Liberian Perspectives

2011-06-05T23:17:00.002+02:00

Sunday, June 5
Important message to all readers
My blog 'Liberian Perspectives' has been moved to: http://blog.liberiapastandpresent.org and the present link will cease to function as from July 26, 2011... Liberia's Independence Day!

Many thanks for following my posts in the past and I invite you to continue to visit 'Liberian Perspectives' in its renewed and even more attractive form! And - of course - comments are always most welcome!

Dr Fred Van Der Kraaij ('VDK')

2011-05-21T11:02:00.011+02:00

Sunday May 22
More investors coming to Liberia

Liberia is not a poor country. It has abundant natural resources: gold, diamonds, iron ore, oil and timber. Its agricultural potential notably includes rubber and palm oil. In the 20th century this small West African country, the size of Ohio, had the world's largest rubber plantation, was Africa's largest producer of iron ore, and had the world's largest mercantile fleet. A bloody coup d'état in 1980 changed this situation. Master-Sergeant Doe assassinated the Americo-Liberian president William R. Tolbert Jr., a Baptist pastor, and became the first indigenous president of Africa's first and oldest republic. However, from a thin, soft-spoken 'liberator', Samuel Doe turne d into a greedy, corpulent dictator, who rigged elections, violated human rights and imprisoned political opponents - among them, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Prince Johnson, one of the warlords in Liberia's civil war, brutally tortured Doe to death in 1990. Another warlord, Charles Taylor, was elected in 1997, after the first civil war (1989-1996). Soon followed the second war (1997-2003). The 14 years of civil conflict killed an estimated 250,000 people, mutilated many more, and traumatized even more. When the civil war was over, the country had to start from scratch, foreign investors had left, the modern economy was ruined. Liberia was back to the situation in 1822, the year the first black colonists and people of mixed race arrived from overseas, the U.S.A., and imposed their rule on the indigenous population. Liberia started the 21st century with an elected president, former warlord Charles Taylor, who was forced to resign in 2003, subsequently went into exile, but was later handed over to the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, in the Netherlands, where he was charged with eleven criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in Sierra Leone's civil war (1991-2002). The verdict is due this year.

Liberia's hope now is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former international banker and international civil servant, and already for decades one of Liberia's most prominent citizens. She performed important functions in Liberia: in the late 1970s she was Minister of Finance serving in the Tolbert Administration. She became president of Liberia in 2006 following multi-party elections, defeating internationally acclaimed football star George Weah, and thus became Africa's first democratically elected female president.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's skills, experience and international connections have resulted in an impressive number of important achievements, in particular the cancellation of the country's staggering US$ 4 billion dollar debt and the signing of concession agreements with foreign investors. Liberians themselves do not have the capital needed to invest in major, large-scale productive activities in the country, exploiting the country's economic potential. This is an old story that has haunted the country's past and played an important role in its internal politics. It even was a major cause of the country's first coup d'état, in 1871. But let's return to 2011.

Liberia's three million people are among the poorest of the planet. 85% of the people live on less than US$ 1 a day. I will not quote more statistics - most statistics are 'guesstimates'. However, unemployment in the modern economy is sky-high, salaries for paid jobs extremely low, and people in the subsistence economy survive at an extremely low level. Hence, any investor - foreign or domestic - is expected to provide relief, opportunities and hope.

Since the start of her Administration, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has managed to convince a growing number of foreign investors to come and invest in Liberia. Like in the 'good old days', the late 1950s end early 1960s, when Liberia had double digit growth figures and ranked among the fastest growing economies of the world.

President Sirleaf achievements
Among the foreign investors in the country's rubber sector are the nowadays Japanese owners of the former US rubber giant Firestone. She has atracted important foreign investors in the gold and mining sector too, but may be her biggest success was the multi-billion dollar deal with steel giant Mittal to exploit the rich Yekepa iron ore deposits and rehabilitate the former LAMCO mine, in the north of the country, bordering Guinea. This week it was announced that a US$ 3.1 billion investment in the palm oil sector was agreed, with a Malaysian investor. This raises total foreign investments in the palm oil sector to over US$ 5 billion! The investments will be spread over the coming years and Liberia may thus become one of the world's major producer of palm oil and related products.

Foreign investors need political and macroeconomic stability and sound macroeconomic policies that are conducive to economic growth, and they do not want to deal with predatory, corrupt politicians, civil servants or other people. However, Liberia was declared the world's most corrupt country in 201o by Transparency International and the 2010 Human Rights report of the U.S. State Department also was not very flattering for the country, accusing the Liberian judicial system of corruption.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had proven her important stabilizing role in the present political and economic environment. Her engagement in fighting corruption is equally important. She is convinced that Liberia has to recover, the country has to be reconstructed after the devastating years of the recent past.

In October of this year presidential elecions will be held. Among the main candidates are the imcumbent president, the 72-year old Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Winston Tubman, nephew of Liberia's longest serving President William Tubman of Americo-Liberian descent - who ruled the country for 27 years; Prince Johnson, nowadays Senator in the Liberian Legislature, and who tortured President Doe to death; and Charles Brumskine, once a Taylor ally, now an independent candidate.

To be continued

2011-04-12T21:42:00.020+02:00

Tuesday April 12

Which way, Ivory Coast?

April 12 is a date to remember. Liberians immediately think of April 12 1980: the day Master Sergeant Samuel Doe seized power and the country made a U-turn from which it still has to recover. Ivorians now have their own 'April 12': the day Alassane Ouattara finally got hold of the presidency, after the arrest of his opponent, the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo who refused to give up power peacefully after losing the elections. Early December 2010 both men were sworn in as the country's new president. For the past four months, the country has been on the brink of a civil war - and it still is. Alassane Ouattara got 55% of the votes, Laurent Gbagbo 45%. While publicly fighting, the two opponents seem not to dislike each other. However, after the fighting started, tens of thousands Ivorians have fled to neighbouring Liberia, maybe even more than a hundred thousand. See my December 9 posting, 'Liberia and the Ivory Coast Crisis', which also explains the power vacuum left by the death of the country's first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, in 1993. Since then, the country has experienced turmoil. Will that be ending now? Where will Ivory Coast be heading to? In my opinion there are three options. First, and let's look at the Ivorian scene from a positive and optimistic angle, Allassane Ouattara - his name indicates his Burkinabe origin - manages to install himself as the country's legitimate president and convinces his fellow-countrymen to forget about revenge. After all, some 45% of the people voted for Gbagbo. The exodus of Ivorians now taking place contradicts the probability of this option. People who are fleeing and leaving the country are not thinking of revenge but they may translate the feelings of people in their community who decide to stay. The abundance of weapons in the region is another reason to worry. This brings me to the second option. Another civil war will ravage the region - after the wars in Sierra Leone and in Liberia. In this option there will be rising numbers of IPDs, internally displaced persons (Ivorians who look for a safe shelter within their own country) and of refugees, people fleeing to neighbouring countries: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Liberia. It will be clear that in this option the regional perturbation may inspire governments of countries involved - directly or indirectly - to intervene, openly or covertly. This reaction might not be restricted to neighbouring countries. The regional 'policeman' - Nigeria - may be willing to intervene, to confirm its positions as the region's superpower. This brings me to the last option: foreign intervention.

Just as France intervened military in Ivory Coast, which made yesterday's arrest of Laurent Gbagbo possible, Nigeria may have its own reasons to intervene. After all, Nigeria did come to the rescue of Liberia, in 1990. The reasons are known, allegedly 'special' relations between then Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida and the Liberian President Samuel Doe. This week, presidential elections will be held in Nigeria and most likely the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan - who took over from president Yar'Adua who died in office - will win the elections. Once he is elected in his own right, President Goodluck Jonathan may decide to confirm Nigeria's aspirations, not only to belong to the G20 - the world's leading 20 economies - in 2020 but also to be a superpower in Africa. After all, Nigeria is not only the second economy in Sub-Saharan Africa but with 150 million inhabitants also Africa's biggest country. One out of every five black Africans is Nigerian.

As April 12 1980 was a U-turn for Liberia , I hope that April 12 2011 turns out to be a U-turn for the people of Ivory Coast. The country has all the potential to become one of the region's leading economies, after Nigeria and Ghana. As the French say: 'Affaire à suivre' - which means: To be followed.

2011-03-08T21:26:00.004+01:00

Tuesday, March 8
Addition to my March 1 posting on 'Bullet or ballot propelled changes in Africa'

There are over 50 'countries' in 'Africa' - the smallest being the Seychelles, population wise, the biggest of course Nigeria - so the fact that I missed two countries in my last posting may be pardoned. Nevertheless, a serious error. Since I was focusing on the countries where presidential elections would be held I did not mention the two Presidents who as far back as 1979 (!) assumed the Presidency: Angola's President José Eduardo dos Santos and Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who became President in a coup that led to the execution of his deposed uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema.

Nowadays 67-year-old José Eduardo dos Santos, who succeeded Agostinho Neto who had died in office, is known as Angola's silent leader. Presidential elections are not held in the country. President Teodoro Nguema suffers from prostate cancer and prepares his corrupt playboy-son-turned-minister Teodorin for the Presidency of this oil-rich country, Africa's Kuwait. Very recently, 'Teodorin' came into the news because of his purchase of a 375 million dollar yacht. But who's to blame? The 'bad guy' Teodorin, the oil companies, the Swiss banks or the German shipyards?

By the way, this dynasty thing of African leaders, I don't get it. When Gabon president Omar Bongo, Africa's longest ruling President, died in June 2009, he was succeeded by his son Ali . Four years earlier Togolese President Eyadéma had died and he was also succeeded by this son, Faure Ngassingbé. And when in 2001 President Laurent Kabila was shot - by one of his security guards - his son Joseph still managed to get a popular vote allowing him to rule as the president of this vast Central African country. Wikileaks recently revealed that Joseph Kabila bribed members of the Congolese Parliamant to ensure his forthcoming re-election, in November of this year.

Some people have qualified the present decade as 'The Scramble for African Oil' - referring to the Scramble for Africa, the colonial conquest of Afica, as from the 1880s onwards. Of course, it is not only oil. Also coltan, for instance, in Eastern Congo, which keeps the war in this vast Central African country going.

So far, we only dicscussed African presidents and no kings, although the line between them seems to be thin. Consequently we haven't mentioned King Mwsati III of Swaziland who rules since 1986.

There seems to be a big gap between the populace and the elite - in almost every African country - and where leaders are not inclined to listen to the people, their day will come.

A big question remains: How to judge people who with the connivance of Swiss bankers, Western oil companies, and European and US political leaders - who sought their own interests - took advantage of the circumstances and enriched themselves, illegally.

The ballot or the bullet????

2011-03-01T22:27:00.006+01:00

Tuesday, March 1
Ballot or bullet propelled changes in Africa in 2011?

In January, Tunisia's President Ben Ali fell and in February Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. Will in March the Libyan people oust its leader, Muammar Muhammed al-Gaddafi aka Colonel Gaddafi? Where will Gaddafi go to? To his friend Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe?Will he join Ethiopia's former dictator, 'the Red Emperor', Mengistu Haile Mariam, who lives just outside the capital of Harare, or will he share the fate of Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu who was dethroned by a people's revolution and after a two-hour trial executed? Both Gaddafi and Ceausescu created a pervasive personality cult and in the end were completely disconnected from reality. Or will Colonel Gaddafi follow former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor's footsteps in The Hague and stand trial before the International Criminal Court for human rights violations, mass murder and crimes against humanity? Will his reign come to an end by revolutionary forces or will there be a US-led military intervention to stop an emerging civil war causing tens of thousands mainly migrant workers to flee to neighboring countries? How many uncertainties there are, there is no doubt that Gaddafi is on his way out. His widely televised delusional speech yesterday reminds us of the Iraqi Information Minister who standing before a camera in 2003 denied the advancement of US troops while bombs exploded behind his back.

It is the end of an era. In 1972, three years after Colonel Gaddafi had seized power and dethroned King Idriss I visited Libya and was very much impressed. The country's capital Tripoli was well organized, the bonanza of the oil revenues was clearly visible in this sparsely populated country of less than two million people. Nowadays, the per capita income in this North African country is among the highest in Africa, only surpassed by the tiny Central African oil state of Equatorial Guinea.

As referred to in my posts of November 5 last year and January 4 this year, the year 2011 is a year of elections in Africa. The power of the ballot box. Presidential elections are scheduled in 18 African countries: 6 in West Africa (Benin, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Liberia, Niger and Nigeria), 5 in Central Africa (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sao Tomé & Principe) , 3 in Eastern Africa (Djibouti, Seychelles, Uganda), 3 in Southern Africa (Madagascar, Zambia, Zimbabwe), and 1 in North Africa: Egypt. But are the people of these and other countries willing to wait for a democratic opportunity to change their leaders? Already in Egypt, the population made it clear that it did not want to wait until election time, though the change was peaceful.

Is there a possibility that the revolutionary mood in North Africa spreads to Sub-Saharan Africa? In six Sub-Saharan countries the sitting President has been in power for over 20 years and is not considering leaving. Among them Paul Biya, also called the Gaddafi of Black Africa. In February 2008 he merciless crushed a demonstration against hs government leaving hundreds of young Cameroonians dead. Paul Biya has been President of Cameroon since 1982 and although presidential elections are slated for this year, no one expects him to relinquish power. His only senior in Africa is the notorious 87-year old Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, in power since the country's independence from Britain in 1980. The 2008 elections were widely disputed and forced Mugabe into a coalition government with his arch rival now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe is increasingly facing calls to resign but refuses, claiming 'Zimbabwe is mine - I will never surrender.'

Two other Presidents shot their way to the Presidency: Yoweri Museveni (Uganda, 1986) and Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso, 1987). In the February 18 elections, last month, Museveni won more than two-thirds of the votes in elections rejected by the opposition as fraudulent. Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré had his mandate easily renewed in November 2010.

Prime Minister, not President, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and President Idriss Deby of Chad also came to power through the barrel of a gun - both in 1991 and are not considering another job. Deby easily won the February elections of this year in the oil-rich Central African country. Meles Zenawi - increasingly accused of political repression and a disregard for civil liberties - occasionally announces his departure as the country's de facto leader but nevertheless holds on to power.

There are no clear signs that there will be many substantial political changes in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 - neither by the bullet nor by the ballot. But íf a revolt would erupt in countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda or Zimbabwe nobody can be surprised.

2011-02-11T23:03:00.010+01:00

Friday, February 11
The January 25 revolution in Egypt and the hypocricy of Western political leaders
After the Jasmine revolution in Tunisia, Pharao country Egypt fell last night. President Hosni Mubarak resigned - most likely because the army refused to fire at the demonstrators occupying Tahrir Square for 18 days in a row. After Tunisia's Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, who's next? Ghadaffi of neighbouring Libya, Africa's longest 'serving' president? In 1969, the then 27-year old Colonel Ghadaffi ousted King Idris 1st and became a King himself. Or will another Arab leader be the next one to fall?

What surprises me most, listening to the comments of world leaders reacting on the stepping down of President Mubarak, is their hypocricy. Yesterday they would have been proud to meet with the Egyptian leader, now they hasten to declare that he was a dictator and that the will of the Egyptian people prevails. They never raised their voices after rigged polls and elections confirming Mubarak in power. Mubarak was re-elected on four occasions: in 1987, 1993, 1999 and 2005. All US Presidents, without exception, befriended and flattered Mubarak: Ronald Reagan, Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, Bush Jr, and even Barrack Obama.

It is all about geopolitics. Egypt is pivotal in the Arab world, pivotal in the conflict with Israel . Meanwhile, the erroneous comments of CIA Director Panetta on events in Egypt underline my statement that many people who comment on events abroad are not really knowing wat is going on (see my January 18 posting).

The 25 January revolution started on Facebook when Google executive and political activist Wael Ghonim called for a demonstration against Mubarak. The power of an electronic social network was stronger than that of an aging, 82-year old President who clinged to power. Two weeks ago already his family had left Egypt and now Mohammed Hosni Mubarak follows - unless he will be arrested and has to account for his 30 years in power. A spokeman for Swiss banks today announced that the bank accounts of the Mubarak family were frozen. But why now and not earlier? It is alleged that the Mubarak family owns between 50 and 70 billion dollars, some sources even mention an amount of 90 billion dollars. If the US secret agency CIA knew this, it is implicitly co-responsible for the enrichment of the Mubarak family. The US goverment yearly transferred a billion dollars to Egypt. In case the US secret service agency wasn't aware of the enrichment of the Mubaraks, the organisation is incompetent and president Obama has a serious problem.

This brings me to my main point. Egypt is among 18 African countries where presidential elections are scheduled this year. Governments in Europe and North America pretend they are genuinely interested in real democratic, multi-party elections in Africa. Are they really? Or do they not want to endanger the supply of vital raw materials like oil from Nigeria and Angola? Are they really more interested in peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast than in the high costs of human tragedies as a result of civil war and the connected risks of instability in the region? Are they really concerned about democracy in Kenya or Ethiopia or is their real interest the containment of islamic influence in East Africa?

And what about the US interests for the presidential elections in Liberia? Why should they bother? Is it genuine interest and sympathy for this small West African country and its three million inhabitants or just geopolitics combined with a hidden desire to get rid of the tens of thousands Liberians living in the USA?

History teaches us that it is self-interest and not altruism that dictates the agenda of Western politicians. Even if this results in hypocricy.

2011-01-17T20:58:00.003+01:00

Tuesday, January 18
Turmoil in Tunisia

Freedom! Democracy! Events in Tunisia show that not only Presidents rule in Africa (see my January 4 post) but also people in the streets have a chance to decide on the future of their countries. I was touched by the recent revolution in Tunisia. This country has a special place in my heart since I first visited it nearly forty years ago, in 1972. President Habib Bourguiba at the time ruled the country. He was the country's first president and his presidency was characterized by a pro-Western stance, the liberalization of the economy and a number of progressive reforms especially in the areas of education and women's rights. In 1975 he became President-for-life, but in 1987 his just appointed Prime Minister deposed him. President Habib Bourguiba had just celebrated his 84th birthday but was seriously ill, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Why for God's sake is it that some Presidents don't want to give up and want to hold on power even when they are physically and mentally no longer fit??

His successor's name was Zine El Abidine Ben Ali aka Ben Ali, Tunisia's second President and last week ousted by people in the streets who voted with their feet. It is a shame that after being president for more than 23 years, he did not feel the responsibility to stay and account for his deeds and/or misdeeds.

Something else comes to my mind. Tunisia was until recently considered one of the politically most stable countries in Africa though in the Economist's 2010 Democratic Index it only ranks # 144 out of 167 classified countries. I have lived in a number of 'politically very stable' African countries, in particular Liberia and Burkina Faso, formerly called Upper Volta. In 1980 I witnessed the second coup in Liberia's history whereas I went through three coups d'état in Ouagadougou, the capital of nowadays Burkina Faso, in 1980-1983: Colonel Saye Zerbo (1980), Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo (1982) and Thomas Sankara (1983). The latter seized power in a bloody coup together with his life-old friend, Blaise Compaore, who four years later betrayed him and became president of this poor, landlocked country. Blaise Compaore was re-elected in a landslide victory in November last year.

What does all this teach us? I think of three conclusions and lessons.

First, don't be misled by the label 'politically stable'. Unfortunately, my experience tells me that most reports on 'politically stable countries' come from people who hardly know these countries.
The following two conclusions particularly apply to presidents-in-power and their political advisors. 'Don't stay too long in power. Prepare for your successor.', is one of them. The cases of President Houphouet-Boigny of Ivory Coast (1960-1993) and of President Mobutu Sese Seko of nowadays the Democratic Repulic of Congo (DRC), formerly known as Zaïre (1965-1998) , very well illustrate the validity of this conclusion. The other conclusion and lesson is: 'Don't misjudge people but be aware of the signals coming from society.'

I was in Liberia and in Upper Volta during these events and coups, and can assure you that in both countries the regime change was not a complete surprise. As early as 1947 the American author Raymond Leslie Buell had predicted the collapse of Americo-Liberian rule in Liberia in his book 'Liberia: A Century of Survival 1847 - 1947' whereas in August 1983 the power struggle between potential plotters was evident. A few days before the coup I was even warned by a Burkinabé colleague with good connections in the military that 'since something is going to happen this weekend, it would be better to stay home.' Eventually, Captain Thomas Sankara was the first to strike and staged his coup on Thursday night..

What does this say about Liberia?

I tend to say to 'Ellen': 'Don't push your luck'. She has already done a tremendous lot for Liberia and much remains to be done. It will take more than two Administrations to achieve this. I sincerily hope that Liberia will have a stable government for the next few years - and certainly 'Ellen' will have a very important role to play in achieving it - but (recent) history teaches us that we have to listen to the voice of the people in the streets before it is too late!

2011-01-04T20:49:00.002+01:00

Tuesday, January 4
2011 Election Year

I may provoke you but I am convinced that in all African countries Presidents rule and not Parliaments.

This year presidential elections will be held in Liberia and in 17 (!) other African countries, that means in one out of three countries. As mentioned previously (see my post dated November 5, last year, below) in about 10 countries parliamentary and local elections will be held too, but I will focus here on the presidential elections. Why? Because I don't believe that in African countries national or local parliaments make the difference. Presidents decide in African countries, not parliaments. More about this later.

There is an excellent site of the Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa - the name sounds very politically correct - that shows the elections calender for 2011 for all African countries. The 18 countries where presidential elections will be held: 6 in West Africa, 5 in Central Africa, 3 in East Africa, 3 in Southern Africa, and one country in North Africa. About 500 million people live in the countries, half the population of the continent. See my November 5, 2010 post (below) for the names of the countries.

The presidential elections in Liberia are important and promise to be hectic considering only the number of presidential candidates, at least 10. That may not be different in other African countries where presidential elections wil be held.

For the coming months I will comment here on how the forthcoming elections in Liberia compare with presidential elections in other countries. We all know that in certain countries preparatory campaigns are not transparant, political parties and aspirant presidential candidates are influenced, state media monopolize 'information', and that voters are bought. Recent developments within the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, the political party of veteran politician Toga Nah Tipoteh, are extremely illustrative.

Is Liberia different? Where are similarities? Are there risques to have what happens in Ivory Coast repeated? What will happen in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria? You will read it here. If you're interested in Africa and Liberia, visit this blog again.

2010-12-08T22:44:00.005+01:00

Thursday, December 9
Liberia and the Ivory Coast Crisis

For more than 30 years Ivory Coast was a beacon of prosperity and peace in West Africa (1960 - 1993). The economic miracle that took place in the worlds' number 1 producer of cocoa attracted millions of migrant workers from neighboring states, notably Mali and Burkina Faso. The country's first President, Houphouët-Boigny, was a national hero, nearly a saint. However, he did not allow any contestant to oppose to his rule and popularity. When he died, almost exactly 17 years ago, on December 7, 1993 a power struggle emerged which initially was won by the president of the country's parliamant, Henri Konan Bedié - who defeated the then Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara - but who already in 1995 had to face a coup attempt and who four years later was forced out of power by a military coup whose leaders asked one of Bedié's enemies, General Robert Guéï, to lead the junta. The 2000 presidential elections, from which Alessane Ouattara was excluded because of his alleged Burkina origin, were boycotted by the major political parties. General Guéï claimed to have won the elections but street protests eventually brought Laurent Gbagbo, leader of a small and relatively insignificant political party, to the presidential palace. Two years later the civil war started, General Robert Guéï was assassinated. Since 2002 the country has been divided: the north under control of the 'rebel forces', the south 'governed' by President Gbagbo whose presidential mandate expired in 2005 but who managed to postpone presidential elections until recently, in 2010.

According to virtually all observers the recent presidential elections were won by Alassane Ouattara - who won 54% of the vote - but Laurent Gbagbo claimed he had won the elections. Subsequently both men had themselves sworn in as the country's new president.

The 68-year old Alassane Dramane Ouattara aka ADO is a former Vice Governor of the BCEA, the Central Bank of West African States, and a former high ranking official of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC. Prior to his appointment by President Houhouët-Boigny as Prime Minister, in 1990, ADO was Director of the Africa Department of the IMF. After Houphouët-Boigny's death he returned to Washington as the IMF's Deputy Managing Director.

Alessane Ouattara is supported by France, Europe, the US and UN. Also the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) back Ouattara and reject Gbagbo, and have decided to suspend Ivory Coast from the regional organization. Former South Africa President Mbeki mediates on behalf of the African Union whereas the chair of the Mano River Union, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has warned former Liberian warlords against interference in the Ivorian crisis. All fear that Ivory Coast is heading to civil war. Gio speaking Ivorians from the Yacouba tribe, supporters of Gbagbo, are fleeing to Liberia. They consider this neighboring country a safer heaven than their own country where 9,000 UN peacekeepers are stationed. Despite the unfolding tragedy in Ivory Coast, it is something the Sirleaf Administration can be proud of - only a few years ago Liberia was a hell from which tens of thousands fled: to neighboring countries, to Europe, and to the USA.

What will happen in the near future is uncertain. Politicians, mediators and other stakeholders will try to find a political solution, maybe a power-sharing agreement but it is not likely to work. Experiences in Kenya and Zimbabwe are not giving us much hope. The country may slip into chaos again. Both contestants - Gbagbo, an academic historian, and Ouattara, a development economist - are going for the highest prize: the presidential palace. Only one can win. I fear that the real losers will be the population of Ivory Coast and in neighboring countries including Liberia.

2010-11-21T12:47:00.002+01:00

Sunday, November 21
Presidential elections in Nigeria and Liberia: the stakes and the contenders

The October 1 Abuja bombings and the catch of heavy weapons, artillary rockets and mortars, and ammunition in Lagos in the same month may be related to an international gang of drug traffickers or to Nigerian militants of MEND, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta - or they may be inspired by the forthcoming National and State elections. In any case, it seems increasingly likely that next year will be a violent one in Africa's most populous country. The stakes are getter higher in Nigeria's 2011 presidential elections: not only national unity and the distribution of the oil revenues amounting to tens of billions US dollars - see my November 14 post - but also regional peace and even Nigeria's ambitions to join the world's top twenty economies by the year 2020. The presidential elections are likely to be accompanied by political instability and north-south clashes.
Over 60 political parties have registered with the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), for the National and State elections, but for the presidential elections the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) is the only one that has a nation-wide base, all other parties being based on specific regions or States. The battle for the presidential nomination divides the north and the souyh of the country. Under the unwritten regional power sharing rules of the PDP a President - from the south or the north of the country - may serve two terms. After the southerner Olusegun Obasanjo had served two terms, the northerner Yar'Adua became President but he died before the end of his first term and was succeeded by the Vice President, Jonathan Goodluck who hails from the south. The latter hopes to win the party's nomination for next year's presidential elections but the northerners are convined that it is their turn. Four northerns hope to win the PDP's nomination: General Ibrahim Babangida (aka IBB), former military ruler (1985 - 1993) and one of the wealthiest men in the country; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Kwara State Governor Abubakar Bukola Saraki, and former National Security Advisor Lieutenant-General Aliyn Mohammed Gusau. Governor Saraki is with his 49 years the youngest of the four, IBB being the oldest (69), closely folowed by Gusau (67) and Atiku (65). It is hard to tell who will be the consensus candidate from the north but that a consensus candidate will have to be found is certain. If the northerners fail to realize this, Jonathan Goodluck is sure to win the PDP's presidential nomination. What will happen if Jonathan Goodluck does not win his party's nomination is a big question mark, but increased violence is very likely.

In Liberia 72-year old President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hopes to win a second term. Her party, the Unity Party (UP), successfully merged with the Liberian Action Party (LAP) and the Liberia Unification Party (LUP) which significantly increased her chances to win the presidential elections. However, the outcome of the 2011 presidential elections will depend much on two factors. First, the verdict in the Taylor trial, expected at the end of this year or early 2011. If Charles Taylor would be acquitted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone - which cannot be totally ruled out - everything is likely to change. Secondly, the winner of the power struggle within what is sometimes called 'the coalition of rivals': former footbal star George Weah's Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) which also includes the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) of former LURD leader Sekou Damate Conneh, the National Patriotic Party (Taylor's party), and the Liberia National Union of Winston Tubman. George Weah ended second in the 2005 presidential elections and with his 44 years he stands for the candidate of the youth. For the past few years he has studied business administration in the USA to improve his experience and reputation.
Other presidential candidates are Charles Brumskine, a former Taylor ally, who ended third in the 2005 presidential elections, Dew Mayson, academician, businessman and politician who was ambassador to France under President Doe, Varney Sherman, now leader of the New Unity Party after winning an internal struggle from Henry Fahnbulleh, Sherman was fifth in the 2005 elections, and - last but not least - former warlord and Senator for Nimba County, Prince Johnson (see my October 13 post commenting on his candidacy).

Also in Liberia the stakes are high: peace, political stability, national reconciliation, economic recovery and the country's international reputation. Until the elections, peace will more or less be guaranteed by the UN Mission to Liberia; UNMIL may even stay beyond October 2011 which will favorably affect the much needed political stability. However, national and foreign investors will need guarantees to expand investments: political stability, national reconciliation, economic reforms, and less corruption which nowadays is rampant. National reconciliation will have to come from within and Liberia will need leaders who are objective, competent, visionary and - above all - unpartial. The ethnic divide and the still existing cleavage between 'Americo-Liberians' and 'Afro-Liberians' will have to disappear if Liberia is to develop and prosper.

Most if not all presidential contestants - both in Liberia and Nigeria - are silent about their views and strategies to tackle the most important political, economic and social problems of the country of which they aspire to be President. The objectives of the political parties which they represent are largely unknown - if they even exist. In both countries the struggle for the presidency seems to be held between politicians who only seem to be interested in power or money - or both.

2010-11-14T16:09:00.002+01:00

Sunday, November 14

Presidential elections in Nigeria and Liberia: The issues at stake

Abuja officially became the capital city of Nigeria in 1991, replacing Lagos. It is located in the centre of the country in the Federal Capital Territory. Built in the 1980s and 1990s, it is a planned city, comparable to the capital of Brazil since 1960, Brasilia, which must have inspired the Nigerians. The Federal Republic of Nigeria comprises of 36 States. Click here if you want to know more about each State and here for a map showing the 36 States. Lagos is by far the largest of the Nigerian cities and with an estimated population of some 15 million people it is the second largest city on the African continent, after Cairo. Nobody knows how many mega cities Nigeria counts, there must be at least 20. With an overall population of 150 million people (estimate) and black Africa's second largest economy, after South Africa, Nigeria is a giant.

With a total population of 3.5 million and a modern economy still devastated, seven years after the end of the Second Civil War and the departure of warlord-president Charles Taylor, Liberia cannot compare to Nigeria. Yet, in my opinion the forthcoming presidential elections are equally important in both countries. I will clarify this statement because I do realize that there will be many people who disagree with this comparison.

In Nigeria, the 2011 presidential elections might stir unrest. After the death of President Yar'Adua, a 'Northerner', earlier this year, a 'Southerner' took over, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. With over 250 ethnic groups Nigerian politics are characterized by an uncertain balance. Broadly speaking, we may distinguish 'Hausaland' in the north and 'Yorubaland' in the southwest, whereas in the southeast of the country live the politically important Igbos - who unsuccessfully tried to break away from the rest of Nigeria in the late 1960s ('the Biafra war'). The political party of Yar'Adua and Jonathan Goodluck, the Peoples Democratic Party, is the only of the more than 60 registered political parties in Nigeria which does not have a specific, narrow regional base (read: ethnic base). However, the first successful presidental candidate of the PDP, Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba and 'southerner', served two terms (1999 - 2007), after which a 'northerner' would serve two terms. Obasanjo was succeeded by Yar'Adua who, however, did not complete his first term. Consequently, northerners in the PDP now claim that not someone from the majority-Christian south - Goodluck Jonathan - but someone from the mainly Muslim north should be the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2011 elections. Nigeria is not only an ethnically diverse country but also there are important religious cleavages. But the most important difference may be yet to come.

The oil wealth of the country is exploited in the south, in the Niger Delta, and the proceeds are distributed among all 36 States though a complicated system which leaves the southern states - where the wealth is generated - unsatisfied whereas the northern states are always looking for ways to increase their share. The Nigerian constitution does not allow the Federal Government to intervene in the affairs of the States. The governors of these States are nearly allmighty people.

This is exactly what is at stake in the Nigerian presidential elections of next year: national unity, the distribution of oil revenues, and the immediate future of the continent's potential superpower. 'Nigeria is a nice set of countries' as someone once told me. In fact, the 36 States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are 36 mini republics, their Governors being the unproclaimed presidents of these mini republics. Some of these States have a larger Gross Domestic Product or population than in neighbouring independent countries - like Liberia.

To be continued

2010-11-05T12:21:00.002+01:00

Friday, November 5

The 2011 presidential elections in Nigeria and Liberia

As of October 2010, it is foreseen that next year in one out of every three African countries presidential elections will be held, in 18 countries to be precise. In 9 more African countries parliamentary and/or local elections will be held too. This is a near-unprecendeted high number. Given the uneven distribution of Africa's population over the continent it is hard to tell how many people are involved in this democratic upsurge. My estimate would be that in total this may affect the lives of about 500 million people, slightly over half the total population of the continent. Three countries alone - Nigeria, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo - account for over 300 million, a striking illustration of the uneven distribution of the population over the continent.

Presidential elections are going to be held - apart from unexpected postponements - in one North African country: Egypt, in 6 West African countries: Benin, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, in 5 Central African countries: Cameroun, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sao Tomé & Príncipe, in three East African countries: Djibouti, Seychelles, Uganda, and in Madagascar, Zambia and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa. Before readers of this blog will accuse me of diffusing misleading information, I will immediately add that the number of 'truly democratic countries' can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Many countries have seen the tenure of office of the sitting president repeatedly prolonged, and the rulers of four countries even are among the longest serving African presidents: Hosni Muburak in Egypte (29 years), Paul Biya in Cameroun (28 years), Yoweri Museveni in Uganda (24 years) and Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe (officially since 1987, de facto head of state since the country's independence in 1980). To call these countries democratic countries would be besides the truth. The same applies to a number of other countries mentioned above though I will not dwell on this issue.

I will focus on two countries where in 2011 presidential elections will be held: Liberia, where Africa's first democratically elected female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, aspires a second term, whereas in Nigeria the successor of president Yar'Adua, a 'northerner', who died in office earlier this year, Goodluck Jonathan, a 'southerner' hopes to be become elected as the leader of Africa's most populous country. The reasons why I selected these two countries out of the 18 where presidential elections will be held in 2010 are, first of all, that this blog is dedicated to events in Liberia, and secondly, because Nigeria - second in rank as Africa's most important economy - is going to be an economic superpower, comparable to the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) that impress us nowadays.

Last week when I was in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria - inspired by the capital of Brazil since 1960, Brasilia......

To be continued

2010-10-13T07:31:00.002+02:00

Wednesday, October 13

The following post is repeating my September 28 post which was incomplete due to technical difficulties. I have now included the links missing in my previous post.

Democracy or Impunity? The Long Walk To Democracy In Africa

Last week - in mid-September - it was announced in Monrovia that the infamous former Liberian warlord Prince Johnson is to run for President. Nineteen years ago Prince Yormie Johnson captured then President Samuel Doe, ordered his men to torture, mutilate and execute him, while all gruesome details were videotaped. The tape, showing Johnson watching the spectacle while drinking a Budweiser beer, later found its way all over West Africa, was shown on TV all over the world and can still be seen on YouTube.

On September 22, James Fromoyan, the head of the independent Liberian National Electoral Committee (NEC), said that Johnson's recently created political party, the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP), met the constitutional requirements to compete in next year's presidential elections. Insignificant as this news may have been, it immediately made it to the major news sites (AP, AFP, BBC, VOA, etc.). Good news travels fast, but bad news sometimes even travels faster.

All news sites mentioned Johnson's responsibility for Doe's death, some also referred to the final report of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Committee, which left no doubt as to the criminal record of Prince Johnson - now an elected senator for Nimba County. None of these news sites, however, mentioned Johnson's claim that he murdered President Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso in October 1987. Although all circumstances surrounding Sankara's death are still (2010!) not yet known, there are very strong indications pointing to the involvement of warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, Prince Johnson, and Blaise Compaoré, once Sankara's best friend, and since October 1987 President of Burkina Faso.

Like Prince Johnson, Charles Taylor, and numerous other Liberian warlords, Blaise Compaoré has blood on his hands. Yet he has been President of this poor Sahel country for almost 23 years (1987 - present). Compaoré is far from the only African president enjoying impunity for his crimes. He is in the company of a large number of other African presidents, ranging from small-size countries such as The Gambia, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda, to medium-sized countries such as Chad, Uganda and Zimbabwe, and big countries such as Ethiopa and Sudan - to name but the most obvious ones.

The Gambian President, officially: His Excellency President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Diliu Jammeh, seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1994 but is being held responsible for a number of human rights abuses in the small West African country which is completely surrounded by Senegal. Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is in power since 1979 (!) after chasing his uncle, dictator Macias Nguema, who was executed shortly after the military coup. The fabulous oil revenues of this small country only benefit a small group of people close to the President.

Paul Kagamé led an invasion into Rwanda where he emerged as the military strongman after the 1994 genocide. He rules the country with an iron fist. In Chad, Idriss Deby was at first welcomed as a liberator after Chadian President Hissein Habré fled to Senegal in 1990 - with millions of stolen funds - but has since disappointed many. He manages to stay in power, using the country's oil revenues, and has just celebrated his 20 years in power. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni also came to power through the barrel of a gun - in 1985 - chasing his predecessor with a 'liberation army'. He was one of the first 'liberators' in Africa to use child soldiers to fight his opponents and was / is internationally admired for bringing stability to the 'Pearl of Africa'. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (1980 - present) may not need any comments. Supported as a freedom fighter against the white minority regime of Ian Smith (1965 - 1980) he is a shame for Africa and the world. The atrocities in Matabeleland are - relatively speaking - small crimes compared to the devastation of the economy of what was once one of Africa's most promising countries at independence.

In East Africa, the peoples living in two big countries, Ethiopia and Sudan, are not luckier with their governments. Meles Zenawi, headed a 'liberation army' like many of his colleagues, and in 1992 chased the Red Emperor of Ethiopia, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who has since lived in exile in Zimbabwe. Like Hissein Habré of Chad, Mengistu is internationally wanted, but has managed to escape from justice though he was sentenced to death by an Ethiopian court. Meles Zenawi, now officially Prime minister, after being President for many years, is the real ruler of Ethiopia. Does anybody know the name of the present President of Ethiopia?! Like all other African presidents mentioned here who came to power by military means - without distinction - Meles Zenawi was elected and re-elected, but increasingly used force, undemocratic means and human rights abuses to achieve his goals. Last but not least, President Omar al-Bashr of Sudan. He came to power trough a military coup in 1985 and is now wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The foregoing overview focuses on sitting presidents and leaves aside former presidents who since have disappeared following multi-party elections, another coup d'état or civil war, or because of a natural death (apart from Habré and Mengistu). The most notorious of them are Abacha (Nigeria), Doe (Liberia) and Mobutu (Zaïre/DRC).

Conclusion

I do realize that Sub-Sahara Africa counts nearly 50 independent countries – 48 to be precise, or 47 when we exclude Somalia (and ignore the existence of Somaliland and Puntland). I have excluded from the foregoing countries where more or less recently military coups took place: Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Niger, not to speak of countries with ‘civil unrest’ or with an unresolved civil war like Ivory Coast – not to speak of Sierra Leone or Liberia…

What has the foregoing to do with Liberia or Prince Johnson?

The answer consists of two words: ‘Impunity’ and ‘Democracy’.

Do I need to say more?

2010-09-28T23:16:00.003+02:00

Tuesday, September 28

Democracy or Impunity? The Long Walk To Democracy In Africa.

Last week it was announced in Monrovia that the infamous former Liberian warlord Prince Johnson is to run for President. Nineteen years ago Prince Yormie Johnson captured then President Samuel Doe, ordered his men to torture, mutilate and execute him, while all gruesome details were videotaped. The tape, showing Johnson watching the spectacle while drinking a Budweiser beer, later found its way all over West Africa, was shown on TV all over the world and can still be seen on YouTube.

On September 22, James Fromoyan, the head of the independent Liberian National Electoral Committee (NEC), said that Johnson's recently created political party, the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP), met the constitutional requirements to compete in next year's presidential elections. Insignificant as this news may have been, it immediately made it to the major news sites (AP, AFP, BBC, VOA, etc, but not only foreign, also Liberian). Good news travels fast, but bad news sometimes even travels faster.

All news sites mentioned Johnson's responsibility for Doe's death, some also referred to the final report of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Committee, which left no doubt as to the criminal record of Prince Johnson - now an elected senator for Nimba County. None of these news sites, however, mentioned Johnson's claim that he murdered President Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso in October 1987. Although all circumstances surrounding Sankara's death are still (2010!) not yet known, there are very strong indications pointing to the involvement of warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, Prince Johnson, and Blaise Compaoré, once Sankara's best friend, and since October 1987 President of Burkina Faso.

Like Prince Johnson, Charles Taylor, and numerous other Liberian warlords, Blaise Compaoré has blood on his hands. Yet he has been President of this poor Sahel country for almost 23 years (1987 - present). Compaoré is far from the only African president enjoying impunity for his crimes. He is in the company of a large number of other African presidents, ranging from small-size countries such as The Gambia, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda, to medium-sized countries such as Chad, Uganda and Zimbabwe, and big countries such as Ethiopa and Sudan - to name but the most obvious ones.

The Gambian President, officially: His Excellency President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Diliu Jammeh, seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1994 but is being held responsible for a number of human rights abuses in the small West African country which is completely surrounded by Senegal. Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is in power since 1979 (!) after chasing his uncle, dictator Macias Nguema, who was executed shortly after the military coup. The fabulous oil revenues of this small country only benefit a small group of people close to the President.

Paul Kagamé led an invasion into Rwanda where he emerged as the military strongman after the 1994 genocide. He rules the country with an iron fist. In Chad, Idriss Deby was at first welcomed as a liberator after Chadian President Hissein Habré fled to Senegal in 1990 - with millions of stolen funds - but has since disappointed many. He manages to stay in power, using the country's oil revenues, and has just celebrated his 20 years in power. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni also came to power through the barrel of a gun - in 1985 - chasing his predecessor with a 'liberation army'. He was one of the first 'liberators' in Africa to use child soldiers to fight his opponents and was / is internationally admired for bringing stability to the 'Pearl of Africa'. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (1980 - present) may not need any comments. Supported as a freedom fighter against the white minority regime of Ian Smith (1965 - 1980) he is a shame for Africa and the world. The atrocities in Matabeleland are even small crimes compared to the devastation of the economy of what was once one of Africa's most promising countries at independence.

In East Africa, the peoples living in two big countries, Ethiopia and Sudan, are not luckier with their governments. Meles Zenawi, headed a 'liberation army' like many of his colleagues, and in 1992 chased the Red Emperor of Ethiopia, Miriam Mengistu, who has since lived in exile in Zimbabwe. Like Hissein Habré of Chad, Mengistu is internationally wanted, but has managed to escape from justice. Meles Zenawi, now officially Prime minister, after being President for many years, is the real ruler of Ethiopia. Does anybody know the name of the present President of Ethiopia?! Like all other African presidents mentioned here who came to power by military means - without distinction - Meles Zenawi was elected and re-elected, but increasingly used force, undemocratic means and human rights abuses to achieve his goals. Last but not least, President Omar al-Bashr of Sudan. He came to power trough a military coup in 1985 and is now wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The foregoing overview focuses on sitting presidents and leaves aside former presidents who since have disappeared following multi-party elections, another coup d'état or civil war, or because of a natural death (apart from Habré and Mengistu). The most notorious of them are Abacha (Nigeria), Doe (Liberia) and Mobutu (Zaïre/DRC).

Conclusion

I do realize that Sub-Sahara Africa counts nearly 50 independent countries – 48 to be precise, or 47 when we exclude Somalia (and ignore the existence of Somaliland and Puntland). I have excluded from the foregoing countries where more or less recently military coups took place: Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Niger, not to speak of countries with ‘civil unrest’ or with an unresolved civil war like Ivory Coast – not to speak of Sierra Leone or Liberia…

What has the foregoing to do with Liberia or Prince Johnson?

The answer consists of two words: ‘Impunity’ and ‘Democracy’.

Do I need to say more?

2010-07-24T09:58:00.003+02:00

Monday, July 26

163rd Independence Anniversary Invites To Reflect And Celebrate

On July 26, Liberia and Liberians worldwide celebrate the 163rd anniversary of the independence of Africa’s oldest republic. On this occasion, two questions come to my mind. First, what explains that Liberia has managed to exist for over 160 years? Secondly, is it really an achievement??

It is quite a challenge to try to answer these questions in less than 400 words. Nevertheless, I will try it and tackle them.

How come that Liberia has survived despite all difficulties? ‘Cause difficulties, there were many. I will neither mention all nor elaborate on them: I would already exceed my maximum 400 words. The settler population that created the republic did not come voluntary to the shores of the Pepper or Grain Coast, definitely not all of them. Further, they had to start from scratch: there was nothing, all modern institutions a.s.o. had to be built. Moreover, the immigrants alienated the peoples living on the Pepper Coast by imposing their laws while at the same time excluding them from the benefits of these laws. Not surprisingly, after 133 years, the rule of the Americo-Liberians, as they preferred to call themselves, was violently overthrown. The chaos that followed led to an even more violent struggle for power which lasted some 14 years. Since then, Liberia re-started from scratch.

In my opinion, there are two major explanations for Liberia’s survival despite all these difficulties. First and foremost I must mention the US protection and support. Without the support of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the 19th century and the US Government in the 20th century, for reasons of the Cold War, the Lone Star Republic would not have survived. It is not a coincidence that the worst part of Liberia’s contemporary history started after the end of the Cold War.

Secondly, the successive Liberian governments and foreign investors connived in the exploitation of the rich natural resources of the country. Under this arrangement – called the Open Door Policy – the governing elite used a portion of the proceeds of the economic development which took place – albeit in enclave sectors – to stay in power and live a comfortable life. The foreign investors were allowed to take the largest share of the cake. The foregoing is important since it contains important lessons for the future.

Then the second question. How much of an achievement is it to have existed for over 160 years?
According to most sources the world nowadays counts 195 independent countries leaving important aspects of constitutional law here aside. Only about a quarter of these 195 countries exists for more than a century.

In Africa there are three ‘old’ countries: The oldest one is Ethiopia, before the 20th c. called Abyssynia. The second oldest is Liberia. The third is the Republic of South Africa (officially the ‘Union of South Africa’) – besides, another country marked by immigration and ethnic conflict (!). The Republic of South Africa emerged in the early years of the 20th c. on the ashes of the defeated Boer Republics of which Transvaal (or South African Republic) and Orange Free State were the most important ones.

Throughout history many countries split, merged, changed their names or were swept from the world map as a result of war. E.g. the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe, the Ottoman Empire (aka the Turkish Empire) and, more recent, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR).

‘Independent’ African countries that have disappeared are the Boer Republics in Southern Africa, created in the last quarter of the 19th century, and the Bantustans (aka Black African homelands) in particular Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei (the so-called TBVC states) created by the Apartheid regime but which did not survive the fall of ‘Apartheid’.

Consequently, many countries no longer exist.

In light of the foregoing there is reason to celebrate in Liberia 'July 26'. The answer to my second question is: ‘Yes, it is an achievement to have survived.’

But now, at the end of my reflections, a third question emerges: What else did Liberia achieve?

No doubt, a painful question. We will leave it until after the party.

I wish all Liberians a wonderful July 26!!

All Hail, Liberia, Hail! Click here for the music.

2010-07-10T17:52:00.010+02:00

Saturday, July 10

Is debt relief the solution?

When in 1926 Firestone gained control over Liberia’s public finance through a new - and according to some unnecessary - US $ 5 million loan which replaced all existing foreign loans of Liberia, there was a public outcry. Some people were outraged. Firestone wanted some control over the Liberian Government to protect its interests which consisted of what later proved to be a historic concession agreement for the production of natural rubber. The loan put the country virtually under the control of Americans and administrators appointed by people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The Liberian Government was even forbidden to contract new loans without the written consent of Firestone!

Although there are many differences between this famous Firestone Loan and the debt relief Liberia recently obtained, there also are important similarities and, what is even more important, lessons to be learned. Because that’s ultimately the usefulness of history: to learn from it in order to improve present and future actions.

Let there be no misunderstanding about my joy for this historic debt write-off. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her team are to be congratulated with this achievement. The US $ 4.6 billion (!) debt relief which Liberia thus obtained from multilateral, bilateral and commercial creditors erases a huge debt stock which contributed to discourage foreign and domestic investors to invest in the country and would have captured an important portion of public expenditures in order to service it – if the Liberian Government would have serviced its debt, which it did not do.

Since the 1980 coup d’état, followed by the 14-year civil war, none of the loans Liberia owed to foreign creditors were serviced, and thus penalties and arrears (interest payments and amortization of loans) grew every year. This had resulted in a staggering US $ 4.9 billion debt when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president. As President Sirleaf said in a nation-wide address informing the Liberian population of the debt cancellation: ‘Our budget for 2009-2010 is US $ 350 million. To settle that US 4.9 billion debt, we would have had to pay our creditors our entire budget for 28 years!’

It all began in 2008. In March of that year, after two years in office, President Sirleaf and (then) Finance Minister Antoinette Sayeh had succeeded in normalizing relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Being former World Bank officials, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Antoinette Sayeh are on good terms with the Bretton Woods Institutions and their staff. See my March 19, 2008 posting on this blog. I then announced that HIPC and PRSP would become household words in Liberia. HIPC stands for Heavily-Indebted Poor Country. Liberia joined this club of now 29 poor and heavily indebted countries in 2008, when it reached the so-called decision point (see the previous link, but scroll), the first step towards a more comprehensive debt relief. Shortly after Liberia became a so-called HIPC-country, Antoinette Sayeh was appointed Director of the IMF’s African Department, in May 2008, and returned to Washington DC where she had been living for 17 years, working with the World Bank, before joining Sirleaf’s administration in 2006. Also in 2008, the Sirleaf Administration submitted a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) to the IMF and World Bank, one of the many conditions for further debt relief. Liberia worked hard to meet the other conditions for a comprehensive debt relief agreement and to reach the so-called completion point (see this link and scroll). These requirements are very technical, interested readers are referred to the HIPC site just mentioned.

Finance and Planning Ministers Augustine K. Ngafuan and Amara Konneh, who led Liberia’s HIPC delegation to Washington DC, returned to Liberia on June 29, announcing that Liberia had reached the HPIC completion point, thus obtaining the green light from World Bank and IMF for a US $ 4.6 billion debt cancellation. One of the conditions they noted was that now Liberia is only allowed to borrow for development projects. Another condition prescribed that loans should not exceed 2% of the country’s GDP which means US $ 40 million annually. Once more Liberia is placed under guardianship. This time not of the US overnment or a US company, but of the Bretton Woods Institutions.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf immediately expressed great satisfaction over the debt relief in a nation-wide address, comparing it with another Independence Day for Liberia. Antoinette Sayeh said that Liberia now has a real chance to develop with the debt burden lifted. Dr. Toga McIntosh Gaewea, former Liberian Finance minister and one of the brains behind the PRSP - now World Bank executive in Washington DC - praised the commitment of the Sirleaf administration to pro poor growth, macroeconomic stability, fiscal and monetary prudence and sustainable development through the PRSP and other development frameworks.

It is important to mention that one of the weakest points in the performance of the Sirleaf Administration refers to public finance management. Liberia did not fully meet the standards set by IMF and World Bank. In popular terms, the management of the public sector still suffers from mismanagment, inefficiency and corruption. However, this has not prevented the EU to immdiately grant budgetary support to the Government of Liberia to the tune of US $ 8.5 million. In light of the budgetary deficit Liberia is facing due to the worldwide economic crisis, a present from heaven.

Liberia’s economic history is one of relying on foreign capital, be it direct foreign investments or foreign loans. Notably the latter proved to do more harm than good. It started with the 1871 loan which led to the country’s first coup d’état and the death of President Edward Roye, followed by the loans of 1906 and 1912, the infamous 1926 Firestone Loan, and many more. Will the present step, erasing once more all of its debts, enable Liberia to definitely leave its ugly past of notorious borrower failing to meet its obligations?

I will not conceal that I have mixed feelings with respect to this as well as other debt relief deals, notably since it concerns countries which are well endowed with natural resources and where outright thievery and corruption combined with mismanagement are among the root causes of the inability to service the debt incurred. Moreover, the economic potential of these countries, rich in minerals, and a huge potential in agricutural development, should enable them to finance their own development. In the same week that Liberia reached the HIPC completion point another Sub-Saharan African country, also well endowed with natural resources, reached the HIPC completion point. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of its independence, the Democratic Republic of Congo ('Congo-Kinshasa') reached the HIPC completion point. This paved the way for the Paris Club to cancel more than US$ 13 billion.

These amounts always puzzle me. US $ 4.600.000.000,00 That is what it is. Four thousand six hundred million American dollars. I bet nobody reading this blog can explain me how much this really is. Take one million for you - and one for me :-) and we still have an amount left of US $ 4.598.000.000,00 - unbelievable.

Comparing the two countries,DRC and Liberia, I will immediately admit that I am far more optimistic about Liberia’s future and prospects than those of the DRC. There are many reasons for it, one of the most important being the commitment of the country's leader.

Notwithstanding this difference, Liberia is far from leaving its ugly past behind. There still are many challenges. The country will need to regain the confidence of foreign investors – despite some recent successes in the agricultural and mining sectors. Liberia will have to stop borrowing for unproductive purposes. There are many, many more challenges.

Three priorities impose themselves. Failing to realize them will mean that the lessons of the infamous 1926 Firestone loan and the recent debt cancellation have not been learned. The proceeds of the infamous 1926 Firestone loan were not used for productive activities but were squandered. The HIPC debt relief of 2010 will also not benefit the people of Liberia unless the following three priorities will be rigorously pursued: 1) eradicate corruption, 2) improve infrastructure and 3) enhance agriculture.

Therefore, the answer to my question: 'Is debt relief a solution?' is an outright 'NO'. Debt relief is no panacea for Liberia's problems, as also Vice President Boakai and Finance Minister Ngaufuan said. But it represents an opportunity that should not be missed.

The penalty to miss it is misery and poverty. The Liberian people deserves better. It all depends on the leaders. Next year, presidental and legislative elections will be held. Who will be the new leader(s)? The country cannot afford missteps.

2010-06-27T13:31:00.004+02:00

Sunday, June 27

THINK Liberia – Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness, a new web site

Earlier this month a new web site and related blog was added to the many sites and blogs devoted to Liberia and Liberians. On June 7, http://www.thinkliberia.com/ was launched.

THINK Liberia or 'Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness' is a faith-based, Liberian, non-governmental organization established seven years ago, in 2003 - when the civil war was still raging - , a few months before the resignation of President Charles Taylor. A humanitarian NGO, ThinkLiberia focuses on the rights and well-being of women and children, notably ‘war wives’ of fighting forces, other victims of sexual violence, and child mothers.

Since 2003, ThinkLiberia has provided the following services:

* Safe homes where victims of sexual violence are given psychological support;
* Rehabilitation homes in Paynesville/Monrovia and Buchanan;
* A Learning Enrichment Program where children are tutored;
* A Participatory Action Research Program focusing the reinteration of girl mothers;

Recently, the Director of THINK in Liberia, Rosana Schaack, was one of the recipients for the Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals by the University of Minnesota. Schaack was a student at the university (Humphry Institute of Public Affairs, Humphry Fellow 2008-2009).

The Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals is a university-wide award for alumni, former students, and friends of the university who have distinguished themselves in their post-university work as leaders in their professional careers. The selection committee for the Award cited Rosana Schaack’s role as a public servant, her work to empower the poorest of the poor, and her mission to bring hope to those he need it most. The committee lauded her passionate voice for justice for the young woman and children of emerging Liberia and her total involvement in the fight against gender-based violence.

Both web site and blog are worth visiting, they merit to be added to your favorites. People like Rosana Schaack and her co-workers deserve our admiration and support, they are the builders of a new Liberia on the ruins of the old Liberia.

The plight of the victims of sexual violence should be a concern of us all. Whereas the victims need to be catered for, civil society, politicians and judges in particular should strive to bring to justice not only those responsible for these criminal and heinous acts, but also those responsible for creating an environment of lawlessness making these atrocities possible.

‘Let Justice Be Done To All’ (official Liberian motto ).

2010-05-31T23:35:00.005+02:00

Monday, May 31

TPS and money transfer

The meeting between the President of perhaps the most powerful nation in the world and the President of maybe one of the weakest states on earth was historic.

On May 27, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was received by President Barrack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House. Other bloggers have already commented on this historic meeting. Therefore, I will focus on a particular aspect of their conversation.

President Obama did not hide his admiration for Africa’s first democratically elected woman-president when he publicly said that he had been an extraordinary admirer of her work for many years. President Sirleaf welcomed the US leader's commendation on behalf of the Liberian people and noted that what President Obama observed about Liberia would not have been possible without the assistance of the United States. Notably, she thanked the US government for allowing some 14,000 Liberians currently living in the US on Temporary Protective Status or TPS and the Obama administration for a recent action taken to extend the delayed enforced departure for another year.

At the height of the First Liberian civil war (1989 – 1997), the government of the United States extended ‘temporary protection status’ to all Liberians who could get to the USA, and 14,000 of them took advantage of that humanitarian offer. Temporary protection status is an immigration status somewhere between political asylum and refugee status. Administered by the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, it is extended to nationals of countries facing civil unrest or natural disaster.

How many Liberians are living outside Liberia?? Nobody knows, that’s for sure. Who dares to guess?

Official figures are by definition unreliable figures. My estimate is that at least 30,000 Liberians are living outside Liberia, half of them in the USA. The others are living in Europe or Africa. They represent at least one percent of the Liberian population, which may not be an impressive figure. However, though I have no firm figures at hand, I bet that their average educational level is above Liberia’s average. This means that the relative importance of the total number of Liberian abroad supersedes its actual number.

This phenomenon is not limited to Liberians. There are many Sudanese, Ethiopian and Eritrean people, varying from medical doctors to taxi drivers, working in the New England States and in the Washington DC area. The same is true for Europe. To just give one example: it is being estimated that about 1.5 million Nigerians are living outside Nigeria, legally or illegally. This number represents one percent of the most populated country in Sub-Saharan Africa: one out of every five black Africans is Nigerian. Interestingly, together they remitted home US $ 10 billion in 2009, according to the World Bank.

So, what could be the contribution of Liberians living outside Liberia to the survival of their relatives and friends, to the development of the Liberian economy, to the sustainability of the nation, to the future of their country?

If anybody knows the answer, please come forward. It could well be that Liberians abroad send, on an annual basis, remittances with an overall value of approximately US $ 30 million to Liberia, which represents about 10 percent of the National Budget. Not a huge amount, but for an unknown number of Liberians it may be the difference between life and death, it may pay for medicine or food which otherwise would not have been bought, or provide the small working capital for a market transaction or a small business.

2010-04-21T00:45:00.008+02:00

Tuesday, April 20

Gus Kouwenhoven on trial again – Dutch Supreme Court orders

Two years ago – on March 10, 2008 - I commented on the acquittal of Gus Kouwenhoven, also known as Guus van Kouwenhoven, a Dutch timber trader and business partner of Charles Taylor, accused of illegal arms trade for his business partner, and I lauded the Dutch judiciary system – see my March 10, 2008 blog posting. Today I repeat my praise. I just heard the news that the Supreme Court of the Netherlands has overturned the acquittal of Kouwenhoven and ordered a new appeal hearing. The Dutch Supreme Court said that appeals judges had been wrong to reject a prosecution request to hear two anonymous witnesses. Consequently, Mr. Gus, as he is known in Liberia, will have to stand trial again. Meanwhile he remains a free man.

‘Mister Gus’

The Dutch businessman Gus Kouwenhoven first came to Liberia in the late 1980s after shady deals in the USA where he had been convicted and sentenced to two years jail. In Liberia he became General Manager of the famous Hotel Africa, near Monrovia, later he went into the logging business and became Chairman of the Malaysian Oriental Timber Company, one of the largest timber companies in the country, and Managing Director of the Royal Timber Company. He also was a member of the Board of the Forestry Development Authority, a Liberian governmental institution mandated to regulate and supervise forest exploitation and timber production in the country.

In 2000, it was reported that Gus Kouwenhoven belonged to Taylor’s ‘inner circle’ and in the UN’s Expert Panel Report on Sierra Leone (2000) he was accused of active involvement in arms smuggling. He subsequently was hit by an UN travel ban though this did not prevent him from seeking refuge in Congo. In March 2005 he was arrested in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he had travelled to visit his family. In 2006, the District Court of The Hague sentenced Gus Kouwenhoven to 8 years in prison for illegal arms trade, but on March 10, 2008 the Dutch Court of Appeal overturned the 2006 conviction and acquitted Kouwenhoven of all accusations including allegations that he had participated in war crimes in Liberia.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)

In December 2009 one of Charles Taylor’s secret bank accounts was revealed by Prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian during the cross-examination of Charles Taylor at the SCSL in The Hague. Nicholas Koumjian ended the last hearing of the year with a sensational piece of evidence: a hitherto unseen statement from a personal bank account opened by Taylor in December 1999. Even more sensational was Taylor’s admission that it was a “covert account opened up by the Government of Liberia during this period, to fight our war”. According to the evidence two major deposits were made in 2000: US $ 2 million from Natura Holdings, owned by Gus Kouwenhoven, and US $ 3.5 million from the Taiwanese embassy in Monrovia. Taylor admitted that the money was used to buy arms.

Taylor’s statement seemingly contradicts previous statements by Kouwenhoven denying accusations that money from his company or companies was ever used to buy arms. The UN Expert Panel Report of 2000 had already linked him to arms purchases from the notorious arms dealer Victor Bout, an allegation that was also rejected by mister Kouwenhoven.

Oscar Wilde in his The Importance of Being Earnest already acknowledged that ‘The truth is rarely pure and never simple’.

I wish the Dutch judges all the wisdom they need to arrive at the right conclusion and a fair judgement that does justice to the interests of all victims of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999 - 2003).

2010-04-11T09:55:00.009+02:00

Sunday, April 11

April 12, 1980 – 2010

I can’t help but think of April 12, 1980 when the anniversary of Samuel Doe’s bloody coup d’état approaches. I happened to be in Monrovia on that historic day, en route to Burkina Faso, then still called Upper Volta, where I was to witness three more coup d’états of which Thomas Sankara’s seizure of power was the most impressive.

1980 – 2010. Liberia underwent more changes in the past thirty years than in the century before. Doe’s People’s Redemption Council marked a U-turn in the history of Africa oldest Republic where the roots of the recent turmoil had been developing since 1822. In that year the first freed slaves and free-born blacks set foot here on West African soil. Despised and unwanted in the land where their forefathers had been brought under coercion, they established a Republic based on the model of the land where they had been born and had grown up. And like the slave masters had treated them, they treated the aboriginal population they met on what used to be called the Pepper Coast.

1980 – 2010. In these thirty years Liberia had one military dictator-president who was the country’s first President of tribal origin, six Interim Presidents among whom Africa’s first female Head of State, one elected warlord-president who was forced to step down, one Vice President who after becoming President had the shortest Administration in the country’s history - three months. He was succeeded by a ‘caretaker’-not called President who in his turn was succeeded by Africa’s first elected female Head of State. Compare that with the previous 130 years which had known only 23 presidents, 12 of them born in the USA or the Caribbean, 11 born in Liberia, among whom the country’s longest serving President, 27 years.

1980 – 2010. The people of Liberia suffered from two civil wars which cost over 200,000 people their lives. Many more suffered, were wounded, and remained traumatized after the wars had ended. In the early years of the third millennium, Africa’s oldest republic had gained the reputation of a ‘failed ‘state’, a conclusion which I personally do not share, for various reasons.
But undoubtedly true is that when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took over, in 2006, the modern economy was in ruins, the foreign investors had left, like most of the political and intellectual elite, and the people were poorer and more divided as ever. The latest census revealed that the total population now numbers more than three million, not much for a country well endowed with natural resources, but too large in view of the actual National Budget of about US $ 350 million. Compare that with total public expenditures thirty years earlier, which amounted to US $ 324 million, in 1979, and it may be difficult not to despair looking at this budgetary standstill.

However, I do not share this feeling of hopelessness, I also disagree with the qualification ‘failed state’. Yet I am puzzled how it can be possible that people inflict upon other people the cruelties which we have seen in Liberia. Though Liberia is not the only country in the world where people underwent these sufferings. What to think of the United States of America where a major civil war raged between 1861 and 1865, divided the country, and costs half a million people their lives? By the way, isn’t it an ironic coincidence that the US civil war started on April 12?

Who would have qualified the USA in 1865, when the civil war ended, as a ‘failed state’? And what about Europe? There may be no other continent where so many wars raged, yet most European countries rank among the richest in the world nowadays. And look at Asia, take the example of Vietnam. This country was virtually destroyed by the Americans in the 1970s. Nowadays it is one of the emerging Asian economies, with Indonesia, India and China.

Liberia, once Africa’s leading iron ore exporter and the third largest iron ore exporter in the world, with many other precious minerals, with the largest mercantile fleet in the world and the world's largest rubber plantation within its borders, has the economic potential to recover from the wars and their aftermath. Liberia has many strong and intellectual people, the organization of the civil wars proofs it, as contradictory as this may sound. Both within and outside the national territory there are many hard working, capable and motivated people who in good combination with the nation’s natural wealth can turn the ‘Land of Liberty’, the previous ‘Pepper Coast’, into a small paradise where people harmoniously live together. The recipe? It is not as difficult as people tend to think. Good policies, in combination with investments in people, infrastructure and institutions have proven to be the road to take, leading to economic growth, development and prosperity.

Liberia can realize another U-turn, I am absolutely sure. The economic changes which the country underwent in the 1950 – 1980 period are proof of that – despite the ravages of the last 30 years. Government revenues rose from less than US $ 4 million (!) in 1950 to US $ 200 million in 1980. The National Product (GDP) was roughly some US $ 35 million in 1950, at the end of the 1970s it had grown to US $ 750 million. This was considered a phenomenal performance in those days despite the criticism and the conviction of many that Liberia could have done better had it managed better its economy and controlled more some foreign investors.

Liberia and Liberians should learn from the past if the next U-turn is to be realized. Yes, it can!

2010-04-04T21:36:00.008+02:00

Sunday, April 4

Ritualistic Murders, Voodoo and the Rule of Law

Eleven days ago, March 24, I wrote about ritual killings in Lofa County, Liberia, as well as in a number of other countries and the involvement of high ranking people, politicians and rich businessmen. Two days later a high profile ritual murder case was unearthed in Maryland County, involving several high-ranking government officials.

Former Interior Minister and Maryland Superintendent under previous Administrations, and at the moment of his arrest Ambassador-at-Large appointed by President Sirleaf, Dan Morias, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and former Maryland County Attorney Cllr Fulton Yancy, together with at least eight other persons, were arrested following a string of ritual murders. They are now in custody in the county capital’s jail, according to the Harper police 'for protective reasons’. Some sources even report the arrest of as many as nineteen suspected ritual killers.

The circumstances surrounding their arrests caused President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to warn against voodoo justice and raise many questions about the rule of law in Liberia.

Maryland County is notorious for its history of ritualistic killings, one of the most sensational being the ritual killing of Moses Tweh in 1977 for which ultimately seven persons were condemned and publicly executed, among whom a member of the House of Representatives, Allen Yancy, older brother of Fulton Yancy, and Maryland Superintendent James Anderson, son of the Chairman of the True Whig Party, in those days the only legalized political party. Not surprisingly, Marylanders’ past of ritual killings and fears resurfaces, as reported by Tom Kamara in The New Democrat Online. Besides, the famous Liberian journalist presents a chilling report on the interrogation techniques (read: torture) of the Liberian police in the Moses Tweh murder case.

The list of disappeared and ritually murdered people in Maryland County is long, but nobody knows how long. When the Minister of Justice, Christiana Tah, visited the County in the wake of the recent arrests she met with citizens who told her that between 1999 and 2010, 16 people had been reported missing and are believed to be victims of ritualistic killings. The minister acknowledged ‘that there are still lots of unresolved cases of this nature.’ Meanwhile Government has deployed additional and more police officers to Maryland to ensure security in the area.

Cllr Fulton Yancy is accused of killing the 7-month pregnant Tomo Allison and pulling the unborn child out, killing the baby too. The circumstances surrounding the discovery of evidence in his home are astonishing. The Liberia National Police used the services of a witch doctor or voodoo priest who reportedly went into Mr Yancy’s house and with the ‘aid of a young girl’ discovered two bottles of blood and human parts, and the intestines of the unborn child. The woman and child were reportedly killed four months ago. The use of traditional doctors or voodoo priests to solve crimes is not new. President Samuel Doe hired a Kissi voodoo high priest Contabu who was even officially employed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It has been reported that citizens of Bong County are now demanding that traditional priests are employed to solve ritualistic murders in their county.

The Harper Police handling of the ritualistic case is increasingly being criticized, both by the media and individuals like Dr. James Elliot, a Liberian pathologist based in the USA. Also President Sirleaf was very outspoken. She was closely involved in the arrests and investigation. She warned local people in Maryland against ‘sassywood’ or voodoo justice.

Cllr Fulton Yancy denies any involvement in the ritual murder of Tomo Allison, her unborn baby and others. So does the other top official arrested, Dan Morias. The latter accused unnamed Liberians of attempting to destroy his ambitions to become a Senator in the forthcoming elections of 2011.

Dan Morias is not an unknown in Liberian politics. The former Superintendent of Maryland County and Interior Minister was a close ally of warlord-president Charles Taylor and also on good terms with Taylor’s successor Guyde Bryant – who hails from Maryland County - and since he was nominated Special Envoy by President Sirleaf I assume that Morias also enjoys (enjoyed??) President Sirleaf’s confidence.

I remember that in 2008 Morias' name was mentioned at a TRC hearing. Survivors recounted before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee the massacre of 369 civilians in 2003. In that year, militiamen loyal to Charles Taylor rounded up 369 inhabitants of Glaro and massacred them at various locations in River Gee County, which borders Maryland County. The killings, witnesses said, were executed by fighters of the ‘Mountain Lions Brigade’ under the supervision of former Maryland County Superintendent Morias and General William Sumo.

The definition of rule of law is a complicated issue and I will not attempt to provide one here. Nevertheless, a basic principle is that ‘Nobody is guilty unless found guilty after a fair trial.’ But who is meanwhile protecting ordinary people - men, women, children, babies even unborn -their basic human rights, in particular their right to freedom of fear?

Not only in Liberia this basic question remains increasingly unanswered, also in Uganda and South Africa, to name but two countries where new cases of ritual killings continue to emerge, criminals get away with their heinous crimes, and impunity is rather common than exception.

I am afraid the last statement of my March 24 posting is more valid than ever.

2010-03-24T01:46:00.003+01:00

Wednesday, March 24

Ritual killings. Will it ever stop?!

I was struck by a recent article: ‘Concerns of ritualistic killings: Sirleaf meets with citizens’

On March 18, more than one hundred inhabitants of Zorzor District, Lofa County, residing in Zorzor and Monrovia, staged a peaceful demonstration in the capital following a string of ritual murders in Zorzor, Lofa County, in the northwest of the country. Afterwards, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf met with a number of them who offered her a petition. The statement was signed by paramount and clan chiefs representing clans in Bluyeama, Gizima, and Zieama. In their petition they expressed concern that the Government’s response to the recent incidents and fighting in Lofa County was overshadowing their concerns of ritualistic killings in the county.

In February, four people had been killed in Konia, Zorzor and Voinjama, the county capital in what some people say was a conflict between Christians and Muslims while others argue it was an escalated dispute over land. Much has been said and written about this. However, the representatives of Zorzor District who met with President Sirleaf were more worried about an age-old problem everybody knows and fears in Liberia. They spoke of three recent cases of ritualistic murders which have remained unsolved.

When reading the article, I almost could not believe my eyes. Nevertheless, I have no reason not to believe it. Ritual killings are - I dare to say - common in Liberia. Ritual murders are a form of juju, as sorcery is called in Liberia and a number of other West African countries. In Liberia, everybody is afraid of ‘heart men’. Centuries old traditional practices included ritual human sacrifice and sometimes even cannibalism. But from traditional practice it has turned into an important part of the political culture. Nowadays, ritual murders are also committed by ‘ordinary’ criminals who act on behalf of politicians and businessmen who want more power and wealth.

The list of victims is long and from everywhere: the southeast - Maryland County is notoriously known for it - the north, Nimba County, and as the people from Zorzor demonstrated, the northwest of the country, but also in the nation’s capital ritual murders occur. Many people live in constant fear. And not only in Liberia.

In Nigeria, every year, hundreds of children, men and women lose their lives to ritual murderers. Muti murders are widespread in southern Africa, notably in the Republic of South Africa. An estimated 300 people are sacrificed every year and their body parts used in Muti medicine. The recent wave of ritualistic killings of albino people in Tanzania and Burundi was – exceptionally – exposed in the international media. It was equally shocking to read about the child sacrifices in Uganda. Research which I conducted in recent years indicates that ritual murders occur all over the African continent. The victims are not only the slaughtered people, children, women, men, but also the entire population living in fear and too afraid to walk home after sunset or to leave for their farms before sunrise.

Freedom of fear is a human right. The rule of law is an obligation of the state.

Sure, an explanation for the phenomenon of ritual murders is the uneducated people’s belief in sorcery, but superstition alone does not explain the continuation of these barbaric and criminal acts. Moreover, the reality is that many ritualistic killings are committed by educated people. Many people in Sub-Saharan African countries believe that governments are not willing to stop and eradicate these practices since they are part of the system.

The only way these governments can prove their citizens to be wrong is to make an end to ritual murders and to give the citizens their freedom back.

2010-02-21T23:02:00.008+01:00

Sunday, February 21

Coups and constitutions

Recent developments in the West Africa sub-region provided inspiration for this cursory view of events in a number of West African states during the past five years. The main question I asked myself was whether democracy was a right or a luxury – and who has the right to determine it.

The appetite of democratically elected Presidents to stay in power – by changing their nation’s constitution – seems to be a constant factor in politics in West African countries - to just limit myself to the sub-region. Last but not least, recent developments in Liberia are noteworthy, in particular President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's indication that she is considering a second term.

What is important, however, in all these cases, is whether the answer is coming from the ballot or the bullet.

Niger

February 18, 2010 – Today it was announced in Niamey, capital of the Republic of Niger, West Africa, that a successful military coup d’état had taken place. A spokesman for the junta, which seized power, announced on Thursday night in a televised address that the constitution had been suspended, parliament and other state institutions dissolved, the borders closed and a curfew imposed. The following day already the borders were re-opened and the curfew lifted. Shops and banks were open on the day following the coup, and traffic normal. The whereabouts of the deposed President, Mamdou Tandja, were unclear. According to some sources he was reported missing whereas the junta announced that he had been arrested.

The coup plotters said they were motivated to stage their unconstitutional act by President Tandja’s decision, last August, to change the constitution – allowing (only) two presidential terms - in order to remain in power indefinitely.
The junta, which has called itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, is composed of four colonels. The coup leader is col Salou Djibo. The other junta members are col Djibrilla Hima Hamidou (who also particpated in a successful military coup d’état in 1999), col Goukoye Abdul Karimou (spokesman) and col Amadou Harouna. Uranium-rich Niger has known long periods of military rule since independence from France, fifty years ago.

Former colonial power France, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) immediately condemned the bloody coup, in which at least ten people died. A US State Department spokesman publicly suggested that President Tandja may have triggered the coup himself by 'trying to extend his mandate', which led to speculation of a possible US involvement in what some called the 'Uranium coup'.

Nigeria

February 9, 2010 - A week earlier, a ‘silent coup’ had taken place in neighboring Nigeria, Africa’s most populated country, and the second largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. On that day, February 9, the National Assembly declared the Vice President, Dr Jonathan Goodluck, Acting President because of the prolonged absence of ailing President Yar’Adua who is undergoing medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Yar’Adua had left the country in November 2009, apparently for a medical check-up, but without delegating powers to an interim leader.

The Nigerian Constitution did not foresee the situation which then emerged. Initially this led to much confusion and agitation, and to tough bickering among legal experts, who often took sides in the debate which reflected rather their regional origin than a constitutional view. The unanimous decision of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to designate Jonathan Goodluck Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until the country’s legal President is fit to rule again, must be considered unconstitutional since officially a constitutional change would have been required to legalize this decision even when unanimously taken by the National Assembly.

The Nigerian political situation is a very complex one. The federal republic comprises of thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). Each of the thirty-six states could be considered a mini republic, the Governor as its President. The fragile peace and precarious balance among the states, in particular the North versus the South, has led to the present system in which the President alternatively comes from the North and the South. The previous President, Olusegun Obasanjo originated from the South. After failing to change the constitution and to stay in power for a third term, he gave way to the Northerner Umaru Yar'Adua – the winner of the contested 2007 presidential elections. But Jonathan Goodluck is a Southerner and his nomination as Acting President may disturb the precarious political balance. The contemporary history of oil-rich Nigeria is one of coups, counter-coups and military dictators.

Guinea

December 2008 - Another West African country, bauxite-rich Guinea, witnessed a military coup d’état, only hours after the death of military dictator, President Lansana Conteh. He had ruled Guinea with iron fist after seizing power in a military coup, twenty-four years earlier, after the country’s first President (1958 – 1984) had died, the charismatic but ruthless Ahmed Sekou Toure. Also see my December 2008 and March 2009 postings.

The December 2008 coup was strongly condemned by the international community, but welcomed by many Guineans. The junta’s strongman was Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, originally the junta spokesman but who soon became its leader. Like many ‘putchistes’ before him, the leader of the military junta, which called itself the National Council for Development and Democracy, promised speedy elections but soon changed his mind and clung to power.

In September 2009, over 150 people were killed and more than 1200 injured when soldiers opened fire on demonstrators who wanted military ruler Moussa Camara to step down. A couple of months later, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was shot in the head and seriously injured by a former aide. He now is recovering in Burkina Faso, upon the invitation of President Blaise Compaore. Camara was replaced by his deputy, General Sekouba Konate.

Mauritania

August 2008 – Another West African country where the military could not resist the temptation to intervene in domestic politics, was Mauritania. On August 4, Mauritanian army officers announced the overthrow of the country's president, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and the creation of a military council to rule the country, named the Military Council for Justice and Democracy. More than two-thirds of the members of parliament, and the same proportion of senators, supported the coup. The politicians said the army had merely done its duty in removing President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who they accused of acting anti-constitutionally.

The coup, which drew widespread international criticism, was given a mixed reception domestically. France and the US had cancelled their aid. The African Union also suspended the country following the 6 August coup. The governments of South Africa and Nigeria - both major players in the African Union - also criticized the military takeover. Mauritania has a long history of coups - more than 10 military coup attempts over the last three decades - with the military involved in nearly every government since its independence from France in 1960.

Togo, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia

The second half of the first decade of the third millennium had started with the young Eyadéma succeeding his father, Africa’s longest serving ruler who had died at the relatively young age of 69 years. In February 2005, 39-year old Faure Gnassinbe Eyadéma was hurriedly installed by the military as Togo’s new President after his father Gnassingbe Eyadéma had died. Dynestic succession is to become a constant characteristic in politics in African countries, notably in francophone Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the murdered head of state Laurent Kabila was succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila (2001). When in another Central African Republic, Gabon, the then longest-serving African Head of State, Elhadji Omar Bongo, passed away, in 2009, he too was succeeded by his son, Ali Ben Bongo – albeit through democratic elections.

In three other small West African countries a new president was sworn in during the 2005 - 2010 period. In all three countries this happened after a civil war characterized by much violence.

In March 2009, President Vieira ('Nino') of Guinea Bissau was killed by renegade soldiers, apparently in a drugs-related conflict. Guinea Bissau has in a short span of time become Africa’s most notorious narco-state. See my March 2009 posting. Nino's successor Malam Bacai Sanha was installed in September of the same year - after elections in which one of the presidential candidates was killed by military policy, apparently in a bid to foil a coup.

After the end of Sierra Leone's civil war, in 2002, President Kabbah was sworn in as the country's president. In 2007, he was succeeded by his opponent, Ernest Bai Koroma. A commendable transfer of power, given the country's contemporary history of chaos and conflict.

In neighboring Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had become Africa’s first democratically elected female President, in 2006. Recently, she announced that she will contest the 2011 presidential elections. Her decision, announced at the State of the Nation address on January 25, 2010, surprised many. In her 2005 election campaign, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had indicated that she would not run for a second term.

The Liberian 1984 Constitution allows for a two-term presidential term, therefore Sirleaf is legally able to do so. But her position is a controversial one, in particular in view of the Truth and Reconciliations Commission’s recommendation that she be banned from public office for 30 years for her support of Charles Taylor when he invaded the country in 1989.

To be continued

2009-11-10T17:10:00.008+01:00

Tuesday, November 10

LRoc: a famous Liberian living abroad

Forced to stay inside with a contagious flu, I was watching CNN this morning when an interview with a Liberian artist from Atlanta, Georgia, was announced. Music producer LRoc - since it was him - is the son of a former Minister of Finance executed on the beach of Monrovia on that fatal day in April 1980. Then 16 years old, he fled with his American mother to the USA where he has been living for the past 29 years, building a career as a successful songwriter and music producer. In 2005 LRoc - aka James Elbert Phillips - was the co-winner of a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Though my interest in Liberia and Liberians has no limits, my knowledge of Southern hip-hop, crunch music and the R&B scene is virtually non-existent. After consulting Wikipedia and Google I knew more.

As a child during the 1970's, James Elbert Phillips studied classical piano although he was not an enthousiast student - it was his parents' choice. He was more interested in Steve Wonder, Prince and Parliament Funkadelic. He taught himself to play the bass guitar. Initially listening to funk bands such as Cameo, the Time, and the Brothers Johnson, later his musical tastes broadened including Count Basie, Thad Jones, Chaka Khan, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock.

LRoc - aka James Elbert Phillips - is now a successful songwriter and music producer, working with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He has co-written and co-produced many singles like Janet Jackson's "Call on Me" and "So Excited", Mariah Carey's "Get Your Number", Murphy Lee's "Wat Dat Hook Gonna Be", ", LL Cool J's "Control Myself," Nelly's "Grillz" and Usher's "Yeah'" which won him the Grammy Award in 2005.

One of the most interesting articles and interviews I read about him was published by Starpoynt Magazine. A more technical article - but difficult to read for a non-initiated layman (sorry ladies!) like me - can be found here. For an easier to read 2008 interview with the man behind Jermaine Dupri click here. Also in 2008 the Sunday Paper published an interview with him.

Why do I focus attention on him?

There are three reasons. One is that it shows that there is no need to associate Liberia with only bad news. The publicity handicap, however, is that "Good news is no news."

The second reason is that it once again shows that creative and precious Liberian human resources contribute more to developments abroad than at home. LRoc is of course far from the only one, there are tens of thousands of his compatriots residing in the USA. Of course I respect the right of individuals to choose their domicile where they want, but their country needs them.

I also understand individual Liberians to decide to live and earn a decent living in e.g. the USA, where they enjoy the rule of law and other basic human rights which in Liberia can easily be jeopardized - as recent history has shown. To expect them to give up a guaranteed peaceful existence in the USA for an uncertain future in Africa's Oldest Republic, is not realistic. But - and that is my third reason - this conclusion increases the urgency to rebuild Liberia, to establish the rule of law, and to create a society with sufficient jobs and equal opportunities for all. If that is not guaranteed, they sure won't return to Liberia.

It is a painful but realistic conclusion.

2009-10-21T00:24:00.015+02:00

Wednesday, October 21

Kimmie Weeks and The New Liberia

Over the weekend I stumbled upon Kimmie Weeks, labelled Liberia's young hero by CNN. Honestly speaking, I had never heard of him - thought undoubtedly that says more about me than about him. He is famous, not only in Liberia, and in other African countries, but also the world over.

I am not going to repeat here his credentials; internet offers so many possibilities to trace his achievements. But I must say, when I saw the movie about him on CNN last week, I was greatly impressed. When I saw him, I immediately recognized his features.

When I taught at the University of Liberia – in the early seventies - among my students was one Weeks, a bright young man, very outspoken, very sympathetic. He was part of the progressive forces opposing the Tolbert Administration and True Whig Party hegemony. At one time he also was editor of the Revelation, one of those anarchistic hand-outs closely associated with the famous journalist Albert Porte. Anarchistic in the sense that they did not obey to the rules of the class society where their cradle once stood. Sincerely progressive, with the ideals and ambitions of real reformers (I do not say: revolutionaries), and gifted with a more than average intelligence, they represented the hope every society needs to advance ‘to higher heights’, to paraphrase former president William Tolbert.

I watched the CNN movie on Kimmie Weeks and hardly could believe my eyes. What a personality! What an incredible story! Born in 1981, he was a child during the civil war. During the early years of the war, his mother and Kimmie fled, landed in a refugee camp where malnutrition, infections and diseases decimated the population. When sick, the young Kimmie was given up and tossed on a pile of dead bodies. Thanks to his mother (who is she???) who refused to accept Kimmie’s apparent fate, he was rescued. According to his official web site, he then pledged a solemn oath: to fight for a better future for Liberia’s youth, later extended to other African countries.

In 1998, former Liberian President Charles Taylor made several attempts to assassinate him after Kimmie investigated his government’s involvement in the training of children as soldiers, subsequently releasing a groundbreaking report. Eventually he was forced into exile.

I will not repeat here what has been published elsewhere. But my interest was aroused. Who is Kimmie – apart from his own personality? I decided to dig into my memory and to consult some friends.

The following story emerged. Interesting - as will be clear from what follows.

Kimmie’s father was one of the famous Weeks brothers. Rocheforte L. Weeks was his father, born on August 15, 1923 in Crozierville, one of Liberia’s famous historic settler towns. By the way, the notorious oppositional Albert Porte, at one time editor of the already mentioned Revelation, also originated from Crozierville.

Rocheforte Weeks was the first Liberian president of the University of Liberia. After its creation in 1951, two Americans were at the helm of the nation’s highest institution of academic learning. For various reasons, President Tubman decided in 1959 to install a Liberian as head of the institution. The flamboyant Rocheforte Weeks served as President of the University of Liberia from 1959 till 1972. President William Tolbert appointed him as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1972, replacing Rudolph Grimes (who had demonstrated a lack of loyalty as perceived by Tolbert in the preceding year, after the death of President Tubman).

The Weeks family is or was one of the largest Americo-Liberian families. During the Tubman Administration (1944-1971) the three Weeks brothers were famous: the charismatic Rocheforte Weeks, his elder brother James Milton Weeks, who was at one time Minister of Finance, and brother Anthony, former Director of the Budget under Tubman.

The three Weeks brothers were accompanied by three Sherman brothers who in the same period were among the most powerful of the Americo-Liberian families. Charles Dunbar Sherman undoubtedly was the most powerful of them. Politician, academician, businessman, key person in religious and other organizations, he also served as Secretary of the Treasury in the late 1950s and early 1960s when Liberia’s ‘Growth without Development’ model was at its zenith – thanks to the abundant foreign investments in the country’s natural resources.

And then we also had the three Tolbert brothers. William Tolbert, who had patiently served under Tubman as his Vice-President for nearly twenty years, rose to the highest public position. Brother Frank served for many years as the President Pro-Tempore of the Senate whereas brother Stephen, rather a businessman than a politician, was nominated Minister of Finance by his brother-President. The uncrupulous and tough Stephen Tolbert also was the owner of one of the largest and most successful commercial enterprises in the country’s history, the Mesurado Group of Companies.

All these reflections emerged while watching Kimmie Weeks. His eloquent leadership, his gift of communication, no doubt he is the son of his father. A born orator, as this other great man, Barrack Obama. I was not surprised to read Kimmie’s political ambitions, and his ultimate goal: the country’s leadership.

In my opinion, Kimmie Weeks has the characteristics and potential of 'the new Liberian'. After watching the various movies available, on You Tube and elsewhere, and judging from his CV and background, I strongly have the impression that he has the potential to play a crucial role in the future of his country where – to paraphrase Martin Luther King – he and his children will not be judged on their background, but by the content of their character.

Liberia desperately needs people like Kimmie Weeks who have the potential to bridge the Past and the Present - as Liberia's present leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf aims to realize. They, together with other strong Liberians, must bridge the divide between the various segments of the Liberian population, without re-establishing the old order.

Whereas Ellen represents the older generation, Kimmie is an exponent of the new generation of Liberians. They both represent The New Liberia where labels such as 'Americo-Liberian' and 'Congo-people' have become anachronisms. One nation, one people, one destiny. 'By God's command'.

2009-10-06T23:59:00.007+02:00

Tuesday, October 6

Twenty Years Charles Taylor: 1989 – 2009

Today I was reading the daily and weekly summaries of the Trial of Charles Taylor site, that excellent initiative and project of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Again I was fascinated by what is happening a few miles from where I live and work. In the Special Court for Sierra Leone, housed at the International Criminal Court in a suburb of The Hague, former President Charles Taylor is defending himself against eleven charges. If convicted he could spend the rest of his life in an English prison – since the UK government has agreed to accept him in case the SCSL judges would find him guilty.

Taylor is denying all charges – which shouldn’t surprise. Last week he said that he did not order Sierra Leonean rebel forces to attack Freetown in 1999. In fact, he is denying everything, his contacts with RUF leader Foday Sankoh after May 1992, the murdering of Samuel Bockarie and Daniel Tamba, and giving orders for the execution of Superman, a Liberian commander of the RUF, Sierra Leone’s rebel group, responsible for so many atrocities and notorious for its mutilation of children and adults by hacking off arms (‘short sleeves’ or ‘long sleeves’). One of the prosecution witnesses, Joseph Marzah, a former member of Taylor’s invasion force, in 1989, and fighting force, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) last year testified that Taylor had feasted on Superman’s heart. Charles Taylor called prosecution allegations that he was involved in ritual sacrifice and cannibalism ‘racist’.

Taylor has no choice but to deny everything. He denied that he ordered the NPFL and RUF rebels to subject civilians to sexual violence and forced labor, that he used child soldiers who were drugged. He also denied giving orders to kill and eat the members of the Krahn tribe, or to kill UN and West African peacekeepers. He further denied supplying arms and ammunition to rebel forces in Sierra Leone in return for diamonds mined by the rebels in Sierra Leone, or allowing the RUF to have any radio stations in Liberia.

Taylor calls everything ‘a blatant lie’, dismisses witness’s evidence as ‘concoction’, and is in the ICC / SLSC court room as self-assured, flamboyant and charming as ever.

I had to think of two BBC articles I read a couple of months ago. In a series of weekly viewpoints from African journalists, former BBC editor and Ghanaian minister Elizabeth Ohene wrote about her encounters with Charles Taylor. Read her account here. It makes fascinating reading. It tells about the multiple faces and roles of Charles Taylor: a rebel and soldier, his presidency of Africa’s first Republic, and now defending himself in a high-profile criminal case, being the first former African President to stand trial.

In another article BBC's Mark Doyle looked back at Charles Taylor's life.

Whatever one may think of Charles Taylor being guilty or not – and personally I have few if any doubts - Charles Taylor, from his invasion in Nimba County in December 1989 to his trial in The Hague in 2009, has already entered Liberia’s history as one of the most fascinating personalities of Africa’s oldest republic.

2009-09-24T11:23:00.004+02:00

Wednesday, September 23

Liberia and the Decolonization of the Mind

This afternoon I went to the VU University Amsterdam to attend the inaugural speech of one of the recently appointed Desmond Tutu Professors of VU University Amsterdam. Four Professors were installed and presented during the launch of the Desmond Tutu Programme on December 4 last year, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu himself addressing the audience. Today, Desmond Tutu Professor Stephen Ellis delivered his inaugural speech entitled ‘South Africa and the Decolonization of the Mind’. The Desmond Tutu Programma’s themes are Youth, Sports and Reconciliation and each of the four Chair Holders deals in his address with these themes from the perspectives of their respectives disciplines and expertise in which processes of reconciliation in South Africa are contextualized.

Liberian readers and other followers of Liberian affairs know Dr. Stephen Ellis from his well-known book ‘The Mask of Anarchy. The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War’ (New York University Press, New York) but apart from Liberia, he also is an expert on Nigeria, Madagascar and South Africa.

The main message of Prof. Ellis address was: contemporary history of African countries, South Africa in particular, is very much concentrating on the phasing out of colonial dominance. For most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa this occurred in the 1960s, for some in the 1970s - notably the Lusophone countries – for South Africa it was the end of apartheid and the first multiparty, democratic elections, which brought the ANC government to power in 1994. The freeing of African peoples from colonial dominance, albeit sometimes hindered by neo-colonial manoeuvring, went hand-in-hand with the introduction of a Western concept of the nation-state. Any analysis of subsequent events in the new-born states was from this perspective.

Ellis argues that it is increasingly irrelevant to consider the colonial period as pivotal for African history.

His point of view is a challenge.

I could not help but think of Africa’s oldest Republic. Liberia had its colonial period. Would it be wrong to say that the end of this colonial period started with the 1980 military coup of Samuel Doe and his PRC? However, we tend to think that the colonial rule which master-sergeant Doe ended, was replaced by another semi-colonial period dominated by a particular segment of the population, Doe’s tribe, the Krahn from South-eastern Liberia. This was followed by a struggle for power in which many tribal and other personalities participated.

In fact, we are falling in the trap which Prof. Ellis just pointed out. We are judging and analysing the contemporary history of the people now inhabiting the region known as Liberia, from a colonial or neo-colonial angle. Maybe we should stop doing this, and stop explaining the problems of Liberia from this perspective. Instead, we should focus on the history of relationships between the Gola, Kpelle, Loma, Kissi, Mende, Vai, Mandingo, Mano, Gio, Bassa, Grebo, Kru, Krahn, to name just a few of them, of course not leaving out the 19th c. settlers, the freed slaves from intercepted slave vessels, so-called Congo-people, and their descendents. But the Americo-Liberians, as they called themselves, and these Congo people, are just an incident in the history of the peoples of this part of West Africa, I thought today, listening to Prof. Stephen Ellis lecture. ‘Who the h*** was A.B. Tolbert?’, future generations may ask. Both Liberians and outsiders should re-focus their view on Liberia’s contemporary history. Maybe, we all should decolonize our minds.

With many thanks to Prof. Stephen Ellis and the VU University Amsterdam .

2009-07-27T22:23:00.011+02:00

Monday, July 27

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Independence Day speech

In case you have not yet read the July 26 speech of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, which she presented during yesterday's Independence Day celebrations in Bong County, you can read the full text here. The original text is also available at the Executive Mansion site.

The reason why I have choosen to reproduce here the entire text is (1) in light of the recent turmoil about the TRC report (also see my July 9 posting, 'Controversial TRC report rocks Liberia'). In her Independence Day speech President Sirleaf for the first time commented on the TRC report. It is important to note that she did this in a prudent and responsible way; (2) In her speech she also presented the achievements of her administration (which is half-way now). Impressive as it may seem, in reality it is very modest - which though is not her fault.

The National Budget for the new Fiscal Year which was recently presented amounts to not more than US $ 1 million a day (some US $ 360 million in total, if I remember well). Furthermore, the reported amount of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) of some US $ 8 billion is important as a sign of confidence that foreign investors like Firestone and ArcelorMittal have in the country's future political stability. Yet, ArcelorMittal for instance, recently decided to freeze its investments in the West African country of Senegal and any time the same can be expected for the company's activities in Liberia (the rehabilitation of the Nimba ore mining operations), given the present global economic and financial crises and the gloomy outlook for the iron ore mining sector. Moreover, the Central Bank's national reserves are not more than US $ 50 million. In all, it is not a rosy picture for the development of the modern Liberian economy.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to get to know the full text of her speech, which reads as follows:

Special Message by
Her Excellency Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
President of the Republic of Liberia
On the Occasion of the
162nd Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Liberia
Gbarnga, Bong County,
27th July 2009

Mr. Vice President & Mrs. Boakai;

Mr. Speaker and Honorable Members of the House of Representatives;

Mr. President ProTempore and Members of the Senate, Mr. Chief Justice, Associate Justices and Members of the Judiciary;

Mr. National Orator;

President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo; Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas;

Our Special Guests;

Former NTGL Chairman Gyude Bryant;

Ministers, Officials of Government;

Chiefs, Traditional Leaders;

Former President and Mrs. Blah & Former Speaker & Government Officials;

Doyen, Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps;

The SRSG, United Nations Family;

Bishops, Prelates, Members of the Clergy;

Development Partners;

Superintendent, Local Government Officials;

Political Leaders, Business Leaders, NGO Leaders, Media, Marketers, Students;

The Kind People of Bong County:

KWAA KER WON TONO!

When on January 16, 2006 I spoke to the nation, I recognized that the vote for me was a vote for change. More than that, it was a vote for peace, security and stability, a vote for individual and national prosperity, a vote for healing and leadership. I expressed humility in the enormity of the challenges that lay ahead – to heal our nation’s wounds, redefine and strengthen its purpose, make democracy a living and effective experiment, promote economic growth, create jobs, revitalize our health and education facilities and services, and quicken the pace of social progress and individual prosperity in our country.

Although we still have a long way to go, we have come a long way in meeting these challenges. We have energized the programs that have trained 2000 new soldiers and renovated their facilities at the Schiefflin and Gbarnga military barracks. Our growth rate has averaged over 6 percent in the past three years. Our development agenda is formulated and in the process of implementation. We are close to the end of the program that will bring us relief from the US$4.9 billion external debt which we inherited. Our Central Bank international reserves have gone from US$5 million to US$50 million. We have removed UN sanctions on our diamonds and forestry, joined the Kimberley process, passed a new forestry law and joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative that covers both of these resources. And we anxiously await the recently enacted Land Reform Commission law to begin the process of much needed reform that will address property rights and land disputes which has the potential to further divide our people.

We have undertaken the first national census in twenty years. Enrollment in our primary schools has increased over 40 percent, the majority of whom are girls. We have renovated two of the three rural teacher training institutes and graduated the first 456 students in 20 years. The University of Liberia will move next year to its US$20 million renovated Fendall campus. The Tubman Technical College renamed Tubman University will reopen its doors in September to be followed by the Technical College in Sinje. Plans for other County colleges are well advanced in planning.

We have restored lights and water missing for over fourteen years, to the Capital and a few other cities. We have started the reconstruction of primary and neighborhood roads and the streets of our Capital city. We have attracted private investment of over US$ 8 billion in our mineral, agriculture, forestry and oil exploration potential. We have constructed or renovated more than 215 schools, 30 hospitals and clinics, several county administration buildings, court houses and security facilities throughout the country. The Telewoyan Hospital in Voinjama is now renovated and in full operation while a US$10 million renovation of the Tappita Hospital is underway. The majority of our schools throughout the country will have books with a national orientation when they open in September. For the first time in two decades, six year olds will start school knowing only an environment of peace.

We have made significant progress in settling arrears to former security forces, civil servants, foreign missions, former Legislators, regional and international organizations. We have qualified for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and obtained Threshold status under the Millennium challenge Corporation. We have strengthened the General Auditing Commission and established the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC). We have mobilized non-official flows from foundations, non-official organizations and individuals to the tune of US$15 million to support our capacity building, education and market development program. We have increased revenues from US$80 million to more than US$347 million, pensions from LD$50 to LD$1000, civil servants salaries from US$15 to US$80 with a floor of US$100 for security, teachers and health care workers.

The JFK Hospital is undertaking a program of major physical renovation and capacity building and is on an irreversible path to recovery. We have started judicial action for recovery of illegally sold government physical assets in five of our diplomatic missions. We have restored our nation’s good relationship and reputation throughout the world. In recognition of this, VIPs from 17 countries visited us and I was privileged to make 14 official visits and be honored by 4 nations and 24 institutions of higher learning. Moreover, we have restored in all citizens, particularly the young, hope in the future.

Fellow citizens, a nation rises to its potential when its people are prepared to seize the opportunity, to capture the moment, to accentuate the positive. A nation rises to its potential when its people are proud of their achievements, are prepared to extol their values, are ready to rise above self interest in demonstration of nationalism and patriotism. Such was the character of Martin Luther King when, despite the discrimination and inhumanities to which his people were subjected, saw not the nightmare of things that were but the dream of things that could be. Such was the character of Nelson Mandela when he said “the impossible remains the impossible until it is done”. Such was the character of Barack Obama who when no one believed that an African American could become President of the United States said, “Yes, we can!”

Fellow Citizens, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission spent three years interviewing tens of thousands of Liberians in country and amongst the Diaspora. We commend them and each and every person who participated in this process. Where the report lives up to its mission and mandate, the Liberian people have my steadfast commitment to work with all branches of government, the Independent Human Rights Commission, the religious community, civil society and the media to actualize its recommendations. This is as much as I can say to you as I am named in the report for sanction and I have been advised that it would be legally imprudent for me to give a more extensive comment on the report. Also, my comments could be misinterpreted as an attempt to influence what ever action the National Legislature might take on the report, and I do not intend to do so. I believe in the wisdom of the Liberian people and am convinced that they will make a proper judgment on the TRC’s Final Report.

Fellow citizens, as many of you know, I have dedicated my life to navigating a future for Liberia free from war and fear and grounded in individual freedom and opportunity. Sometimes, the circumstances were opaque, the distinctions between evil and good were not so clear—this is the nature of conflict and war. Like thousands of other Liberians at home and abroad who did, I have always admitted my early support for Charles Taylor to challenge the brutality of a dictatorship. It was equally clear that when the true nature of Mr. Taylor’s intentions became known, there was no more impassioned critic or strong opponent to him in a democratic process. I have talked about this openly over the past twelve years and expressed remorse to the Liberian people for my misjudgment. In turn, the Liberian people rendered their judgment. In 2005, I was elected President of the Republic of Liberia. My mandate was to return hope to the country and to make the children smile again.

During the past three years, my Administration has remained true to the faith that the Liberian people bestowed to me in that election. We have made gains toward restoring our security and our prosperity – and more importantly restoring our belief in ourselves, our potential, and our love of God and country. I know that there is much work to be done to bring the benefits of this work to all Liberians and my Administration will not rest until the gains of peace are felt by all. I strongly believe that Liberians, through their vote, have an inherent right to determine the direction of the nation, just as I believe that they each, in their own way, has the wisdom to know truth and the desire to seek reconciliation.

I will always stand as a servant of the Liberian people and will always respect their wisdom.

KWAA KER WON TONO!

To be frank, I have no idea what 'Kwaa Ker Won Tono' means. 'Our struggle continues'?? Or, 'Hail Liberia hail'?? Or 'Let Justice prevail'??

I would greatly appreciate readers' help.

2009-07-09T00:42:00.008+02:00

Thursday, July 9

Controversial TRC report rocks Liberia

One week after the publication of its impressive final report, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) is at the center of a political storm which only seems to intensify. Its findings and recommendations have surprised many – both inside and outside Liberia.
Reactions included 'Mockery to Justice', 'TRC Retracts Controversial report', 'An Incomplete Report', 'Liberian Opinion divided on Truth and Reconciliation findings', 'Liberians React to Truth Commission Report', 'War Crimes Group Wants Ellen To Resign', 'Civil War Panel Seeks to Ban President from Politics', among many other news reports.

Notably the suggested public sanction affecting President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, including her name in a list of over 50 ‘political leaders and financiers of different warring factions’ who should be barred from holding public offices for a period of thirty (30) years, shocked many people. They also could not understand why some well-known perpetrators were left out for prosecution or recommended to be pardoned – such as Joshua Milton Blayir (‘General Butt-Naked’) who admitted to ritual killings and cannibalism, and being responsible for 20,000 victims. Same for Thomas Boye Bioaju Boye, former Chief of Staff of MODEL, one of the warring factions, and 34 other perpetrators of various crimes during the civil war (see pp 268/269 of the report).

In February of this year President Sirleaf had testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, admitting giving Charles Taylor a financial support of USD 10,000 when he was preparing to oust sitting President Samuel Doe, in the late 1980s, but she denied any military role. Her testimony was not revealing anything which had not been publicly known before. During her presidential campaign she had said the same. Before the TRC she apologized for ‘her foolishness’ and said she withdrew her support when realizing Taylor’s ruthlessness, greed and ambitions. Numerous news agencies and newspapers published her testimony and apologies, e.g. the BBC, AllAfrica, Radio Netherlands, the Washington Post. However, the TRC justified inclusion of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s name in the list of persons recommended for public sanctions ‘because she had not shown remorse’ for her acts.

The foregoing leads me – for the moment - to two observations. First, the TRC Commission has done an impressive work and has produced a very interesting report, outlining the root causes of the civil war, naming and shaming many of those responsible for the atrocities committed during the 14-year civil war. Its historical analysis clearly shows how divided the Liberian society is, not only the A.L.- Congo /tribal divide but also the competition between the approximately 16 different tribes in the country. In accordance with this reality, one gets the impression that the outcomes of some of the deliberations of the commission result from negotiations. Reportedly, one of the committee members, Pearl Brown Bull ('Historical review'), refused to sign off on the final report.
The report’s recommendations will surely feed the debate in and outside Liberia for the coming months, if not years. Besides, it may be a (minor) legal technicality but does the TRC mandate include the recommendation for public sanctions? At first sight I have not found any reference to it in Chapter 3 ('Mandate', notably p.28).

Secondly, Liberia may be again heading for political trouble and instability. Warlords like Prince Johnson – known for his capture, torture and killing of President Samuel Doe and now an elected Senator (!) – have been threatening to resist arrest. Others will try to manipulate more discreet. It is very unlikely that former warlords like e.g. the Mandingo warlord Alhadji Kromah (leader of ULIMO-K), now a Professor at the University of Liberia, will accept that they have to face justice. Protracted discussions will take place in the National Legislature, the only institution in the country which has the right to decide whether or not the TRC recommendations will be enacted into law. Some former warlords occupy seats like e.g. Nimba County Senators Prince Johnson and Adolphus Dolo, formerly known as ‘General Peanut Butter’, loyal to Charles Taylor, but also Blamo Nelson (Senator for Grand Kru Country and former Director of Cabinet under Charles Taylor) and Jewel Taylor-Howard (Senator for Bong County and former wife of Charles Taylor) to name but a few. It is interesting to note that in parliament the opposition has a majority and may force President Sirleaf to resign, leaving the floor to Vice President Joseph Boakai who hails from Foya District, Lofa County.

Liberia’s future again looks dim. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and so-called IDPs (‘Internally Displaced Persons’) have returned to their country or village in recent years: productive workers, housewives, mothers, students, children, old people wanting to spend their last years in ‘This land of liberty’. Foreign investors (ArcelorMittal, Firestone, and the Malaysian logging firm Sime Darby) and local businessmen are increasingly showing interest in the economic potential of Africa’s oldest republic, a country well endowed with natural resources. Last year Liberia had a record economic growth figure of over 10 per cent. Still, a lot needs to be done, and a growing number of the 15,000 or more Liberians in the USA – most of them well educated men and women - is considering to return home. One of them once told me: ‘We need foreign investors to develop the country and the UN to keep the peace.’

I am afraid that he is going to be right for the next couple of years.

2009-06-21T17:58:00.013+02:00

Sunday, June 21

‘Let Justice Be Done To All’

The booming economy of the 1950s and 1960s enabled the construction in Monrovia of (then) prominent buildings such as the Capitol (1958), the Executive Mansion (1964), the City Hall and the Temple of Justice. The inscription ‘Let Justice be Done To All Men’ on the Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill was certainly inspired by noble thoughts. However, it was disputed as from the beginning, and for three reasons: 1) because of the lack of rule of law, 2) because of the existence of unjust laws and 3) because of the male chauvinistic and sexist formulation of this basic human right. Damaged during the civil war, the Temple of Justice was renovated in 2008 and to the joy of many the old description had been changed into: ‘Let Justice Be Done To All’. Still recently, the altered motto evoked many reactions.

But ‘justice’ is more than changing mottos. Not long ago, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) released its final report on the civil conflict, 1979 – 2003. Last week it held a National Conference on Reconciliation in the Unity Conference Center in Virginia, Monrovia.

The conference once more demonstrated how divided the Liberian society still is, how fragile peace, how many challenges of reconstruction and national reconciliation exist and, last but not least, how difficult it is to ‘render justice to all’.

A group of war victims demanded reparations for injuries inflicted on them, the Chairman of the TRC called for unity, but the central issue was the setting up of a special court to try those accused of war crimes and human rights abuses during the conflict. Human rights activists spoke out in favor of the creation of a special war crimes tribunal – as has happened in neighboring Sierra Leone – but in the end conference delegates failed to sign a resolution calling for the prosecution of warlords.

Early June already, one of the most notorious warlords - now Senator for Nimba County - Prince Johnson, revealed the existence of a list of names of 110 former fighters, including Charles Taylor’s warlord Roland Duo as well as his name (Prince Johnson). He again warned that he would resist any attempt to prosecute him: ‘I am saying again that any attempt to arrest me, there will be trouble.’

Other former warlords called for unity and reconciliation and begged for clemency: Alhaji Kromah, former ULIMO leader, now Professor of Mass Communication at the University of Liberia, Roland Duo, NPFL commander, and ex-rebel general Moi Bleayu Moi, of the defunct MODEL, a rag-tag army from the east. Former warlord Boi is now a reverend, like another warlord-turned-pastor, Joshua Milton Blahyi (‘General Butt Naked’ who admitted to taking part in human sacrifices as part of traditional ceremonies intended to ensure victory over ennemies).

‘Let Justice Be Done To All’ – changing the Temple of Justice's motto is easier than enforcing the rule of law.

2009-05-04T12:37:00.009+02:00

Monday, May 4

‘This Child Will be Great’ – Some reflections

Wow. What a book! What a woman! What a life! I just finished reading Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s autobiography, ‘This Child Will be Great. Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President’ (HarperCollinsPublishers, 2009).

The book amazes, the book fascinates. The book not only tells the story of a remarkable woman, it also provides a very valuable insider’s look into the history of Liberia since 1980. I am sure that this book will become a standard work in the already long list of literature on Liberia. In my opinion, this book is a must read for everybody familar with Liberia, who loves Liberia and who believes in Liberia.

What makes me so enthousiastic about President Sirleaf’s book? What impressed me the most in her work? What shocked me most? Does her autobiography throw new light on Liberia’s contemporary history? And, aren’t there any questions left, or new questions, after reading her memoir? These are logical questions and I will try to briefly answer them.

Before doing this, I would like to draw your attention to some very interesting reviews of Sirleaf's memoir which were recently published: Shelby Grossman on her Liberia blog, Ruthie Ackerman on Forbes.com, another book review in the Economist, and not to forget Emmanuel's numerous postings on President Sirleaf on his blog 'Liberia and Friends Journal', Dr Abdoulaye Dukuly on The Liberian Journal, Lynn Sherr's review and interview with President Sirleaf, Carl Hartman's review for the Associated Press, to name just them. Highly recommended!

Now my questions. The first question – ‘What makes me so enthousiastic about President Sirleaf’s book?’ – is the fact that everything she describes is so reckognizable. This is not to say that the book contains no news – far from that. But having lived in Liberia for a number of years in a very crucial period of this country’s history (described in Chapter 4, ‘The Tolbert Years’) – including the 1979 Rice Riot - and having witnessed the April 12 coup (Chapter 5, ‘The 1980 Coup’) many events she relates are very familiar. So are the key actors. It makes it a very easy to read book, at least for me and despite the at times horrific events she describes.

The second question is more difficult to answer ( ‘What impressed me most?’). I am equally impressed by her competence, international network, courage, tenacity. When she was Minister of Finance in President William Tolbert’s government (in the late 1970s) she had the reputation of being one of the smartest cabinet members. Her working experience has resulted in a vast network of key-actors – on the African continent as well as worldwide - former or sitting African presidents (Nyerere, Mandela, Museveni, Kagame, Obasanjo, Compaoré), Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Robert McNamara, George Soros, a.s.o.. Her vast experience in international organizations (World Bank, UN) and international business (Citibank, Equator Bank) now is a major asset of her presidency.

Equally impressive is her courage and the hardship she endured in jail (Chapter 8, ‘The Attempted Coup’and Chapter 9, ‘Escape’). She survived Doe’s prisons where thousands of Liberians perished. After the rigged 1985 elections, she refused to call Samuel Doe President, and addressed him as ‘General Doe’, which would infuriate him. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is no ‘yes-person’ ("say yes to the right people").

What also impressed me was her frank criticism of the French government, for its role in the preparation (or prevention) and aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, as well as Kofi Annan’s failing in this respect (Chapter 12, ‘UNDP and Rwanda’). Also former American President Jimmy Carter’s is being criticized for his role in the 1997 elections in Liberia (Chapter 13, ‘War Some More / 1997 Elections’). It takes courage to state this as boldly as she does, in particular because now she is President of an African country that desperately needs as many international friends as it can get - and the funds that go with it.

Then, what shocked me most (among the many shocking events described) was the physical abuse by her then husband: ‘He pulled out his gun (.....) and struck me on the head with the butt of it.’ (page 39). A large part of Chapter 2, ‘Childhood Ends’ tells the story of her marriage and what went wrong. This experience must have contributed greatly to her actual view and position on domestic violence, rape, and the empowerment of women.

Then, the next question: What is the value added of this book? Does this autobiography throw new light on Liberia’s contemporary history?
As for the first question, I am sure there are many more strong African women, but it is extremely instructive to get an in-depth view of the life of one of them who, moreover, now is 70-years old and the first elected female African President. She faces challenges and tasks which she will not be able to finish, as she admits on page 312, but that does not seem to discourage her. How many people would act the same at her age, in her place, and with her experience?

With her memoir, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has made an important contribution to the writing of Liberia’s contemporary history. Her autobiography puts the spotlight on her character, childhood, professional life, political activities, hardships, achievements, all in the context of Liberia’s recent history, it is difficult to say that no one else could have done it equally impressive and interesting. Here lies a challenge for historians: to write about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the story of her life from a different, less personal point of view.

This automatically leads me to my last question. Does her memoir raise any questions which she leaves unanswered?

I think the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. But that shouldn’t surprise us. First of all, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has proved to be a smart politician, and we cannot expect her to tell all secrets she knows. After all, she has to politically survive for at least another three years, the second half of her presidential term. Moreover, if she would have presented a complete picture then we would not have had a 334 page memoir (including her Inaugural Speech as Liberia’s 23rd President) but maybe 800 or 1,000 pages.

One of the main questions which remain unanswered concerns her exact relations with former President Charles Taylor. She gives some insight in her book, where she tells about their first contacts and their subsequent meetings, her initial support for Taylor's fight to topple the government of Samuel Doe, her meeting with him in the Liberian bush in the early 1990s, and their later disagreement and dislike. What is clear from her book is that she knew Taylor and (at least in a certain period) had access to him. What explained this? Did this have anything to do with their common Americo-Liberian background or the shared tribal roots? Charles Taylor was the son of an A.L. father and a Gola mother, Sirleaf’s ancestors on her father’s side were Gola too. I do not want to play the tribal card, I am just curious.

What is crystal clear from her book, however, is that she wants Taylor in prison, condemned, she obviously does not want him to come back to Liberia, West Africa. She has no doubt about him being guilty for the atrocities committed in Liberia as well as in Sierra Leone. In this respect, today is an important day.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone resumes today, and the court’s decison will be given whether Taylor will be acquitted (see my April 14 and earlier postings on the SCSL). If the SCSL would acquit Taylor, President Sirleaf has a (big) problem. In case Taylor will not be acquitted, it cannot be ruled out that President Sirleaf will be asked to come to the SCSL in The Hague, to testify...

To end with, I have a (small) question which intrigues me. On page 268 of her memoir, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf writes: ‘On November 23, 2005, the National Elections Commission declared me the twenty-third president of Liberia.’ .
I also have stated on my website that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Liberia’s 23d president. However, there exists some confusion about the numerical ranking of Liberian Presidents. According to two eminent Liberian historians, Dr. D. Elwood Dunn and Dr. William E. Allen, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the 24th President of Liberia.

Who is right? Readers are cordially invited to react to this historical enigma and to give their view(s).

2009-04-14T00:52:00.004+02:00

Tuesday, April 14

From the ‘rice riots’ to the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Thirty years ago the ‘rice riots’ were the beginning of the end of the Administration of President William Tolbert (1971 – 80). April 14, 1979 - ‘The day Monrovia stood still’, as described by the late Albert Porte, one of Liberia's most independent and prolific writers. A people’s protest against the increase in the price of rice resulted in police firing at demonstrators, killing hundreds maybe more than one thousand Liberians whose only fault it was to no longer accept the one-party rule of the True Whig Party, the political machinery of the Americo-Liberian elite. The ‘rice riots’ announced in a very violent way the end of an era of political stability which, it should be reckognized, was only made possible through the oppression of the majority of the Liberian people by a very small minority, not exceeding five percent of the total population.

Liberia underwent more changes in the thirty years that have passed since that day, April 14, 1979, than in the 150 years preceding it, one is inclined to say. A quarter of a million Liberians dead, many more wounded or traumatized, the modern economy in shambles, infrastructure destroyed, foreign investors chased away. Among the living persons bearing responsibility for most, if not all, destruction, killings, atrocities, cruelties is notably Charles Ghankay Taylor – first as leader of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), later as president of Liberia.

As I also mentioned in last week’s postings, Charles Taylor is standing before his judges in The Hague, the Netherlands, not because of his role in the civil war in Liberia, but he is being held responsible for his participation in or fueling of the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

On Thursday (April 9), Special Court for Sierra Leone Prosecution counsel Ms Brenda Hollis made her oral response to the defense submission of no answer (see my April 6 posting). I was very impressed by Ms Hollis, who inevitably repeated a number of the atrocities committed by RUF and AFRC fighters, aided by Charles Taylor as she more than once explained. Interested readers are referred to a detailed account of Ms Hollis’response as published by the webmaster of the Charles Taylor Trial site (‘International Criminal Justice in the Making’).

After Ms Hollis had concluded her submission and the defense counsel Mr Morris Anyah had said that he had no further response, the presiding judge, Ruchard Lussick informed prosecution, defense and the public that a decision on the Motion for Judgement of Acquittal/Submission of No Case to Answer will be rendered on May 4, 2009.

Hence, the Court will resume on May 4, 2009.

2009-04-09T01:08:00.011+02:00

Thursday, April 9

Face to face with Charles Taylor (Part 4)
An end to impunity?

(continued from April 8)

Three high-ranking officers of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) – Sierra Leone’s rebel movement which terrorized the population of the West African republic from 1991 to 2002 – were sentenced yesterday in Freetown for crimes against humanity. The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) found former RUF interim leader Issa Hassan Sesay, former commander Morris Kallon and former Chief of Security Augustine Gbao guilty. Sesay is to serve 52 years in prison, Kallon 40 years, and Gbao 25 years.

The trial of the three men was the last of three held at the Special Court. Five other people have been convicted of war crimes. One, RUF leader Foday Sankoh died in custody. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is the last one on trial – in The Hague, the Netherlands, for security reasons. Prison conditions in Sierra Leone, while being much less comfortable than those in the Netherlands, would make an escape easy. Mr Taylor is a wealthy and powerful man – he ‘had billions’ in two US accounts, his prosecutor Stephan Rapp declared - and he has proved to be capable of escaping from prison.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent tribunal set up jointly by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations (in 2002). It’s mandate is to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in Sierra Leone since November 30, 1996. The SCSL started its work in 2004.

Financing comes from voluntary contributions. Almost 50 countries contribute, notably the USA, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. Despite their generous contributions the Special Court actually faces bankruptcy with a deficit of approximately USD 45 million – with a budget of nearly USD 70 million for the 2008 – 10 period. In or after 2010 the SCSL will cease its activities. Mr Taylor will then know where and how he will spend the coming years: behind the bars or as a free man.

Why so many details about the Special Court for Sierra Leone? Why spending some USD 200 million for the prosecution of about ten people? The same amount could relieve the lives of the tens of thousands of surviving victims, those with amputated limbs, those who were raped, whose houses and huts were burned down, whose belongings stolen, whose family members were killed, whose futures were destroyed.

Speaking from the point of view of the Netherlands I can give the answer. Enforcement of the international rule of law is (even) included in the Constitution of the Netherlands, the fight against impunity a priority of the Dutch government. Our Foreign Affairs minister Verhagen and Development Cooperation minister Koenders are uncompromising when it comes to the protection of human rights. According to them (and many others) Mladic, Fujimori, Hissein Habre, Miriam Mengistu, Duch, Omar al-Bashir, should not be allowed to get away with their heinous crimes.

Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor belongs to the same group. The SCSL prosecution heard more than 90 witnesses since the start of the trial in June 2007. The atrocities they described were almost unbelievable. One of Taylor’s top aides testified that Charles Taylor ordered soldiers to eat their victims. Another witness declared Taylor ordered him to bury a pregnant woman. Witness ‘Zigzag’ Marzah said Taylor ate human hearts, as part of a ritual of the secret Poro Society of which both he and Charles Taylor are a member (also see my March 14 and March 15, 2008 postings on this subject). When I saw Charles Taylor last Monday (see my April 6 posting), I felt no emotions. I saw a good looking, well dressed, polite man, who sat there, before his judges. His face was familiar: I have been following the NPFL-insurrection since its start in 1989. Also the four friends I was with, knew him very well. We have lived in Liberia or Sierra Leone and we all knew what was going on. Two of my friends met Taylor on more than one occasion in Burkina Faso. His friendship with President Compaore gave him a foothold in the capital Ouagadougou, where he now and then stayed during the first period of the Liberian civil war (1989 – 97).

However, sitting face to face with Charles Taylor, and listening to the defense counsel, Mr Morris Anyah, I increasingly felt uncomfortable and nauseatic. (Forcible) recruitment of child soldiers, rape, sexual abuse, limb amputations, torture, killings, cannibalism, human right violations, diamonds-for-weapons-business. The defense elaborated on the lack of proof, the unreliability of witnesses, the mis-spelling of names of villages. Meanwhile Mr Charles Taylor took notes, listened attentively, corrected even his defense lawyer.

I left the court room somewhat desperate and confused. It is good we have the rule of law. It is good we protect the fundamental human rights – also of those who are accused of the most horrible acts. Nobody is guilty before (s)he is found guilty, after a fair trial. It is better to free the accused not found guilty because of insufficient evidence than to condemn someone who is not guilty. All these one-liners came to my mind. Am I ready to accept this in the case of Charles Taylor?

2009-04-08T13:28:00.010+02:00

Wednesday, April 8

Ellen: 'I supported Taylor...'

Face to face with Charles Taylor (Part 3)

(continued from April 7)

Though the SCSL's mandate is clear and very distinct from the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC), the two are often related in the case of Taylor's activities. Three recent testimonies before the TRC are worth mentioning in this respect, the first perhaps being the most sensational since confirming the role played by now President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the support of Charles Taylor in his effort to overthrow President Samuel Doe (1980 - 90).

1) On February 12, 2009 President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf testified before the TRC, denying she was ever a member of any of the warring factions but admitting she made a financial contribution of USD 10,000 to the NPLF - before turning her back to Charles Taylor in a very early stage of the conflict. She apologized to the Liberian people. It was not the first time she publicly admitted this financial support; she already acknowledged it during the campaign for the past presidential elections. She also mentions it in her autobiographic book, 'This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President', published yesterday (April 7). 2) According to a testimony on February 18, 2009, Charles Taylor, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Ibrahim Bah (RUF) and a retired Italian agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) organized a company, smuggling Liberian and Sierra Leonean diamonds in exchange for weapons. It was also said that Bah collaborated with Libyan leader Gaddafi and Taylor to form a rebel group which was then operating in the Sierra Leonean jungle after fighting in Liberia.

3) Patrick Alley, Global Witnness Director, on February 20, 2009 testified that Charles Taylor, Ibrahim Bah and Samuel Bockarie had links with Al Queda. They were involved in this organization's diamonds for arms deal and other business deals in Sierra Leone and Liberia whch yielded them significant financial gains. Mr Taylor also received USD 1 million for harboring two Al Queda operatives at the Gbartala base in Bong County after September 11, 2001 ('9-11'). Reports of Taylor's links with Al Queda are not new, however. It is expected that Charles Taylor will be the first witness in his own war crimes trial this summer. Will he speak as a former warlord, as a former president or as a well dressed millionaire-businessman?

A verdict in the war crimes trial of Charles Taylor is expected early 2010.

To be continued..

2009-04-07T23:55:00.016+02:00

Tuesday, April 7

Face to face with Charles Taylor (Part 2)

(continued from April 6)

It was to be expected that the defence would like to have all charges against former Liberian President Charles Taylor dismissed. His counsel, Mr Morris Anyah, argued in a lenghty submission that took all day (yesterday) that the evidence presented was too flimsy to warrant a conviction. He acknowledged that terrible things had happened in Sierra Leone during the 11-year conflict, but denied Charles Taylor’s role in the planning or execution of the atrocities which resulted in hundreds of thousands of victims.

After Mr Anyah concluded his submission, prosecution counsel Ms. Brenda Hollis responded announcing that the prosecution wants to respond on April 9, which was accepted by the judges. Hence, the prosecution response will take place at 9:30 A.M. this Thursday.

I will not easily forget the looks of Mr Taylor during this day. I observed him closely and was astonished by the lack of emotions. It was only at two occasions that I noted a different attitude. One was at 10:30 A.M. when the defence counsel elaborated on the accusation of enlisting child soldiers. The former Liberian president then nervously moved in his chair, visibly feeling uncomfortable. The second time was when the death of Samuel Bockarie, aka Mosquito, was mentioned. It is widely believed that Samuel Bockarie, a one time ally of Charles Taylor, was murdered with his family upon orders of the warlord turned President. Mr Taylor frantically wrote notes during this episode of Mr Anyah’s submission.

It is recalled that Samuel Bockarie was one of Mr Taylor's top commanders in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. He was also involved in the conflict in neighbouring Ivory Coast, assassinating Ivorian rebel leader Felix Doh upon orders of then President Taylor. After the prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone had indicted Samuel Bockarie in March 2003, accusing him of crimes against humanity, General Mosquito, as Sam Bockarie was also known, threatened to 'spill the beans' if he were handed over to the SCSL. After killing Bockarie, Taylor's troops also executed his wife, his mother and at least three of his children. The Liberian Government's promise to investigate the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of the former warlord never resulted in more clarity.

But Charles Taylor does not stand trial for the killing of Sam Bockarie and his family since this took place in Liberia. The SCSL's mandate is limited to crimes committed in Sierra Leone. Liberia has decided not to use an international tribunal for the prosecution of those accused of atrocities during the country's 14-years civil war, but instead it has opted for a Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC).

To be continued..

2009-04-06T23:44:00.006+02:00

Monday, April 6

The Special Court for Sierra Leone - Face to face with Charles Taylor (Part 1)

He was impeccably dressed, wearing a double-breasted suit, a blue-silver tie and shaded, gold-rimmed glasses, each hand decorated with a big golden ring. When former Liberian President Charles Taylor entered the court room at 9:25 A.M. this morning, he cordially greeted his defence lawyers, looked at the public, then sat down – at about five yards distance from where I sat. When his eyes met mine, it seemed as if he nodded – he greeted me I thought, and automatically I greeted back.

At 9:30 A.M. sharp the court session was opened. The trial against the 61-year old former leader – once the most wanted man in West Africa – had resumed. Today, April 6, Taylor’s defence team was making its No Case Submission (Rule 98 Submission). This submission is an oral submission by the defence that the prosecution has not proved it’s case or has not rendered sufficient evidence on one or more of the counts in the indictment. I will leave the legal technicalities out here, those interested can read more here.

The 11 charges against Charles Taylor include acts of terrorism, unlawful killings, enlisting child soldiers, planning of a joint criminal enterprise. According to the prosecution he and the late Foday Sankoh, leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), connived to bring the diamond-rich regions of Sierra Leone under their control and each promised the other to give assistance to topple the sitting regime: Doe in Liberia and Momoh in Sierra Leone. The promise dated back to their stay in Muammar Gaddafi's Libya where they received a military training in the late 1980s.

Interestingly, another alliance linked Charles Taylor to then captain Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso (though not discussed during this session of the Special Court for Sierra Leone). Taylor promised Compaoré to help get rid of (then President) Thomas Sankara in exchange for Compaoré’s assistance in chasing Doe. Whereas any involvement of Charles Taylor in the killing of President Sankara in October 1987 has never been proved, the participation of Burkinabe soldiers in the NPFL-invasion of Liberia on Christmas Eve 1989 is an historic fact.

The accused showed little, if any, emotions while Mr Morris Anyah, one of his his lawyers, spoke. In general, the defence counsel did a tremendous good job, I admired his eloquence and competence. Charles Taylor listened carefully and made notes; on two occasions he corrected him, when his defence confused the year in which an alleged act took place. I could not help thinking of the high costs of the Special Court (about USD 200 million) and that he - Mister Taylor or Charles Taylor as he often was referred to during the trial - had a much better treatment than most if not all of his victims.

To be continued..

2009-03-03T23:22:00.004+01:00

Tuesday, March 3

Turmoil in the region
Killings in Guinea-Bissau, assassination attempt in Conakry

Are we witnessing another period of political instability in West Africa? After the August 2008 military coup in Mauritania, overthrowing the democratically elected government of President Sidi Ould Cheick Abdallai, and the military coup in Guinea-Conakry following the death of President Lansana Conte (see my December 23 posting), on March 2 President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau was brutally murdered, hours after the killing of the country’s army chief of staff, General Tagme Na Wai. The day before, a disgruntled junior naval officer failed to assassinate Guinea’s Navy chief, in Conakry, apparantly a further sign of instability in the country after the December coup. And in Mali and Niger Tuareg rebels have been staging deadly attacks on civilians and military personnel (2008).

Though some of these countries are far away from Liberia, the violent events in Guinea-Conakry and Guinea-Bissau could easily have repercussions for Africa’s oldest republic.
On March 1, a non-commissioned officer, Makan Oulare, tried to kill the country’s Navy chief in Conakry. Oulare was dissatisfied because he had not been promoted to a higher rank after the December coup, unlike some of his colleagues, in particular those serving on the National Council for Democracy and Development, the junta ruling Guinea after seizing power.

Already, several members of the junta were accused of plotting against the government of Moussa Dadis Camara, the captain who seized power in December, and arrested in late January. And in a wave of arrests in the past ten days, a number of military officers and civilians have been rounded up, among them Ousmane Conte, the late President Conte’s son. Ousmane Conte, an officer in the army, is accused of drug trafficking.

Guinea and surrounding countries, in particular Guinea-Bissau, have been targeted by international drug trafficking gangsters who take advantage of poorly policed coastlines and weak law enforcement institutions, and who use remote airstrips to smuggle Latin American cocaine through West Africa to Europe. Remember, in February 2008, almost 100 barrels containing about 2.5 tonnes of cocaine were seized from a ship off the coast of Liberia. It was the single largest drug seizure in the country’s history.

The country that increasingly has the reputation of being a narco-state, is Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries on earth. Guinea-Bissau has had coups and counter-coups, military revolts and a short civil war in the recent past. President Viera, who had ruled the country from 1980 till 1999 when he was ousted by a military junta that included Na Wai, had been re-elected in 2005. On March 2 he was assassinated, a reprisal for the killing of Army Chief of Staff General Tagme Na Wai, the day before. Already in November last year Vieira had survived a gun attack on his home by mutinous soldiers, in what was probably a failed coup. Following the killing of President Vieira, the country’s armed forces command denied that there was a miltary coup and pledged to respect democratic institutions. Under the constitution the Speaker of the National Assembly takes over the presidency for a limited period pending presidential elections.

Today, on March 3, National Assembly speaker Raimundu Pereira was sworn in as interim head of state. But will the tension between rival armed factions disappear with the death of Bernardo ‘Nino’ Vieira and Tagme Nai Wai? Soldiers from Na Wai’s Balante ethnic group – the country’s largest – killed President Vieira, who is (was) from the much smaller Papel tribe. Besides, rumors point to the potential involvement of drug cartels in the assassination of Na Wai.

To be continued.

2009-01-18T18:20:00.009+01:00

Sunday, January 18

A glimse of Liberia in the 1950s

A good friend of mine sent me an interesting link to a 1958 movie of the visit of Prince Bernard of the Netherlands, the Prince Consort of Queen Juliana, to Liberia. The short movie, made for the Dutch National News Broadcasting Company ‘Polygoon Journal’, shows President William Tubman, Vice President Tolbert and other prominent Liberians.

Liberia in those days was a heaven for foreign investors and the movie shows pictures of ‘the world's largest rubber plantation' being Firestone's, and of Bomi Hills, where Liberia’s first iron ore mining company LMC (also) exploited the richness of the Liberian soil. The Dutch were very present in the rubber and mining sector. Not commonly known, it was a Dutch geologist, H. Terpstra, who in 1934 had discovered the Bomi Hills iron ore deposits, and most of the Bomi Hills ore was shipped to the Netherlands.

Relations between Liberia and the Netherlands were strong in those days. In October 1956 President Tubman had made a State visit to the Netherlands. The picture below shows President Tubman and his family together with Queen Juliana, Prince Bernard and their four daughters, among whom the actual Queen Beatrix, in the monarch's Soestdijk palace.

Prince Bernard would again visit Liberia in 1962 whereas Queen Juliana reciprocated with a State visit to Liberia in 1974.

The 1958 movie can be found here. Unfortunately, the accompanying text is in Dutch but for those who are interested how Liberia looked like in those days the movie is still worth watching!

Shots: arrival of Prince Bernard on Robertsfield airport, officially welcomed by President Tubman - the Executive Pavillion, Ashmun Street, Monrovia - Pioneers monument - Providence Island and an aerial view of Monrovia - market scene - Liberia Mining Company, Bomi Hills - the Firestone rubber plantation - Liberian dances, Klay District - departure of Prince Bernard. The official end of the movie (10 minutes) is followed by shots filmed by Prince Bernard himself.

PS With only 45,000 inhabitants, Monrovia then was one of the smallest capitals in the world.

2009-01-12T00:38:00.004+01:00

Monday, January 12

Good news:
Liberia has made considerable progress in restructuring its $ 4.7 billion debts

Last year Liberia obtained an important debt relief when in March it fullfilled a number of conditions under HIPC which cleared the way for an agreement with the Paris Club. The following month, Paris Club creditors agreed to restructure Liberia’s external public debt of about $ 1.5 billion, 97 percent of which consists of overdue arrears and interest. An important amount was immediately cancelled – over $ 250 million – whereas nearly $ 1 billion was rescheduled although the latter arrrangement also meant that a debt to the International Monetary Fund was replaced by a debt to the United States (see my posts of March 19 and 28).

Following the April 2008 agreement with the Paris Club - a voluntary gathering of individual creditor countries – Liberia had to negotiate with individual creditor countries involved in the deal. The countries comprising the Paris Club creditors of Liberia are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. One of the first countries announcing debt forgiveness was the US. A few days after the April 2008 agreement with the Paris Club the US Government announced it would cancel $ 430 million debt. Other countries followed (e.g. Denmark, Germany, Norway) or even preceded the Paris Club action (e.g. the UK).

Last Friday President Sirleaf told the international press that it will soon have reached agreement with all of its Paris Club creditors. Then it will start commercial debt talks with members of the London Club, she said. Liberia’s commercial debt is estimated to some $ 3 billion.

The Sirleaf Administration is to be congratulated with this achievement. Previous governments, in particular the presidents Tolbert (1971 – 1980) and Doe (1980 – 1990), borrowed irresponsibly. Ironically, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was in the Ministry of Finance when some of these loans were contracted, first as a young Assistant Minister (later Deputy Minister) for Fiscal Affairs, then - briefly - as Finance Minister, in 1979, when borrowing skyrocketed due to Liberia’s hosting of the Annual Summit of the OAU, the Organization of African Unity, in 1980.

It is dificult to say who is to be criticised most, borrower or lender. The financiers - in particular governments - often failed to apply objective criteria when granting loans. In a large number of cases geo-political motives proved decisive. IMF and World Bank did not always act differently. Too often, the US Government put pressure on the Bretton Woods Institutions to be lenient. Similarly, private financiers and bankers also put their own interest first when providing funds. To make matters worse, many loans were not for productive activities, others never reached the National Treasury...

The Bretton Woods Institutions and the US Government led the way in the restructuring and cancellation of Liberia's public debt, sometimes aided by friendly government. The Netherlands e.g. took over part of Liberia's debt to the IMF and subsequently cancelled it. Will the new Obama Administration break with the past and stop granting loans to countries like Liberia that are not capable of servicing or repaying these loans? At least the current financial crisis has taught us that reckless borrowing and reckless lending go hand-in-hand....

2008-12-23T23:54:00.010+01:00

Tuesday, December 23

Will Guinea be next?
After the death of President Lansana Conte

Today the death was announced of President Lansana Conte of Guinea-Conakry. President Conte, 74, died on Monday night after a protracted illness. He had ruled the country with an iron fist since 1984.

The news of his death came as no surprise. When I heard it this morning, my first reaction was: ‘Finally’. President Conte was known to be seriously ill and the last five years it was often rumoured that he had died. His declining health led to numerous speculations as to who in fact was in charge in the country. With his death, one of black Africa’s last dinosaur-presidents disappeared. Now only El Hadj Omar Bongo of the tiny republic of Gabon in Central Africa remains – who has the dubious honor to be the world’s longest serving president (since 1967).

Very soon after my initial reaction a second, more important thought came to my mind: ‘What is going to happen next in this country?’

I had to think of another country in the sub-region, Ivory Coast. Its president for over 30 years, President Houphouët-Boigny, died in 1993. Like Conte, he had monopolized power and kept possible successors, hence competitors at a distance. Soon after Houphouët-Boigny’s death the country entered a period of political turmoil, ultimately leading to a civil war (2002-2007/08). Nowadays, Ivory Coast may have left the civil war behind, but the country is de facto still divided in two regions, the North and the South, with 8,000 UN peacekeepers to ensure that presidential elections can be held (postponed till early 2009).

Two other countries in the sub-region, Sierra Leone and Liberia, have also had their share of political strife and violence. Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war ended in 2002, the UN peacekeepers departed in December 2005 after a five-year mission to restore order. Liberia’s 14-year civil war ended with the exile of warlord-president Charles Taylor in 2003. But the peace is very fragile, in both countries, with over 15,000 UN peacekeepers in Liberia (UNMIL).

If the death of President Lansana Conte would spark a civil war in Guinea, it is certain to have a spill-over effect in the region. Guinea is politically very divided – along ethnic lines – and the major tribes all have ‘brothers and sisters’ in neighbouring countries. The two most important ethnic groups are the Mandingo and the Fula. In Liberia, former Mandingo warlord Alhadji Kromah is known to have strong ties in Guinea, where he owns a house in Conakry. Mandingo and Fula people live in virtually each country of the sub-region, in Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Mali. In the latter country, the actual president, Amadou Toumani Toure ('ATT'), has a Fula origin (Peulh in French), whereas one of his main contenders, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita ('IBK') has a Malinke (Mandingo) background.

A few hours after Aboubacar Somaré, the impopular President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Guinea announced the death of president Lansana Conte and asked to be sworn in as the new president, in conformity with the country’s constitution, a statement was read on state radio and televison, announcing a military coup d’état.

The statement was read by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, on behalf of a group called the National Council for Development and Democracy. The government and the institutions of the Republic had been dissolved, the constitution suspended, all political activity forbidden. According to Captain Camara, the coup was necessary due to Guinea's rampant poverty and corruption, and because the existing institutions were incapable of resolving the crises which have been confronting the country.

When hearing this, I remembered April 12, 1980. Then Master-Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe used almost exactly the same words when announcing Liberia's first military coup d'état.

Captain Camara said that someone from the military would become President, while a civilian would be appointed as Prime Minister as the head of a new government that would be ethnically balanced. However, a few hours after the announcement of the military coup d’état Prime Minister Ahmed Soumare declared that his government was still in power.

Chaos and confusion seem to be the next scenario for Guinea. A violent struggle for power in Guinea risks to have serious repercussions in the other countries of the sub-region, including Liberia.

To be continued.

2008-12-15T10:07:00.007+01:00

Monday, December 15

Liberia: A Visit Through Books

Two weeks ago I wrote about Matilda Newport - myth or reality, facts and fiction - and another previous post was on three Liberian women, Elma Shaw, Helene Cooper and Diana Taylor, who wrote three remarkable books on Africa’s oldest republic (see my October 20 post). I have yet another great story to present. It is about Izetta R. Cooper and Kyra E. Hicks, who recently wrote a very interesting book, 'Liberia: A Visit Through Books'. I thank Kyra for drawing my attention to their work.

Izetta Cooper and Kyra Hicks met in the Washington DC area early 2008. Their passion for Liberia led to a series of meetings during which Izetta told Kyra about Liberia, her life and love for books. The two women decided that Izetta’s story of her life and her knowledge of historical books on Liberia deserved a wider audience, especially for Liberian students and Liberia-interested readers given the destruction of so many documents and books during the 14-year civil war.

The now nearly 80-years old Izetta Cooper was a librarian who worked in the University of Liberia library and also served as Library Consultant for the Presidential Library of the Executive Mansion for President William Tubman (1944 – 1971). Her master’s thesis was on historical books about Liberia and contains a bibliography of more than 230 books. While in Liberia she also hosted and produced a TV show called The World of Books.

The just published book (96 pages) is part biography and part bibliography. ‘Liberia: A Visit Through Books’ also contains an extensive timeline from 1900 – 2008 with historical events, literary publications, blogs, and films about Liberia. 'Liberia: A Visit Through Books' is published via lulu.com. This site has more publications on Liberia.

Kyra E. Hicks is an artist, author and prolific blogger. She taught herself to quilt after visiting a museum exhibit of African American story quilts in 1991. Her quilts have been shown in such prestigious venues as the American Folk Art Museum in New York, the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery in Washington DC, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Kyra's story quilts have been featured in several books. Kyra E. Hicks also published The Liberian Flag Story & Love of Liberty Quilt, an Amazon Short.

Izetta Cooper and Kyra Hicks have made an important contribution to the preservation of Liberian history and I hope that their laudable initiative will inspire many others. Readers interested in related information are referred to this site of the Indiana University.

2008-12-01T23:33:00.005+01:00

Monday, December 1

Matilda Newport (1822) and the civil war

Today, December 1, I had to think of Matilda Newport, a Liberian heroine. Generations of Liberians of all walks of life and every possible background have grown up with ‘Matilda Newport’. For over a century, December 1 was celebrated as a national holiday throughout the country. Liberian school children paraded in the streets of Monrovia and other cities, honoring this courageous woman. Matilda Newport, as the story goes, was a settler-woman, who in 1822 helped to repel an attack on the first struggling settlement by local tribesmen, known as the battle of Crown Hill. Reportedly, she fired a cannon using a coal from her pipe and killed virtually all native people, chasing the survivors. She thus saved the colony.

Nowadays, the younger generation may hardly know who she was. Matilda Newport Day, as December 1 was known, was abolished some 30 years ago. It is typical for Liberia’s unfinished written history that sources differ as to who abolished this controversial holiday. According to some sources the leaders of the 1980 coup, Samuel Doe and his comrades, abolished the holiday which they hated because it symbolized the political and social divide of Africa’s first republic. Other sources state that the Matilda Newport holiday was discontinued by President William R. Tolbert, in his desire to demonstrate that he sought to further cement the unification of the country.

Who was Matilda Newport? Did she really exist or was she an invention of the Americo-Liberian ruling elite, to portray their superiority and to re-affirm the inferiority and cowardice of the aborigines who lived on the land they claimed?

Many Liberian historians and authors of history books have devoted many pages to Matilda Newport, such as Ernest J. Yancy, Richard A. Henries and A. Doris Banks Henries, C. Abayomi Cassell and Nathaniel R. Richardson. The accounts of the Matilda Newport story vary from author to author but have in common that most references to the ‘natives’ were negative: 'savage, primitive, belligerent people' (A. Doris Banks Henries).

Foreign scholars have also researched the Matilda Newport story, like Jane J. Martin and Rodney Carlisle, who conducted a study ‘The Search for Matilda Newport’, published in the Liberian Studies Journal in 1975. Also Svend Holsoe threw more light on Liberia’s heroine in a paper presented at the Liberian Studies Conference, Indiana University, in 2007, ‘Matilda Newport: The Power of a Liberian Invented Tradition’. Particularly I would like to recommend, however, the excellent writings of Siahyonkron Nyanseor. He conducted extensive research on Matilda Newport alleged deeds. His (unpublished) research paper is entitled: ‘Matilda Newport’s Deed, Myth or Reality’. In 2004 he published the essay ‘Putting to Rest the Matilda Newport Myth’ (see Part I and Part II). The following quotation is from this source:

“Based on available sources, Matilda Newport was a real person who resided in Liberia during this period. She came to Africa on the “Elizabeth,” March 9, 1820 at the age of 25 as Matilda Spencer, the spouse of the 32 years old, Thomas Spencer. According to records, she could not read nor write (illiterate). During the Battles of Fort Hill, Matilda Spencer was 27 years old. Had she performed the deed she is credited with, she would have been known as Matilda Spencer, and not Matilda Newport. Probably, her husband, Thomas Spencer was killed in one of the conflicts. According to the Emigrant List, he died as a casualty in 1822. Matilda Spencer married to Ralph Newport sometime after 1822. Her story borne of the need to pass on the so-called victory of the Settlers over the natives, and it was nurtured through myth of larger-than-life proportions (....)”.

Matilda Newport and the civil war

On September 3, 2008 a Liberian historian, Professor Augustine Konneh, testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) that the system of authoritarianism, established by the American Colonization Society (ASC) and sustained and expanded by the various Liberian governments, from Joseph J. Roberts to Samuel K. Doe, laid the foundation of the civil war.

He said Liberians must also recognize and reconsider some of the nation’s myths, saying that myths exist in every society and Liberia is no exception. One of these myths, he said, is the Matilda Newport story, which he contended is an account of heroism on the part of Americo-Liberians and cowardice on the part of native Liberians. He said this false sense of heroism and cowardice have been the main source of conflict amongst generations of Liberians on either side of the political and social divide and thus undermine true patriotism and nationalism in Liberia.

I have a feeling (large) parts of Liberia’s history may have to be re-written.

2008-10-20T23:32:00.008+02:00

Monday, October 20

Nine Blogs and Three Books - The True Liberian Spirit

The civil war left more than 200,000 peope dead and made many more victims: wounded or disabled people, child-soldiers, orphans, who had to restart their lives, often struggling with a trauma caused by unforgettable cruelties. When President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office, in January 2006, Liberia's infrastructure was in shambles, the economy ruined, most (foreign) investors gone. Yet, despite all difficulties and impossibilities, the Liberian spirit is alive. Isn't there a saying 'Tough times don't last, but tough people do!' ?

Recently, three Liberian authors drew national and international attention with their books related to the Liberian crisis. Is it a coincidence that all three were women? They follow the footsteps of other Iron Ladies of Liberia, headed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. First there is Elma Shaw with her novel 'Redemption Road - The Quest for Peace and Justice in Liberia'. A very interesting book review and interview can be found here. Then there is Helene Cooper who wrote 'The House at Sugar Beach - In Search of a Lost African Childhood'. Read the very informative September 10 book reviews on Shellby Grossman's blog and Emmanuel's blog if you want to know more about the book and Helene Cooper.

The third book will be published early 2009. It is Diana Taylor's 'Black Diamond'. It absolutely is an extraordinary book with a fascinating theme. The book announcement reads as follows:

"At sixteen, Ellen was a normal young Liberian girl. Her father called her 'Black Diamond', because she was so precious to him. But Liberia was being torn apart by civil war, a war that would destroy almost everything she loved. Government soldiers murdered Diamond's parents in front of her. Diamond herself was then brutally raped, stabbed, and left for dead. Miraculously she survived. When she was strong enough she made an astonishing decision - to return to Liberia and fight on the side of the rebel forces. Rising quickly through the ranks Diamond became a leader of her own battalion of women. Many believed 'Black Diamond' must be a myth or a supernatural being - but in fact she was just a young girl, fearful but determined to create a better future for her country. This is her dramatic and heartbreaking true story of survival and courage - and of her struggles to create a new life both for herself and the women who fought with her. "

Now, after the war, Ellen tries to rebuild her life. She is tired of fighing, the war, and reflects on the future: 'We realized our goal. Charles Taylor is gone. I want to go back to school.'

The latest proof of the strong Liberian spirit - a survivor's spirit - I found while reading David Sasaki's blog. David writes about the free press in Liberia and how Liberian journalists become bloggers. His blog is part of an interesting site, Rising voices - Helping the global population join the global conversation. David describes how Liberians take advantage of modern media tools like blogs and photo-sharing sites. After a morning workshop at the US embassy in Monrovia, nine Liberian journalists have begun sharing their lives and stories with us on their newly created blogs. Here follows a list of their blogs:

http://firstnewsliberia.wordpress.com/
http://moussomag.wordpress.com/
http://bensliberia.wordpress.com/
http://jskpenneh.wordpress.com/
http://sengbeh.wordpress.com/
http://judicialreporternetwork.wordpress.com/
http://wwwtheforumnews.wordpress.com/
http://azangoliberia.wordpress.com/
http://gusdjaeploe.wordpress.com/

They cover different topics: sports, politics, diplomacy, the press, grassroots organizations, and - of course - the persistent scars of the civil war.

Does anybody know how long it takes for memories to become history?

We don't know the answer to this question, but I want to thank and congratulate the three authors and the nine bloggers with their contribution to history and the rebuilding of the Liberian society!

2008-10-05T14:52:00.006+02:00

Sunday, October 5

Rape of a Nation

Today, by accident, I stumbled upon the magnificent website of Marcus Bleasdale, a former trader of interest-rate derivatives for the Bank of America, turned photojournalist. In 1998, after having won an award for being a rising young photojournalist, he worked in Sierra Leone and later in Central Africa. Reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness he became intrigued with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Conflicts among warlords, rebel groups and government forces over control of the country's mineral wealth have left more than 5 million people dead since 1998 and created a humanitarian crisis in the country. Bleasdale made an impressive video called 'Rape of a Nation'. I think you shouldn't miss this movie because of the similarities with the Liberian civil war, except for the numbers.

Unlike the DRC, the Liberian war has ended. Both countries face the same problem: how to overcome the scars of the war.

2008-09-15T22:16:00.003+02:00

Monday, September 15

“Did you know that....?” - My favorite facts and trivia on Liberia

I love facts. My favorite slogan is “Facts first, opinions later.” I also love factoids and trivia. Many are known ‘facts’, some may surprise. The entire list is a weird collection. Some ‘facts’ are fun-facts or useless knowledge, some ‘facts’ may increase our understanding of Liberia.

Here we go. Did you know that:

- The Liberian flag was modeled after the U.S. flag and the eleven red and white stripes of the Liberian flag stand for the eleven signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence?

- The eleven delegates represented about 3,000 people (colonists) of whom only 600 had elected them?

- The Constitution of 1847 was written by an American Harvard professor, Simon Greenleaf?

- The original name of Monrovia was Christianopolis?

- Monrovia was named after James Monroe – 5th U.S. president - and Buchanan, Liberia’s second largest city, after Thomas Buchanan, the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Liberia and cousin of the 15th president of the U.S.A., James Buchanan?

- The original settlement of Liberia was purchased for trade goods, supplies, weapons, and rum worth approximately $300 but this was never paid in full?

- Liberia’s first president, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, was an octoroon, who could have easily passed for a white man?

- 12 Presidents of Liberia were born in the USA and only two Liberian Presidents were of full tribal descent?

- Liberia in 1960 was elected to the Security Council of the United Nations, the first black African country ever to occupy a seat in this body?

- In 1969 the Liberian Angie Brooks Randolph was chosen to preside over the 24th General Assembly of the United Nations?

- In the late 1970s Liberia was led by two religious leaders: President William Tolbert and Vice-President Bennie Warner?

- Liberia’s Ruth Perry was Africa’s first female head of state and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Africa’s first elected female President?

- One Liberian President won the presidential elections in what was classified by the Guinness Book of Records (1982) as the most fraudulent elections ever reported in world history?

- Samuel Doe’s PRC (People’s Redemption Council) was nicknamed ‘People Repeating Corruption’ and the Liberian Peace Council (LPC, one of the warring factions during the civil war) the Lost Property Collector because of their habit of looting homes?

- Liberia is about the size of Tennessee?

- Liberia has 1585 kilometers of borders - with Côte d' Ivoire, Guinea, and Sierra Leone?

- Sapo National Park in Liberia is West Africa’s second-largest tropical rainforest and home to about 125 mammal species, including elephants, leopards, giant forest hogs, chimpanzees, duiker antilopes and the rare pygmy hippo?

- Liberia is an ornithological paradise, home to 700 species of birds, including the bee-warbler, a bird only slightly larger than a bee?

- Oprah Winfrey traced her ancestral roots back to the Kpelle in Liberia?

- The Liberian George Weah is the only African who in one single year – 1995 - was named FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year and African Footballer of the Year?

Certainly, more interesting facts and factoids exist. Please feel free to add your favorite ones!

2008-08-25T17:23:00.009+02:00

Monday, August 25

Some thoughts on the 2008/2009 Budget

On August 5, 2008 the Liberian Legislature agreed on a National Budget of US $ 298 million for the Fiscal Year 2008/2009. This was nearly ten percent higher than the US $ 277 million Draft Budget submitted by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, Mr. Augustine Ngafua, a few months earlier. As President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf indicated when she commented on the Draft Budget to reporters, the draft budget represented an increase of almost 40 % over the last budget, which was US$199 million. It is interesting to note that the last performance report of the fiscal budget was not yet available when the proposed budget was submitted to the legislators.
More details on the 2007/2008 budget can be found here.

When I read this and after some additional reading, a few comments came to my mind.

(1) When President Sirleaf took office, in January 2006, the budget for FY 2005/2006 amounted to US $ 85 million (yes indeed, eighty-five million US dollars!). In a few years time the Sirleaf Administration managed to raise this to almost US $ 150 million, in FY 2006/2007, and to nearly US $ 200 million in FY 2007/2008. And now the Budget for 2008/2009 has even ‘sky-rocketed’ to nearly US $ 300 million.

Education ranks highest with US $ 27 million (twenty-seven million US dollars), excluding other allotments to the educational sector. Compared to the previous two fiscal years certainly a great improvement (US $ 10 million respectively US $ 15 million), but nevertheless ‘peanuts’ for a school-age population of more than one million. How can Liberia ever achieve the Millenium Development Goals set for education such as 'universal education'?

In fiscal years 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 ‘health’ received US $ 11 million respectively US $ 14 million. In a draft of the 2008/2009 Budget I found on the web some months ago (now apparently removed) it was shown - if I remember well - that for ‘health’ a budget of some US $ 15 million was allocated. To my great surprise, when analyzing the various data, I also discovered that this allocation was lower than the budgetary appropriations for the 30 Senators and the 64 Representatives of the National Legislature.
If this were true, this would mean that less would be spent on the health of the country’s 3.5 million population – according to the provisional data of the 2008 census the population was 3,489,072 on the night of 20th/21st March, 2008 - than for the country's less than 100 legislators, among whom some notorious warlords. Unfortunately, I could not find these data back. Readers who are more informed than I am on the subject are invited to provide the necessary corrections or supplementary data.

(2) According to Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) 2008 – 2011, revenue projections for the coming three years are substantially higher: US $ 550 million (2008/2009), US $ 535 million (2009/2010) and US $ 526 million (2010/2011).
Evidently, there is a great gap between the actual and the desired situation. The deficits will have to be financed by external sources - the international donor community - if Liberia is going to realize its envisaged expenditure levels, in particular for the social sectors (notably health and education). This will undoubtedly result in an increased dependency: 'Never bite the hand that feeds you....’

(3) I could not resist the temptation to compare the National Budget with the budgets of the 1970s, before all the terrible things happened (the PRC coup, the civil war). Between 1972 - 1976 the budgets varied between US $ 80 - 170 million:

US $ 80 mln (1972)
US $ 90 mln (1973)
US $ 104 mln (1974)
US $ 133 mln (1975)
US $ 167 mln (1976)

Source: The Open Door of Liberia - An Economic History of Liberia, p. 354.

Of course, the dollars of the 1970s cannot be compared to the 2008 dollar, and I will certainly not complicate things by introducing concepts such as Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). However, according to the 1976 census Liberia had a population of 1.6 million whereas the provisional results of the 2008 census indicate a population of 3.5 million. This means that the population more than doubled during the last thirty years. This strikingly contrasts with the evolution in the country’s national budget. Not surprisingly, Liberia ranks among the poorest countries of the world. Yet it is well endowed with natural resources. How can this be explained? Who knows the answer?

2008-08-12T16:22:00.008+02:00

Tuesday, August 12

About Liberian Olympians and the Amputee All Stars

Three Liberians represent Africa’s oldest republic in Beijing. They are decathlete Jangy Addy, who carried the Lone Star flag during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics on August 8, 2008, and the two runners Siraj Williams (men’s 400-meter) and Kia Davies (women’s 200-meter and 400-meter). See Joy Hancock's blog.

All three athletes live in the United States. Jangy Addy was born in Norcross, Georgia, in 1985 but is of Liberian heritage. The Liberian coach is Garfield Ellenwood, the American husband of former Liberian Track Athlete Joycelyn Harris. They are proud to represent Liberia.

In 1952 Africa’s oldest republic was for the first time participating in the Olympic Games. A considerable number of Liberian Olympians already preceded Addy, Davies and Williams - among them Liberia’s fastest man, Sayon Cooper , a two-time Olympic participant representing Liberia in Atlanta and Sydney. Liberia can be proud of these men and women.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics took place when the civil war was ravaging the country, destroying nearly all infrastructure, crippling the economy, causing many casualties. Liberia’s 14-year civil war cost many combatants their childhood and hundreds if not thousands of them their arms or legs as well.

When I was watching the Opening Ceremony and the Liberian representation I had to think of them. And I suddenly remembered a fascinating and emotional YouTube movie about Liberian amputee soccer players. Some of them were former child soldiers of opposing rebel groups. I will not dwell upon their history and conduct, it’s a sad story. Recruted, exploited and drugged by politicians-warlords they killed, raped, looted. But nowadays, after the demobilisation, they are representing Liberia too – as the Liberian Olympians do. They may not earn medals or other trophies - although... But they are representing the new Liberia. Look here for the Amputee All Stars, Liberia’s new hope.

2008-07-19T22:09:00.008+02:00

Monday, July 14

The definition of a Failed State

During the past week - while enjoying holidays in the quiet and attractive north-western part of Denmark, Jutland - I read the newspapers brought to our Liberia-get-together (see my July 6 posting). I found it both pleasant and frustrating to read them. It was comforting to hear from my friends that they shared my feelings.

We found it very impressive that a large number of newspapers are being published today and were surprised by the freedom of the press! More than ten are now sold in the Liberian streets; in an hap-hazard order: The New Democrat (from ‘old-timer’ journalist Tom Kamara), the Business Journal, The News, The Analyst, The Inquirer, The Informer, The Star, Monrovia Tidings, National Chronicle, Daily Observer, Plain Truth, Heritage.

The freedom of press, thus demonstrated, is absolutely an asset. For this reason we want to congratulate the Sirleaf-Administration. We have witnessed different times.

Furthermore, it was remarkable and also surprising to read these newspapers. It led us to two comments. One is that some of these newspapers were presenting ‘news’ and ‘opinions’ hardly based on facts and with no base. Nevertheless, these newspapers at times took a strong position, generally against the present government. Responsible journalism is not a nature-born gift. It needs proper attention of law makers and law enforcement officers.

Secondly, reading the newspapers one could not escape from the impression that ‘little had changed’- compared to thirty years ago when the daily and weekly newspapers were The Liberian Star, The Liberian Age, The Bentol Times, the Liberian Inaugural, Scope, The Sunday People, The Sunday Express, and The New Liberian.

I read with growing amazement and interest articles like ‘Gov’t Launches Campaign Against Hunger’, ‘More Transport Buses To Arrive Soon’, ‘Bong Range Iron Ore Deposits High Contested’, ‘Firestone: The Folly of a Nation Within’, ‘Three Men Arrested For Selling Human Parts’, ‘Trinity UMC Crowns Father of the Year 2008/2009’.

The first thought that came to my mind, however, was that little had changed over the past 30 years... I have the same articles in my archives from The Liberian Star, The Bentol Times, the Liberian Inaugural and other newspapers from the late 1970s.

Given the fact that a fourteen-year cruel and devasting war led to 250,000 deaths, a million refugees, another million people deplaced internally, the swelling of Monrovia to a more than one million people’s capital, the departure of most foreign investors and the virtual destruction of the modern economy, it is amazing to notice that Liberians have picked up life as it was before Doe’s dictatorship, 1980 – 1990, and the civil war (1989- 2003), fed by the unscrupulous warlords’ greed for power and wealth, leading to anarchy and destruction.

Liberians are an amazing people. Many people seem to agree that Liberia is a ‘failed state’ but I wonder what the definition is of a ‘failed state’ - to say the least. After all, we in Europe are closely following events in Belgium because of the split between Dutch speaking and French speaking Belgians, and the almost inevitable break-up of the country – sooner or later. But none of the Liberian warlords – Alhaji Kromah, Roosevelt Johnson, George Boley, Sekou Konneh, Charles Taylor, Prince Yormi Johnson, General ‘Peanut Butter’, General ‘Butt Naked’ - ever claimed a portion of the country. Separatism was not a driving force.

It was a crazy and cruel war. Greed, insanity and wickedness were its main ingredients. Liberia certainly is underdeveloped, but a failed state?

Sunday, July 6

A life altering experience

Today is a special day. The annual meeting of our Dutch organization Friends of Liberia is convening this year in Denmark. It is exceptional. Usually we meet in one of our members’ home towns in the Netherlands, but last year we accepted the invitation of our Danish friend to meet at her place in a small village in the north-western part of Denmark.

So here we are, twenty-seven people: twenty-four from Holland, two from Denmark and one from Finland. We were living in Liberia in the late 1970s, working at various places – most of us in Monrovia or nearby places. A few lived and worked ‘up country’. One was a medical doctor in Cape Mount, another worked in a Sanniquellie-based FAO project aiming at reducing post-harvest losses, yet another worked in Gbarnga for a humanitarian organization, two others worked for the Mano River Union and made frequent travels between Monrovia and Freetown over the then recently constructed Mano River bridge. Most of us worked in Monrovia: with the United Nations Development Programme UNDP, the West Africa Rice Development Organization WARDA, the School of Business and Public Adminstration of the University of Liberia, the Royal Netherlands Embassy. The great majority of us - about ten people - were agriculturalists, teaching and researching at Fendall, where since the mid-1970s the Agricultural School of the University of Liberia was located.

We then were all in our late twenties, early thirties, and our experience in Liberia was life altering. Some of us returned to the Netherlands after their stay in Liberia, others continued in a great variety of countries - Senegal, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tunesia, Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Iraq, Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia, the Fiji Islands, the United States, etc.. However, the Liberian experience was felt as the most impressive. It changed our lives and bound us together.

Liberia and the Liberian people captivated us. This tiny land, with it’s weird history – US free-born blacks, freed slaves and mulattoes who created Africa’s first republic in the mid-19th century and for more than a century ruled over twenty or more tribes although they numbered less then 50,000 (in the 1970s), and who seized over 90% of the nations’s national product – and with its fascinating culture, impressive nature, not to speak of its exhaustive climate – we all agreed: this ‘land of liberty’ had changed our lives.

Some of us are now retired - thought still active with voluntary work, often in the tropics. Others are educational and medical specialists, diplomats, public servants, or working in the private sector.

Inevitably, our thoughts and discussions were about the present state of affairs in Liberia. The devastating civil war, the actual reconstruction efforts, and the ‘Iron Ladies’. Most of us had seen this documentary film. But the comparison between what was and nowadays is, was saddening. Due to the civil war, the WARDA organization has been relocated from Monrovia to Ivory Coast - where another civil war intervened with its activities. The Mano River Union was paralysed because of the two civil wars: in Liberia and in Sierra Leone. Internationally-spondered projects (FAO, UNDP) were halted because of the war. The University of Liberia was ransacked, like many other buildings; the national health system was brought to a stand-still – to choose a polite formulation.

Now, all has to be rebuilt. Recently it was announced that China will give a US $ 22 million aid to restart Fendall, the agricultural branch of the Univerity of Liberia. Also, the Mano River Union is being revived (see my posting dated April 3, 2008). Virtually everything has to be rebuilt or re-started.

But our discussions were not negative or cynical. We all expressed hope and demonstrated great belief in the rebuilding of Liberia. One of us had brought a bundle of Liberian newspapers, recently acquired through his son-in-law, now working for an international organization in Monrovia. The large number of different newspapers, more than ten, was striking.

Our annual get-together is not unique in the Netherlands. There also exists the ‘Weaverbirds Club’. Generally, Weaverbird club members have worked with one of the numerous plantations in Liberia, or the iron ore mines. After all, it should not be forgotten that at one time, in the late 1960s, about 2,000 Dutchmen were working in Liberia, occupying various positions of responsibility in agricultural, mining, logging and trading organizations. The Dutch have a long history of relations with Liberia.

2008-06-18T00:24:00.011+02:00

Tuesday, June 17

Who knows Herman Cohen? I came across his name when I read the report of his testimony before Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) which recently convened in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

Herman Cohen was a former Assistant Secretary of State, during the Clinton Administration. He was Under Secretary for African Affairs from 1989 till 1993 and, earlier, Director of African Affairs from 1987 till 1989. He was an important American politician during a crucial period of Liberia’s history.

Herman ‘Hank’ Cohen was testifying on Thursday, June 12, at a public hearing of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee on the role of the United States in the conflict in Liberia.

Let me briefly recall the TRC’s origin and mandate. The ‘truth’ committee effectively started its work in 2006. It is an independent body set up to investigate the root causes of the Liberian crisis, document human rights violations, review the history of Liberia, and put all human rights abuses that occurred during the period from 1979 to 2003 on record. The Truth Committee's mandate is to also identify victims and perpetrators and make recommendations on amnesty, prosecution and reparation.

Yes, indeed, that is no easy mandate!

The astonishing news was that Mr. Cohen said that the US had an understanding with NPFL rebel group leader Charles Taylor to take power following the ‘voluntary’ departure of President Samuel Doe.

We are talking about the first half of 1990. Charles Taylor’s NPFL – composed of Americo-Liberians and Mano and Gio people, and supported by Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Libya (see my May 16 posting) - had invaded Liberia on Christmas Eve 1989. There was insignificant resistance of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), loyal to President Doe, and Charles Taylor seemed to be sure of conquering and settling in the Presidential Executive Mansion in Monrovia.
Mr. Cohen said that he initiated discussions with Doe about leaving. The USA would provide the transportation. The understanding with Taylor was that he would take power as soon as Doe departed. After the plan was accepted by President Samuel Doe, Mr. Cohen called President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, who agreed to provide asylum for the desparate Liberian president. Following President Eyadéma’s consent, Cohen called Taylor on a satellite phone to open corridors for troops loyal to President Doe to allow them to escape through the Liberian-Sierra Leonean frontier. But the plan, he said, was messed up when former Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) leader Prince Johnson seized control of Bushrod Island, a suburb of Monrovia, and blocked the corridor.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cohen said, when the U.S. was set to send an aircraft to carry out the evacuation, he received a directive from Washington to cease all engagements to end the Liberian conflict. To everybody’s surprise, Ambassador Cohen stated that no further explanations were provided by his superiors in Washington on the change in policy. At that point, he said responsibilities to intervene in the Liberian crisis were passed on to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

That was in mid-1990. We know what subsequently happened. The USA - the Administration of Bush Sr. - gave priority to the First Gulf War (August 1990 – February 1991) and abandoned Liberia, evacuating its citizens without intervening. Then, on September 9, 1990 President Samuel Doe was captured, tortured and killed by Prince Johnson’ s men. The video tape which registered this gruesome act circulated all over West Africa and beyond.

After I had read the report I was flabbergasted for two reasons:

1) A little bit of history: Charles Taylor’s escape from a Massachusetts prison in September 1985 has never been satisfactorily explained. Persistent yet unconfirmed rumours suggested that he might have escaped with connivance of President Ronald Reagan (1981 – 1989) who – becoming increasingly embarrassed with the human rights violations of the Doe regime - wanted to get rid of his former protegé. This ‘theory’ has never been proven, but Mr. Cohen’s testimony indicates close contacts between the US administration and Charles Taylor – a fugitive (!) – although the latter’s whereabouts in North Africa (Libya) and West Africa (Burkina Faso and Ghana) in the late 1980’s as well as his support by Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi are largely unexplained and unknown.

2) The exact role played by Mr. Cohen remains a mystery. It is not commonly known, but Herman ‘Hank’ Cohen is (was) a much wanted lobbyist by African presidents who want(ed) to improve their public image. Most of these African rulers do not or did not have a very positive reputation (human rights violations, corruption). In the 1990s, he was reportedly hired by Burkinabe president Compaore, who had activily supported the December 1989 invasion of his friend Charles Taylor and who also supported Taylor in Sierra Leone. Mr. Cohen also was or had been on the payroll of Angola's president Dos Santos, Zaïre (Congo), Ivory Coast, and.... Liberia – when ruled by Mr. Charles Taylor (1997 – 2003).
Source: Africa Confidential, May 12, 2000, vol. 41, no. 10, pp.2-6.

The foregoing raises the question: How reliable is mr. Cohen?

The above described lobbying activities are legal in the United States and are registered. One of the most successful lobbying firms in international politics is ‘Cohen and Woods International’. Directors are the former Assistant Secretary of State, Herman ‘Hank’ Cohen, and the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, James Woods.

Herman Cohen has been active in ‘special diplomacy’ in many countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Zaïre / Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique...

Who is Herman Cohen?? Does anybody know???

Please let me know. Liberia needs to know.

Recommended readings:
Africa Confidential, May 12, 2000, vol. 41, no. 10, pp.2-6.
Herman J. Cohen: ‘Intervening in Africa: Superpower Peacemaking in a Troubled Continent’ (Macmillan, 2000).

About Herman Cohen:
Herman Cohen was U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1989-1993 and before that a Senior Director for Africa on the National Security Council Staff. He was U.S. Ambassador to Senegal and Gambia from 1977 to 1980. Ambassador Cohen is president of the consulting firm, Cohen and Woods International, a professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, and author of the book Intervening in Africa: Superpower Peacemaking in a Troubled Continent (Macmillan 2000).

2008-06-04T18:40:00.008+02:00

Wednesday, June 4

Population – Part I:
The 2008 National Population and Housing Census

I am on vacation right now and enjoy making daily trips in the surroundings. The diversity of the Netherlands is astonishing and refreshing. It is a small country, one hundred miles from east to west, and at most two hundred miles from north to south. Yet, we live here – peacefully - with over 16 million people.
Compare that to Liberia, also a small country, but with an area of 43,000 square miles (about equal to that of Ohio or Louisiana) and a population of around 3 million people. The exact number will be known as soon as the results of the recently held Population Census will be published.

Upon my return from the daily trips, after the evening-meal, I usually go to my study and dive into my archives in an attempt to reorganise them. Or I re-arrange the books in my bookcase. Some days ago I stumbled upon a book which caught and held my attention. It was Merran Fraenkel’s ‘Tribe and Class in Monrovia’. I had read it many years ago, and vividly remembered it’s contents. It was one of the most informative books on Liberia, that is to say, Monrovia, and it became a standard work. However, the book was not appreciated by the ruling class. The author carried out her fieldwork in 1958/1959. In those days there was a great divide between Monrovia’s ‘upper class’ and the tribal people. Also, there was a separation between the five coastal counties and the hinterland, composed of three provinces. The coastal areas and hinterland were separated by lack of roads and other means of communication - even by different laws! This only changed in the 1960s.

The ruling ‘Americo-Liberians’ then numbered about 25,000; the great majority of the population was composed of members of about twenty tribes. On linguistic, cultural and historical grounds four groups could be distinguished: the Kru and the Grebo; the Bassa; the Vai and Gola; and the Kpelle and Loma. Mandingoes, from the Mande-speaking regions north of Liberia, and Fanti, from the Gold Coast, nowadays Ghana, have settled in Liberia in more recent times.

This mosaic of peoples still exists, fifty years after publication of Merran Fraenkel’s book. Half a century has since elapsed; many changes took place. The investment boom of the 1960s brought some, much needed, modernisation but not the even more needed integration of the various components of the population. President Tubman’s Unification Policy – aiming at uniting the Liberian people - was continued by his successor Tolbert, but came to an end in the 1980s – the Doe era. After the devastating civil war was over, the economy was in ruins and the Liberian people more divided than ever.

Liberia’s first National Population and Housing Census since 1984 was launched in June 2007. It cost about US $ 6 million to conduct the census, which was held in 2008. During the operation, people were hostile to the census workers, removing the chalk X written on their huts and houses to mark and distinguish them from households not yet covered. The scars of the civil war were too fresh.

The census data are needed for planning purposes. To recover from the war. To rebuild the economy. As such, the census is an indispensable instrument for planners and politicians. The census results are eagerly awaited; they may become available before the end of this year.

But counting people is not the same as uniting people.

To be continued.
Part II will focus on The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia. Staggering confessions continue to emerge at the public hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Can Liberians ever come to terms with the past?

Recommended reading:
Merran Fraenkel, ‘Tribe and Class in Monrovia’ (Oxford University Press, London; first published 1964; reprinted 1965 and 1970).

2008-05-27T00:01:00.004+02:00

Monday, May 26

An end to impunity in Africa?

Charles Taylor is not the only former African head of state who is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes and is being prosecuted. Today it was announced that Ethiopia’s Supreme Court has sentenced former Ethiopian ruler Mengistu – in absentia – to death. Already in 2006 Mengistu was found guilty of genocide after a 12-year trial and was sentenced to life in prison, but the State prosecutor lodged an appeal to demand the death sentence for the Red Emperor and his aides. The ‘Red Emperor’ – Mengistu’s nick-name – has lived in Zimbabwe since 1991. President Robert Mugabe has said he will not be extradited, but a presidential run-off is due next month in Zimbabwe and in case opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would win the elections, this decision could be subject to change.

In Senegal, another former African ruler is hunted. Since 1999 the victims of Chad’s exiled former president Hissène Habré are pressing the government of Senegal to prosecute Habré, accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture committed during his 1982-1990 rule. Ex-dictator Habré was first indicted in Senegal in 2000 and the Senegalese authorities even arrested him in November 2005. The following year, in July 2006, the African Union mandated Senegal to prosecute Habré, to which Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade agreed. Unfortunately, for several reason the Senegalese government is delaying opening proceedings against the former Chadian dictator who has lived in exile in Dakar, capital of Senegal, since 1990.

What do these three cases teach us?

I think that it is too early to conclude that the trials against Taylor and Mengistu and the efforts to bring Habré to trial announce a new dawn in Africa, more justice, less impunity. But they do give hope. However, recent political developments in Ethiopia where Meles Zenawi cracks down on the opposition, the refusal of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe to step down and the outburst of xenophobia in South Africa are opposite signs. How should we appreciate what happens? One step forwards, two steps backwards – or two steps forwards, one step backwards?

Related links:
Ethiopia’s Supreme Court sentences Mengistu to death:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7420212.stm

Human Rights Watch: The case against Hissène Habré:
http://www.hrw.org/justice/habre/

Open letter to the international and African communities from the International Committee for the fair trial of Hissène Habré:
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/29/africa18666.htm

Senegal: Ex-dictator of Chad arrested:
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/15/chad12031.htm

2008-05-17T00:34:00.003+02:00

Friday, May 16

Taylor ’s machine of death and the people behind him

I have been reading for the past six hours the proceedings of Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp’s examination of Charles Taylor’s former Vice-President, Moses Blah, and related websites. Moses Blah became President of Liberia after Taylor’s resignation following international pressure in 2003. During three days, May 14 – 16, former Liberian President Moses Blah unravelled Taylor’s machine of death and destruction, inspired by his hunger for wealth and power. Without any doubt, Blah’s testimony will turn out to be one of the most crucial contributions to the trial of the Liberian war-lord President Charles Taylor.

But I was not only struck by Charles Taylor’s greed, his apparant ruthless and heartless character, and the confirmation of cannibalistic practices, encouraged or condoned by the war-lord President. Blah also confirmed the international character of what seemed to be a civil war in Liberia and Sierra Leone. This is another devastating part of his testimony.

The civil wars that raged in Sierra Leone and Liberia as from the late 1980s and the 1990s (Sierra Leone) and until the early part of the 21st century (Liberia) were not merely a part of nation-building in these countries nor where they the result of a struggle for political power of groups with opposing views as to how to organise the country. In reality, they were organised crimes at a large scale. Criminals disguided as politicians determined these nations’ history.

The international context and support of the civil wars and brutalities – through arms deliveries, training, military and financial support - in Sierra Leone and Liberia, confirmed by Blah during his testimony, are extremely important, not only to determine and judge Charles Taylor’s role and responsibiliy, but also to look at his accomplices. There are many.

Among these accomplices are not only Liberians (like Benjamin Yeaten, ‘Zigzag’ Marzah, Cyril Allen, Taylor’s son Chuck Taylor and Grace Minor, to name just a few) but also others, the most known being RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh (Sierra Leone), President Muammar Gadhafi (Libya) and President Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso). Moses Blah confirmed that the governments of Libya, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast supported Taylor’s 1989 invasion of Liberia. Training camps in Libya and Burkina Faso, cooperation with rebels from the Gambia, support from Ivory Coast, involvement of Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria: the wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia were not merely civil wars.

Is it likely that the wars and turmoil in West Africa, and in particular their international background, went unnoticed in European counties or North America? I cannot speak for other countries than the Netherlands, and even in that case I have to be prudent since I certainly do not know all details. Nevertheless, I dare to say that the Dutch government was not aware of all the foregoing and my sincere guess is that this was no exception.

But, isn’t that amazing? All these (developed) countries are member of international organizations, which are active in the region, whereas most of these European and North American countries have well-staffed and equipped embassies reporting on events and trends in the region. How well-informed are they, how competent are they, how reliable is their reporting? What do we – outside the West African region – know and understand what happens in the region? Yet, non-African presidents and other politicians pretend they know what happens behind the curtains.

I have my doubts.

Related links:
Trial of Charles Taylor Blog:
http://charlestaylortrial.org/

Charles Taylor trial advances at sustained pace: http://www.hirondellenews.com/content/view/1984/329/

Witness: Gadhafi helped Taylor to take over Liberia:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_E0xve460B9_bqfrRHUYGmicVeAD90LM4FO1

President Charles Ghankay Taylor 1997 – 2003: The war-lord President
http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/charles_taylor.htm

Blah diggs into Taylor’s bloody past:
http://www.thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3332&sub=News

Blah cites death threats in war crimes tribunal
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=080516150507.j571lgok.php

“This type of things happen at war”:
http://allabuja.blogspot.com/

BBC Profile of Moses Blah:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3140063.stm

2008-05-02T21:52:00.003+02:00

Friday, May 2

Charles Taylor had about US$ 5 billion in private US bank accounts during his presidency! At least, that is what his chief prosecutor, Stephen Rapp, announced today. I was flabbergasted when I heard the news. I could not believe my ears listening to the radio report hearing the shocking details. Five billion dollars! The first thought that came to my mind was: ‘This cannot be true’. But the authority of the chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone is supposed to be beyond any doubt. Subsequently I thought: ‘This equals the total Liberian debt’ - see my posting of March 19, below. Then I thought: ‘Where did all this money come from?’ I sat back, puzzled. How on earth could someone gather five billion dollars? More important maybe, why should someone amass such a fortune? It reminded me of well-known kleptocratic rulers like Indonesian President Suharto, Philippine President Marcos, President Mobutu of then Zaire, and the Nigerian President Abacha. They enriched themselves at the expense of the population. If it were true, then former President Charles Taylor would be among the Top Five kleptocratic rulers of the last hundred years! But whereas Indonesia, the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) and Nigeria are big countries with a large population, Liberia is small country.

For the time being I refuse to accept the implication that former Liberian President Charles Taylor stole US$ 5 billion from the Liberian people. He always denied he had secret bank accounts and boasted that if any secret funds were found he would turn them over to the Liberian people. It is also shocking to realise that the international community had difficulties in pledging the necessary amount for the functioning of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, some US$ 100 million, an amount which is only a fraction of Taylor’s assumed US$ 5 billion (about 2%).

Chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp said that if Taylor’s monies would be found they would be subject to the existing UN freeze on his assets. He further said that he hoped any money recovered would be shared between the victims of the Sierra Leone civil war and the Liberian state, if Charles Taylor was found guilty.

I fully agree with Rapp.

Related links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7379536.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptocrat#Transparency_International_ranking

2008-04-30T22:52:00.003+02:00

Friday, April 25

Today is World Malaria Day. I think it has been a good idea to draw people’s attention to this awful disease. Malaria is one of the deadliest diseases in the world. It kills each year between one and three million people, the most vulnerable groups being small children and older people. More than 500 million people suffer from the disease!
Compare this with HIV/AIDS: about 40 million people are affected by the hiv-virus (more than half of them in Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Southern Africa). About three million people die from it each year, of whom two million in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In Liberia, malaria is the number one killer. It accounts for 18% of all deaths. This week it was disclosed that Liberia has the highest rate of malaria in West Africa. Liberians no longer die from bullets. Nowadays the mosquitoes that transmit the disease are the greatest enemy.

The coastal zone of Liberia is one of the most humid regions in the world, as a result of the yearly rainfall which varies between five and six metres. Malaria is common and widespread. However, preventive measures are possible, in particular the use of nets during the night, and those who can afford it can take preventive medicine to reduce the risk of infection. Once infected, the sick person may take antimalarial drugs, such as quinine and artemisinine derivates, to treat the infection, but the poor of course cannot afford it whereas in the greater part of Liberia there are no pharmacies. And it should not be forgotten that Liberia has only 30 medical doctors for its population of about 3 million people, resulting in one of the lowest ratio in the world.

Malaria is among the most feared diseases I know. When in Liberia I got infected, despite the use of prophylactic drugs and being well-fed. Fortunately, I could afford to buy quinine to treat the infection. In Liberia, malaria is rampant during and shortly after the rainy season. I just read that the rainy season has started in Liberia. It will last until October, at least. I am afraid that this year again many Liberians will not survive the rainy season. Is it inevitable?

Related links:
http://www.analystliberia.com/liberia_tops_wa_malaria_chart_apr23_08.html
http://www.thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3194&sub=News
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria

2008-04-12T11:28:00.000+02:00

Saturday, April 12
‘April 12’. This day ranks among the top three of historical days of Liberia, the first being of course July 26, Independence Day. I would not know the third one. Maybe ‘Flag Day’, somewhere in August, but who knows the exact day by heart? On that broiling hot day in August, 1847, the Liberian flag was hoisted for the first time by a small group of colonists who came from overseas. No, I rather think that April 14 is among the top three. On April 14, 1979, tribal Monrovia rebelled as never before in the country’s history, also known as the ‘rice riots’. During the forbidden demonstration of April 14, 1979 the Monrovian Police Force killed hundreds of people, many more were wounded. Widespread looting followed. Demonstrators asked fellow-Liberians to identify themselves by speaking a tribal language.

One year later, almost on the precise day - also on a Saturday like today -I woke up in Monrovia and heard shooting. Surprised and curious I turned on the radio and soon heard the historical words: ‘God is tired. After 133 years the enlisted men of the Liberian Army led by Master-Sergeant Samuel Doe have toppled the Government because of rampant corruption and continuous failure of the Liberian Government to effectively handle the affairs of the Liberian people. No plane is allowed to come in. No plane is allowed to go out.’

We all know what had happened the night before. We all know what followed. The killing of President William R. Tolbert was only the beginning and the military coup d’état of Liberia’s first president of tribal origin turned out to be the start of a nightmare. As early as 1947 the American author Raymond Leslie Buell had predicted what could happen once the tribal population no longer tolerated the domination of those who considered themselves superior to Liberians of tribal descent. In those days I wrote that ‘The Land of Privileges and Poverty had turned into a Land of Hope and Glory. Whether this hope is justified, only future developments will tell.’

I was right to be careful in my assesssment. I could never have thought, however, that a quarter of a century later Liberia was to recover from one of the most tumultuous episodes of its history, facing three major tasks: to form a nation, to develop the country and to unite its people.

Related links:
http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/WilliamTolbert.htm
http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/SamuelKDoe.htm

Recommended reading:
Raymond Leslie Buell, ‘Liberia: A Century of Survival 1847 - 1947’ (New York, 1969; originally published 1947).

2008-04-06T16:10:00.000+02:00

Thursday, April 3
At the end of a two-day official visit of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to Ivory Coast, the Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo announced his country’s decision to join the Mano River Union (MRU). President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf actually is the chair of the MRU.
What is it, that African presidents try over and again to establish, keep going and, if necessary, revive regional organizations, even though they haven’t had any success for decades?

The Mano River Union, aiming to create a customs union, was created in 1973 by then Presidents Siaka Stevens of Sierra Leone and William Tolbert of Liberia, and named after the river which starts in the Guinean highlands and forms the border between the two countries. In 1980 Guinea (Conakry) joined the organization. The organization was still-born. Both economic underdevelopment, political instability and the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia prevented it from achieving its objectives. In 2004, then Presidents Conteh (Guinea), Kabbah (Sierra Leone) and Chairman Bryant (Liberia) reactivated the union. Now, a fourth country, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, joined. Will the union fare any better now?

The economies of African countries suffer from many weaknesses, one of them being a small domestic market. This partly explains the continuous attempts to establish regional economic groupings which may overcome this obstacle. The combined market of the four MRU-members totals well over 30 million people. About fifty percent of them are Ivorians. Moreover, the economy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire is more robust than those of the other three member-states - but maybe I should say, Ivory Coast’s economy was much stronger than those of its neighbours. Like Sierra Leone and Liberia, Ivory Coast has been confronted with political instability which resulted in a civil war. Actually, the country is divided in a government-controlled southern part and a rebel-hold northern part.

Guinea is the only country that has escaped, so far, from the civil war virus in the region. However, many people in the region hold their breath because of the ailing health of President Conteh of Guinea, in power since 1984, and the signs of a forthcoming power struggle between his supporters and opponents.

Maybe the Mano River Union, a regional organization aiming at economic integration, will prove to be more important as an organization that fosters political stability. For that reason it may deserve our support. Its big sister in the region, ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States), is a shining example. Created in 1975 it has achieved very little, in terms of its main objectives – etablishing an Economic Union - or looking at the standard of living of its population in the 15 West African member-states. However, its contribution to political stability in the sub-region is undisputed, even though it is mainly due to its most powerful member, Nigeria.

Related links:
http://www.theinquirer.com.lr/editorial_details.php?recordID=4846
http://www.manoriverunion.org
http://www.ecowas.int

Monday, March 31
Today it is exactly two years ago that former president Charles Taylor was arrested in Nigeria and transferred, first to Sierra Leone, then to the Netherlands, to stand trial.

His trial, which had started in the second week of January 2008 and was interrupted for a two-week recess mid-March, resumed today. The morning session started with a direct examination of prosecution witness Isaac Mongor, also known as ‘Colonel Isaac’. Mongor, a Sierra Leonean who grew up in Liberia, told the Special Court for Sierra Leone that he has been abducted by Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia and became part of Charles Taylor’s Executive Mansion Guard before being sent by Taylor to Sierra Leone in the late 1990s. In the course of his testimony Mongor made a number of allegations about Taylor’s role in the civil war in Sierra Leone.

As I wrote earlier, I do not envy the judges. How reliable are witnesses, how consistent their testimonies? It will take many more months before the Court will bring in a verdict. The Special Court’s prosecutor has estimated that Taylor’s trial will last between 12 and 18 months. ‘The truth is rarely pure and never simple’, to quote Oscar Wilde.

The fight against impunity not only is a long one, it also is a costly one. The budget of the Special Court for Sierra Leone surpasses US $ 100 million. So far, the Special Court convicted less than ten accused among whom three leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and three leaders of the former Civil Defense Forces. The indictments against the leader of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh, and his Deputy-Commander, Sam ‘Mosquito’ Bockarie, were withdrawn because of the death of the two accused. The case of Bockarie particularly is interesting. He was killed in Liberia in 2003 during a shootout with Liberian forces. Persistent rumours in West Africa have it that Taylor sent his troops to kill Bockarie, rather than to arrest him, since Bockarie’s testimony at the Special Court for Sierra Leone could have implicated Taylor.

It may be interesting to assist at one - or more - of the sessions of the Special Court. The SCSL convenes in the building which houses the International Criminal Court in The Hague; it’s address: Maanweg 174, Voorburg, the Netherlands. The trial is being conducted Monday through Thursday in three sessions (9:30-11:30, 12:00-1:30, and 2:30-4:30). There is usually no afternoon session on Fridays.

Related links:
http://charlestaylortrial.org/page/3/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4345120.stm
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sc8391.doc.htm
http://www.theperspective.org/fugitivebockarie.html
http://www.liberiapastandpresent.org/TaylorCharles/5LiquidationBockarie.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bockarie

2008-03-31T23:47:00.001+02:00

Friday, March 28
It was not surprising to read negative comments on the Bridge Loan, provided by the US Government. See this blog, March 19.
A bridge loan may carry an interest rate between 12- 15 percent. As you may recall, the US became Liberia’s new creditor for the US $ 900 million (rounded figures) previously owned to the International Monetary Fund.

Thursday, March 26
The love-hate relationship between Liberia and Firestone will never end. Though Firestone is no longer an American-owned company – it’s Japan-owned – it is hard to think of Liberia without Firestone. And maybe that is not a bad thing!

Today I read that the amended and restated concession agreement between the Liberian government and Firestone Liberia Inc. was ratified by the House of Representatives (- more on the Liberian House of Representatives in my future blogs). One of the agreed articles of the recent agreement implies that Firestone-Liberia shall pay annually to Liberia a surface rental equal to US$2.00 per acre for a total of 118,999 acres including an annual income of US$237,980.00.

With the downfall of the US dollar it is a limited success for the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. But more important is: what else has been agreed upon? And I mean structural agreements, not annual scholarships or contributions to education and training, how important this may be on an individuel basis. What are Firestone’s future tax obligations? Contributions to national research activities? Research is the key to the future!

Monday, March 24
Oh, astonishing Liberia! Although belatedly, today I read an extremely interesting CNN report on pygmy hippos in the Sapo National Park in South-West Liberia. The pygmy hippo is one of the most elusive and secretive large mammals on our planet. Pygmy hippos are much smaller in size and spend more time on land than their giant relatives, where they feed on leaves and other swamp vegetation. The animals survive in isolated pockets in rivers and swamps in the dense west African forests of countries including Liberia. The pygmy hippo (hexaprotodon liberiensis) is classified on the IUCN Red List as endangered, with its rapid decline put down to habitat degradation and bushmeat hunting.

The pygmy hippo is rarely seen in the wild. However, experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) set up special hidden cameras in Liberia's only national park – the Sapo National Park - and the first images of the wild pygmy hippos were recorded within the first three days. The ZSL team set up the extensive monitoring of Sapo National Park to try to discover how much the hippo had suffered from Liberia's brutal civil wars. The team of British conservationists were astonished to discover the wild pygmy hippo had not been wiped out by the fighting as previously thought.

The Sapo National Park is located in Sinoe County, Liberia. It is the country's largest protected area of rainforest and its only national park, and contains the second-largest tropical rainforest in West Africa after Taï National Park in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. The Sapo National Park is located in the Upper Guinean forest ecosystem, a biodiversity hotspot that has "the highest mammal species diversity of any region in the world", according to various sources.

Sapo National Park can be called a unique place. It hosts about 125 mammal species and almost 600 types of birds, including a numbered of threatened species. Prior to the formal designation of Sapo National Park in 1983 there had been no systematic study of chimpanzee populations in Liberia. Since then, various surveys have confirmed the existence of the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in Sapo National Park, located primarily in the park's center and western areas, with estimates of the population ranging from 500 to 1,640. Seven species of duiker antilopes are found in Sapo National Park.

Though human settlements and commercial activities such as agriculture and logging are prohibited in the park, pouching and illegal logging do occur. One of the allegations refer to illegal logging activities of the Oriental Logging Company, linked to its Chairman, the Dutch businessman Gus Kouwenhoven, and his business affiliate, then President Charles Taylor.

2008-03-24T17:08:00.002+01:00

Thursday, March 20
The Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs today confirmed that Gus Kouwenhoven stays on the UN and EU lists of persons facing a travel ban despite being acquitted of smuggling weapons and war crimes in Liberia by a Dutch court last week. In 2001, the involvement of President Taylor in the civil war in Sierra Leone had led to UM arms and diamond embargoes and a travel ban for the Taylor regime, Kouwenhoven included since he was a close associate of President Taylor. In 2004 the UN Security Council also ordered international banks to freeze his – Kouwenhoven’s - assets. The European Union automatically endorses these UN decisions.

The foregoing shows how complicated international law can be. The UN sanctions have legal status and UN member states are obliged to respect and enforce them. Nevertheless, these sanctions have a political rather than a juridical base. The Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now investigating whether it is justified to inform the UN Security Council of the necessity of removing Kouwenhoven from these lists imposing sanctions.

Wednesday, March 19
The goverment of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has succeeded in normalizing relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. In particular, all sanctions by the IMF against Liberia have been lifted. As former World Bank officials she and Finance Minister Antoinette Sayeh know their way in Washington DC; they know how the two Bretton Woods institutions work. From now onwards, HIPC, PRS and PRSP will be household words in Liberia.

HIPC stands for the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative. It was launched in 1996 to provide debt relief to the world’s poorest and most indebted countries; it was followed in 1999 by the Enhanced HIPC initiative. One of the conditions to gain access to this debt relief scheme is to have a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) document or Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

Liberia has a debt of US $ 4.7 billion, owed to global institutions (including the two Bretton Woods institutions), other governments and private-sector creditors. IMF and World Bank officials acknowledge that this huge debt – large part of which was contracted by former Presidents Tolbert and Doe – is unpayable. Moreover, the necessity to rebuild the country after decades of mismanagement, corruption and destruction of infrastructure and institutions makes it essential to free vital resources needed to finance the nation’s reconstruction.

The important step was made possible after Liberia cleared it arrears of Special Drawing Rights (SRD) 543 million, or nearly US $ 890 million to the IMF. Liberia had been in arrears to the IMF since 1984 (under the Doe Administration). Following the clearance of its debt to the IMF, Liberia is now a fully paid up member of the IMF with full voting and related rights and access to IMF financial resources for the first time since 1984.

However, there is a snake in the grass. The clearance of Liberia’s large arrears was financed from a bridge loan provided by the US Government. That is to say, arrears to the IMF were replaced by a debt to the USA. Also, the country is now eligible for new financing arrangements under the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and other Fund Facilities – all on a loan basis, albeit concessional loans. Moreover, the normalization of relations with the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) will pave the pay for Africa’s oldest republic to start receiving funds from foreign governments and commercial creditors.

The HIPC debt relief scheme will enable Liberia to have it’s US $ 4.7 billion debt cancelled, which is a laudable goal. But I am not so sure that replacing old debts by new debts will lead Liberia to the road of economic recovery. In the end, it risks to be the same old story over and again. Liberia’s history is interpersed with loans provided by foreign governments and other external souces that proved to do more harm than good. It started with the 1871 loan which led to the country’s first coup d’état and the death of President Edward Roye, followed by the loans of 1906 and 1912, the infamous 1926 Firestone Loan, and many more.

I hope I will not be misunderstood by the foregoing. In my view, close collaboration with IMF and World Bank is not a bad thing. I just doubt whether financing the financing of Liberia’s recovery by attracting new loans which are not directly productive will provide a long-term solution for the country’s problems. But Liberia faces a Catch 22 situation: either it depends on external funds from international financial institutions and bilateral governments or it has to rely on foreign investments, internal funds (= domestic savings) being unsufficient or absent. It reminds me of a Liberian friend who once wrote to me: ‘We need external funds to develop and foreign troops to keep the peace’. I wonder whether the majority of Liberians share his opinion.

2008-03-16T16:55:00.001+01:00

Saturday, March 15
Many more atrocities committed by witness Marzah, ordered by Charles Taylor, according to his testimony before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Gruesome details of atrocities both in Liberia and Sierra Leone, it surpasses one’s mind. My initial reaction was ‘This cannot be true.’ Subsequently I thought ‘Why should someone tell or confess this?’ It puzzles my mind.

Maybe the most shocking confession made by Marzah relates to cannibalistic acts allegedly committed by former president Charles Taylor. It is not the first time such accusations are publicly made. It reminds me of the allegation made by Taylor’s former Defense Minister, Tom Woewiyu, cited by Stephen Ellis in his book ‘ The Mask of Anarchy’ (1999). Marzah’s testimony also disclosed involvement of Nigerian ECOMOG military personnel – bribed by Charles Taylor - in the transportation of arms to the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone. How reliable will this witness prove to be?

Starting Monday March 17, there will be a two-week judicial recess. Taylor’s trial will resume on March 31.

Friday, March 14
I just read a CNN report on the trial of former president Charles Taylor, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. A former aid to Taylor, Joseph “Zigzag” Marzah, yesterday testified before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, in The Hague, the Netherlands, that Taylor ordered his men to eat victims. Marzah said that Nigerian peacekeepers and United Nations personnel were killed and eaten on the battlefield by Taylor’s militiamen. He told the court more horror stories. What has happened during the civil war is unbelievable and I can understand that it is difficult to understand – sometimes also for Liberians but certainly for Europeans or Americans. How can the judges of the International Criminal Court and the Special Court for Sierra Leone comprehend, weigh and judge what happened and find out who is guilty?
The phenomenon of ritual killings, common in an important number of African countries, is hardly covered by the international media. As far as the Netherland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned, it is not dealt with in the political reports ambassadors send to the ministry in The Hague. I am afraid other foreign embasasies are not doing a better job.

Wednesday, March 12
An old friend paid a surprise visit, Klaas Wit. We were neighbors in Harper, Maryland County, Liberia, in the late 1970s. He and Dr Regina Cooper led a village health worker training programme. The trained village health workers could, in the absence of qualified medical doctors, provide some relief to the sick and poor of this region who virtually were left on their own by the government in Monrovia and deprived of all advantages of (then) modern times. Klaas is curious to know what is left of this project which was a low-cost approach to tackle the health problems of rural Liberians. It was a project in the philosophy of the barefoot doctors.

The system of ‘barefoot doctors’ originated from China where it spread as part of the Cultural Revolution as from 1965. Its basic ideas with emphasis on primary health care and preventive medicine were important components of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the output of a WHO conference in the city of the same name in Kazakhstan in 1978. In China the barefoot doctor system was abolished in 1981.

We spoke about the Tolbert administration, his assassination, Samuel Doe’s coup, the hanging of the Harper Seven (seven convicted ritual killers), and the conditions of nowadays Liberia after the devastating fourteen years of internal conflict. Klaas and I are both eager to see the country with our own eyes, to talk to the people we have known and who still are in the country. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf faces an almost impossible task, to rebuild the country and to re-unite its people after the civil war. She has to start from scratch. Electricity and running water are out of reach for the majority of the people, not to speak of a daily decent meal.

Monday, March 10
I heard the surprising news of the acquittal of Gus Kouwenhoven, the well-known Dutch timber trader and millionaire, accused of arms trafficking for his business partner, former Liberian president Charles Taylor. The latter actually stands trial, also in the Netherlands. The court found unsufficient evidence to convict the Dutch conflict timber trader. The prosecutor apparently had done a lousy job and the judges said that in public, though in other words. Everybody – at least in Liberia – knows that it was impossible to do business in this country while not pleasing or helping the president and this makes it very likely that the Dutch trader and the Liberian warlord-president connived. But such circumstantial evidence is no base for a conviction in the absence of solid evidence. Whatever one may find of the court’s verdict, we in the Netherlands have a solid judicial system and rule of law. Better to have ten accused suspects set free for want of evidence than one innocent suspect wrongly convicted and put behind bars.

Sunday, March 9
I was too optimistic when I started this weblog last year. After the first attempt in October I was absorbed by the completion of a major evaluation exercise: the evaluation of the Netherlands’ Africa policy (fortunately bilateral relations only!). At the end of January it was ready. The minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen, and the minister for Development Cooperation, Bert Koenders, sent the report to parliament, together with their policy reaction. One week later an impressive national conference took place, on Februay 13, which discussed the major outcome of the evaluation as well as related topics.

Hectic times were not over yet. At the end of February an international conference was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, partly occasioned by an evaluation report I completed last year. It focused on the Netherlands’ research policy in developing countries. The two weeks that have since elapsed were used to tighten social contacts I had neglected during the past five months, to sort out my overfloaded mailbox and to clean up my desk and office.

Open Door Policy available online

2007-10-26T14:12:00.001+02:00

The original publication of the "Open Door Policy of Liberia - An Economic History of Modern Liberia" (1983) now as pdf-file available. The study covers the prelude, introduction, growth and zenith of foreign investments in Liberia.

After the Doe Administration and the civil war Liberia had to start from scratch. The lessons of the past should not be forgotten.

I welcome here both reactions on Liberia's experience with foreign investors and (personal) views on the lessons of the past. Liberians from all walks of life - civil servants, businessmen, researchers, students a.s.o. - foreign investors or people otherwise interested are also invited to make suggestions for future dealings with foreign investors. In particular, I am very interested to learn the foreign investors' opinion on working in Liberia since 'It takes two to tango'...