Liberia: Elections Are Not Stolen on the Day of Voting

By Abdoulaye Dukulé,

Adjunct Professor George Washington University

Elections are not stolen on the day of voting. The stealing happens long before or after. The Weah administration is setting the grounds for electoral fraud, through “legal ways.” The advisers of Weah were the same ones who advised Samuel K Doe and Charles G Taylor. 

“They are mischievous.”  

We know where they led Doe, Taylor, and the nation.  They are at it again.  The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) indicted three senior government officials, including the Chair of the Elections Commission, the Minister of Agriculture, and a member of the same LACC. Rather than fire the culprits, Weah decides to reorganize the LACC and force out its leadership.

This past week, the Senate passed a bill to reorganize the Elections Commission. The new law will require that all electoral magistrates throughout the country resign to reapply. Why just the magistrates and not the entire commission? This commission, led by a member of the ruling party, under indictment for stealing — cleared through technicalities — will be the one to recruit the magistrates.

Meanwhile, President George M Weah is in his church preaching. The Sunday after his ministers were indicted. There was no talk about politics. Pastor Weah in an all-white Mandingo gown was not quoting the scriptures, the sermon was about the hands of “invisible angels” that lifted him every time people thought he was down. 

The flock responded with Amen Amen. Sunday’s sermon was centered on his football biography. How he beat the odds. How every defeat turned to be victories. I thought about my other former President, Trump. So much self-love!  We often talk about the resilience of the Liberian people. I would rather say “submissive”.  

Too many layers of trauma. Just as William R Tolbert started the slow healing process after 100 years of brutal rule, the military came in and started a reign of terror. Followed by a savage war. Fear and survival set in. Low self-esteem developed. Expectations got lowered. Just being alive became a luxury. 

Intergenerational trauma exists in societies that lived under occupation and force. From fighting for democracy in the 1970s to opposing military rule and trying to survive during the wars, society has continually lived in survival mode. Easily bought. 

Those who advised the two most cruel leaders of our time — and survived them — are back to where they left it off. This is their last gig and they are going all out. The Liberian political class welcome the sanctions and filled the media. Opposition leaders issued strong-worded statements about the move and called on the President to fire those sanctioned. But it will take more than press releases to make sure that Weah listens to them. 

Liberians have been beaten into submission. Their humanity has been trampled upon for so long that they have become numb. Social and political zombies. That’s why the youth sang “you killed my pa you killed my ma I will vote for you.,” for Charles Taylor. They sang it until he was sent to jail. “You know the book, you na know book, we will vote for you,” they told Weah.

Now, they are singing “sanctions no sanctions we will vote for you.” Weah said he is a survivor. I hope the invisible angels will wake him up.  Liberia is slowly walking towards an abyss. 

All of this is happening while Weah spent US$3.3 million in lobbying in Washington DC, not less than 18 contracts. Fishy. In 1996, after a meeting with warlords in Monrovia, the late Madeleine Albright said “Liberia has hit rock bottom…” if she only knew.