-AN ANALYSIS of the significance of this coincidence
By Frank Sainworla, Jr-fsainworla@yahoo.com
This Friday, April 12, 2019 is the second Friday in April and by law it is yearly observed as National Fast and Prayer Day, which is observed every year, but the 2019 day of fasting and praying has a special significance.
This year’s Fast and Prayer Day falls on a special date—April 12. It coincides with the 39th anniversary of Liberia’s first bloody military coup that took place on April 12, 1980 and was led by the late Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe.
In that coup, Liberia’s 19th President William R. Tolbert, Jr. was assassinated.
And that was later followed in the same month by the military trial and execution of 13 former officials of Tolbert’s True Whig Party government on allegations of abuse of power and rampant corruption.
The assassination of President Tolbert and the 13 executions set the stage for subsequent violent political and military upheavals, culminating into the December 24, 2089 brutal civil war led by former President Charles Taylor and his NPFL rebels.
The exact death toll as a result of the bloody April 12, 1980 coup is not known. But what has been recorded is the number of deaths in the subsequent 14 years of civil war that ended in 2013, which the UN estimated at 250,000.
Since then April 12 has so far been no official destination for any national program, but as Liberia observes the day of national fasting and praying, those who are in the loop of history will reflect on the gruesome stories of the bloody military coup in the back of their minds.
In line with tradition, President George Manneh Weah has this this week issued a Proclamation declaring Friday, April 12, 2019 as a “Fast and Prayer Day” and is to be observed throughout Liberia as a National Holiday.
As stated, the Second Friday in April of each year is observed in Liberia as a “Fast and Prayer Day and aForeign Ministry press release says the Day is set aside as a Day of Supplication, Prayer, Fasting and Meditation.
This is done in order that the blessings of the Almighty God may rest upon the high and noble duty which He has laid upon Liberia, to the end that its efforts as a nation, may be crowned with great achievements to the common cause of the State and its common humanity.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the Proclamation is in consonance with the Act of The National Legislature, which was passed into law in 1883 declaring the Second Friday in April of each year as a National Fast and Prayer Day for the prosperity of Liberia and in grateful appreciation of God’s deliverance of the nation from external aggression.
No official itinerary has been released as to what shape the national fast and prayer day program will take. What is clear is that Liberians will been on their knees praying to the Almighty God for the remission of their individual sins and the national sins.
The Presidential Proclamation Further calls on all Prelates, Priests, Elders, Deacons, Evangelists, Imams as well as citizens and foreign residents of Liberia regardless of religious creed, to gather with one accord, in their respective places of worship within the territorial confines of Liberia in simple and non-costly apparel to Fast, Pray and to Intercede for the country commencing at 8 O’clock ante meridian.
The Proclamation also orders all Public Offices, Business Houses and market places closed during the observance, while citizens and foreign residents will cease from their usual daily occupations in further recognition of God’s love and guidance for the nation, Liberia.
The release stated that “there have been unusual and extraordinary outbreaks of natural phenomena and man provoked national crises that have caused much harm, devastation and destruction in many parts of the world and in our nation, respectively from which, by the Grace of God, we, the survivors have been spared”.
It further indicates that there are still large numbers of our Kith and Kin living in uncertain conditions in the diaspora, and the need for remembrance in prayer of those who have made the supreme sacrifice remains unfulfilled.
The Proclamation maintains that the people of Liberia have always submitted themselves, in humble contrition to the Almighty God for guidance and protection as well as for peace in their national life and affairs.
Prayer without action
As it has been the usual spectacle every year (even during the years of civil conflict), prayer worriers will be everywhere and the fasting will be unleashed, but as one political analysts said in Monrovia on Thursday, “impunity reigns and people seem not to learn the bitter lessons from the past.”
The book of James 2:17 says “faith without work is dead.” This means that people’s or a nation’s faith in God should definitely be able to produce fruits through their work.
Many observers of Liberian politics continue to be dumbfounded about a collective commitment to fighting the vices that first led to the April 12, 1980 bloody coup and the subsequent violent political upheavals.
TRC
recommendations to prevent another conflict
The TRC in its final
report recommended that transitional justice mechanism be instituted. Other
recommendations include:
– Sanctions for 30 years on certain figures-noninvolvement in politics for
financial and other backers of armed factions (President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
et al)
– Prosecution for former warlords and those bearing the greatest responsibility
for the 14 years of brutal civil war that claimed the lives of some 250,000
people
– Reparation of Liberia’s war victims
– Palava hut method with community involvement
– Perpetrators publically confess and ask for forgiveness
Have root
causes been addressed at all? NO is the answer of course. Where is rampant
corruption today? Where is greed for wealth/abuse of power? Where is
inequality? Where is injustice? Is the poverty level lower in Liberia lower
than the advent of the civil conflict?
Today the
Liberian nation stands as the eleventh poorest country in the world and the
third poorest in Africa, ranking among Central African Republic (CAR) and
Guinea Bissau.
Liberia’s (Human Development Index) HDI value for 2014 is 0.430— which put the
country in the low human development category— positioning it at 177 out of 188
countries and territories.
Not
even reparation for war victims
There are thousands of Liberia’s war victims, some of whom are confined to wheelchair. So far, the TRC report has been swept under the carpet, something many political observers see as being for selfish reasons.
But the cries of Liberia’s war victims are resounding and the blood of the 250,000 precious lives are also crying out for justice backed by the TRC findings and recommendations.
The media have a very crucial role to engage in good Journalism that would promote good governance, safety, peace-building, accountability and inspire positive change; by flagging those issues in the first place that brought about the civil crisis that the TRC mentioned.
By flagging those issues, people would be reminded of the need to learn from the bitter lessons from the past. Such would create the platform to highlight the early warning signs.