Welcome back to the FunTimes Exchange. Today, we're jumping into a truly compelling story about rebuilding a nation after war and how one man's principled leadership transformed an entire institution against impossible odds.
We're looking at Liberia, specifically the remarkable transformation of the Liberian National Police. We're drawing from an incredible source about Joseph C. Kekula, the "architect of Liberia's modern police" and his story will challenge everything you think you know about institutional reform in post-conflict societies.
You'll discover his strategic moves: raising police salaries from $16 to $90 a month, demilitarizing police ranks, building riot control capacity with Nigeria's help, and reconnecting Liberia to international crime networks. But most importantly, you'll see how these reforms culminated in the ultimate test: securing Liberia's first post-war presidential election and proving that broken institutions can be rebuilt from the ground up. So let's explore how an "accidental architect" helped rebuild a nation, one reform at a time.
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