homes and accept this as normal. What is worst, we attend parties at those homes that are built with monies we know were stolen from the public coffers. We dance at their parties and drink their champagne.
Where we go from here and what we do is not just a challenge but it is a determinant of whether we live as human beings or allow the country to completely fall into lawlessness. My argument is simple: we have a moral imperative to act now! We must rouse our sense of justice and denounce what is happening, and stand against the banditry that has already taken too many innocent lives and destroyed far too many families and communities. It is now simply a matter of survival.
A friend of mine, who I respect a lot, reached out yesterday and made a few suggestions on what to do. I am supplementing his with my own, some of which I have made before.
1. The first step starts with being a citizen, which means civic actions:
Protest. This can be loud or silent but we must make it clear to those in power that we are weary and dissatisfied with how they are governing -- and some would argue they are not governing the country at all.
Hold a weekly lock. Concerned citizens should go out and just stay in their cars for a few hours. Do that once a week with one specific demand. Govern, which means protect us or leave!
Launch a tax resistance movement. Protecting life and property is the first role of government. If citizens are not getting that basic service from the state then they should withhold paying any taxes to DGI (Directorate General of Taxation). This can be done for at least a month as a start.
In solidarity, members of the diaspora should withhold remittances for a week. This will register on the economic indicators but also register Haitians abroad as stakeholders.
2. All civic actions should have clear demands, which can include:
Demand that the police control the movement of motorcycles. All moto taxi drivers should to be registered and controlled regularly.
Enforce the elimination and removal of all tinted windows in private or state owned cars. this policy was put in place by the Ceant administration and reaffirmed by Lapin.
Prohibit the movement of any car that doesn’t have a license plate. An act that is already against the law.
Enforce the policy that prohibits regular police officers from wearing hoods except during special interventions. This is an existing policy of the police department.
Demand that the phone companies and Conatel play a more productive roles during investigations.
Set up a free untracked hotline to report specific crimes such as kidnapping.
3. For those of us who have access to policymakers in the international community, the time to leverage those relationships to advocate for a different approach is now. If their policies are against our people and nation then we need to make a choice. The hypocrisy must end.
4. Boycott the carnival. It is immoral to spend money on carnival when nearly 40% of the population is food hungry.
5. Join and support the youth movement and leaders who are fighting for transparency and accountability.
There are surely many more options to consider but the worst one is to do nothing. The moral imperative of now dictates that we consider complacency as tantamount to complicity.