10 March 2008
analysis
Following years of violence and chaos, Liberian stakeholders met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, and with the help of ECOWAS, dedicated the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC).
Victims as well as the perpetrators of the violence and their collaborators are to work together to move the country from an era of violence to an era of truth telling, forgiveness seeking, and cultivation of peace and reconciliation.
TRC has begun that process, but it is now becoming apparent that the process has reached the cross-roads of being "crucified" or preserved: one key former belligerent element in the violence won't testify unless the other does!
Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf seems trapped in the whirlwind of that contention.
The Analyst looks at the President utterances and their implications. Observers who described the current situation of the TRC as "crossroads nightmare" say President Sirleaf has no choice but to testify before the commission in order to preserve its dignity and anchor public trust and confidence in its hearings.
They say it is not the making of a spectacle of the TRC but the fear of silence and political maneuvering, which are the antithesis of the peace and reconciliation process that are enemies of the Liberian people. This refusal, others opined, may embolden some key perpetrators in the Liberian conflict to avoid the TRC process.
Let the President not provide an alibi for individuals who are now sheltering under the cloaks of officialdom to escape cross-examination by the people of this country for past wrongs. If she does, then she must be prepared to take blame for the demise of the TRC process. This is stabbing the commission from the back," they said.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf had reiterated her support for the TRC process during her monthly radio talk show, last Tuesday, but then indicated that she would be unprepared to submit to the TRC process and tell her people what she knows about the war and the period dating back to 1979.
Testing before the commission, according to President Sirleaf who insisted that she was authoring a book on what she knew about the Liberian crises, would make the TRC a spectacle.
But observers say the President was making light of a serious situation and that she needed to rethink her decision and choose the route that leads to the revelation of the truth, the offering of forgiveness, and the nurturing of reconciliation.
"We see no point in choosing, at this early stage, the route that will eventually uphold running public speculations and the suspicion borne by it in the name of avoid making the TRC a public spectacle by documenting personal accounts. It is this account that the public, 80% of whom is said to be illiterate, wants to hear in open forum," said political observer Timothy K. Moses of Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor.
He contended that by choosing the route that upholds the integrity of the TRC through the courtesy of a presidential appearance, the Liberian leader would not only be moving the commission from a ditch of public ridicule and disrepute but that she would be galvanizing the summoning and subpoena powers that are crucial to the success of its mandate.
He was not along in his contention and urging of the President to choose the path of open confession that will open the door for other officials in the cabinet and Legislature to follow.
Some that spoke to The Analyst over the weekend said the President's appearance will also jumpstart the process reconciliation while putting a lid on an era of suspicion, speculation of the true characters of the nation's stakeholders, and the hurt and the posturing for revenge.
By being the highest financial contributor to the commission to date and by following that with a dedication that empowered the commission to begin the process of truth telling, they said, President Sirleaf had set the ball rolling toward the era of peace and reconciliation and cannot undermine that process by refusing to testify.
"It is an irony of a political drama at this time after her avowed public support for the open confession and true telling process for the President to be the first and highest public official to refuse to appear before the commission to tell the Liberian people what she knows about the war that devastated this nation and killed or maimed more than 250,000 of its citizens in cold blood," said one observer.
In commissioning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in June 2006, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf declared her unflinching support and unwavering commitment to do everything to make the TRC succeeds in the discharge of its mandate.
The President vowed then that if called upon she would be willing to appear and testify her role in the alleged financing of the rebellions against the Doe and Taylor administrations.
But on January 16, 2008 she modified her desire to tell her stories about the Liberian crises dating far back as 1979, when she said, "Even if I will have to voluntarily come and testify I will do so."
Liberians praised the Liberian leader for the expression of her willingness to dignify the TRC process to appear before the commissioners and tell them what she knows about the civil conflict that broke down every fabric of the nation's social, political and economic infrastructures.
But during her live phone-in radio program, "Conversation with the President," held on the state-owned ELBC and relayed on several local FM stations, President Sirleaf made a shift in her position when she somewhat evaded the TRC process.
A caller quizzed her as to whether or not she has any intentions to appear before the TRC and testify, she said, "I have said that I will appear, but I don't want to make spectacles of the process. You know I am doing a book which will be out next year and most of things people are talking about will be there."
The caller wanted to ascertain from the Liberian leader whether or not she has to emulate the example of former Sierra Leonean President Tejan Kabbah and former South African Presidents Nelson Mandela and Frederick W. De Clarke who appeared before the TRCs in their countries and give account of their involvement in the crises of those countries.
Diplomatically, political pundits say President Sirleaf has expressed her true intention not to appear before the TRC, and according to them, her statement of not wanting to create spectacles amount to declining to testify at all before the Commission to gorge out everything that she knows and participated in during the period covering TRC's mandate -1979 to 2003.
The President's other reason for her unwillingness to appear before the TRC is that she is writing her book that is expected to be released by next year.
She says things she should be testifying to at the TRC hearing are already the chief contents of the book. She however failed to give hints of some of the issues she highlighted in her pending book.
Citizens want Pres. Sirleaf testify
That single statement from the President dashed the hope and expectations that she would one day appear before the TRC to testify. Many believe she has an enriching experience to tell the Liberian people the events as they occurred between 1979 and 2003.
Although the President is yet to expound on what she means by not wanting to create spectacles, a cross section of the Liberians interviewed by The Analyst have expressed mixed reaction to President's statement.
Some believe that her statement was tantamount to eschewing the TRC process which amounts to crucifying the Commission on the altar of fears not to create spectacles and/or sparking controversy that would follow her testimony.
Bana Korkollie, a student of politics at the University of Liberia, agrees with President Sirleaf. He says there is no compelling need for the President to testify if she believes her testimony will create spectacles.
"The President has mammoth problems to tackle. She could rather focus on them instead going to the TRC to open a Pandora's Box. You don't want to shift the focus of the TRC because the president chose not to testify," Bana said.
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