Our Sad Interconnection

The dilemma Liberia faces is punishing those who brought havoc upon the people and country. We are so interconnected that it is near impossible to harm one and not cause a wave of bad feelings from other connected parts of the chain. My gut feeling is that those who revelled in humiliating our people and destroying our country, these people should be handled by the international community. Fragile Liberia has no place to accommodate our killers and tormentors.

I am sitting at my desk at work and thinking about all the good and the bad things that are happening in Liberia. I do not have all the information I need to pin point exactly these good and bad things. But from reading here and there I hear that $87 Million will soon be pumped into the country’s economy by an investment company to build houses in Virginia, Brewerville, and on Robertsfield highway for low as well as middle income citizens.

Since Monrovia is so congested, why wasn’t the Kakata area, say near Todee junction, selected for this project? If I can remember, Kakata is like 40 miles from Monrovia. I drive 40 miles one-way to work everyday. Anyway, that is a good thing; for when I finally come home, I will be able to live somewhere comfortably until I can build my own house.

Later on, my mind took me to the civil war that started on December 24, 1989. Charles Taylor was all over the radio waves. President Doe was also all over the radio waves. Majority of Liberians did not know who else was pushing Mr Taylor. What many of us knew was that Charles Taylor once worked for President Doe and the big news was that Taylor had sold a plane or something and had duped the President. Money is one of those things that spoil friendship!

The race to reach Monrovia to capture President Doe was intense. News began to filter out from the front line that Prince Johnson, one of Charles Taylor’s top guns, had defected. Not many people knew who Prince Johnson was; but the news was that the guy was fierce. From America I heard that Prince Johnson had a stool that he sat on, in the middle of the road. Enemy soldiers traveling on roads where Prince Johnson controlled had no chance. I believe, Senator, the people of Liberia deserve to hear your war-years stories in book form.

A lot of Johnsons took part in our civil war. From America, one Ellen Johnson was leading a group. From Camp Johnson Road, a Roosevelt Johnson was making his name, protecting his people, as we heard. Roosevelt Johnson, we also learned, was also a fierce warrior. oh yes, Koboi Johnson would have made an awesome foursome!

Even though Ellen Johnson is one of us, Gola father, Kru grandmother, she was brought up with and influenced by the Congau people. My thinking is if Ellen’s intention was to protect or fight for anyone, the fight would be for the Congau people. Roosevelt Johnson was fighting to protect his tribal Krahn people. And Prince Johnson was there to fight for and protect his people from Nimba County.

For the Gola, Kru and Congau people, Ellen Johnson was there for you. For the Krahn people, Roosevelt Johnson and the President of Liberia, Samuel Doe, Amos Gbon, George Boley, and many other prominent fighters were there to protect your interest. For the Mandingo, Gio, Mano, Gbi, and Krahn people of Nimba County, Prince Johnson was the son who was destined to protect you. Many other counties were now vulnerable. They had no one to fight for them. Bong, Lofa, Maryland, Cape Mount and a few other counties needed to be represented in the war. Tom W was there to fight for the people of Bassa and Rivercess Counties. Oh, there was another Johnson who got ambushed in Grand Bassa County during the early stage of the war. I wonder from which county he came.

Because of this vulnerability, a son of Lofa County, Alhaji Kromah, got into the fray. He too was expected to fight for and protect the Kissi, Mandingo, Lorma, Belle, and Gbandi people of Lofa County. From this picture, it is now clear that a full-blown civil war was in the making. The people of Liberia were in for a long and devastating period, never before experienced.

My wife’s paternal grandmother, a Belle, who lived in Gwellita in Lofa County, was forced to walk miles and miles into the Belle forest. Because of her age, she died during her ordeal. Her village was burned and none of us know where she was buried. When we heard the news, we knew that Mr Kromah was not in Lofa County to protect all of its population.

My sister in-law and her husband, Stephen Konah, lived in Bong Mines. The family had a small clinic they operated near one of the gates leading into the compound of the company. Stephen Konah was from Nimba County. When Prince Johnson and his fighters reached Bong Mines, It was impossible to ignore the new Sherriff in town.

Mr Konah and his family cooked for and did all they could to accommodate Mr Johnson and his group of fighters. The fierce warrior from Nimba County did nothing to protect and save Mr Konah. Mr Stephen Konah was brutally murdered in front of his family by those who were supposed to protect him. The reason: The group was not sure whether Mr Konah was a spy for government forces or a genuine supporter of Mr Johnson.

What was the war about if it did not save the lives of the innocent? Why did many refuse to admit to the atrocities they committed against their own people? Why were some people fighting to save their people why others were gleefully killing their own? Why are we crying about the untold destruction and the=2 0backwardness of our country when we know within ourselves that we did the damage?

It is a difficult thing for the common person like me to decide who, amongst our killers, should be sent to the gallows, incarcerated or set free. To know that these killers of men are roaming the streets of our towns and villages makes for a chilling feeling. To know that men we once feared are now making our laws and teaching our people; to know that the same people who once killed innocent people and stole our money are now deacons in churches and Imams in mosques, carrying the Bible and Koran on their chests in broad day light; to live with these terrible feelings everyday, is indeed frightening, stressful and heartbreaking.

The international community needs to help us Liberians decide what to make of the results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. All those who played major roles in our civil conflict must be made to face the consequences. Whatever list is out there that is already causing concerns should be given due process, for justice must be done to all men and women.

There is just no jail in Liberia to keep Prince Johnson or Conneh or Alhaji Kromah or Senator Dolo. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has become larger than life. Is there a jail house in Liberia where she can be incarcerated because she started off this thing with $10,000? Are the women of Liberia, her greatest strength, our mothers and sisters who voted her into the presidency, are these women ready to see their idol in hand cuffs?

Our situation is so pitiful and interconnected. I hit a huge wall whenever I think about the dilemma Liberians face in doling out justice to those who killed us. Like Charles Taylor, I just wish these big Whigs were all somewhere else as we decide from the comfort of our cities, towns and villages what to do with them. If our tormentors were somewhere else, far, far away from Monrovia, my call would be: Let those people stay right where they are.


How in the world will the baby Jesus be sent from Egypt when King Herod is still roaming the streets of Nazareth?