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?
2008/08/25
2008/08/12
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.
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.
2008/07/19
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’.
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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.
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.
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.
2008/06/18
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).
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).
2008/06/04
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).
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).
2008/05/27
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
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
2008/05/17
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
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
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