These, the fleeing refugees, must be at the centre of sustaible  peace

All The Don’s Men: Implications of Global Witness Report t
By Tom Kamara

Still in charge

26 May 04

Harry Greeves Jr., one of the main pillars behind Charles Gyude Bryant in the formulation of policies and strategies, declared on the BBC while Charles Taylor was president that he (Greeves) could work with some members of the Taylor legions of disciples then in charge of the country and criminalising its collapsed economy. Not all Taylor’s men were bad, he said then from Monrovia, where he was hinting that he, too, was ready for the big prize—the coveted presidency.

Mr. Greeves later worked his way to become the “elections commissioner”, conducting the "elections" which produced Charles Gyude Bryant as interim president, sources at the Ghana peace conference said.  With this, he ensured that, indeed, he could work with some of Taylor’s men. Not all were bad, and events have shown a consolidated marriage of convenience sanctified for the same objective—maintaining Charles Taylor’s influence with collective benefits and thus erecting the cornerstones for continued conflict. Global Witness’ detailed reports, containing Charles Taylor’s account numbers, meetings by the key actors in (prime amongst them the Lone Star CEO and Bryant advisor Emmanuel Shaw) the criminal enterprise, and other fearful facts, should awaken those who want to avoid the Taylor years of theft and terror into action.

Global Witness has done what Liberian pro-democracy groups, conscientious politicians and civic society should have done, and that is underlining the dangers that Taylor’s economic and political interests in Liberia represent.  Global Witness warning is blunt:

"Charles Taylor continues to pose a threat to the peace and stability of Liberia and the region.’ The international community must cut off Taylor’s links and activities through which he can violate the terms of his exile". The report said, adding:

“Former President Charles Taylor still maintains significant political and economic links to Liberia. Through his former colleagues and associates Taylor continues to receive support from Liberia, in violation of the terms of his exile in Nigeria. Global Witness has found evidence of his continued business interests in the region, as well as numerous offshore bank accounts through which Taylor and his associates may be moving money. The UN Security Council recently passed Resolution 1532 (2004), declaring Taylor's continued connections with Liberia a destabilising factor for regional peace, and moving to freeze both his assets and those of close relatives and associates deemed to be helping him….” 

The Charles Taylor appointed Minister of Post and telecommunications, Eugene Lenn Nagbe, sang the same song some days ago when he protested Lone Star’s monopoly. He was quoted in an article posted on The Perspective site as saying: 

“As we approach the four-year mark of its operation, Lone Star’s de facto monopoly still exists, and persists, now apparently with the determined effort of some individuals parading the halls of power. Our determination on the other hand, has remained to ensure the liberalization of the GSM market”, he indicated.

He asked:  “Who now has a VSAT with very wide capabilities? Lone Star! Who now has the most extensive frequency in-use and in-reservation? Lone Star! Who has the only operational GSM license? Lone Star! If there is a need to conduct a review of the telecommunications environment, one would think it would be but fair to begin with the one and only GSM cellular operator.”

Referring to a letter, which he said was signed by Bryant’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Willie Belleh, allegedly placing a halt on the registration of other companies to compete with Lone Star, Mr. Nagbe insisted the intent of the Bryant team is not to “review the telecommunications environment”, but to guarantee Charles Taylor’s Lone Star their monopoly and to stifle competition.  “Why do we say this? We say this because while other would-be operators are being advised by the learned Professor (Willy Belly) to halt rollout, he rather conveniently decided not to write any letter to Lone Star.”

Just why would Bryant’s men have so much interest in sustaining Charles Taylor’s businesses? New partnerships, perhaps?

Charles Taylor may be vain, ruthless, and an accomplished thief. But underestimating him is dangerous, a fact that many of his rebel counterparts and political foes can readily attest. He insisted, when it became imminent his days in Monrovia were numbered, that he wanted “soft landing.” The weeks he spent in Monrovia as the shells fell on the innocents were his weeks of preparation for his “soft landing”, which, when translated, meant meticulously piecing together the screws that would hold in place his political and economic interests even in absentia. His first victory in this scheme of “soft landing” was the selection of a comrade in the closet—Charles Gyude Bryant. The records indicate that Mr. Bryant was a de facto member of Taylor’s “peace”” delegation when rebels and politicians met on Burkina Faso to search for peace in a country that had provided hundreds of troops for Taylor’s military exploits. Such facts so instructive in predicting the man’s mind were buried in the sponsored euphoria of the tag “businessman”, a label that sent the wrong impression of detachment, honesty and efficiency.   Reports indicate thousands of dollars changed hands, particularly with rebels of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) who cast the decisive vote that sealed Taylor’s interests in the ruined and sorry state. Thus the fruits of the “soft landing” are becoming plentiful, as indicated in the Global Witness report, amongst the many sources pointing to Taylor’s command and control over the economy and politics. For example, for every call made to or from Liberia, Liberians and others are putting millions into the pockets of Taylor, Emmanuel Shaw, etc., with their vehicle, Lone Star, as the accepted excuse for underground economic activities.  Come 2005 when elections are to be held, Charles Taylor, with his continued flow of money and enormous fortune, is set to determine the winner, and that winner is expected to be the clone of the current interim leader Bryant, a man who has vowed never to seek to Taylor’s extradition because he (Bryant) was conceived in the indicted war criminal’s apparent fall.

What has happened to the guarantees that Charles Taylor’s abdication was the end of his political influence? Of course, the world was confident that the promises of Africa’s most populous state, Nigeria, would do the job in making Charles Taylor a cursed relic of the past he should be. President Olusegun Obasanjo, on CNN, vowed that the pillar of Taylor’s exile in Nigeria would be conditioned on the rule that he remains out of Liberia’s political life, that he stops meddling in its affairs, economic or otherwise.  If he did not obey, Mr. Obasanjo said, “he knows the consequences,” consequences, which now mean continued control of Liberia’s economic institutions from Calabar and more money for the criminal. Violating one’s vow is troubling only for people of honour, a rare quality found amongst many African leaders. That Taylor is allowed to maintain “significant” political and economic interests in his dying nation while the Nigerians adamantly shield him from justice explains why Africa miserably failed to end the Liberian and Sierra Leone wars.  

Nevertheless, one who blames others for his/her problem is unlikely to find solutions. Thus the amazing aspect of how Charles Taylor triumphed as he fell is that the array of Liberian politicians gathered in Ghana could not see the hidden agenda of Mr. Greeves their elections commissioner, a man with vested interest in ensuring that Mr. Bryant, and therefore the “good” Taylor men such as Emmanuel Shaw now managing Taylor’s foreign transfers according to Global Witness, would be maintained as part of the team to take charge of the country and therefore the economy in Charles Taylor the Don’s name.  The implications of this marriage of the like-minded are dire and dangerous as the country leaps towards total disarmament with some of the banal warlords such as George Dweh, are already predicting  the failure of the international community because money is not dished out to them. Action against the greedy few accustomed to such schemes that send society into flames is needed or it may be too late, just like many Liberian politicians could not see that by reaching midnight deals with Charles Taylor in the 1990s, they were not only organising their owned deserved execution squads, but those of the poor and the innocents. 

But Liberians have now trained their minds to point fingers at others for problems they hatch in greed and ineptitude. Courage is surrendered to cycles of insane fortune hunters in altering useless regimes, with bizarre expectations that the types of minds that led the various armed gangs-- NPFL, LURD, MODEL, ULIMO, etc.-- are capable of directing resourceful change.  When the reality of docility and cowardice surfaces, blames are thrown on others—the international community.  And when the shells begin to fall while the thieving politicians and armed robbing rebel chiefs find solace in Calabar or Accra,  (as former foreign minister  Monie Captan, aqnd president of Senate Grace Minor and others have done and are now in Ghana) the mob will gather before the US embassy to cry on the shoulders of George W. Bush for the Marines to storm in save them when this is now the perfect time for them converge before the doors of Bryant, Shaw and all the kingpins of the criminal economy to pull them out.  If nothing is done to halt the current marriage of politicians loyal to Taylor and maintaining his economic and hence his political interests in the country, the disarmed, still mobilised, will only take a few hours with their supplied weapons to descend upon society and do what they have been paid trained to do over the years—kill and loot for their masters. After all, the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the chief patron of Liberia’s misery, has already signalled that what Africa needs is African solutions to African problems. His solution to Liberia’s problem will be the same—bring Taylor back.    

That the stealing would further be elevated to respectability was a sign all too clear to see, except one was blinded by self-interest, which was the case for those who hailed the Bryant selection as a new dawn.  When Bryant declared after his selection it would not be “business as usual”, he was in effect saying it would be business as usual. It is like a person who repeatedly says, “I am not a rogue.” Why mention this in the first place? It is because the person is a thief that he/she attempts to ally fears and delude their preys. Bryant made no secrets of his agenda for the country. There would “absolutely” be no talk about justice in the case of Charles Taylor and the establishment of a war crimes tribunal. “”We must move forward”, he ruled. He promised to bring the former governor of the National Bank, Elias Seleebie, to justice if found guilty of siphoning funds after a series of allegations the man was dealing directly with Charles Taylor, at one point allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars to him in Nigeria. To kill the case, Bryant accepted the governor[s resignation without giving reasons. While in the US, Bryant again ruled his priority will not be chasing thieves in government. This is understandable, since teakettle cannot call pot black.  Many concerned about accountability expected that Bryant would set-up a commission to investigate and unravel the criminal businesses enterprises that are Charles Taylor’s hallmarks. To the contrary, he solidified the pillars of these underground enterprises, awarding George Haddad, the Lebanese merchant favoured for monopolies, over a million in contracts to buy cars that cost far less. He then defied public opinion and moved into his sister’s renovated home after denying the renovation was paid for by the government.

The war is far from over. Perhaps it has just begun.