During the Verdict – the hush vs. animated tension:
April 26, 2012 - Monrovia, Liberia
During the Verdict – the hush vs. animated tension:
Monrovia is unusually silent on a working week day; UN and related agencies, International non-governmental agencies are closed, trading is slow and most parents didn’t send their kids to school. Transistor radios, relays on national television stations and cable television networks are blaring out the live coverage, there is visible presence of the riot squad at strategic areas of the city and pro and con Taylor groups and placards. Why –the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone sitting in The Hague is delivering the verdict of the case against Charles Taylor for war crimes in Sierra Leone. The long awaited verdict in a very historic long drawn-out trial of former Liberian President and warlord Charles MacArthur Ghankay Taylor is being intently listened to and watched in Liberia. Whichever way the verdict goes, it will surely leave in its wake disbelieve, disconsolation and euphoria depending on where the individual’s interest lies. Charles Taylor is making history again!
Build up to the verdict day has been tension packed for family members, relatives, close associates and a multitude of people across the world. The existence of two clearly defined opinion camps which created their own opinion courts and handed down verdicts also powering the tension. Arguments; counter arguments on the merits and demerits of Taylor’s charismatic and flamboyant personality, his position and activities as head of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia later head of the national Patriotic Front Government of Liberia, the infamous “Operation Octopus” invasion of Monrovia by the NPFL, tirades and provocative and aggressive hostilities against the ECOMOG forces, a ‘triumphant entry’ and hero’s welcome into Monrovia and subsequent position as a member of the ruling transitional council, the infamous April 6th fighting in Monrovia believed to have been mastered minded by Taylor with the intention to take over the government, his sub-regional exploits in notably Sierra Leone where he ran ‘blood diamond’ trade, training of Sierra Leonean insurgents and supporting the gruesome war and on the other hand in the Ivory Coast where he and his close associates and fighters enjoyed the hospitality and blessings of the Ivorian Government under late president Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the famously dubbed ‘World War 1, 2 & 3” of 2003 which finally led to his compelled resignation and departure from Liberia – are all being recounted in various versions both by eye witnesses, victims, survivors and telltales. The merits and demerits of the arguments will go on for days, years, and generations to come with history being the best judge. The SINGLE most frequently asked question in all these arguments is ‘How does this impact Liberia?’. The answers vary and weigh on both sides of the argument.
As the trial chamber judge reads the ‘preamble’ to the verdict, the arguments continue, the waiting time is getting longer and unnerving, arguments and discussions in hatai shops, street corners offices, video clubs and courts of public opinion are tension packed and heavily opinionated. Mental tensions are highly animated. The wait is on, the verdict ongoing and normal life in Liberia especially Monrovia is significantly hushed by the proceedings.
Massa S. S. Crayton
Education & Programme Coordinator
OSIWA Liberia