POLITICS-LIBERIA: The Dawn of a New Era

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Abdullah Dukuly

MONROVIA, Oct 16 2003 (IPS) - Africa’s oldest republic, Liberia, has entered a new stage on the road to peace and democracy.

Liberians are inspired by the new wave of change, which this week saw the swearing-in of Charles Gyude Bryant, as the country’s interim president. "It is a good beginning and we hope it will succeed," says a political observer.

"The prospects for the future are bright and it behoves all of us to support the Bryant government and ensure the evolution of a new era," Emmanuel Kamara, a civil servant, told IPS.

The excitement ran high in the capital, Monrovia, Tuesday when the ceremony – watched by African heads of state, diplomats and foreign dignitaries – effectively ended the era of exiled president Charles Taylor – the mastermind behind the country’s 14-year bloody civil war that caused instability in neighbouring state and destabilised the sub-region.

A festive atmosphere gripped the city as hundreds of pockets of enthusiastic crowds marched the streets and communities to celebrate the dawn of an era which, one of the participants, said, was "full of hope". People in both sides of the divide in the city are now moving about freely across the battle zones that were "no-go" areas for some people, especially rival militia.

The head of the power-sharing government is a "politically neutral" businessman, Bryant, who was chosen by rival warlords because he supported or ridiculed none of them. Ministerial posts are distributed among them and the politicians and civic groups to run the country toward elections in 2005.

Bryant gave a rousing speech at the parliament building downtown Monrovia, pledging to "rescue Liberia from a failed state to a sweet land of liberty which", he said "was once a beacon of hope in Africa". The tiny West African state of about 3.5million people – endowed with natural resources like diamond , gold, timber and iron ore – was founded in 1821 by freed American slave and could be one of, if not, the richest state in Africa.

But war obliterates all hopes, and the only commodity in abundance is the A-K riffle being carried by feuding warlords and supporters.

Analysts say Bryant has enormous challenges- disarm an estimated 45,000 combatants, repatriate tens of thousand of refugees and revamp the shredded economy. Supported by the United Nations, which is flying in15,000 troops and hundreds of military observers and police officers, Bryant said: "The arms must be collected and decommission, all fighting units must be dissolved, all control and command structure must be dismantled and all fighting men and women must be retired and reconciled. The entire country must be combed and rid of arms". Promising to tackle corruption, treachery and inordinate greed, he said his government would move the country "from opportunism for a few members of the ruling elite to equal access to opportunities for all of our people".

The interim head of state then raised some of the perennial problems that war-weary Liberians wanted to hear. "The exorbitant cost of living is unacceptable". This has exacerbated the plight of the man in the street, explained a civil servant.

For the decade-long absence of electricity and water, Bryant said although all of these services would not be restored within the 29 months of his administration, their restoration would commence.

Kofi Annan, UN secretary general, sent a note telling Liberians that the inaugural ceremony was a "day of hope" for them.

Among the African leaders, Nigeria’s Olusegun Obassanjo said Liberia now has a second chance to end its war. "You tried it before but it didn’t work," he said, blaming it on the past leadership which, he said, "practiced the politics of exclusion".

Liberia has exported its war to neighbouring Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. Bryant said the focus of his foreign policy would be "good neighbourliness and peaceful co-existence". He said his government would restore normal relationship with its neighbours.

Businessman Festus Dennis said Liberians are sick of "continuous war which continues to destroy life and property and retard the growth of the country". But he is optimistic that as the principal actors are all talking the language of peace and reconciliation, "the country will return to normalcy and regain its place in the comity of nations".

For Alice Cooper, a former high school student, "I want Gyude Bryant to open school and all the girls in the street who are not able to afford the cost of education would attend".

The official inaugural ceremony was climaxed by a hearty rendition of the National Anthem, with the warlords, politicians and others pledging allegiance to the state.