Liberia: U.S. Commends Liberia for 20 Years Keeping Peace

The United States Government, through its embassy near Monrovia, has commended Liberians for keeping the peace since the Accra Peace Accord in August 2003.

In a press statement issued yesterday, the U.S. Embassy said Liberia, as a country, should be proud of its achievements, assuring that America remains a strong traditional partner.

“As Liberians celebrate 20 years of peace and democratic governance, which occurred due to the enormous sacrifices of ordinary Liberians — women, youth, civil society, and religious groups — to end the brutal civil war, your country should be proud of this achievement. The United States continues to be a strong partner of Liberia,” the statement contains.

It can be recalled that in August 2003, warring factions, including former President Charles Taylor’s regime, agreed and assembled in Ghana to broker peace following years of brutal carnage.

Taylor was by then opposed and heavily fought by Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), two rebel factions that invaded the country through the borders of Guinea and Ivory Coast, respectively.

LURD was commanded by Sekou Damate Conneh, a former businessman in pre-war Gbarnga, Bong County, while MODEL was commanded by Thomas Yayah Nimely, who hails from Grand Gedeh County.

Conneh led his LURD rebel faction from Guinea through Lofa and onward to Bomi County before hitting Monrovia, where his faction captured the Freeport of Monrovia (main sea port of entry and economic hub) and created more hardship while Nimely marched along with his fighting force from Ivory Coast to Grand Gedeh, and onward to Grand Bassa County.

After months of terrifying bloodshed involving many innocent people and the damage of hundreds of millions of United States Dollars’ worth  of public and private properties, the three factions (LURD, MODEL and Taylor’s NPFL signed the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement on August 18, 2003.

Taylor had by then agreed and left on August 11, 2003, for exile in Nigeria. 

America, Liberia’s oldest traditional partner, saw launchers of high power ammunition, including rockets and grenades, destroy hundreds of Liberians before its Embassy near Monrovia. At the time, the currently occupied “land portion” facing Benson Street by the Embassy was known as Graystone, a step away from the main entrance of the Embassy.

It took women's organizations in particular and some international partners, including ECOWAS, who led the way in compelling former President Taylor to agree to not only a ceasefire but also a dialogue to bring an end to years of senseless bloodletting.

Taylor was in exile in Nigeria before his arrest back on Liberian soil in 2006 and his being taken to Sierra Leone for prosecution for atrocities the Sierra Leonean government claimed he (Taylor) masterminded in that country. He was found guilty and sentenced to fifty years of imprisonment in a British prison facility, where he currently resides.

It is against such terrifying experiences that the U.S. Embassy reminded Liberians to remain uncompromising in sustaining peace, regardless of the politics of the day.

“When Liberians go to the polls in October, we remind all political parties to adhere to the Farmington River Declaration, to condemn all violence and violent rhetoric, and to keep their commitment to free, fair, and peaceful elections,” the press statement from the Embassy noted.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard University graduate who once worked with the World Bank, became President of Liberia in 2006 following the October 2005 elections.

She ran the affairs of the country for two consecutive six-year terms, succeeded by soccer legend and former Senator of Montserrado County, George Manneh Weah, who was elected President in 2017. 

Weah, who promised Liberians a new day of redemption from poverty, corruption and many other terrible menaces, has struggled to address any of them. He is concluding the six years entrusted to him by the people and, like his predecessor, seeking reelection for another six years.

Since becoming President, Weah has not succeeded in containing election violence in the country.

In 2019, there was an election violence in Montserrado District #13 where, reports maintain today, injuries were sustained by opposition supporters who sought the election of Cornelia Kruah Togba through a by-election held to find the successor for former Representative Saah Joseph, who had just gotten elected to the Senate. Investigations from that incident are yet to be completed and reported lest the issue of prosecution is mentioned.

Likewise, in the 2020 Representative by-election for Montserrado Electoral District #15, opposition candidate Telia Urey and her supporters were allegedly attacked and their lives were severely threatened. Investigation from that incident too is yet to be completed and made public.

But, amidst all these known truths, and as it stands, UN, ECOWAS and all other partners, including diplomatic missions, continue to raise alarm on the need to maintain the peace as having another external peacekeeping mission seems far-fetched should Liberians slip into another round of chaos.