Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
UNDERSTAND LIBERIA
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Liberia Today
Liberia's Nobel Peace Prize-winning president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, won a second term
in power in 2011, after rival party Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) - led by Win-
ston Tubman and former AC Milan footballer George Weah - boycotted the second round
of the violence-ridden vote, complaining of fraud. 'Ellen', as she is widely known, enjoys
support from a loyal band of Liberians. Others criticise her for being a part of the old set of
politicians and accuse her of failing to understand their woes.
Ellen also failed in 2010 to implement the findings of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, a post-conflict justice organ that was modelled on South Africa's. The body's
final report recommended that the president herself be barred from holding public office for
50 years, after she admitted partially bankrolling former leader Charles Taylor's rebellion
that sparked the civil war.
Taylor was sentenced to 50 years behind bars by a UN-backed war-crimes tribunal in
The Hague in 2011. Many Liberians expressed frustration that Taylor was tried not for his
role in the painful Liberian conflict but for masterminding rebel operations during Sierra
Leone's war.
Many middle-class Liberians are excited about the country's new dawn, but for others -
particularly those outside Monrovia - the fresh coats of paint and eager investors in the
capital do little to heal old wounds. Justice, they say, is still a way away.
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History
The Love of Liberty
Liberia was ruled along ethnic lines until American abolitionists looking for a place to re-
settle freed slaves stepped off the boat at Monrovia's Providence Island in 1822. They saw
themselves as part of a mission to bring civilisation and Christianity to Africa, but their
numbers were soon depleted by tropical diseases and hostile indigenous residents.
