Splits Among Liberians Are Not New, Only The End-Results Are Different!

(Thomas Bedell, January 17, 2007)

They say history to a people is what a mother is to a child. And the past is a kaleidoscope of promises, failures, victories and embarrassments.

The history of Liberia in terms of nation building must be used as a guide-post in moving her into the 21^st Century in terms of human resource and infrastructural development.

The idea of splits in the Liberian society is nothing new. What is new is the end-result that comes with each split. In Liberia, the end-results of splits have not been an encouraging trend. They’ve scathed our people for far too long.

Just for few examples, in 1985, heavyweight politicians converged in Liberia to form an alliance. But due to mistrust, it ended up in a split. In the end, Samuel Doe, whom they called a “dictator,” ended up winning the Presidential election. From thereon, the stage for generalized anarchy of violence was set. Liberia became a “house” on fire!

 In the same 1985 another incident took place again that crowned the story of splits.

When all political attempts failed to remove Doe, Gen. Quiwonkpa and some political heavyweights launched a military offensive. When they arrived in Sierra Leone, for whatever reason, a split developed in their ranks. So, when Quiwonkpa momentarily overthrew Doe, he met with failure. And Doe reemerged and re-seized power. As a consequential result, Quiwonkpa was arrested, humiliated and bludgeoned to death along with others. That particular event in the country shifted violence into high gear.

Then 1989 marked another split.

Charles Taylor, with the help of some Liberian political-heavyweights, organized the most vicious, bloodiest and all-time military offensive against Doe. Just when the offensive gained momentum, for obvious reasons, a split developed in the military offensive. And the group broke into two. Later on the split became three. 

1990 was another date when the “All Liberian Conference” convened in Atlanta, Georgia with a split.

A split developed in The All Liberian Conference. One group desired the immediate dissolution of The Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA). On the other side, the desire for ULAA to live on became absolute. Both sides clashed. In an effort to compromise, all else failed. Soon, the impasse was transformed into the birth of The All Liberian Conference of North America. It was hoping to be a new Diasporic organization to replace ULAA. But in the end, Diasporic Liberians were plunged into a state of confusion. ULAA on one side and the new organization on the other side fussing and fighting. The situation lasted for a protracted period of time leaving both groups and Diasporic Liberians scathed.

Then came 1995.

The war had already taken a severe toll on the nation – tens and tens of thousands of innocent citizens perished in the chilling waters of national quagmire. To heal the wounds, democratic elections were called. Again, as was in the case of 1985, political heavyweights came together to form an alliance to make it impossible for Taylor to take power. As was in the past, the alliance failed. And Taylor won a landslide Presidential election. He became President. Thereafter, the stage was set for the collapse of constitutional and democratic state.

And then comes 2004.

Liberians in the Diaspora convene another “All Liberian National Conference.” This time in the DC Metro Area, USA. The intent was to help usher in a new, sound and civilian democratic leadership in the country during the 2005 elections. But for obvious reasons again, a split appeared in the Conference. Soon, there were two groups. Each registered under the corporate laws of USA as two separate legal entities. Like the current House of Representatives in Liberia, these two groups convened separate conferences in two separate cities. In the end, both groups lose sight of the initial intent and became monuments of decay. To date, besides their Articles of Incorporation, both groups have become a ghostly illusion. 

There was another split in 2005.

The war was over and the nation and the world were felt-up. So, another Presidential election was arranged. This time, tens and tens of candidates emerged to vie for the presidency. Liberians were war-fatigued. But were forced into another difficult situation - choosing from dozens and dozens of candidates. As was the case in the past, political heavyweights split in the middle again. So another alliance fell apart. In the end, the people were forced to elect a Congress and other leaders to power who had no clue of their respective duties to the Liberian state, people and constituents.  

Considering all the above, the current split in The House of Representatives cannot, by any stretch of anyone’s imagination, be an accident. It was bound to occur. But what should concern all of us is the end-result. Will the result help to educate members of the House to be statesmen and women or drive them more into useless strife? Whatever the answer is, will depend on what comes out of the split.

Unless Liberians rid themselves of colonial mentality and begin to work in the sole interest of their children’s future, there will always be splits and the end-results will be catastrophic!