By Joe Shakespeare Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Incumbent President of Liberia

Transcription

1 Ellen Betrays Liberians by Banjoeing Liberia s Resources to the International Community to Remain in Power: Vote Rigging on the Rampage in Liberia and Post- Elections Violence Begins! By Joe Shakespeare Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. Introduction Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Incumbent President of Liberia Information coming out of war-torn Liberia regarding the electoral process is not too encouraging! There are reports of vote rigging by the NEC with support from some influential world leaders, as well as rich Liberians and foreign business men and women in Liberia who are immensely benefiting from the banjoeing (auctioning) of Liberia s 1

2 human, natural, and mineral resources by Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The purpose of vote rigging by the NEC at this time is to impose incumbent President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf upon the Liberian people and against the Liberian people s wishes whether or not Mrs. Sirleaf wins the October 11, 2011 Presidential Elections. Runoff Expected in Liberia s Presidential Race Mrs. Sirleaf s first six years in office left the country in the hands of foreigners by signing cheap contracts with international companies and entrusting the security of Liberia to foreign forces on the ground. This was part of her international PR campaign to give the international community the belief that Liberia was not prepared to run her own domestic affairs and to establish its own national security apparatus. Consequently, this dependence on foreign forces recently landed her as one of the recipients of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Also, the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Mrs. Sirleaf along with a genuine Liberian female human rights activist, Madam Leymah Gbowee, is viewed by most Liberians as a justification of the Western world s gratitude to Mrs. Sirleaf for auctioning her country s valuable resources (iron ore, petroleum oil, and timber) in order to remain in power. For this reason, many Liberians and friends of Liberia questioned the legitimacy of the award at the time of elections in Liberia, particularly when Mrs. Sirleaf s popularity has waned and when she might face the World Crimes Court in The Hague someday. Mrs. Sirleaf some time ago admitted that she initially funded the rebel movement she started along with Mr. Charles Taylor and other influential world leaders and Liberians. The NPFL and other warring factions caused the death of more than a quarter million people and Mrs. Sirleaf and her cohorts who were most responsible for the atrocities during the Liberian Civil War were banned by the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Mrs. Sirleaf and those banned defied the recommendations of the TRC and participated in the 2011 presidential elections. Brewing Controversies over Elections Results Already, there are controversies brewing over elections results in Liberia. Consequently, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has announced that Mrs. Sirleaf quickly leads in ten counties in a concerted effort to blindfold the Liberian people that Mrs. Sirleaf actually is leading the polls. Whereas, in reality, Counselor Winston Tubman and international soccer star, George Oppong Weah, are running stiff neck-toneck against the incumbent. In my opinion, this makes it impossible at this time for a sweeping first round victory for Mrs. Sirleaf. Therefore, the general public expects a second round of voting if the NEC genuinely conducts transparent and free elections in Liberia. According to the Los Angeles Times article: Runoff expected in Liberia's presidential race, written by Robyn Dixon who was reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, October 12, 2011: 2

3 Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf faced a tough challenge to retain power as voters went to the polls Tuesday, with many observers predicting she would be forced into a runoff election against her strongest opponent. Despite her international plaudits [praises] for helping solidify Liberia's fragile peace, Johnson-Sirleaf's popularity has waned among voters hungry for a better life, including electricity, running water and jobs. With 80% of the population unable to find work, the problems of unemployment and poverty have threatened to derail her NEC Cheats in Vote Counting Unfortunately the NEC under the gavel of Honorable James Fromayan, is allegedly deeply rigging the vote counts to ascertain and justify a first round victory for Mrs. Sirleaf, particularly in areas where Counselor Tubman and Ambassador George Weah have political strong holds, such as Maryland, Grand Kru, River Gee, and River Cess Counties, among others from where Weah and Tubman hail in Liberia. Also, the NEC began counting votes in vote-rich Montserrado County where Tubman and Weah s Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has a great number of supporters ; but then, the NEC stopped short of completing the vote count when its officials discovered that Tubman and Weah led the incumbent with wide margins, particularly in Montserrado County. First Round Victory Is Uncertain for Mrs. Sirleaf in the 2011 Presidential Elections Thus, according to the current trend of the NEC elections results, most Liberians believe that first round victory is uncertain for Mrs. Sirleaf in the 2011 Presidential Elections. Many dismiss the claim by the NEC that there may not be a run off election, especially when most Liberians are confident the Tubman-Weah team will deliver a better development package for Liberia than Mrs. Sirleaf would if the CDC emerges victorious in the 2011 Presidential Elections. Further, it is the general belief that since Liberia is undergoing a constitutional crisis and Tubman being a constitutional lawyer, Tubman may serve well in the Liberian people s efforts and national interest to reinstate constitutional rule and transparent justice in postwar Liberia. Also, it is speculated that Ambassador George Weah with his international soccer experience and youthful exuberance and patriotism may spearhead major national sports projects to put Liberia on the world map of sports. In view of the foregoing, many Liberians are beginning to doubt the NEC results. In summary, the NEC elections results can be interpreted as stating that even though Mrs. Sirleaf s Unity Party is losing legislative votes and most of its senators and representatives are being ousted by opposition contestants in the various counties of Liberia; yet, the NEC still maintains with dry eye that Ellen is leading in many counties as a presidential candidate. Hence, observers are questioning the logic in the NEC elections results as to why Mrs. Sirleaf is losing legislative seats but at the same time she is being re-voted into office as President of Liberia for the second six year term. 3

4 Vote Rigging A scene of Liberian voters at the polls on October 11, 2011 Vote rigging is the act of choosing sides with one party against the other in a contest or conflict. It is the act of stating a preference to determine the outcome of something or an election. Against this backdrop, vote rigging is not a new NEC game in Liberia. There have been numerous incidents in the history of Liberia when elections were fraudulently won by incumbent presidents against the will of the Liberian people. Two cases in point are: the rigged Presidential Elections of 1929 that brought Charles Dunbar Burgess King to power and the 1985 Presidential Elections that brought Doe back to power from being a military leader to becoming a civilian President. Hence the emerging contradictions in Liberia s elections vote count projection at this time does not come as a surprise to Liberians who know their nation s history very well. For an example, it can be recalled that in the 1929 Presidential Elections: President Charles King won the 1927 presidential elections with a landslide victory that earned him a place in history but different from what he might have imagined. The Guiness Book of Records (1982) qualified the elections as the most fraudulent ever reported in world history. Suffrage [or the right to vote in public elections] was constitutionally limited to some 15,000 citizens [of Liberia], all Americo- Liberians [and no indigenous Liberians were allowed to vote in the 1920s, 1930s and mid 1940s, 1950s], but according to the official election results some 240,000 votes were cast in favor of Charles D. B. King 4

5 [whereas there were only 15, 000 Liberians who were eligible to vote]. The following year, the defeated Presidential candidate, R. J. Faulkner, accused the King Administration of permitting slavery, slave trade and forced labor within the borders of the Republic. Eventually this led to President King s resignation in 1930 ( The other vote rigging episode occurred in 1985 when general elections were held in Liberia on 15 October These were the first elections since the 12 April 1980 military coup that brought Samuel Doe to power. The polls were marred by allegations of widespread fraud and rigging. Many independent observers believed that the Liberia Action Party s (LAP's) Jackson Doe, who officially finished second, was the actual winner. The period after the elections saw increased human rights abuses, corruption, and ethnic tensions (Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p512 ISBN ). Thus, all Liberians are urged to revisit history and learn some lessons from what happened in the past in order to forge a safe and secured environment and to sustain our fragile national peace and security. Emerging Contradictions in Liberia s Election Vote Count Projection In his recent article Emerging Contradictions in Liberia s Election Vote Count Projection, dated October 14, 2011, Liberian human rights activist, Tuon Nimely, complained that: First, it was an unknown media organization, Liberian Media Center, that is closely allied with the Sirleaf campaign, putting out bulk totals as to what each candidate was getting without telling the public how each of these totals was reached, and whether these totals represented the national trends or amounts gathered from specific polling stations or counties. The earlier cover up of where these votes were coming from that immediately thrust Madam Sirleaf into the lead is to prevent early questioning about the reliability of these polling numbers. Now that the Liberian Election Commission has taken on its responsibility of being the one to inform the public and being the source that the press relies on to send out the projections, there seems to be the emergence of serious contradictions regarding the logic behind the current polling trend that seems to suggest that Madam Sirleaf is leading in almost every county in the country with the strongest indication yet that she could win this out rightly with no second round. If this happens, Not only that Madam Sirleaf s victory will not be accepted, but also a call for her immediate resignation will be in order. 5

6 Sirleaf Government Unprepared to Handle Domestic Security and Post-Elections Violence Regrettably, the Sirleaf government is presently unprepared to handle domestic security and post-elections violence. Madam Sirleaf did little to complete the training of a national standing Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Liberia National Police Force (LNPF) during her six years as President of Liberia. Also, she did not make sure the security of Liberia is in our own hands, and she failed also to ensure our borders and immigration and national security systems are secured under the supervision of Liberian security officers instead of having alien security forces that do not owe their allegiance to the Constitution and Republic of Liberia. In view of the foregoing, it is safe to say Liberia is still unsafe after more than twenty-two years of UN, AU, and ECOWAS, and European Union, and the United States intervention in the Liberian crisis! Of course, the international community thrives on the suffering of third world countries to exploit their human, natural, and mineral resources in cohort with local African leaders and war mongers. Consequently, it is very necessary at this time to pressurize Mrs. Sirleaf to put a national security structure in active motion. Liberians Appeal to International Community to Be Impartial Observers! Patriotic Liberians are appealing to the international community to be impartial in their role as observers. The concern was expressed by most Liberians in the wake of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Mrs. Sirleaf by the international community apparently to give Mrs. Sirleaf an edge over her political rivals. Also, the author of this article forewarned Liberians years ago that before the holding of free and fair general elections, it would had been safer and more expedient to continue with an interim arrangement that would ensure the repatriation of Liberian refugees; set up a war crimes court to prosecute those most responsible for the mayhem and human carnage meted out against the Liberian people and humanity. Further, the interim government would as well provide much needed rehabilitative services for traumatized postwar Liberian citizens. Therefore, it is no secret that some Liberian and international peace negotiators intentionally put the cart before the horse to secure their personal interests, as well as the interests of cohorts of Liberian warlords. Thus, the UN, AU, ECOWAS and America have set the stage for an inevitable civil uprising that has begun with a reported arson incident that destroyed the headquarters of Mrs. Sirleaf s Unity Party in Monrovia. Conclusion It is very important to stress and conclude that all Liberians must be tolerant of one another and that the losers in this year s presidential elections should concede to the winners after the elections results have been sincerely verified by all parties participating in the 2011 elections and after the elections results have been officially announced. Also, it is worthy of note to state here that any new government that comes to power after these elections, may encounter financial difficulties in view of the way how the Sirleaf government betrayed Liberians by banjoeing (auctioning) and signing contracts for the cheap use of Liberia s human, natural, and mineral resources to the detriment of 6

7 Liberians. Consequently, post-elections violence has already erupted based on alleged cheating in vote counts by the NEC. Further, many Liberians fear that the insinuation by the NEC that a run off election is not possible, may spark national uprising in Liberia because most Liberians are disappointed in the Sirleaf administration and they would like to see a democratic and political change in Liberia now. At this juncture, I cited examples of previous vote rigging in Liberia, including but not limited to the 1929 Presidential Elections that went down in the 1982 Guinness Book of Records as the most fraudulent elections in the world! Further, I also mentioned the 1985 Presidential Elections that extended Doe s reign as a civilian president and subsequently led to the failed NPFL invasion from Sierra Leone that was led by Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh, Jr., and General Thomas Quiwonkpa. General Quiwonkpa was killed after the turnover of events in November 1985, and Ellen and Biomah Fahnbulleh escaped the wrath of President Doe and his henchmen and women who sought revenge against members of the Gio and Mano ethnic groups of Nimba County on account of General Quiwonkpa originating from Nimba County. As usual, the vote rigging this year is being closely followed by emerging contradictions in Liberia s elections vote count projection. In this light, the Liberia Media Center that is closely aligned with the Sirleaf administration put out bulk totals as to what each candidate was getting without informing the public how each of the totals was reached, and whether the totals represented the national trends or amounts gathered from specific polling stations or counties. Unfortunately the Sirleaf government did not put local security apparatuses in place to handle domestic security and post-elections violence. In this light, it failed to compete the establishment and training of a national standing Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Liberia National Police Force (LNPF), as well as other paramilitary apparatuses to ensure national security in postwar Liberia. Against this backdrop, patriotic Liberians, friends of Liberia have seriously appealed to the international community to be impartial in helping Liberians peacefully resolve their twenty-two year civil crisis. Thus, it is hoped the international community, including the United Nations, African Union, the United States of America, Germany, France, Japan, China, Russia, Canada, and all other world powers and the world s most industrialized nations, will join together to resolve the electoral fiasco that has surfaced after the October 11, 2011 Presidential Elections in Liberia. Joe Shakespeare Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. Exiled Liberian Playwright & Poet Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 15,