Emmanuel Abalo

The cruel vestiges of the Liberian civil war and inhumanity of some Liberians have again been manifested in the recent massacre in Margibi County allegedly carried out by loyalist to a former rebel commander. This callous act of savagery often seen during the country's descent into insanity in the last decade took the lives of 12 farm hands and score of others over a "land dispute".

There have been consistent reports of threats, intimidation and actual violence by former fighters who have no gainful employment and have resorted to illegal and naked force to carve a living off defenseless citizens. Recent examples include agitation at the Guthrie Plantation and the SAPO National Park where the National Police supported by the muscle of UNMIL had to forcibly evict former fighters who were claiming legal right to stay and exploit the resources of these areas.

In another bold move, demobilized former combatants in a British sponsored program Land Mine Action in late May, 2008 in Bong County, Liberia served notice that they would be vacating the program and returning to the "bush" claiming that " the program failed to live up to the terms of an agreement to pay them benefits during the training period.

Additionally, some former soldiers of the disbanded Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) have violently challenged the national government for their so called benefits and even served a petition to the National Legislature calling for the impeachment of the President for "unconstitutionally dissolving the National army". The fact of the matter is that the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was the legal framework to which all Liberian factional leaders including the AFL signed on to for the dissolution of the AFL and larger benefit of the survival of the state.

It appears the underlying motive for this sometimes violent agitation is economic survivability since most Liberians over the course of the conflict have been stripped of their humanity by the same former combatants and reduced to beggars. Also a culture of impunity and non-accountability pervades in the society. The tables have now been turned and in the face of this "sudden rain" of some semblance of rule of law and stability especially with the presence of the UN Mission in the country.

The danger here is that the unholy alliances of all of these dissatisfy “players” remains festering and at the first opportunity, will explode in a devastating manner again. The ingredients for another conflagration including trade in natural resources of timber, diamond, gold and endemic corruption fuel the desire for instability and the "market" it sustains. Remember that there are a lot of unemployed freelance fighters saturating the West African sub region and looking for "work" since their godfather Charles Taylor made rebellion a fashion.

A startling revelation worth mentioning came during the Liberian refugee upheaval in Ghana in February -March when refugees rejected integration into Ghanaian society and instead called for resettlement in Europe or the United States -more viable economic societies. Clearly, their position stems from the hopelessness of over 15 years in a strange country and no hope for any improvement in their living condition or return home. The sad realization that escaped some of these Liberian refugees is that Europe and the North America have severely restricted immigration due to local xenophobic sentiments.

In most parts of Africa, including West Africa, there is not even a uniform standard of acceptable living - people are just used to been too poor. Even ECOWAS, after all these years of existence has failed to institute a minimal poverty reduction guideline to lift its citizens out of the doldrums of being the poorest of the poor. This is unacceptable!

But small steps are being taken especially in 2 countries in the Mano River Union - Liberia and Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, President Ernest Bai Koroma is emphasizing his Attitudinal and Behavioral Change (ABC) vision as the vehicle for checking the retrogressional behavior of most of his countrymen who have adopted a poor disposition to less responsive past governments.

The Sirleaf led Administration in Liberia is vigorously pursuing a Poverty Reduction Strategy Program - a consultative process to ensure local ownership of the strategy which reflects the interrelationships between security, poverty and justice and peace in a tangible way. Bottom-line, the ordinary citizen must be guaranteed a secure environment where he/she can thrive economically in peace with the assurance of justice in order to exploit his full human potential.

The foremost challenge in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and La Cote d'Ivoire and Africa as a whole remains the daunting task of poverty reduction and giving hope to the younger generation. Democratic elections and good governance are but a few elements of every political system which must be managed side by side by with economics by visionary leaders who take risks and initiate bold and responsible policies to defeat the alternative of insurgencies.

The security and subsistence of every society including that of our people in every part of Africa is intimately entwined with the security of every individual, his options, loyalties and self -preservation because the razor thin line between hopelessness and the rule of law is often crossed without second thought.

About the Author: Emmanuel Abalo is an exiled Liberian journalist, media and human rights activist and a former Acting President of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL). He now resides in Pennsylvania, USA. He serves as News Director of WRAR-96 internet radio on www.runningafrica.com.