Photo: allAfrica.com

George Weah.

Liberia is turning a new leaf following nearly two decades of fratricidal civil conflict, coupled with over 140 years of socioeconomic and political inequality which brought the country to its knees.  The Government of Madam Sirleaf has been undertaking efforts to salvage the nation from its dark past characterized inter-tribal conflict, ethnic rivalry, chronic mistrust and suspicion. Once again, the government has found a new pathway in a peace and reconciliation commission which this week is launching a major showdown for reconciliation and national healing. As Liberia awaits the big national event, the Government through its Information Minister has spoken its heart out not only on how the process of peace and reconciliation has been evolving but also expounding Sirleaf administration's commitment to ensuring that these ingredient of stability and development are achieved without fail. The Analyst reports.

The Government of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ahead of the launch of the National Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, has released its official statement. Though the statement has got no mention of George Weah in it, the catalogue the trial of efforts made by Liberians, principally the Government, the attainment of peace and reconciliation with support of its international partners.

To transition Liberia from war to peace necessarily requires rebuilding from scratch, the Government acknowledged in a statement read by Information Minister Lewis Brown, who said further that close to thirty years conflict has had its consequences on the nation; and worse still, dulls the enthusiasm of a people.

The statement noted that a new leadership must therefore deal equally with the hard issues of infrastructure as it must the soft issues which drove the conflict as well as the associated traumas, grieves, losses, pains, suspicions, and hatreds which flow naturally out of wars.

"In effect, the transition from war to peace necessarily means the transformation of our society from the discredited model of exclusionary and unaccountable governance to a new model of inclusion, openness and accountability," the government said. "It means reaching beyond differences in gender, tribe, age, religion and associations and building enduring partnerships of trust and mutual respect. It means giving continued deference to traditions and customs while lifting the veil on taboos that infringed on individual rights. It means spreading the virtue of freedoms – freedom of speech and of worship – and ensuring the protection of all other rights and liberties to which all are entitled."

The government also said the process of reconciliation means returning the country to respect in the comity of nations – working to change international characterizations such as pariah and failed state with which our country had come to be known into post-conflict success and emerging democracy for which we are now known.

The government recalled that ten years ago, the people of Liberia agreed to start over with the help of the international community, and the assistance of sub-regional neighbors, from the safe surroundings of a neighboring Capital, at which time Liberians hammered out a peace deal which impressed the world that we were ready to move ahead – ready to right the wrongs of the past; ready to lay firmer foundations for a brighter future; and ready to plant new markers for peace, security and prosperity.

"Our peace deal, reliant as it was on international support counted, above all else, on the goodwill and resolve of the Liberian people. In this regard, we would disarm and demobilize even without all of the promises in place for the disarmament, demobilization, resettlement and repatriation programs. And notwithstanding all of the attending capacity and structural problems, we would conduct democratic elections and finally set our country on the path to its transition from war to peace," the statement said.

"It means making the justice system fairer and accessible – balancing issues of gender and equality and giving unto all the right to security, due process and the full value of their citizenship so that each Liberian can aspire to be the best that their natural potential can afford. It means replacing lawlessness with lawfulness and protecting the rights of individuals and communities to the peaceful enjoyment of their lands and other properties."

Information Minister Lewis Brown, reading the statement, further said reconciliation and peace also mean tackling and redefining the way we have grown used to doing our business by reforming existing laws, procedures and processes and building strong watchdog and integrity institutions as well as providing incentives for good behavior and punishments for acts of proven wrong.

Minister Brown: "Ten years and two democratic elections later, while we do have many bumps and hurdles over which we are still to travel, emboldened by what we have achieved together, and encouraged by where we find ourselves as we look back to where we once were, we know we must continue to walk along this difficult path of sustaining our peace. We must continue to reconcile our duties to each other and to our country, and work to consolidate our emerging democracy."

At the same time, Mr. Brown said, Liberia is helping the world to find answers to troubling challenges is a truer representation of what the country is and why exist. "When the founding fathers established the Republic and declared our independence to the world, they commanded us, by their action and their will, to lift up our country into remaining a light to illuminate the paths of freedom and liberty for ourselves and all who may stand in need," he said.

"When President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaks to the world, she speaks for our country. She reveals who we truly are – that notwithstanding our checkered experiences, our humanity is favored with a resurgent spirit which has allowed us to rise from the ashes of our self-destruction. She tells our story – a truly heartwarming story of winning against the odds. And she invites the world to continue to invest in our post-conflict success," the MICAT boss further asserted.

Minister Brown said it is time to see that our differences do not really make us different – they make us Liberians, adding, "For Liberia is really the coming together of our differences – that each of us is really a piece of the whole. Yes, we do complete each other. It is time to see that we can lift ourselves up without necessarily putting others down. For by putting others down, we put ourselves down. And by putting our country down, we put ourselves down."

He said it is time to let go of the pain, the hatred and the anger – to genuinely heal ourselves and to mend the wounds of our nation. "It is time to honor our history. It is time to honor our heroes and heroines. It is time to accept who we are and why we are. It is time to reach for the skies of our dreams – to accept that we are a nation borne out of extraordinary hope and uncommon courage, and that if we shed the negative prophecies with which we have grown to be accustomed, and commit ourselves to work for the good of our country, there is no aspiration we cannot meet, no difficulty we cannot overcome, and no dream we cannot fulfill."