The man who killed the last “indigenous” Liberian president is pushing a tribal play that warrants condemnation by all
THE VIDEO showing the fatal slaying of former President Samuel Kanyon Doe on September 9, 1990 is so disturbing that even after years after the dawn of the social media viral trend, a loyal base of the late president launched a petition recently to have Youtube ban the video from its circulation.
THE LONDON GUARDIAN reported on November 21, 1990 that the former President was tortured and killed by rebel forces under the command of Prince Y. Johnson, then the leader of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL).
DOE, ACCORDING TO THE REPORT was lured to his death by close colleagues, one of whom admitted his involvement to Doe supporters and claimed that American embassy officials in Monrovia were involved. “Members of the Doe regime who fled Monrovia or were evacuated after the killing of the president claim that Doe’s last close adviser, Sellie Thompson, admitted to them that the president’s visit to the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) peacekeeping force was a “set-up” intended to lure him into Monrovia’s rebel-held port, where the Ecowas force had its headquarters.”
SOME SIXTY-EIGHT members of late President Doe’s entourage were massacred that day after Doe was torture at Mr. Johnson’s hands.
THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S ears were chopped off like a dog as he bled and pleaded for his life while his slayers drank Budweiser beer while demanding him to show them were he kept monies he had stolen from the government’s coffers.
LONG AFTER DOE’S death Liberia continues to be drawn into the age-old country-congau debate.
IT WAS DOE’S coup on April 12, 1980 that ended years of Americo-Liberian rule. Doe’s reign however was marred by massive reports of human rights abuses and a repeat of the rampant corruption Doe pledged he had seized power to eliminate.
JOHNSON, during the heydays of the revolution was famous in declaring that while he sympathised with the two rebel movements who were fighting to oust Taylor from power, they should stick to soldiering and not take political office. “Guns that liberate should not rule,” he stressed, recommending instead that rebel soldiers become the backbone of a new government army.
TODAY, JOHNSON, NOW a senator from vote-rich Nimba County is on his second quest for the Liberian Presidency. But it is his new rhetoric that is drawing a cause for concern.
JOHNSON HAS BEEN adamant in his assertions of late that Liberia must have an indigenous president even though the national legislature and the Supreme Court is made up of more than 80 percent indigenous Liberians.
“For one hundred and some years, we have always cooperated with them,” Senator Johnson opined recently. “They are in leadership and they’re always taking country boys to be VP to them,” Johnson quipped when FrontPageAfrica contacted him at the weekend. But I think it is about time we compromise, we politically reconcile so that they can be seen under a country boy, then I would know that Liberia is moving on the right trajectory,” Senator Johnson asserted.
THE SENATOR repeated his innuendos and insinuations on Wednesday when he addressed a team of media practitioners at his Duport Road residence in Paynesville, upon his return from Nigeria where he participates in ECOWAS parliamentary sessions as one of the representatives from Liberia.
SENATOR JOHNSON who declared his support for Vice President Joseph Boakai declared that a Boakai presidency would put an end to the long rule of ‘minority rule’, thus providing the chance for native Liberians to have a feel of the presidency. He reemphasized calls to residents of his county not to vote a ‘minority leader’ as President, including Charles Brumskine and Benoni Urey. “These minority leaders” he said, “has made no impact to Liberia’s growth and development” and that it was now time for the native to rule.
WE ARE NOT SURE how the Senator came up with his calculations in justifying his claims that the so-called minority Congau group continuously take the big jobs in the country while those who have the popular vote continue to live in poverty.
AS SAD AND DISTURBING as it may sound the issue of corruption has no leaders in the statistics department. Both so-called country and Congau Liberians have been involved in corruption in the past eleven years.
WHAT SENATOR JOHNSON and others eyeing the presidency should be concerned about now is what plans they have to improve the lives of those languishing at the bottom of the economic ladder.
THEY MUST SHOW Liberians that they care about not just a few Liberians but all Liberians, they must turn a blind eye to corruption and must do all they can to not just push for pay raises, flashy cars and benefits for themselves in the annual budget, but for pay raises and improved livelihood for all.
THEY MUST ENSURE that justice will be for all and not just the few who have money in their pockets, that young girls are not rape and denied their adolescence and must end the culture of impunity that continues to wreak havoc on Liberia’s post-war development.
ALL LIBERIANS must condemn any politician who is bent on using a rhetoric of tribal divisiveness as a stepping stone to attain power.
LIBERIA IS FOR ALL. No one tribe or section of the country is better than the other. This nation that is Africa’s oldest deserves to maintain its stability and post-war peace.
NOW IS NOT the time to resurrect old wounds and step on one group of people, especially when we have tried and tested both country and Congau at various points in our history.
THE PAINFUL REALITY is that Liberia does not need a Congau or Country recipe for leadership; it needs leaders with a heart of gold who will put the country first and put us on the path toward economic and political stability for years to come and for generations yet unborn.