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Kabineh
Ja'neh, hypocrisy and confirmation politics
Saturday,
March 11, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
Kabineh
Ja’neh is no stranger to controversy. He looked for
it when it was farther away from him, and grabbed the
spotlight just in time to become one of the
negotiators and spokespersons for the armed rebel
group, LURD during the civil war, and during the
signing of the 2003 peace accord in Accra, Ghana.
He came through as tough, savvy and no-nonsense
those days, and was always quick to find an audience
and the television cameras to relay his rhetoric and
beam his serious side to viewers everywhere.
I never met the guy in person, but came to hate
what he represented because of the callous, senseless
and reckless way his and other armed rebel groups
destroyed an entire country, raped, maimed and
slaughtered innocent Liberians in the name of
liberation.
Kabineh
Ja'neh, Associate
Justice-nominee
When it all ended and Charles Taylor was
finally exiled to Calabar, Nigeria later, LURD and the
other armed groups who struggled to kill, apprehend or
get Mr. Taylor out of the country against his will got
the credit for the dictator’s departure, and
rewarded themselves with government jobs many were
unqualified to hold.
Like many others around him who were later
appointed to cabinet and non-elected legislative
positions in the interim power-sharing government
without any scrutiny, J’aneh was made the top law
enforcement officer of the land.
Why must Kabineh and his armed friends who hurt
so many people, and were never interrogated and
punished for their unspeakable crimes against humanity
run an entire country?
Who investigates the top law enforcement
officer of the land after such a cruel and bloody
ordeal? What’s wrong with Liberia?
Some of us saw the arrogance, the abuse of
power and asked hard questions at the time and now,
but got no answer.
As the nation struggles with the Taylor issue,
and after that travesty of justice, one would think
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf would draw a line in
the sand for now by refusing to bring on board
controversial individuals, (Mandingoes and
non-Mandingoes) who participated in the civil war from
working in her government by sending a clear message
to all that reads: “Vacancy, but former warlords
need not apply.”
It appears that
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s nomination
of Ja’neh perhaps is the result of the public
criticism she got from the former warlord, Alhaji
Kromah, who concluded that her government is "discriminatory"
against the Mandingoes.
I am not on the same page with Mr. Kromah
on this one, because I am sure the president did hired
credible and non-credible Mandingoes to work in her
government. That is another column for another day.
The president could have also avoided all this
and save the nation the headache had she awaited the
decision from her truth and reconciliation commission
about how to deal with the individuals and groups who
violated the civil rights of Liberians, before
reaching the crucial decision concerning Kabineh.
However, after her inauguration, Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf,
who refuses to see what others are seeing later use
the power vested in her by the Constitution and
nominated Kabineh Ja’neh as Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia.
It is true that the nomination of Kabineh to be
Associate Justice shouldn’t have happened in the
first place because of his war past, and his shallow
experience as a practicing lawyer.
However, it is one thing to reject his
appointment to the bench because of his limited trial
experience as a lawyer, and another when he is being
rejected solely because of his involvement in the
civil war, when others who served alongside with him
in the war and in the interim government are all past
participants in the killing fields, corruption and the
abuse of power.
This targeted attempt to deny this guy a chance
to serve because of his war past is hypocritical; does
not help the peace and reconciliation process at all,
and throws the fairness doctrine out the window.
And it reminds us all that the days of unequal
treatment based on ethnicity and religion are still
with us, even as we attempt to move away from our dark
past to a future where we all can be treated equally,
no matter who we are in society.
But the lawmakers and human rights activists
who are opposed to Kabineh are not helping either, and
are setting a bad precedent by turning the
confirmation hearing into a circus than substance,
especially when they sit in judgment and deny one
person a chance to serve because he's supposed to be a
criminal and is not up to the job, but sits back
quietly and allowed the other criminals and an
unqualified person to serve for reasons known only to
them.
Willis Knuckles’ appointment as
Minister of Public Works was rejected months ago by
the ‘confirmation lawmakers’ because of his
obvious lack of qualification. They revisited his case
and confirmed him later without any explanation,
whatsoever. Did Mr. Knuckles get the experience and
his engineering diplomas that quick to be reconsidered
for the position?
Where were these guys when the former driver,
and former warlord, the inexperienced Edwin Snowe, who
has been indicted by an international war crimes court
and cannot travel out of the country because he would
be arrested, paid his way into the House of
Representatives and the office of Speaker of the
House?
Where are the so-called “watchdog” groups
when Sinoe County Senator, Joseph N. Nagbe moonlights
as a lawyer when he’s supposed to be a fulltime
legislator? Isn’t this a conflict of interest?
Senator Nagbe reportedly represents the
interests of the Russian nationals who allegedly raped
those Liberian females, but refuses to turn them over
to authorities when they requested that he do so. Is
this a violation of the law?
When these guys continue to protest and reject
the appointment of Kabineh as they are now doing
today, they run the risk of playing into the hands of their critics who will conclude that their hatred
of the man stems from the fact that he is Mandingo and
is of the Islamic faith.
And since most Liberians are uncomfortable with
the Mandingoes (whom I believe are also citizens of
Liberia), opponents of Kabineh could be playing the
hate game to stir up their base and ferment negative
sentiments against that group, which we do not want at
this time.
I am hoping this is not also about one ex-rebel
faction with legislative influence and power flexing
its muscles to deny another former rebel leader from a
rival faction a chance to serve on the highest court
of the land? If that’s the case, their grandstanding
is not in the interest of Liberia.
Kabineh Ja’neh is not a choirboy, and I am
not a fan, either. I am a fan of justice and fairness,
with the mindset of doing my utmost best to be fair to
all in any way I can.
If those guys in Monrovia are going to reject
the nomination of Kabineh Ja’neh as Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court, they ought to reject the
other nominees who are equally as guilty for their
participation in the civil war.
They will do us all a favor if they extend their
rhetoric in every corner of the country where there is
abuse and a clear violation of the law of the land.
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