Sirleaf’s Liberia: Dismantling the Stereotypes

As Guns Go Silent, Liberians Turn to Books and Reconstruction

Government embarks on reforms, integrates women

Multi-billion dollar deals, integration of women into important government positions and safeguarding the new government against plots by reactionary forces from the Charles Taylor days are the major preoccupations of the new government in Liberia. The Liberian Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Special Advisor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf outlines the country’s efforts to “dismantle the stereotypes of failure” and rebuild the country.

By Tawanda Kanhema

WHEN army sergeant Samuel Doe staged a bloody coup against William Tolbert, then Liberian President and OAU chairman on 12 April 1980, most Liberians thought they had found salvation, and celebrated what turned out to be the beginning of a prolonged political and social crisis that would dog the country for more than a decade.

Now, with the end of the conflict and a civil war that claimed more than 260,000 lives, President Ellen JohnsonSirleaf’s government, which has started to attract significant investment, is fighting to preserve what is extolled as one of the most successful transitions in Africa from constant threats by reactionaries from the Taylor era.

Leberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Windhoek, Namibia. Picture: Tawanda Kanhema

After inheriting a failed state from the transitional administration that took over from Charles Taylor’s government, Sirleaf’s fairly young administration faces sustained challenges and threats to its security as warlords and other politicians try to cover their footprints from the Taylor era and make efforts to protect themselves from prosecution.

Liberian Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Special Advisor to President Sirleaf, Mr Dew Tuan-Wieh Mayson says he is impressed with his country’s transition to peace and democratic rule following more than a decade of instability, although the country still faces some critical challenges.

“Liberia is pulsating with a new life and vigour, some of the worst atrocities were resisted, and people have managed to bring peace. With Ellen (Johnson-Sirleaf), the country has entered a new dawn with a veteran of the progressive movement. ‘Ma Ellen’ has so far shown a singular devotion to duty, surrounded by people of integrity,” says Mayson.

Since Sirleaf’s government took over, Liberia has achieved a growth rate of 4,7 per cent, beefed up its security forces and set up a human rights commission expected to overhaul the country’s appalling past of widespread human rights abuses.

Mittal Steel, the world’s largest steel company, has signed a US$1 billion deal with the Liberian government, and the deal is expected to contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth and the government’s efforts to create employment.

Mayson says government has emphasized on the need for the Mittal deal to benefit as many Liberians as possible, has demanded that Mittal outsources to local companies, employs Liberians and trains them to run the mines, production had been stalled by years of fighting.

Liberia’s economy is backed by iron, timber and coffee production, and the government is this year expected to lift the ban on trade in diamonds.

The government seeks to resuscitate the manufacturing industry and create employment programmes that allow people to work for sustenance. So far, significant progress has been made in the integration of former fighters in the regular army.

Mayson said 2000 men and women had so far been integrated into the army, and thousands of former fighters had been sent to training camps, and schools.

The government has set itself an agenda to enhance national security and retrain the army. Liberia’s army has been restructured, and 50 percent of the army is made up of women. The chief of police is a lady, and institutions have been set up for the protection of women’s rights and creation of equal opportunities for men and women.

“At least 15 percent of the legislature now consists of women, and a third of the country’s provincial governors are also women. Women were very important in the struggle for peace in Liberia, they even threatened to go nude if rebels refused to go for talks,” he said.

He said the government was faced with the critical problem of prioritising issues, and was trying to be bold and creative in the formulation of policies to guide the political and economic transition.

On the issue of the opposition, Mayson said Sirleaf had made efforts to integrate the opposition, but most of the key figures in the country’s opposition had spurned her hand.

“We offered Weah a chance to join government and he decided to go to school first,” he said jokingly.

He said the government had nothing to do with former president Charles Taylor’s predicament, and would not harass his family as anticipated by many. The government has allowed pro-Taylor Liberians to erect billboards proclaiming “Taylor Not Guilty” in Monrovia.

“Taylor is the best president that we did not have,” said Mayson, “He was charming and persuasive. He is now in the Netherlands awaiting trial, but we have nothing to do with his predicament, Liberia has nothing to do with it. His family is still living very well in Liberia.”

“Sirleaf must be willing to put aside all pretensions and be reborn as a representative of the wishes of the people. We are working that government becomes a government of the people. The pursuit of peace and progress cannot be relaxed.”

Settlers coming to Liberia from the United States after the abolition of slavery constituted a ruling class that excluded the locals, and established political system dominated by a bourgeoisie that excluded the indigenous people and managed to secure high economic growth rate. However, the boom did not last long, and collapsed in the late 70s.

Political consciousness among the indigenous peoples was rising, and came to a head with the coup led by Samuel Doe, an army sergeant in April 1980. The military struck with a coup that was enthusiastically embraced but soon regretted as the warlords looted and vandalized the resources of the country.  The war killed more than 270,000 people, and left a trail of abuse, with high prevalence of sexual violence and child soldiers.

After sustained efforts to bring peace to the troubled country, warlords civil society groups and politicians met in Accra 14th august 2003, and signed a peace agreement that led to the setting up of a national transitional government which handed over to Sirleaf’s government after the general elections held in 2005. iZim News

Posted by Investigative Africa on 9:45 am. Filed under WORLDVIEW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry