-Says a Liberian opposition politician
A Liberian opposition politician over the weekend called for a practical demonstration of reconciliation by the incoming CDC government exhuming the bodies of two former Presidents assassinated in the 1980s and 1990s, in order to give them befitting burials.
The two incidents are among reasons why the ongoing political transition in Liberia is historic.
First, the scheduled January 22, 2018 hand-over of power from elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to President-elect George Weah will mark the first of such power transfer in 73 years.
Before this historic transition, two of Liberia’s past Presidents—William R. Tolbert, Jr and Samuel Kanyon Doe—had been assassinated and their bodies dumped in pits in 1080 and 1990 respectively.
And for the immediate past President, Charles Ghankay Taylor, he was forced to resign and flee into exile in Nigeria in 2003, after LURD rebels besieged the capial, Monrovia. Later Taylor was arrested and taken to the UN-backed Sierra Leone war crimes court, where he was tried and convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for fueling the war in that West African country.
Today, former President Taylor is languishing in jail in Britain serving a 50-year sentence.
Since the end of the December 26, 2017 presidential runoff election won by Senator George Weah’s Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC) over the ruling Unity Party (UP), there have been numerous calls for reconciliation and an inclusive government.
In her last State of the Nation address, President Sirleaf admitted that her UP-led government has failed to achieve reconciliation over the past 12 years of its rule.
It’s against this backdrop that a stalwart of the opposition Liberty Party (LP) and defeated candidate in Margibi County, Dr. Marcus Speare is urging the incoming government to use the exhumation of the bodies of the two slain leaders to give them a decent burial as one of the steps towards national reconciliation.
It will restore pride and dignity, he said.
Speare told Journalists that he is proposing that a Requiem Mass or a memorial service be held in each of the 15 counties for the late Presidents Tolbert and Doe as well as the 13 government officials executed by firing squad after the April 12, 1980 military coup.
He also wants memorial services to be held for peaceful repose of hundreds of thousands that that died during the military coup in 1980, the November 12, 2005 Quinwonkpa’s abortive coup, the infamous civil war that started in 1989 and the dreadful Ebola crisis.
The Liberty Party stalwart is also proposing that the Ministry of Education adopts a Palaver Management Policy that will be imperative by institutionalizing in every school.
He also wants the Education Ministry establish a Conflict Resolution Clubs in various schools that will enable students manage and resolve conflict or palavers from its initial stage for the greater good of a wholesome society and a better Liberia.
The defeated LP representative candidate said that legislators too should encourage Town Hall discussions that have the propensity to resolve conflicts arising from land disputes, marital problems, deaths, injustices, corruption and the misuse of political power.
He warned that it is not time to “Let the sleeping dog lie.”
According to him, “the sleeping dog must wake up from the shackle of the cool or we’ll be at the gross disadvantage of a biting dog.” Report by Morris McCarthy
He has also suggested that a government of political and geographical inclusion is needed to reflect national forgiveness, healing and love.
“The creation of a vibrant private sector or the strengthening of the private sector will provide job opportunities for the youths and the many unemployed since the government cannot provide all of the means for its people; skill training and primary base are good ways to start youth initiatives,” Speare said.
“The government should be decisive and clamp down on corruption, a personal cancer and expose corrupt officials for prosecution through the courts of competent jurisdiction,” the Liberian politician added.
The Liberty Party executive has meanwhile congratulated the President-elect and Vice President-elect for their victory and thanked out-going Vice President Joseph Boakai for accepting the 2017 run-off election results.
Speare commended his Liberty Party Political leader Cllr. Charles Bruskime and the Party in persuading the path of Justice and the rule of Law.