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Good afternoon, everyone!
During the run-up to the recent Liberian elections, I
expressed apprehension and uneasiness about George
Weah's candidacy. This was echoed repeatedly in
comments I made on news reports coming out of Liberia.
Although I couldn't firmly put my fingers on the
"why", I felt then that the collection of people in
the CDC couldn't be trusted, that they couldn't be
trusted to put the interests of State before theirs.
Based on what I knew about the characters of Weah and
those (including Bacchus Matthews and Milton Teahjay)
around him did not inspire confidence in me. (I could
elaborate, but space is limited.) Recent news and the
following story eminating out of Liberia seem to bear
me out regarding my prediction that we would live to
regret the George Weah candidacy. Let's hope nothing
worse than what's already happened comes out of it.
Please read the story below for more detail.
- Wilmot
***************************************************
News Analysis: Sign of the Times - Weah’s ‘Revolution’
Mirrors Bacchus’ Rice Riots - 12/13/2005 3:58:08 AM
Rodney D. Sieh
[log in to unmask]
This time around, it’s not about rice, but votes,
allegations of fraud and a candidate some believe is
on the verge of losing his political edge - and
probably, his political future.
On April 25, 1979, a young Gabriel Baccus Matthews,
then leader of the Progressive Alliance of Liberia
(PAL), which planned and masterminded the April 14
violent demonstration in Monrovia wrote a letter from
custody appealing to President Tolbert to forgive him
and his collaborators. The letter ends with the
slogan: “In the Cause of the People”. Bacchus wrote
as he lamented that while he and his peers were
striving to bring about change they may have gone
about it the wrong way. “We want things as we think
they ought to be, but we lack the experience of the
process by which they have reached this far. This is
our problem.”
Bacchus, upon his return from the United States of
America in 1979, and his PAL buddies rallied the
youths of the day to protest the proposed increase in
the price of Liberia’s staple food, rice. Agriculture
Minister Florence Chenoweth, the first female in that
position recommended to Tolbert that the price of rice
be increased by three dollars. While the proposal was
being studied by the government, the information was
slipped to the media and Matthews seized the moment to
launch his demonstration telling Liberians that they
should revolt to improve their livelihood and pledged
that he could bring rice to Liberia for $9 a bag.
Revolution vs. Revolution
The rice riot of ’79 was the beginning of all the
turmoil that has plagued Liberia over the last
fourteen years. The country which until that
revolutionary moment was considered the most peaceful
on the African continent has never been the same.
Fast forward, twenty five years later, George Manneh
Weah, upon his return from Ghana and South Africa
greets his supporters as “My fellow revolutionaries”,
liberation is a noble cause. We must fight to obtain
it." Weah’s call for a revolution resonates with
Bacchus’ newspaper of his day, which was mouthpiece of
PAL called ‘The Revolution’.
Said Weah: "We came in the democratic process and we
won twice. We were cheated by those who feel that
Liberia does not belong to us. It is our right to seek
justice.”
Like Bacchus twenty five years earlier, those words
were viewed by Weah’s supporters as a rallying cry to
take a stand for justice and they wasted no time in
doing so. And in the process, the Congress for
Democratic Change supporters defied a government ban
against street protests to engage in a heated exchange
with newly-trained police officers that led to serious
injuries to five police officers, the driver of
Justice Minister Kabineh Janeh, whose car was smashed
and some forty members of Weah’s own riot group.
Weah changes tune, but damage already done
Realizing the damage he had caused Weah went on his
Kings Radio in Monrovia to deny ever advocating
violence and revealed that security officials had
visited him to investigate the coup allegations.
"This is a peaceful revolution ... It was not the CDC
that provoked the police - it was the police that used
tear gas and injured our supporters," says Weah.
"I am not a violent man. I am not a rebel," he added.
"Why should I stage a coup? I call on my supporters to
remain calm."
Ironically, talk of a coup also surfaced during the
1979 riots. According to an official account of the
civil disturbance in Monrovia of April 14 published by
the Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and
Tourism on April 26, “the permit for a demonstration
against an increase in the price of rice had been
denied PAL by government. But PAL and associates
expressed defiant. Not only were students, “poor
people”, babies and pregnant women called out to join
an illegal demonstration, but the police, security
forces and soldiers were seditiously instigated to
flout the law of the land and demonstrate.
“By now government had been sufficiently informed
about the alibi character of the rice issue. It had
irrefutable evidence that PAL and associates with
vital external assistance were planning the first
stage of a showdown with government with a view to
eventually overthrow.”
While Weah insists that his is only a peaceful
revolution, the Microsoft Encarta dictionary: The
first dictionary for the internet age published by St.
Martins Press defines revolution as the overthrow of
government, the overthrow of a leader or political
system or a dramatic change in ideas or practice.
Revolutionary is defined as steering a rebellion or
causing, supporting or advocating revolution. In
essence, Weah’s ‘revolution call may have been a
rallying call to his supporters as history has shown
that there has never been a peaceful revolution.
Weah’s quest for justice took him to Ghana where he
met President John Kuffour and South Africa where he
met President Thabo Mbeki and Weah’s self-proclaimed
idol, former president and Nobel Prize winner, Nelson
Mandela. According to Weah, his statement that he was
the president-elect of Liberia was also made during
his meeting with Mbeki. Ironically, the same week Weah
was in South Africa, Mbeki had called Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf by phone, to congratulate her as
President of Liberia and Africa’s first female
president.
Alhaji Kromah, the former leader of the rebel United
Liberation Movement of Liberia, ULIMO-K, who had
endorsed Weah during the run-off elections seems to be
the only sane personality around the soccer legend to
speak some sense into his head. According to Star
Radio, Kromah has appealed to all sectors of the
society to ensure that the peace process is sustained.
Kromah says Liberians should refrain from all forms of
violence. He told reporters that he brought up the
Weah declaration of being president during a meeting
with Weah, but that Weah informed him that the context
of his statement was misconstrued.
Ironically, Togba Nah Tipoteh and Amos Sawyer of the
Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) did not
participate in the riot because they consider Bacchus’
planned demonstration as a ploy to gain quick
publicity for the Progressive Alliance of Liberia
which had just relocated from New York to Liberia. H.
Boiman Fahnbulleh, a member of MOJA was implicated in
the riots and detained. Following the rice riots,
while Matthews was in detention, Tipoteh, in a BBC
interview said Matthews of acting in an infantile
manner. Thus, the Movement for Justice in Africa did
not support the riot. Today, both Matthews and
Tipoteh are lined up behind George Weah. While Sawyer
and Fahnbulleh are backing Johnson-Sirleaf.
Some Liberians have suggested that Weah be arrested
and thrown in jail for agitating the youths in an
already fragile society desperate for return to
normalcy. While others suggest that Weah is only
exercising his constitutional rights. Prior to the
rice riots of April 1979, Matthews was simply one of
Tolbert’s many vocal critics. He had no real
popularity but became instantly popular after he was
thrown in jail. With Weah’s current popularity among
the Liberian youths. His arrest and detention at this
time may be something that will leave one with much to
ponder.
Security remains Tight
Today, armed police and United Nations peacekeepers
are deployed around Weah's party headquarters. Streets
in the rest of the dilapidated oceanside city are
quiet. Tolbert did not have the luxury of
international peacekeepers as is the case in Monrovia
today.
Justice Minister Kabineh Ja'neh, whose vehicle was
smashed and driver wounded in Sunday's violence, said
the government would not tolerate any attempt to
destabilize the country.
"Under our law, there can be no two presidents at a
time. We want to make it very clear that no one
individual or party will be allowed to derail this
peace process," he said.
Bacchus’ repented; future implications for Weah?
Immediately following the rice riots, Matthews was
thrown in jail. It was there that Matthews penned his
famous letter from a South Beach jail to Tolbert
seeking forgiveness and seeking to reconcile: “We,
unfortunately know only the present; we are the now
generation - but, being young people, our minds are
fertile for visions,” Bacchus wrote as he lamented
that while he and his peers were striving to bring
about change they may have gone about it the wrong
way.
“We want things as we think they ought to be, but we
lack the experience of the process by which they have
reached this far. This is our problem.” Yes, the
costly lesson we have learned tells us that we are
going nowhere for nothing unless we can rely on the
experience and wisdom of men such as you.” While
Bacchus acknowledged his wrongdoings, the damage had
already been done: Millions of dollars in properties
were destroyed, people lost their lives, businesses
were looted and Liberia has never been the same.
Today, Bacchus again finds himself on the threshold of
change, as a key advisor to Weah. But this time his
stars have faded and he is hanging on the popularity
of a bright and shining prospect in Weah, who perhaps
was his only hope for a return to the limelight he
enjoyed during the hey days of the revolution of the
70s and 80s.
Just over a year and two days after the rice riots of
1979, a young master sergeant named Samuel Doe and a
band of low-level soldiers seized power from William
Tolbert, ending decades of Americo-Liberian rule.
Matthews became foreign minister under Doe, but his
foreign contacts that he said would bring $9 per bag
of rice to Liberia never materialized and in fact the
price of rice has continue to soar since to detriment
of thousands of Liberians. “
Tolbert to Matthews: Wisdom is the principle thing
In hindsight, Matthews admitted his flaws: “After much
reflection, I have become convinced that those of us
who were so confident about our methods now have every
reason to thoroughly re-examine them. We invite you to
help us develop a true perspective of the forces we
ought to work for and not against. You would be making
a lasting contribution to the future our country. If
we, your young people mean much to you then, sir, the
challenge is yours,” Matthews wrote.
While this is something that Weah has yet to do,
president-elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf would do well to
study and take a lesson from the Tolbert Matthew’s
exchange and their implications for current reality.
Johnson, at the time was the Deputy Minister of
Finance, Republic of Liberia.
Tolbert promptly responded to Matthews the same day
Matthew wrote the letter. “I am delighted to know that
you have now come to understand that wisdom is the
principal thing, according to the Good Book. When it
comes to the reconstruction of our country, I have
made it clear that I desire all the people of our
country to participate in this national endeavor.”
Tolbert said he acknowledged with thanks Matthew’s
letter in which he expressed regrets on behalf of his
collaborators, and noted the dilemma which you, young
people, now face as a consequence of the unfortunate
events which occurred over the “Easter weekend of
1979.” Shortly after Matthews was freed.
The French revolution which ran from1789-1799, started
with bread, the Liberian revolution with rice. The
Frence revolution was compounded with problems by a
great scarcity of food. Different crop failures during
this period caused these shortages, which of course
led to high prices for bread. The shortage of bread
was quite possibly the central cause of the
revolution. Inadequate conditions in the countryside
had forced rural residents to move into Paris, and the
city was overcrowded and filled with the hungry and
disaffected. The peasants suffered doubly from the
economic and agricultural problems.
In Liberia, today, it is the issue of votes that
threatens to eclipse the country’s bright future.
Liberia it seems has come full circle over contrasting
commodities. In those days it was the fight for rice,
but today, it is the fight for rights. For the moment
Weah’s case and his dilemma continues to boggle the
political atmosphere of a country desperately seeking
a return to peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, as we go
to press there are two interesting arguments. One
maintains that the hands that orchestrated April 14
are lurking in the background of the current crisis. A
counter argument to that is that there may be more
than the April influence involved when one considers
the fact that Weah now enjoys the support of Tipoteh,
Varney Sherman, Winston Tubman, Dr. Robert Kpoto and
above all, Rudolph Johnson, who was a part of Tolbert
government during the April 14 riots.
Interestingly, the Gyude Bryant government is
investigating the possibility of a coup plot. And Weah
has revealed that he has been questioned by security
officers in connection with this plot. Bacchus
Matthews was also accused by Tolbert of using the rice
alibi for the coup plot. Johnson-Sirleaf was the
Deputy Minister of Finance when Matthews and others
were accused by the Tolbert government. She is now the
president-elect. Wesley Johnson, who is now Gyude
Bryant’s deputy was co-chairman of the Progressive
Alliance of Liberia (PAL) that orchestrated the April
14 riots. He now sits as the Vice Head of State. The
NTGL has said two government officials are involved in
a plot to destabilize the nation, so the question on
the minds of many is who is behind this alleged plot?
Stay Tuned!
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