Liberia’s pervasive culture of impunity, which has been brought into focus by recent US sanctions against three senior officials, has its roots in the failure of the country’s justice system after the civil war, according to a Liberian analyst.
“Those in government today who are corrupt … are this way because those who committed some of the most unspeakable crimes during the war have never been held to account,” says Aaron Weah, a researcher from Africa Transitional Justice Network.
Weah, who is not related to the country's President George Weah, was talking about sanctions imposed on three high-ranking officials in Liberia recently for alleged corruption.
The three officials are named as Nathaniel McGill, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff to President George Weah; Sayma Syrenius Cephus, the Solicitor General and Chief Prosecutor of Liberia; Bill Twehway, the Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA).
Civil war connections
A decade-long civil war in Liberia in the 1990s resulted in the deaths of 250,000 people. Bringing to closure wartime atrocities remains elusive, Aaron Weah says.
Liberia has transitioned from being a country under the rule of law to a haven for people who committed unspeakable crimes during the country’s darkest period, Aaron Weah insists.
“It’s a place where people like Prince Johnson, a senator who has been elected to the senate more than twice even though he committed some of the worst forms of atrocities during the civil war, continues to live freely,” he said in an interview with RFI in Monrovia.
Aaron Weah believes Liberia is normalising impunity by continuously voting for alleged perpetrators of war crimes.
He says candidates in public elections who declare support for former warlords are seeing a groundswell in support from the former fighters.
Searching for justice outside Liberia
The action of the US, however, is putting pressure on Geroge Weah to re-establish the legitimacy of his government.
While he recently suspended the three officials, many Liberians like Aaron Weah are skeptical about this. In this respect, the preisdent's Chief of Staff Nathaniel McGill has been spotted in public with the Executive Protective Service, the elite guards of the presidency.
The public is anxious to see how far President Weah will go with the suspension and whether, in fact, these officials have really been suspended or whether they are merely working from home.
The Supreme Court of Liberia confirmed a two-year prison sentence handed down to former defence chief Brownie Samukai in January.
The court decision against Samukai was triggered by a writ filed in March 2021 by O’Neil Passewe, chair of the Movement for Progressive Change who asked the court to halt the certification of Samukai in his role because he has been convicted of the crime of money laundering.
President Weah pardoned Samukai less than a month later.
“Over the last five years, there has been one scandal after the next in his government and he [George Weah] has never taken any serious action to [rein in his officials],” Aaron Weah says.
As a result of cases like Samukai’s, Liberians have reverted to seeking justice overseas.
There is the case of Colonel Moses Thomas, for example, who was recently convicted in a US court of masterminding the Lutheran church massacre in the 1990s.
Other former war criminals are also being pursued and prosecuted for their past human rights records during the civil war.
A Finnish court tried Gibril Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean accused of war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia between 2001 and 2002, while a Swiss court handed down a 20-year sentence to convicted warlord Alieu Kosiah, the first Liberian convicted of war crimes committed during the two civil wars between 1989 and 2003.
Pressure on Weah
The US sanctions underline the fact that during his mandate, President Weah has squandered an opportunity to meaningfully impact lives and transform the country, says Aaron Weah.
He argues that issues of justice and accountability are not so important to the Weah administration. A more conscientious government would be keen on rebuilding a society where justice is possible for all, Aaron Weah. adds.
The timing of sanctions could not be worse for President Weah, who is organising his re-election campaign for 2023.
Aaron Weah contends that his re-election is not a done deal, especially for those who are sick of the culture of impunity in the country, which stretches back years.
Former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who served Liberia from 2006 to 2018, provided some initial support for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report that recommended actions to bring war criminals to justice and pay reparations.
But her administration failed to ensure proper implementation of the report’s findings when it was released.
Following Johnson-Sirleaf, international soccer star George Weah promised to establish a war crimes court while he was serving as the good will ambassador for UNICEF.
Thirteen years later, he became president and many hoped he would fulfill his promise.
Now, the continuing absence of a war crimes court and the latest corruption allegations make a second term as president uncertain, Aaron Weah suggests.
