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Africa Samuel Asare Addai on Liberian Politics: An Interview by Sophia Barkat If you've been following the weekly updates to Enemies and Friends at Quietpoly.com, a novel in progress by Samuel Asare Addai on politics and poverty in Africa, then you know that he is the right person to comment on what's happening in Liberia today. Asare Addai is a teacher by profession with a certificate in education from University of Cape Coast, Ghana as far back as 1994. He is also a writer and has a radio play, "Unhealthy Sympathy", produced by Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (G.B.C.) in 1998. Today, he self-published "Try Me Daddy" -- a children's book about the gender bias iin African families towards sons and not daughters. Encouraged by his work on the subject of African politics and society, I thought I would invite him to share some opinions on the situation in Liberia. In this issue of Juryfury.com you'll find his article, Liberian Crisis: Any Lessons?. And here's the interview : 1) Why is the War happening? Is the case of Liberia more or less the same all over Africa? Or are we looking at a special case where people made a poor judgement? Of course, the war is happening because people made poor judgement. But to narrow down to specifics, I'd say the war is happening because Charles Taylor has failed to rebuild what he destroyed of Liberia when he emerged in Buchanan with rebels to overthrow Doe in the late eighties. The war is happening because other people think it's about time they also took power and amassed wealth. No one can convince me that it is to rebuild Liberia that they have risen against the man they say is a non-performing President. Liberia's case is not much different from what has been witnessed elsewhere on the continent, though now a new wind is blowing all over Africa and the people are beginning to get democratic. 2) Does Liberia have high poverty and illiteracy rates and how does this compare to the rest of Africa? How about ethnic group tensions? Liberia like many other African countries isn’t really poor in terms of natural resources. It’s the mismanagement of these resources that has left the majority of the people poor while a few others keep the wealth to themselves. Liberia has very rich diamond fields; they have rice, they have rubber. In the fifties, Liberia was rated the second fast growing economy in the world. But now because of the war people aren’t growing the rice anymore; rebel groups and corrupt officials keep smuggling away the diamonds; the industries, including the rubber industry have collapsed. The war of the late eighties destroyed everything and now the country is not just poor economically, it’s come to a standstill. As regard illiteracy, most of the American-Liberians who were brought from America after the slave trade are educated. But unfortunately, these people who considered themselves to be superior to the indigenous folks because of their light skin, and dominated Liberian politics kept the indigenous majority out of the classroom. In fact, many indigenous Liberians had to adopt such names as Washington, Morris and other American names to get quality education; otherwise you were denied. As already mentioned, Liberia is divided into the indigenous Liberians and the American-Liberians - light skinned mulattos. Of course, given this division and the perception of the mulattos that they are superior to the Black or Brown, there’s bound to be tension. And in fact, that has been a major cause of conflict in Liberia. Otherwise, the other groups such as Bassa, Loma, Gio and Mano all related well. It was the emergence of President Doe who sought to empower his tribesmen, the Krahns that also somehow created enmity between the Krahns and some of the other groups. One can however say that President Doe only copied what other leaders like Eyadema of Togo and President Rawlings of Ghana were doing then. I don’t think Liberians are fed up with Charles Taylor because he is a Mulato; I think it’s only a question of unmet expectations. 3) Does soon to be ousted President James Taylor have enemies who could be better role models? What is the commonality/difference between Taylor's party and the others? It will be too early to say yes. If any really cared about Liberia, they wouldn’t plunge the already desolate country into further chaos. I believe it will require years of real grooming to raise that leader that will take Liberia out of the present mess. 4) Has Liberian politics been dominated by support of Super Powers like the US and USSR? Are they elements of the Cold War in Africa in general? Somehow, I think so. I can’t say Russia or for that matter the then USSR could be blamed for anything that has happened in Liberia. But in fact, the international community, particularly the US refused to support Liberia in rebuilding their infrastructure following the election of Charles Taylor, because they didn’t like the new President. That crippled Charles Taylor enough to make him incapable to govern the country. 5) How does foreign aid from Western or Middle Eastern nations play a part in who gets elected in Liberia? Africa? Actually, African governments rely massively on aid to build their economies. Budgets are pivoted on funds from donors and when these funds fail to come then these budgets are thrown out of gear. In fact, President Rawlings kept lamenting about the so-called development partners’ refusal to send in their support as they had promised towards the 2000 presidential elections in Ghana. It brought so much hardship, which people still believe was one reason why Rawlings’ NDC party lost the elections. I however, didn’t vote the NDC because I didn’t like their military background. 6) Who are African allies of Taylor's Government -- politicians in other nations? Should they feel threatened by the call for removal of Taylor by the UN? What is the implication of ousting Taylor in the rest of the continent? I don’t think Charles Taylor has allies now. He did receive support from some neighbouring countries to revolt against President Samuel Doe, but now who has any vested interest in what Taylor does. If anything he is rather making enemies, supporting rebels against other governments in the sub-region. 7) In your opinion is this a serious attempt to change how things are done in Africa or just a show? Certainly there have been efforts to change how things are done in Africa. New crop of leaders such as President Kuffuor of Ghana, Abdulai Wadd of Senegal and Obasanjo of Nigeria are all practicing very responsible and democratic governance and urging their peers to follow suit. President Kuffuor who is also the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Chairman has been instrumental in securing peace in La Cote d'Ivoire and was the one to initiate peace talks between rebel forces and Charles Taylor's government. Knowing him as I do, I don't think he is doing this for just a show. 8) What must happen in Liberia for democracy to resume? This, of course, is a tough question. Democracy can resume easily but I believe sustainable democracy is what you are looking at here. As has always been the case in moments of crisis such as this, there's the need for an interim government after Charles Taylor is off the scene. This body must reflect the ethnic backgrounds of all the Liberian people and must not have any leanings with parties in the conflict now. It must be given time to establish itself as a credible body preceding a general election. Leading figures of the interim government should agree not to stand for election. General Abubakar of Nigeria is a shiny example. They should only see to organise a free and fair elections and usher in a new democratic dispensation in their beloved country. 9) Do you think UN Peace Keepers will be welcomed into Liberia and how will they keep the Peace? Will it be as tough or worse than what Peacekeepers faced in Bosnia -- where they found it hard not to intervene and had to sit and watch the fighting? The ordinary Liberians certainly need the peacekeepers and they know it. They certainly will want them to succeed in keeping peace but as to whether warring factions will shed their own interests to cling on to power or usurp power and allow peace process to go on is another matter. When Foreign Ministers of the sub region went to Liberia to see Charles Taylor for a discussion on the arrival of the troupes, Charles Taylor was on the battlefield, not ready to meet them till following day. Charles Taylor has also said he will leave Liberia for asylum in Nigeria on the 11th instead of the proposed 7th. Now, he is also asking that his right hand man be made to take over from him and usher the country into the new dispensation. Rebel forces are also saying they will keep fighting until Charles Taylor is gone. These of course are no good signs. And believe me, ECOWAS is only hoping the man Charles Ghankay Taylor will step down. If he doesn’t, there won’t be any peace to keep. 10) Do you think there will be tribal peace in Liberia? Sure there will. I’ve never been pessimistic about things. There is hope for Liberia, but it will require a great deal of time and dialogue and true reconciliatory processes. 11) Will the newly elected President have the power to unite all warring people? Or will we just see power exchange hands and more tribal clashes when Peacekeepers are gone? It won’t be easy. Liberia is divided. I don’t think there’s any one leader who will be immediately accepted by all Liberians as their president. But a very neutral, purposeful, methodical and selfless leader who can show to be really committed to the rebuilding of the country when given international support can rally well meaning Liberians behind him towards the worthy course. |
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