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

Bryant’s, “Becoming The Problem,” Asked Conte to Back Sherman: Financial Times 

Bryant: Seeking Conte's
"vote" for Sherman

31 May 04

Barely eight months into office, the businessman Charles Gyude Bryant's honeymoon with the foreign media that cheered him on is ending. The Financial Times (London) says the concern in Liberia now  is that Bryant is becoming the problem, not the solution, and that the country needs more international attention before it falls apart. . In its May 28 article headlined: DIVIDE-AND-RULE TACTICS IN MONOROVIA, the FT, quoting diplomats in Guinea, said Bryant is so obsessed with making his friend Varney Sherman President that he has asked Guinea’s president Lansana Conte to back the lawyer.  Sources in Monrovia say  Bryant has made similar appeals to some heads of a number of political parties.

"Bryant is so bent on supporting Sherman that, according to diplomatic sources in Guinea, on his recent visit to Conakry he personally asked President Lansana Conte to support his favoured candidate"", the paper revealed.

The FT said:

“EIGHT months since the signing in Accra, Ghana, of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Liberia, it looks like Liberia needs more attention than before in order to avert any reverse of the gains made in the peace process. Many now believe that the country's main problem is Charles Gyude Bryant, the interim chairman of the transitional government, ensconced in the Executive Mansion in Monrovia….””

The paper listed a number of achievements, amongst them disarmament and demobilisation of fighters but warned:

“However, certain factors are causing concern and if these are not properly addressed, they could delay or even derail the peace process. A major worry is the growing rift between Bryant and certain members of the legislative assembly. Bryant is accused of acting in flagrant violation of the Peace Agreement. It has been pointed out, for example, that he has set up a parallel government in his office and it is this which virtually runs Liberia. Some members of Bryant's team such as Varney Sherman are presidential candidates for the forthcoming elections scheduled for 2005. Sherman is very close to Bryant. Both are graduates of the Cuttington University College and are devout members of the Episcopal Church. Sherman also acts as a special adviser to Bryant, is de facto chair of the national transitional government of Liberia (NTGL) and chairs the Board for the Liberia Petroleum Refining Corporation (LPRC). With Bryant's active support, Sherman has already started his presidential campaign way ahead of schedule to the extent that the newly-appointed Elections Commission had to ask all presidential candidates to stop campaigning since it has yet to publish the schedule for campaigns.”

The FT then dwelled on what is now public knowledge in Monrovia, that is Varney Sherman as the heir apparent for the team around Bryant determined to implant their seeds of continuity well after 2005. many diehard members of Bryant’s inner circle believe this is their opportunity that must not be missed. Mr. Sherman, according to sources in the US, is now campaigning amongst Liberians in America despite warnings from elections commission this is illegal. The FT said:

In recent weeks, Bryant ordered the payment of $300,000 from state coffers to cover covert operations without the prior knowledge of the major security/intelligence agencies in the country. The money was reportedly placed in the charge of Wilfred Clarke, former director of police under the late President William Tolbert, Jr. Clarke now serves as national security adviser to Bryant. Many believe that the money is part of a larger scheme by Bryant and his team to amass as much financial resources as possible in preparation for the forthcoming elections.”

The FT further noted that Bryant refused to dismiss Elias Slebebie despite many demands to do so. But Mr. Seleebie resigned recently without giving reasons. Bryant had promised a never conducted probe into allegations that Seleebie was engaged in siphoning funds from the National Bank of Liberia. The FT also delved into the controversy around Finance Minister Lusinie Kamara, saying the LURD appointee, “has become very close to Bryant and he signs vouchers for the president and his associates without scrutiny. There are also allegations that monies collected from Customs are not even accounted for. Cynics say that this is why Bryant wants to hold on to him but it looks like he will be the next person to resign from the government. This time round, the appointment of the next finance minister will not be left with Conneh who has almost lost authority in LURD.”

But the difference in the regime of rebels and politicians are far from fundamental, only pinned on the division of the spoils of war. Many of those in the interim legislature, including the Speaker, are accused human rights abusers with no agenda for reform or accountability.  Bryant and his team have virtually isolated rebel leaders in the division of the spoils, and this, more than the need for reforms to ensure the success of the peace process and therefore stability, is the root cause of the divisions. Moreover, Bryant, as the FT said, is determined to implant a successor who he expects will inherit the current team of operatives around him, many loyalists to indicted war criminal Charles Taylor. Global Witness, in a recent report, revealed that one of Bryant’s key advisors, Emmanuel Shaw, was maintaining lose financial and political links with Taylor. It warned that Taylor’s role in Liberian political and economic remains “significant.”  

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