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Truth
and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Digs Its Way Into
Chaos and Credibility Problem
Monday,
April 14, 2008
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
It is a public
relations nightmare when an organization like the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), that is
asking weary Liberians to forget about the past and
forgive those that trespasses against them during that
heinous civil war is not at peace with itself, is
fumbling all over the place; is having credibility
problem, cannot get any kind of traction, and is also
having problem defining its mission and reason for
being.
As an
advocate of reconciliation, the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC), is going through what
seems to be a “mid life crisis” as a gentleman
noted recently during a discussion I had with him
about Liberia’s many problems, often questioning the
role of this conflicted organization that speaks so
forcefully about putting the nation’s past behind,
yet is buried in an avalanche of confusion that
threatens its survival.
Chairman Jerome Verdier
Pearl Brown Bull
Massa Washington
With a frantic desire to act neutral but is far
from being neutral because of its symbiotic political
relationship with the President of Liberia, the
so-called reconciler of the nation’s bloody past is
caught in the politics of the dreadful past of loyalty
versus doing what is right, which got some in the
group to be very careful not to bite the hand that
feeds them since the commission is answerable only to
its chief patron, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who has
wielded enormous influence over the group and its
members so much that since its inception, the call to
summon her to testify before the commission for her
alleged role in the civil war has been totally ignored
by the political appointees that comprised the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission.
As a result,
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is all hype
and no substance, and a cover for the politically rich
and powerful who are talking peace and reconciliation
in public on the one hand, but are also speaking
deceit and indecision in private from the other side
of their mouths, which leaves the commission open to
political manipulation, the cooking of testimonies and
the pressuring of witnesses to tell lies to meet the
desired goals of this bloated commission.
One such
incident is the recent revelation that Commissioner
Massa Washington reportedly engaged in a fistfight
with her colleague, Commissioner Pearl Brown Bull
during a public hearing in River Gee County. As a
symbol of peace and reconciliation, and the public
face of the commission, it is puzzling that the duo
will even engage in such monumental disaster at a time
when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), is
trying to win the trust of the Liberian people. So why
there hasn’t been a call to investigate this matter,
or there hasn’t been a call for Massa Washington and
Pearl Brown Bull to resign for being reckless and
unprofessional since their action undermines the
integrity of the commission?
With all
that is going on within the TRC, a key member who is
missing in action is Chairman Jerome Verdier, whose
reticence on this matter has given credence to those
(including me) who believes strongly that Mr. Verdier
is either incompetent or is the wrong person for the
job, because he lacks the savvy and the managerial and
political skills needed to navigate the paths needed
to do the job.
The other
mind-boggling incident is the recent revelation that
Commissioner Massa Washington and one Paul Flomo of
the youth group of Galla Town, Grand Bassa County,
reportedly pressured and bribed David Sayweh to
incriminate singer Sundaygar Dearboy, as the
individual who allegedly raped his sister and killed
other members of his family during the Liberian civil
war.
Now why will
David Sayweh come forward at this time to tell a lie
on Commissioner Massa Washington and the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission about payments (L$500.00)
made to him in Buchanan to incriminate Sundaygar
Dearboy, as the individual who allegedly committed
those crimes against humanity?
With his
little earning power and celebrity status, is it
possible for Sundaygar Dearboy to possibly buy himself
out of trouble by bribing David Sayweh to retract his
earlier statements against him, in order to make Massa
Washington and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
look bad? What if it is true that Sundaygar Dearboy
was wrongly accused through the doings of Massa
Washington and the TRC, how can this man’s life and
career, damaged by such bad publicity be put back on
track? Is it possible for Sundaygar Dearboy to take
the TRC and its wayward member or members to court for
ruining his life?
Instead of
getting to the bottom of this matter by investigating
and taking concrete actions against its own members
for bringing shame and disrepute to the commission,
another Commissioner, John Stewart, is playing the
blame game and doing damage control by trying to
discredit David Sayweh and others he want us to
believe are trying to “discredit the work of the TRC.”
The Liberian
people don’t need any lecture from John Stewart at
this time about those he truly thinks that are trying
to discredit the TRC. What the TRC and John Stewart
needs at this time is not to point fingers at others
but to see their own visible failures and correct
those failures by making bold decisions that benefits
the Liberian people.
When all is
done, members of the TRC also need to lecture
themselves about how to run an organization, and how
to win the trust of the citizenry by doing the right
thing.
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