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"The Gun That Liberates Shall
Not Rule"
Friday,
January 29, 2010
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Omari
Jackson |
The above was the title of a book co-written
by Prince Y. Johnson and the late Wilton Sankawulo, during the warrior days
of Senator Johnson as the main commander of the Independent Patriotic Front of
Liberia.
That war wasted the lives of nearly
200,000 Liberians.
In that small book, the current Nimba
County Senator set out his ideals and vision to save Liberia from political
corruption and to also solve all the ills of Liberia.
Though the document dwelt on the part
of the then warrior’s reasons that brought out the Liberian civil-war,
however, when he was successful in misleading President Samuel Doe, and the
vanquished president begged for his life, the warrior taunted him:
“I fooled you,” Warrior Johnson
said, “I fooled you Doe.” Several days after
this shocking arrest of the president, Johnson had bravely visited the Barclay
Training Center, and held meetings with the president who was in need of men and
ammunition to fight the other enemy, Charles Taylor.
Former Rebel Leader (now) Sen. Prince Y. Johnson
At the meeting, President Doe could
not ignore the bravery of the warrior in coming to him, knowing that this same
man had murdered countless number of his soldiers.
“Prince,” Doe said, among the
chatter of men, who believed their chances were being inspired to wage the war
against Taylor, “you are a brave man.”
Prince Johnson, enjoying the
adulation, and with his heart in his mouth was full of smiles.
“Mr. President,” he called Mr.
Doe, the man that he would betray in a few days from now, “I know that you are
a good man…” the chatter of cheers droned the remaining of the warrior’s
confession.
“Prince,” Doe speaking with his
presidential authority said, “you must be sincere with us.”
If there were any observers watching
this scene, he would have realized that the days of Mr. Doe were numbered. For
starters, Prince Johnson’s avowed intent for the war was to remove 1)
President Doe from office, and 2) Make conditions harder for Mr. Taylor in his
desire to become the president of Liberia by force of arms.
The observer could have also seen that
since Johnson had betrayed Taylor, after he had sworn allegiance to the NPFL,
and had gone ahead and killed thousands of NPFL soldiers, he was the last man
for any sound man to trust.
But it was evident that Samuel K. Doe
had reached his declaration that the war would end with the death of the last
man, and therefore since there were more men, with Johnson’s current support,
to fight on, then he would renew his determination and fight on, while Liberia
and its people cried in vain for redemption.
The President might not have
remembered that a dangerous man was still dangerous
unless he was de-traumatized and treated from his self-delusion, and after he
has brought all his guns to the United Nations. For, President Doe was aware
that thousands of his soldiers had been murdered and others maimed by this man.
Why then did he trust him, and even tell him, “Prince you must be sincere with
us.” Who told President Doe that Prince Johnson understood what sincerity
meant at this particular time of death and destruction?
It
was highly probable that some of the commanders alive at the time might have
insisted secretly to the president that Prince Johnson was a dangerous man that
no man living could trust. And I could imagine the president arguing with force
that when a man decides to change his life around, he deserves another chance
and therefore he was prepared to join forces with him to fight his number one
enemy, Charles Taylor.
Samuel
Doe might have had his day, and did not think that Prince Y. Johnson deserved to
be paid how he had paid others. The end result was that by the end of a working
week, he was sitting before the “brave man” and Doe was sadly begging for
his life in the jungles of Caldwell, outside Monrovia.
As
the Field Marshal, Prince Y. Johnson consumed one Budweiser after another, and
had given orders for the former president’s ears to be removed, which was
carried out by some of his soldiers, as Samuel Doe sat there not believing the
trick fate had done him.
Now
that the guns are now silent, the news is that Prince Y. Johnson has declared
his intention to run for president in 2011.
And
I can now imagine the remains of Samuel Doe turning in the unmarked grave that
he was concealed, and objecting, “ No, No,” to Johnson’s desire to run for
the job.
But
in today’s Liberia, it is not death or what was done to death that determines
who should run for president, but those who are willing to ignore the crimes of
those who caused the deaths, for the constitution of the Republic makes it
simple for any Liberian, no matter what you have done to contest for the job.
Omari Jackson lives in Metro Atlanta, GA.
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