wfn.org | AANA BULLETIN No. 27/03 July 14, 2003 (c)

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AANA BULLETIN No. 27/03 July 14, 2003 (c)

FEATURES  SECTION

Tracing The Root Cause Of Conflict In Liberia

The 14-year old Liberian civil war may hopefully come to an end soon.  But 
whether this will mark the end of problems in this west African state, 
could perhaps depend on how some deep-rooted socio-cultural issues are 
handled. Vincent R Okungu digs back into Liberia's past to unearth some 
historical factors that could be part of the cause of problems in the
country.

L
iberia was colonised by the American Colonisation Society (ACS) in the 
1820s, with the help of newly freed slaves from the United States and West 
Indies.

The goal was to re-settle former slaves in west Africa, who did not want to 
remain in the West. Many of the African-American people who settled in the 
country were already influenced by European traditions and values, 
therefore, it was inevitable that the majority of re-settled former slaves 
would alienate themselves from the indigenous population.

In 1847, under a quadroon president, Joseph J. Roberts, Liberia became a 
republic independent of the ACS. The re-settled Africa-Americans became 
known as "Americo-Liberians".  They emerged as an elite and privileged 
class, the indigenous Liberians settling at the bottom of social hierarchy.

For much of the history of Liberia, the Americo-Liberian elite, who had 
acquired political and military domination, ignored the voice of the 
indigenous elements, except one William Tubman.

Tubman's regime as president spanned 27 years (1944-1971). He steered 
Liberia into economic growth, granted women suffrage, and enhanced harmony 
between all the civilian groups.

He had realised that enforcing arrogant policies toward the native 
population and marginalising them, would only prove detrimental to the 
perpetuation of the state.

But his successor, William Tolbert (1971-1980), departed from this 
ideology.  His regime marked the beginning of serious problems in the
country.

Tolbert was well known for his extravagance. Under his administration, four 
percent of the population owned 60 percent of his country's wealth. The 
standard of living for the working class was declining fast and inflation 
was skyrocketing.

After the rice riots of 1979, caused by an increase in the price of a bag 
of rice (Liberia's main staple food) by 50 percent, repression became the 
norm. The extreme measures taken by Tolbert increased the opposition to his 
reign.

An anti-Tolbert campaign emerged, and did not halt until a military 
take-over.  Coup leaders executed Tolbert on April 12, 1980. His body and 
those of others killed in the coup were driven through the streets of 
Monrovia and dumped into nearby swamps.

Sergeant Samuel Doe, the mastermind of the coup, assumed dictatorial powers 
and proclaimed the military take-over "a revolution".  His regime attempted 
to champion the voice of the native populations and put an end to 
Americo-Liberian political domination.

Doe endeavoured to "set things aright" in Liberia's social structure. But, 
before long, his triumph took a drastic turn. His military administration 
ruled by the gun, despite his initial promise to return the country to 
civilian rule.

Doe's administration granted special favours to his ethnic group, the 
Krahn, to the chagrin of others. The economy never improved, and the 
infrastructure was in decay.

On December 24, 1989, National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebels, 
led by Charles Taylor, an Americo-Liberian, attacked military installations 
in Nimba County, with intent to overthrow Samuel Doe.

Taylor had earlier worked under Samuel Doe as director of General Services 
Agency (GSA), responsible for purchasing equipment and supplies used by the 
government. But at some point, Doe accused Taylor of embezzlement, leading 
to Taylor's arrest and jail in the United States.

Before he could be extradited back to Liberia, Taylor escaped to lead a 
coup d'etat against Samuel Doe's administration. The coup was perceived as 
more personal than ideological.

Taylor could not storm the executive mansion with the entry of Economic 
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) military wing ECOMOG into the 
conflict.

Nevertheless, President Samuel Doe and his elite bodyguards were gunned 
down at ECOMOG headquarters in Monrovia in August 1990, by Prince Johnson, 
himself an army captain and protege of Charles Taylor.

He sprang into the conflict after falling out with his mentor for 
ideological reasons. At this point of the war, interests clashed over who 
would emerge as president of Liberia.

Although the conflict between Taylor and Prince Johnson, which ended in the 
latter's death, was short, Taylor has had no peace since he assumed 
Liberia's presidency. Rebels have waged a three-year campaign to unseat 
him.  In addition, he is now a United Nations war-crimes suspect, blamed 
for much of the conflict that has ruled West Africa in recent years.

Liberia's disintegration is marked by the ruins of its capital. The 
infrastructure that the descendants of re-settled African-American slaves 
built over a 135-year period is all practically destroyed.

The healthcare infrastructure has crumbled. Schools have turned into 
refugee camps. Militias loyal to President Charles Taylor have become a 
terrifying de facto police force, accused by ordinary citizens, of 
robberies in the dark.

At the moment, pressure is high on the international community, especially 
the United States to send a multinational force to stand between government 
troops and the country's main rebel force - Liberians United for 
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), while peace talks take place in Ghana.

Whether the Americans will take an active part in that intervention depends 
on a number of issues that are yet to be resolved, including when and how 
Taylor will step down as president.

Last week, a military team from the United States arrived in Monrovia to 
access the possibilities of deploying a peacekeeping force there.

The French government says such a move is needed to prevent a "major 
humanitarian tragedy" in the country, where rebel fighters are encircling 
the capital Monrovia.

France and Britain reiterate that they "assumed their responsibilities" to 
bring relative peace to their former colonies of Ivory Coast and Sierra 
Leone respectively, and that the US had a special role to play in Liberia.

Taylor's departure from the throne may well fulfil the wish of the remnants 
of Samuel Doe's army, who made it clear after Doe's death, that Charles 
Taylor must die, or be exiled from Liberia.

AACC To Try New Remedy For Africa's Refugee Crisis

The continent of Africa is groaning in pain under the heavy weight of a 
persistent refugee conundrum, which even the new world order, involving 
efforts of reconciliation, democratisation, and globalisation, seem not to 
have been able to solve, writes AANA's Joseph K'Amolo.

O
ne would expect the various conflict resolution efforts in Africa to bring 
some sanity to the continent by now, and make political conflicts, which 
have produced the biggest numbers of refugees and internal displacements, a 
thing of the past. But lo! A stable Africa has only remained an illusion.

The continent is still bleeding from a refugee crisis that has refused to 
wane. When one conflict flash point is just about to stablise, another one 
erupts, perpetuating a cycle of refugee disaster.

Yet as it is, there are indications that funds to cater for the 
ever-increasing number of refugees in the continent are fizzling out.

About 10 years ago, the world embraced the demise of apartheid in South 
Africa, one of the monsters that created hundreds of thousands of refugees 
across the continent.

The illegal occupation of Namibia by the then apartheid regime in South 
Africa, the conflict in Angola, Mozambique, just to mention a few, 
generated big numbers of refugees.

When the sound of guns went quiet in some of these countries, it was a 
relief, or many thought so, as it marked the return of refugees to their 
home countries.

But many years down the line, the continent's refugee situation has 
remained a nightmare, even at a time when the continent is awash with 
deafening clamour for good governance expected to forestall political 
differences.

As the world commemorated the refugee day on June 20, Africa had nothing to 
smile about. The refugee wound on the continent has refused to heal, 
instead, emerging from one point to another, from time to time.

This is why the Chairman of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) 
Continental Committee on Uprooted Persons, Rt Rev. Dr Tilewa Johnson, used 
the expression, "the continent of Africa is bleeding", to explain the 
seriousness of the crisis.

Co-ordinator of the AACC Unit III that deals with refugee issues, Polycarp 
Omolo Ochilo, could not agree more. His observation is that the crisis has 
reached a critical position of hopelessness, as it appears there is lack of 
ability to stop it.

He maintains that the hope that existed in the early 1980s, that harmony 
would ride high in Africa, and that sanity would prevail, has been dashed.

The continent is still reeling under bad governance, one of the most 
contributors in creating an exodus of people from their countries.

Ochilo points out Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Democratic Republic of 
Congo (DRC), Congo-Brazzaville, just to mention a few, as countries where 
political turmoil has perpetuated the ugly face of refugee crisis in Africa.

The numerous armed conflicts staged in various parts of the continent 
cannot allow the refugee dust to settle. Coupled with these, some regions 
have of late experienced repeated natural disasters, displacing thousands 
of people.

Recorded cases include floods in Mozambique and parts of Zimbabwe, not so 
long ago; the drought in Ethiopia, which forced people to relocate 
elsewhere in search of food, and is again threatening to recur.

"The global statistics give testimony to Africa's sorry state," says Mr. 
Ochilo. Indeed, out of the current global total of over five million 
refugees, 3.5 million are found in Africa, and out of 25 million people 
internally displaced, 13.3 million are in the continent.

"These are creating conditions of worry for ecumenical bodies like AACC, 
which, since 1965, has been dealing with uprooted people," observes Mr.
Ochilo.

These worries are not far-fetched.  The emerging situation is that funds to 
cater for uprooted people have been diminishing over the years.

In the 1960s to 1980s, funds for refugee problems in Africa was higher that 
what is currently available, yet the number of uprooted people has been 
increasing, notes Ochilo.

It is on the basis of the above scenario that AACC's Continental Committee 
on Uprooted People has been challenged to rethink and look at the refugee 
problems afresh, and come up with feasible recommendations.

As the committee met to commemorate the refugee day last month, members 
pondered and did their evaluation on how best the crisis could be contained.

Because politics has been the dominant factor in the creation of both 
external and internal displacement of people, the general view was that the 
refugee issue be given a political agenda.

AACC, the committee resolved, should be mandated to sell the political 
agenda to its member churches in the continent, the Africa Union, and the 
United Nations. The move is expected to give a high profile to refugee 
matters.

According to Ochilo, the move will involve urging African governments and 
civil society to act with vigour against the root causes of refugees, such 
as armed conflicts, and bad governance.

AACC, working together with regional church fellowships in Africa, and with 
the assistance of Church World Service, is in the process of establishing a 
group of eminent persons to work pro-actively in stemming out armed 
conflicts in various war flash points in Africa.

But giving refugee matters high profile would not be possible without 
engaging a prominent figure in the continent.

AACC, through its various projects, is planning to appoint one of Africa's 
first ladies to act as the organisation's global ambassador for uprootedness.

Even though Mr. Ochilo was not specific, on which first lady might be 
approached to carry out the mandate, sources have it that South Africa's 
First Lady, Mrs. Mbeki, is deemed to be the favourite for the challenge.

And since the refugee puzzle in Africa is not showing signs of abating at a 
time when funds are diminishing, there is need for a new rethinking on how 
the financial needs will be achieved.

It is because of this that AACC, with its various regional refugee 
programmes, has been mandated by the Continental Committee on Uprooted 
People to enter into policy discussions with the Geneva-based World Council 
of Churches (WCC), and Action by Churches Together (ACT), to determine and 
establish a strategy for future co-ordination of programmes for the 
uprooted in Africa.

Government Tightens Noose On Moi Children, Aides

Kenya's former president, Daniel arap Moi and his children are worried 
people.  Since the new government launched an anti-corruption crusade, Moi, 
together with a number of members of his family, and his aides, have 
adversely been mentioned in a number of inquiries and court cases that are 
on-going. Oscar Obonyo reports.

T
he man who ruled Kenya for almost a quarter of a century, has been watching 
helplessly as the new administration tightens the noose on his children, 
close friends and aides, for allegedly committing economic crimes.

Children of former President, Daniel arap Moi, are being named for, among 
other claims, having allegedly received huge sums of money as kickbacks in 
order to accord certain individuals undue favours from the past government.

Moi's children, most of whom are in private enterprise, enjoyed immense 
authority and influence in business circles during their father's 24-year 
reign.

The children and some of Moi's former closest aides, including his personal 
assistant, are accused of fleecing banking institutions of money and 
engaging in a series of corrupt deals.

Moi's youngest son Gideon Moi, 36, was recently questioned by the 
anti-corruption police over a Ksh 80 million (about 1.1 million US dollars) 
loan he is alleged to have obtained from a collapsed bank.

His sister, June Moi, has also been named adversely for allegedly assisting 
corrupt individuals acquire sensitive corporate trade licenses.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission also asked their father to personally 
record statements on various graft cases and scandals that occurred during 
his rule.

But the official opposition party, Kenya African National Union (KANU), 
read mischief in all these and accused the National Rainbow Coalition 
(NARC) government of deliberately "intimidating and harassing Mzee (the old 
man)".

"We are upset by the manner in which this government is maliciously 
tormenting the former President," complained leader of the Official 
Opposition, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, last month.

The presidential candidate of the former ruling party in the last December 
elections said KANU was particularly upset that the former Head of State 
was now being required to record statements over allegations of corruption. 
"We as a party, are encouraging Moi never, under any circumstances, to 
record any statement, especially that which carries malicious intent," said 
Uhuru.

Since the government launched its anti-corruption crusade, Moi plus members 
of his family and his aides have increasingly been mentioned in a number of 
inquiries, investigations and court cases.

Critics of the former president claim he exhibited poor leadership 
qualities, presiding over a corrupt system that ran down the economy, 
thrusting majority of Kenyans into abject poverty.

During his era, the international donor community withheld all crucial 
financial aid to Kenya, insisting that the country should first fulfil set 
conditions, which included stepping up war on high profile graft within the 
government.

At some point, three years before relinquishing power, Kenya was listed as 
the fourth most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International, 
the world's watchdog body on governance.

While the "kitu kidogo" (bribery) culture has been a way of life for the 
Kenyan people for years, Moi's main undoing was that he attempted, on 
retirement, to impose an unpopular leader of his own choice on the people.

With his preferred successor, Uhuru, having been resoundingly rejected by 
the electorate, everything has tilted against him.

Unfortunately, the man who succeeded him, Mr Mwai Kibaki, and his 
lieutenants, are his sworn enemies, who have all along schemed to rout him 
out. Now they appear too eager to erase traces of his memory as well.

To begin with, the Kibaki administration threw Moi and his KANU team out of 
their Nairobi offices after repossessing the controversial Kenyatta 
International Conference Center (KICC) building, just days after taking
power.

Ownership of the 28-storey cylindrical building, one of the most 
spectacular skyscrapers that characterise Nairobi's skyline, was 
allegedly  illegally transferred from the government to the ruling party, 
KANU, during Moi's era.

The eviction of KANU from the building was particularly ugly as rowdy 
youths stormed its offices after flattening the doors. They broke, and tore 
furniture and paperwork and pulled down wall hangings, leaving behind a 
messy carpet littered with strewn papers.

Before this incident, Presidential portraits bearing Moi's picture had been 
lowered in many business premises across the country, even before the new 
leader, Kibaki, was sworn in.

But Moi's shadow still lingers on in universities, public schools, 
airports, buildings, on streets and highways and sports stadiums among 
other places, which bear his name.

"I think it is ridiculous to have every street, every building, every 
school and every bar bearing your name," observed Kibaki on being elected 
Kenya's third President.

His government has accordingly embarked on a progressive course of renaming 
some of the institutions named after Moi. Already, some public schools have 
dropped the Moi noun.

But more significantly, currency bearing Moi's picture is being phased out 
by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). New currency with the portrait of 
Kenya's founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru's father, are already in 
circulation.

Many people have particularly received, with excitement, the return of the 
colourful crisp notes. The anxiety is partly due to nostalgia for 
Kenyatta's administration, during which the economy boomed and many Kenyans 
were prosperous.

The return of his late father's currency not withstanding, Uhuru is opposed 
to what he considers hostile forces in the current government bent on 
"wiping out the Moi legacy".

The Managing Director of East African Book Publishers in Nairobi, Mr 
Barrack Mulluka concurs: "Irrespective of the bad things Moi has done, we 
can't forget the fact that he ruled us for a cool quarter of a century and 
was instrumental for the smooth political transition."

The strained relationship with his political foes, now at the helm of 
power, has made the 79-year-old man's retirement a nightmare.

Even his much-touted pet project, The Moi Peace Foundation, a programme to 
resolve conflict and promote peace in the region, is yet to take off, 
partly due to lack of political will from the sitting government.