Need To Support The TRC 

Monday, July 20, 2009

          By Vickie W. Wilson

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced its recommendations barring several politicians, including the president of Liberia from office for certain period, many Liberians have picked up arms, claiming that the recommendations were harsh and their implementation could divide Liberians more.

On the surface, and considering the presence of ex-warlords in the current government it is correct to assume that since they (ex-warlords) realize they are being brought to answer to their violent actions during the war members of the TRC might have had an ulterior motive to bring them to public disgrace.

However, a careful reconsideration of the recommendations will indicate that those who appended their signatures to the recommendations did so, knowing that they owed that to the Liberian people. It means that the recommendations were made with the absolute belief that the vicious scale of the Liberian civil-war would only ease the pain and reconcile our people when those who have been identified to be the main players and supporters in the war are brought to some sense of justice.

Hence I find it disheartening and disappointing for certain Liberians to demand that the TRC report should be withdrawn for reconsideration. I find it unfair for any Liberian to declare that the report should be sent back to the honorable members of the committee because, as Mr. Austin Fallah wrote recently, the report “lacks substance to unite the country.”

I find it difficult to understand why some Liberians are insisting that the report, with its recommendations lack substance? What is this substance being indicated? As Mr. Fallah said, since it did not meet with the consensus of all the members on the committee therefore it did not reflect unity, and as a result needs a review. Considering this position, the truth comes out that two members on the commission did not think it was appropriate to append their signatures to the document. And so because two out of ten members did not agree to the final document, Mr. Austin is suggesting the labor of over two years work lacked substance.

Isn’t it true that the commission was set up to find the truth about the reasons of the war and the viciousness that came with it? With the callous destruction of innocent Liberian lives by those who carried out the war, I have thought that those Liberians who are on the other side of the fence would join their compatriots and request that those affected should welcome, to some extent, the recommendations, since they (recommendations) are intended to heal the wounds caused by the war.

Many Liberians have raised the issue of certain actors, particularly from the Armed Forces of Liberia, AFL, who are conspicuously absent in the document, and therefore, to them, the report was concluded with petty jealousy and peer envy, an allegation that cannot be supported in any case.

Amazing as it may seem, I am not disturbed by Liberians who feel the other way. It is a healthy exercise in the experiment of the new democracy for Liberians with differing views to make their positions clear. But we should note that no matter how emotional any of us may find ourselves in, we must agree that something must be done to bring some sanity, as a form of recognition, so that those who caused the unnecessary suffering for Liberia recognize their actions and be prepared to abide by the wishes of the Liberian people.

I know it is impossible for all Liberians to support the TRC’s recommendations and it is not my intention to insist that someone is wrong for holding on to a different opinion, we must nevertheless look a little deeper to the Liberian problem and allow a sense of balance on our position, as it relates to the TRC and its recommendations.

I am alarmed, indeed, when I came across the accusation made by Counselor Varney Sherman that some politicians influenced the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and also that the TRC does not have the authority to recommend what he described as a ‘blanket indictment’ against the president of Liberia.

I admit the extreme complexity of the issues about the TRC but I am a little loss to know that people who are held in high esteem, and who should be supporting and defending the TRC’s recommendations are finding it difficult to come to terms with them. I feel the greatest satisfaction to commend the members of the TRC for a job well done.

I will endeavor in a brief way to conclude that the TRC has spoken, and we must come together as a people to recognize what must be done, in all sincerity, to make sure that we do things that will place the horrors of the past behind us, and therefore leading us to walk on the road that may bring the best in us, as Liberians.

 Vickie W. Wilson is a 1999 graduate of the A.M.E. Zion University College with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Degree in Management. She is a resident of Minnesota.