Liberia is the oldest African republic, but is not the oldest country on the continent.  The oldest country on the continent that has never been colonised is Ethiopia. But Liberia

remains Africa’s oldest republic and she was founded in 1847 by free black American slaves. The problems of this once prosperous country began in 1980, when Sergeant Samuel Kenyon Doe a native Liberian* stage a coup against the heir of the free slaves who have been ruling the country since her creation. She further descended into the precipice in 1989 because the chronic mismanagement of the revolutionary government of Sergeant Doe, could not deliver all she had promised in her 8 years brutal and corrupt rule and also had no plans to relinquish power.

The insolence and indolence Sergeant Doe drove his country into a brutal civil war. Since then, all that comes out of Liberia as news is war and its ensuing atrocities. Nevertheless, with the aid of the UN, the United States, the UK, Nigeria, the West African community and the African Union, peace is gradually returning to the war torn country to a degree/level that, first rounds of elections were organised on Tuesday 11^th October 2005. These elections were organised to elect a President and legislators for the Senate and House of Representatives. Those elected, were to fill out the 94 seats of the legislative arm of power, left vacant since the civil war began. It was an initial step aim at giving Liberia working institutions that has all disappeared since the civil war began. But since her breakdown, Liberia has exemplified itself with two things within and without the West African region: cruelty and tribalo-regional conflicts.

Pacesetter

Now, she is again setting the pace, interestingly in a positive light, this is because, the elections that were organised on Tuesday October 11^th and which had no clear winner, orchestrated a second round which was scheduled for November 9^th 2005 and which took place peacefully. In a region were transparent elections are like searching for water in the desert, the tranquillity which  characterised the elections was an action worth exporting to neighbouring countries, where, elections are not only rigged, but fraught with violent aftermaths.

Running for the post of President of Liberia were 22 candidates. But in that lot, only two were well known, they were 39 years old George Opong Weah, the 1995 European and World footballer of the year and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a 66 years old lady, who is a graduate of Harvard and a former staff of the UN and World bank. Amongst the two candidates, Mrs Sirleaf was certainly the one who was more experienced, but Weah was and is still popular amongst the youths and the million of young war veterans who he is alleged to have persuaded to abandon their weapons for a new life. However, Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf eventually emerged the winner, although her opponents, Mr Weah did cry foul.

Whipping Boy

Liberia has been at war for 14 years and with her, many other neighbouring countries have also slipped down the same path of chaos with catastrophic results. The one on whose shoulders rest all the blame is Charles MacArthur Ghankey Taylor, former war lord and afterwards elected President in 1997.

But is Charles Ghankey Taylor, the former president of Liberia the true cause of all the civil wars destroying most West African states today?  If your answer is a plain yes, then you might be a little bit naïve about the whole region and the continent at large. Mr Taylor is as innocent as a new born, in the entire pandemonium going on in the majority of West African countries. However, if a new born is born in a roguish family, it is likely that, he too will become a rogue when he grows up. This is just the case with Charles Taylor, who was President of Liberia from 1997-2003.

West African states like most on the African continent are synonymous to large expands of dry forest, that only a little ignition sets it ablaze. All this is because of an intriguing mixture of pitiable governance policies, rampant corruption and poverty, which reign in those countries. Nonetheless, there are some few countries in West Africa that can’t catch fires and burn like thatch roof houses as the majority. These exceptional cases which are not an exhaustive list are: Cape Verde, Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal for West Africa. At continental level, some stable countries are; Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa. These countries are just a selection of countries at continental level that are definitely strong enough to ward off any problem.

Accusations

Mr Taylor is alleged to have set ablaze his own country, extended it to Sierra Leon, Guinea and recently Ivory Coast. But isn’t it  a monumental lie to consider that, a person like Taylor can be able to cause the scale of horror currently reigning in  countries sharing the same border with his country, without any external aid? Mr Taylor is currently standing trial at The Hague and has been indicted on 11 charges : Acts of terrorism( war crime),Murder ( crime against humanity), Violence to life, in particular murder (war crime), Rape ( crime against humanity), Sexual slavery and violence ( crime against humanity), Outrages upon personal dignity ( war crime), Violence to life, in particular cruel treatment (war crime), Other inhumane acts ( crime against humanity), Use of child soldiers ( violation of international humanitarian law), Enslavement ( crime against humanity) and finally pillage(war crime).

If countries bordering Liberia got inflamed the way they did, it is simply because, they have leaders who do not only lack administrative knowledge, but also seem to be mostly clinically and mentally sick individuals. They seem all mad and the people that they are governing are a hungry and angry set of people, inquest of proper and honest administrators, who are atypical to find in their respective countries. There is no need to go into the nitty-gritty of the cause of the problems in Liberia; however, to remain superficial, it is necessary to point out that, the way Charles Taylor got elected in 1997 was not fair and could easily be one reason why the war there has been prolonged.

The Charles Taylor connections

The former President of Liberia now in exile in Nigeria had the support of Burkina Faso, France and Ivory Coast; without which, he would never have had control on large swath of Liberia and even proceeded to win the elections that brought him to power. But today most West African leaders especially those sharing common borders with Liberia are all accusing Mr Taylor for anything wrong in their respective countries.

Even though it is unfair to accuse Mr Taylor for every single civil war in countries neighbouring Liberia, there is nonetheless one country and her leader, who has every right to point accusing finger at Mr Taylor. This leader is General Lansana Conte, President of the Republic of Guinea. Guinea became the enemy of the former presidents of Liberia and Ivory Coast and also the current president of Burkina Faso because, she ( Guinea) refused to help the NPLF(1) rebels of Taylor and above all, went ahead to support the West African peace keeping monitoring Group that was also loathed by : France. France, along with loyal French-speaking West African states did everything to torpedo the ECOWAS (2) Peace Keeping Monitoring Group: ECOMOG. Why? Simply because, France regarded ECOMOG as an extension of Nigeria’s influence in a region that she (France) considers as her sphere of influence, hence, she (France) rallied her boys in the region to sabotage the operations of ECOMOG.

Saboteurs

The first saboteur was President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso. He provided military aid and men to the NPLF of Mr Taylor, while Ivory Coast became the route for logistic support and supplies. It was easy then because in Ivory Coast, the president were late Houphouet Boigny and later on Henri Konan Bedie, two men considered to be the pillars of Francafrique or stooges of France in the region.  Mr Bedie is also the man who is responsible for the regionalist and tribal based constitution of Ivory Coast, that, was enacted into law in 1995 and which has thrown his country into a protracted civil war since September 2002. The other support of Mr Taylor was the head ministry of foreign affairs of Ivory Coast at that time Mr Amara Essy. Mr Essy is also the recent past pioneer Secretary General of the African Union.

This man knew how to communicate and locate Charles Taylor and his alter ego, late Corporal Foday Sankoh, the leader of the RUF (3) in Sierra Leon, when there were still in the bush. But France’s rapport with Ivory Coast is no longer the same since Mr Laurent Gbagbo was elected president and it might partly explain why, France has tried all subterfuges to overthrow the government of Mr Gbagbo.  It is also well known that, Mr Taylor became president through terror and one of his  inglorious campaign slogan was: “No NPFL, No Peace” , but this did not prevent  France  defending Mr. Taylor all over the place when he became elected president of Liberia.

One tool France used in refurbishing Mr Taylor’s image was her (France’s) external Radio, RFI (4). It is a station widely listened in French-speaking Africa, hence France used it to manipulate opinions and made people think that, the UN at the instigations of the US and UK was wrong to impose sanctions on Liberia.  In addition, at the UN, the French representative Jean David Levite became the Public Relations Officer of Mr Taylor. Nevertheless, from the looks of things, it appeared as though, besides the strong desires of Nigeria, US and the UK to see peace and stability in the region, nobody else besides the latter mentioned really wants or wanted peace in Liberia and all other affected West African states. A proof toward that direction is that, when the Ghanaian negociations began in Akosumbo*, it was just the exact moment when, the Kangaroo Court of Freetown, a division of the incompetent tribal and racist International Courts at The Hague, decided to indict Charles Taylor for  crime against humanity.

Partial

The International Criminal Court (ICC) where Taylor is being tried or her sister court, the ICJ (International Court of Justice) are particularly biased courts, this is so because, they spends most of their times indicting Serbs, while Albanians or Kosovovans and Croatians go Scot free. Once in a while, a theatrical arrest of either a Kosovan or a Croatian will be carried out in the presence of International Media and in addition, to add more pep and flair, it notoriously always tends out that, those arrested gave themselves up. What a typical way of presenting the Serbs as violent and the others as weak, meek and law abiding people, who were victims of the supercilious Serbs?

Concerning the other division of the dubious court based in Arusha in Tanzania ( East Africa), the dictator head of the ICJ who is known to take flip-flop decisions, cares very little and has even dismissed its first Prosecutor General, Mr Bernard Muna, the only crime of this man was that, he wanted to be independent. Mrs Carla Del Ponte has to resign, because, she is presiding over Courts that are full of vindictive people, who are not seekers of righteousness. Most individuals working in her Court are similar to her, simply weird. She once declared that Croatia was not compiling with her Court. This was on the 2nd and 3rd October 2005, before, she had cried out loud that, the Croats never wanted to give up General Ante Gotevina, an alleged war criminal.

She even had the guts to accuse the Roman Catholic Church of protecting General Gotevina, who is a war crime suspect. Does that not sound as though there are some pressures from some external forces on the supposedly independent ICC or ICJ courts located at The Hague? If her Court or her appendage the ICC was a place that desires peace, it won’t have chosen when negotiations wanted to start in Ghana, to issue an arrest warrant for Mr. Charles Taylor. In doing so, the Court was weakening the position of Mr Taylor and giving indirectly an upper hand to the rebels. On the other hand, the rebels that are or were alleged to receive financial and logistics support from Guinea are not better than Charles Taylor, who is not any enfant de Coeur though, a thing that is universally known.

From the on set, the vile intentions of Mr. Taylor were discovered by late General Sani Abacha, hence he vowed to obliterate him from power and also give the same treatment to his Burkina-be sponsor, President Blaise Compaore. Taylor should be left alone in his Nigerian exile and should not be used like as the whipping boy or a sort of sacrificial lamb. Nevertheless, if he is going to be indicted as it appears is the objective of the ICC, an intention already published in the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune of 2005, he should not face the Court alone.

Credible International Justice Needed

In order for the ICC court in Freetown to have any credibility, there is need for the following other names to appear on the list of those indicted: Mr. Blaise Compaore, President of Burkina Faso, his alleged charges? Providing soldiers to Charles Taylor, Mr. Henri Konan Bedie and his predecessor late president Houphouet Boigny, the charges of these former Ivorian presidents are?  Permission of their country not just to serve as route for the importation of Arms, they also allowed their country to become the retreating bases of RUF and the NPFL.

Mr. Amara Essy, former foreign minister of Ivory Coast under Bedie, his charges is? He was the image makers and point man of both Charles Taylor and late Corporal Fodey Sankoh. The others are Jacque René Chirac, president of France, Lionel Jospin former Prime minister of France, Charles Josselin former Minister of Cooperation and the Francophonie of France, Radio France International (rfi) and the French Timber exploitation company Group Rougier and French company Groupe Bollore. Until the aforementioned are indicted along with Mr Charles Taylor, only then can the current brouhaha of the ICC of Freetown and some Human rights NGOs could be seen as an honest desire to seek justice and peace in Liberia and other troubled countries in the region. This is simply because, Charles Taylor does not have the resources to destabilise the entire region as it is generally claimed.

Furthermore the call and pressure mounted on the Nigerian President General Mathew A. Olusegun Obasanjo (retired) to throw away his own words to the wind now that Charles Taylor is in exile will create a dangerous precedent.  Rebels or other warring parties in regions in Africa such as Darfur and Northern Uganda will not accept any form of negotiations and agreement anymore.  This is bad for a continent that still has several civil wars and negotiations are on for peaceful terminations in the Sudanese many conflicts, there are negotiations going on between the government of Uganda and the Lord Resistance Army in the North of the country, the Somalia conflicts and her intricate negotiations are also on.  Will the signatories of such negotiations believe in what they have appended their names under anymore, after what has happened with Charles Taylor?  The answer is an emphatic No! What should then be done? Treaties and agreements need to be respected and in this regard, Charles Taylor needs to be left alone or all participants needs to be called to the wit box to defend their contribution in setting Liberia, Sierra Leon and Ivory coast ablaze..

Notes: -

a) abbreviations:

1) NPFL: national patriotic front of Liberia created in 1989 by Charles Taylor

2) ECOWAS: Economic Community of West African States, a regional political body made of 15 states created in 1975 with headquarters in Abuja federal capital of Nigeria. ECOMOG stands for ECOWAS Peace monitoring group it was a body created by the former in a bid to bring peace in Liberia and later in Sierra Leon
 

3) RUF: Revolutionary United Front, a Rebel movement created by late Corporal Fodey Sankoh in Sierra Leon. This rebel movement known for its brutalities was alleged to be sponsored and supported by Charles Taylor. Sierra Leon was established by Britain, mainly along Freetown its current capital in 1787 and in 1808 it became a crown colony and gain independence in 1961.

4) RFI: Radio France International, the external radio service of France, financed by the ministries of Foreign affairs and Cooperation and the Francophonie*. It was created in 1975 and broadcast in 19 languages. It commands a lot of influence in French-speaking African countries mainly.

b) Footnotes:

· Akosumbo is the name of town near Accra the capital of Ghana( west Africa)  where peace talks on the Liberian civil war was held on June 12th 2003

· Francophonie is the name of a political body made of French-speaking countries mainly from France’s former colonies in Africa. Other members are Canada’s French-speaking province, Belgium, Switzerland and other none French-speaking states.

*Since this article was written, the second round of presidential elections was held and Ellen Johnson Sir-leaf won. Mrs Sir-leaf was born in 1938 and is widow and mother of four.

*** This article was first written and published in 2005 and much has been changed from the original script. However, changes have occurred in the International scene. Jacque René Chirac has been force not seek a third term because of dynamics within own UMP party that he could not control. General Obasanjo wilfully left power on the 29th of May 2007 after 8 years as a civilian President. Meanwhile, Mr Taylor’s Nigerian exile was unceremoniously terminated in 2003 in breach of international agreement that made him cede power.