It is interesting that it’s exactly a whole week since news first broke that a deal has been sealed between President George Weah and former dreaded warlord Prince Johnson and others accused of perpetrating heinous crimes during Liberia’s 14-year-old brutal civil war, so that the Liberian leader never ever take a decision on the establishment of a tribunal that will compel perpetrators of war crimes in Liberia to be held legally accountable.
What is even more interesting and so very germane to the maintenance and/or sustenance of peace in the country, is that since it was reported that such a deal was in the offing, President Weah has breathed absolutely not a single word about its authenticity, and all that he has done all these time is to remain conspicuously reticent.
Straightforwardly, we want to state herein, that such deal, as it has been reported, if it really does exist is anti-democratic as far as instilling the rule of law and justice taking its course are concerned.
Come to face it, some of the worst kinds of atrocities ever known to the humankind, were perpetrated here, including the slip-opening of pregnant women bellies and using human skulls and intestines as checkpoints, carried out by individuals who behaved as beasts, some of these very people, who up to date are unremorseful for the barbaric acts they meted out against uncountable number of innocent and unarmed people during Liberia’s war years.
President Weah, your silence over such delicate matter that has grasped the attention of throngs of your citizens both at home and abroad, and even scores of other people in the international community, is so very appalling, to say the least.
May we remind you, Mr. President, that you are on record, that prior to your ascendency to the presidency when you then served as Goodwill Ambassador for the UNICEF, you advocated for the prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Additionally, Mr. President, aside from your commitment made when you served as UNICEF Ambassador, you are under obligation to answer to the Liberian people wishes and aspirations, and to as well uphold the organic law of the land, the Constitution, which speaks of justice taking precedence in all matters at all times, in the governance process of the country.
Mr. President, another point of reminder for you is that when the war was raging, Liberians, through the Accra Peace Accord, unanimously agreed for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a Commission, which since 2009, did present to your predecessor Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf a set of recommendations, which include the setting up of a tribunal for the further probing and prosecution of those who for 14 long years rained terror on the country and its people to face justice.
The TRC’s 370-page report collected more than 20,000 statements and the Commission took three exhaustive and eventful years and several million dollars to complete the investigation of causes and consequences of Liberia’s conflict, in a war that displaced thousands of Liberians and left a quarter of a million dead, and countless more raped, disabled, and traumatized.
The Commission drew up a list of tons of war offenders, people the TRC recommends should not be allowed to hold public office, and dozens of others on that list who the Commission says should face further investigation and prosecution, Mr. President, this is what the Liberian people through the TRC said then and are still saying now. Any attempt to veer away from these pressing national demands, and conceal yourself in any kind of politically appealing transaction to hold on to power, will be a complete disservice to the over 60 percent of your citizens who voted you to power on the mantra of hope, that under your administration there would have been a 390 degree turnaround from business as usual, where it has always been about the governors, and never the govern.
To this end, Mr. President, please speak up; have you or have you not sealed a deal with Prince Johnson et al, so that you shield them away from facing justice at a war crimes court for Liberia so that they in return support you in removing Kabineh Ja’neh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and that they also support your political ambition for a second term in office?
