Liberia's "Iron Lady" Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established three years ago through a piece of legislation called the TRC Act. It has been supported and funded by the government of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (a.k.a. Africa’s first female President). This fact, in combination with the widely accepted sense that Johnson-Sirleaf is the best thing to have happened to Liberia in decades, makes p. 271 of the final report, released today, rather “unexpected” – to say the least:
14.3. List of Persons Subject to/Recommended for Public Sanctions
All those associated with former warring factions, their leaders, political decision makers, financiers, organizers, commanders, foot soldiers shall be subject to public sanctions in one form or another. The below comprising of political leaders and financiers of different warring factions is by no means exhaustive. All other persons similarly situated shall be subject to public sanctions as herein described above in section 14.2 and specifically barred from holding public offices; elected or appointed for a period of thirty (30) years.
. . .
12. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
. . .
I just about fell off my chair reading it.
For context:
During the course of the TRC Johnson-Sirleaf testified that at the beginning of the war she was part of the exiled Liberian community who called for people to back Charles Taylor (now on trial for 11 counts of crimes against humanity at the Special Court for Sierra Leone) as she felt his uprising was just (to remove then-President Doe who was, undoubtedly, a tyrant). She went on to testify that she soon realized that Taylor was only interested in taking power for himself and not for the good of the country. She publicly apologized for having been “fooled by Taylor ” acknowledging she was wrong to have supported him in the first place.
I will be fascinated to see the reactions once the wires start picking this story up (incidentally – why haven’t they already?).
In another section of the report it does say that with respect to lustration, “All those holding elective offices shall continue to the end of their tenure and not be eligible to contest any public office in future.” So in theory, even if the recommendation were to be adopted it wouldn’t have a formal impact on her right away. Still, Johnson-Sirleaf is the poster child of good governance in Africa – the hope of a generation.
It certainly shows how independent from her political control she allowed the TRC’s report to be – it’s not hard to imagine most leaders of most countries in the world simply not allowing a recommendation that they be barred from public office see the light of day. But recommending that a democratically-elected sitting President be barred from office for 30 years on the grounds that, by her own admission, she briefly and mistakenly supported one criminal against another [with no clarity from the report at least about what “support” amounted to in practice], seems like a move that is just asking for the various ex-war lords to start vying for control.
Another aspect of the report to keep an eye on is their reccomendation that former warlord Prince Y. Johnson be prosecuted. Currently a Senator, Johnson said in January of this year that there would be “military consequences” if anyone tried to arrest him (not, per se, a reason not to – in my view at least). Stay tuned . . .
Truth UNCOVERED!