Monrovia, Dec. 9 -- FrontPageAfrica's Year in Review has once again revealed a truth that too many public officials in Liberia refuse to accept. Governance requires transparency, measurable results, and the humility to acknowledge shortcomings. Performance reviews are not attacks and criticism is not conspiracy.

They are tools in a democracy designed to push institutions toward improvement. Yet the Ministry of Youth and Sports under Cole Bangalu and the Ministry of Gender under Gbeme Kollie responded to their ratings not with introspection but with indignation, deflection, and emotional outbursts that say more about their leadership than their ministries' work throughout the year.

Their reactions became a spotlight of their own, expos...