Liberia: “If A Blind Man Says He Will Stone You…”

Revelations like this don’t often come beforehand. So for the Chief of Staff for the armed force of Liberia, Major-General Prince Charles Johnson, III, to claim that he has received multiple text messages from people at home and abroad, calling on him to stage a coup due to President George Weah’s prolonged absence from the country, it warrants public condemnation that has not been seen before. 

Granted that Maj. General Johnson also disclosed that he rejected the idea of an overthrow of the Liberian government, it was still ill-advised of him to publicly disclose that he had personally received text messages suggesting the overthrow of an elected government. 

What did he stand to achieve or prove by such public disclosure? Was it a hint for people to start hoarding food and fuel supplies in case hell breaks loose over the next twelve months? Was it to foreshadow grounds for declaring a state of emergency and warrant a violation of privacy laws including phone tapping and extra-judicial arrests? 

Please explain, Maj./Gen. Johnson, because the Liberian people need to know. Mind you, this is just one side of a very precarious coin you have flippantly tossed in an already heated political field of play. 

The other side of the coin is that, now that you have publicly announced that there are plenty of people with this sinister mindset, it could embolden those very characters, whose suggestions you have rejected, to attract like-minded individuals and groups, amalgamate their resources and pursue their common agenda — even without your help. 

Given the dire state of affairs in the country — mainly economically and security-wise — there is no telling how desperate people may be for a change of leadership. And given Johnson’s revelation, it is not far-fetched to conclude that there are indeed people of the opinion that the October 2023 elections are either: a) too far away; b) without certainty for desired change; and c) all of the above.

A well-known Liberian proverb says: “If a blind man says he will stone you, he already has the rock in his hand.” And do not underestimate his blindness; he might already have you in perfect aim.

Is it too much to call on Maj./Gen. Johnson, to disclose the identities of those calling for a government overthrow? Liberia is still a small country and connections among our people are broad, deep, and, in many cases, incredibly complex. 

Public disclosure of these names could either ignite a precautionary reconnaissance mission on the one extreme or a witch-hunt on the other.  

But since those individuals had the nerve to propose such a treasonable act to the one individual who took an oath to uphold the Constitution of Liberia and protect the country from internal and external threats, it is incumbent upon the man at the helm of the national army to live up to his constitutional oath and subject those individuals to an investigation. 

Given that he has not disclosed the names of those wishing an overthrow of President Weah, Maj./Gen. Johnson risks more questions about his motives behind the revelation. 

His statement, which is not backed by public evidence, is coming at a time when military coup d’etats in the West African sub-region are cropping up at a rate unseen since before the adoption of the Lomé Declaration in July 2000, which banned coups and adopted sanctions against regimes that had taken power through a coup. 

These coups happen when the military sees some rising social and economic stresses that have eroded public confidence in institutions of democratic governance. 

And with Liberia being a fragile state, the unexpected is not impossible, considering the increasing likelihood of political violence that may occur given the degree of intolerance displayed by some groups claiming allegiance to the ruling party. 

The effects of such military meddling then, in Liberia’s democracy, society and economy, would be more devastating than one can imagine.  It would also make it hard for Liberia to return to democracy, open floodgates of bloodletting, and create governments that lean on the failed paradigms of military rule, as was the case in 1980 when the military overthrew President William R. Tolbert’s government and when Charles Taylor ruled Liberia from Gbarnga and won an election through a concoction of benevolence and intimidation.

This is something all well-meaning Liberians should not allow to happen.  The democracy that this country enjoys did not come on a silver platter but was hard-earned with blood, sweat, and tears, in order that citizens should have the opportunity to elect the government of their choice freely; and that, when dissatisfied with its performance, to vote it out of power in a legitimately held election.  

This is why the peaceful transfer of power is one of the great strengths of democracy. Anything void of this threatens it. 

And Maj./Gen. Johnson’s statement creates a loophole for this threat to thrive, weakening the Constitution of Liberia and its very reason for existence. For this and many more reasons, Maj. General Johnson’s revelation should be rebuked by all Liberians. 

His revelation, which he says were requests coming from people in Liberia and the United States to stage a coup, though he has rejected their suggestions, is a military threat, provocative, and might just be intended to test the public perception of a coup, just in case it happens.

“[Rest] assured that the army under my command will not engage in acts that will derail the peace and democracy of Liberia,” he said.

But this assurance is something that is doubtful. If Maj./Gen. Johnson was indeed sincere about this, he would have also disclosed what course of action he had taken in response to these numerous messages calling on him to overthrow the Weah government.  

Did he convey his concerns about internal peace and security (as a result of those messages) to the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Justice? 

So he should be checked by the public, considering that the 1980 military coup in Liberia took place amid citizens' dissatisfaction with the Tolbert government — and such sentiments are not very different under the Weah administration either. 

But regardless of how hard things might be, the Chief of Staff’s public revelation, for which he has withheld crucial evidence, keeping the concerned public in limbo, is entirely out of order and may be construed as a clever form of military threat to civilian rule — and even to President Weah himself, for fear of being deposed. 

More worrisome is the fact the AFL Chief of Staff has become a politician, making sweeping statements whether for or against the government, often on political platforms.  What is he trying to prove? In military institutions everywhere around the world, the chief of staff does not speak on civil matters, but on military matters only.But what Maj./Gen. Johnson does not know is that his utterances have the potential to close the civil space for political participation in the months leading to the conduct of general elections in 2023, during which time mass gatherings are unavoidable.