By Archie P. Williams (Assistant Professor/ Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law/University of Liberia)
September 9, 1990.
32 Years Ago in Time!
A cursory look at
* The Masterminds;
* The Coincidences;
* The Puzzles;
* The Intrigues and
* The Deceits….
Charles Taylor’s war of military conquest launched to dethrone President Doe under the banner of NPFL on December 24, 1989 had garnered for him a traction of penetrable military dividends with considerable territorial controls in a relatively short period of six months, by June of 1990.
At that time, the war tenets had collapsed the economy. Its impact weighed heavily, and was felt throughout the length and breadth of the country.
In Monrovia the atmosphere became very tense as news filtered that it would have been the final contested gladiator zone. The shortages of eatables and much needed medicinal products began to take a skyrocketing toll. When found, their price tags were sort of equated to a ransom. Also, other basic essentials of equal importance were visibly unavailable in several quarters.
Survival of the fittest had become a privilege. The most vulnerable that included older folks; children, and also, the sickly was fastly at risk with emerging threats of death.
In that realm, human influxes overwhelmingly thronged the city center from surrounding and outskirt areas in quest for survival from marauding gangs of armed men who invaded their communities, and villages.
As folks in Monrovia and other environs rapidly became unsafe, thousands, along with few visible belongings in their grabs collectively avalanche on the Greystone Compound in Mamba Point where the American, and most western diplomatic missions were ideally situated.
The Greystone Compound as a composite of the American Embassy was deemed a safe haven for refuge. It was so labeled based on its strategic proximity to several plush apartment buildings which hosted scores of diplomats, and other essential foreign missions’ staffs whose human security were ideally ensured behind high rise fences that were braced atop with electric volts of corrugated barb wires.
Moreso, for additional security several heavily armed Marines were strategically posted under the cover of protective shields, in trigger readiness to promptly respond to any untoward situation.
Fortunately, for humanitarian purposes the American Embassy granted permission that the internally displaced be temporarily accommodated on the compound grounds . No sooner had they gained access within the walls, they hurriedly constructed makeshift structures covered with tarpolins as shelters for their respective families against heavy downpour of rains, and other insecurities.
Sadly, as the war gradually inched towards Monrovia, several foreign nationals were equally engrossed in a fate of despondency. That feat accelerated the rush of their mass exodus out of the country through available flights which sporadically landed at the Spriggs, and RIA Airports.
Amazingly, and especially for love of Liberia, scores of Lebanese and several Indian nationals decided to remain and equally suffer the war brunts in a country they considered as their home for decades.
So, as time unfolded the war situation cloaked a posture of hopelessness. And by the day it became worse and more bleaker across the entire country which, unfortunately, was carved amongst the triangular belligerent forces that included Doe’s AFL in central Monrovia; Johnson’s INPFL on Bushrod Island, and Taylor’s NPFL in Paynesville and beyond.
Regrettably; and without regards to humanity or other civil considerations, their respective death squads which reigned supreme in territories they controlled took upon the gauntlet under shades of darkness through which they eliminated, and, or executed ruinous havoc on their targeted preys.
The feats of elimination were rooted in January of 1990 when Mr. Robert Philips was gruesomely murdered in his Sinkor’s residence allegedly by a death squad loyal to President Doe.
Mr. Philips was a professional engineer. He, along with the late Jim Holder, Madam Sirleaf and others were held culpable in the November 12, 1985 foiled invasion of Gen. Quiwonkpa. The aftermath witnessed their eventual arrest, and trial. In the subsequence, the court adjudged them guilty with a life sentence.
Shortly after Doe’s inauguration on January 6, 1986, as President of the Second Republic he granted them executive clemency.
As the war intensified, the Airfield runway was utilized as execution gallows by death squads loyal to President Doe against those considered his perceived “enemies.”
When news filtered that Taylor’s NPFL rebels were predominantly Nimbaians who possessed mystical powers which enabled them to appear and, or disappeared, citizens from the county began to suffer the fangs of collective guilt, harassment, and summary dismissals from their jobs.
Moreover, when allegations abounded to the effect that the rebels were arrogated with cultist powers against bullets and other deadly weaponry which they utilized to dislodge Doe’s AFL soldiers from their strategically held fortresses, several beheaded bodies duly identified as Nimbaians began to litter on street corners almost daily.
Much to the consternation of onlookers, the very sight of the bodies created a frozen chill and intense fear to Monrovia’s crowded residents. It further generated an uproar of anger against the government from several wailing family members.
Notably, also, one of the country’s ace sculptors in Mr. R. Vanjah Richards was abducted along with several others from their Clay Ashland residences at evening hours, and were taken to an unknown destination. Sadly, at dawn the following day, their lifeless bodies were found dumped atop each other at the brinks of the St.Paul River, amid cries and chest beatings from angry community dwellers who gathered to catch a last glimpse of Mr. Richards.
Three AFL soldiers that included Maj. Henry Johnson, Lt. Andrew Johnson and Lt. Arthur Nyenabo were eventually held culpable.
Then the Lutheran Church massacre occurred in July of 1990!
The uncontrollable deaths under the covers of darkness signaled an omen of untoward situation in Monrovia.
The blame was squarely laid on President Doe.
Similarly, in Taylor’s controlled “Greater Liberia,” life was valueless than a penny to his rebels. Helpless civilians were indiscriminately butchered on accounts of tribal belongings, religious ascriptions and “working for Doe.”
The Fendell Campus of the University of Liberia where thousands sought refuge from onslaughts in Monrovia, turned to a human hunting ground for Taylor’s rebels in search of government’s employees and AFL soldiers. After their daily catches, the surrounding environs were transformed into killing fields and graveyards of the so-called “suspicious” elements.
Additionally, Grand Gedians and especially members of the Krahn ethnic tribe of which President Doe belonged bore the brunt of the rebels onslaughts, and by extension, were torturously slaughtered without a scintilla of remorse as if they were sub-humans.
One of the most disgusting acts of Taylor’s rebels was the cruelty meted out, and perpetuated against pregnant women whose wombs were incessantly disemboweled through gambling bets to determine the sex of their unborn fetuses.
Additionally, several prominent Liberians that included opposition leaders Jackson F. Doe, and Gabriel Kpelleh were allegedly killed upon specific orders from Taylor.
The world of academia was not spared the madness of their death sentences also. The President of the University of Liberia, Dr. Stephen Yekeson and two distinguished professors that included Dr. Victor E. Ward, and Emmett Dunn; both of whom served distinctively as chairmen of the university’s Chemistry and Political Science departments were slaughtered for “teaching President Doe.”
Correspondingly, in Johnson’s INPFL controlled territories on Bushrod Island, several prominent citizens and former government officials that included Senator Fred J. Blay if Sinoe County; PRC member Larry Borteh, musical virtuoso Tecumsy Roberts; Wells Hairston principal Pau Williams, and several others became casualties of death as they were allegedly decimated by the bullets of Prince Johnson; the chief assailant himself.
The litanies of the aforementioned were the unsavory state of affairs and scenic happenings in the country which Liberians were hopelessly engulfed with at the time.
The uncontrollable, barbaric, and terroristic acts of brutality that subsisted amongst the belligerent forces against innocent, and helpless civilians sent waves of panic to diaspora Liberians and other well-wishers worldwide.
Their collective cries, and pleas for international intervention to halt the carnage and indiscriminate bloodbath instigated a global concern that drew attention to ECOWAS, and which eventually led to the formation of ECOMOG.
So, caught in a whirlpool of uncertainty between life and death, Monrovians glued themselves to their respective short wave receivers to get the routine sugary updates from government through information minister Emmanuel Bowier (of sainted memory), in response to an earlier BBC 5PM Focus on Africa news report to the effect that Taylor’s NPFL rebels had captured Buchanan, and were in a faint reach of Firestone and the Roberts International Airport dubbed RIA, for short.
To the utmost surprise of the listiening public who braced for Bowier’s usual response in favor of AFL, howbeit contrary to the realities that government was at the winning edge; a strange face who promptly identified himself as SEALLY THOMPSON, and the new presidential spokesman was beamed on ELTV Channel 6.
To captivate the attention of the listiening public, Mr. Thompson began at a contrite pace with teary eyes. He thereon quoted a verse from the Bible which was followed by a beautiful rendition of religious melody.
Thereafter, his tempo was elevated to a pitch of unfriendly intonation that lambasted Taylor and his external supporters he identified as a combination of “failed progressives, and the dethroned oligarchy class” who, according to him collectively harboured revengeful hate against the first “native son” to become President of Liberia.
That time represented the breaking moments, and turbulence of President Doe’s reign. It was the time when most of his PROFESSED loyalists which included several top ministers; high ranking military chiefs, the commanding general; police director; managing directors and several others similarly situated had deserted him and fled the country with their families for refuge to neighboring countries.
So, to fill the huge vaccum which was created by the desertions; folks far off the tangents of his mainstream inner circles were accommodated within the fold to assist ward off Taylor by any means necessarily available.
It was against said backdrop that Mr. SEALLY THOMPSON was brought up to the forefront, and recommended to the president by Grand Gedeh Representative William Glay to assume such coveted and strategic role with unhindered access to the entire presidency.
Rep. Glay was a staunch member of the ruling NDPL. He was a kinsman and close relative to Doe. Moreso, he was one of the president’s most trusted loyalists, and a composite of the very few in government who wielded enormous influence in the corridors of power aside President Doe.
In the lower house of the National Legislature he headed the most powerful Committee on Foreign Affairs. That position ably situated him, and by extension, brought him in close contacts with several foreign dignitaries and more specifically, the Americans whose successive ambassadors took a liking and endeared themselves to him.
So when Rep. Glay angrily accused Baptist prelate, Rev. J. Edwin Lloyd who was president of the Liberia National Red Cross at time of being an agent of Taylor, the Rev panicked with uncontrollable fear. Glay’s accusation was occasioned by a recommendation the prelate proffered to President Doe that he should kindly mount the moral high ground for the sake of Liberia, and initiate a dialogue with Taylor so as to advert further bloodshed which was prevalent on both sides.
Duly cognizant of the power Rep. Glay wielded, the prelate became threatened and eventually fled into exile.
Whether or not the Baptist prelate’s recommendation was in the right direction, is left to to the mercy of historical conjectures.
The district which Rep. Glay represented in Grand Gedeh County encompassed President Doe’s hometown, Tuzon.
Rep. Glay along with Mr. Edward Slangar were members of the University of Liberia Class of 1988 which President Doe Duxed with Summa Cum Laude in Political Science.
Additionally, both Rep. Glay and Mr. Slangar similarly majored in Political Science.
Mr. Slangar was inducted in the AFL shortly during the 1985 Quiwonkpa’s invasion. He eventually boasted on National TV that he gunned and killed Gen. Quiwonkpa in the aftermath of the foiled invasion.
Two of Glay’s brothers that included Alfred and Moses Glay also had close proximity to Doe in the corridors of power, and by extension similarly bested no small feats of their respective influences.
General Alfred Glay was President Doe’s Aide Camp and was sort of an introvert.
Moses Glay was the President’s Butler. He was an extrovert; more socialite, outgoing, and friendlier.
Unfortunately, both became casualties of the war at intermittent times.
Unknowingly, Moses befriended a beautiful young lady whose brother was Taylor’s in-law. He was allegedly killed by NPFL rebels in the Paynesville corridor, to, or from the lady’s residence.
Gen. Alfred Glay was allegedly gunned down on that fatal day of September 9, 1990, by Prince Johnson at the Freeport where he formed part of the president’s entourage.
Both Slangar and Glay eventually founded the S&G management consulting firm based in the PAN AFRICAN PLAZA.
Within the same Plaza, Mr. Emmanuel Shaw had his Shaw and Associates Accounting Firm.
Both S&G Management Consultants and the Shaw and Associates firms bested, and, or shared similar investment clientele with concurrences that embraced Agriculture, Produce Marketing; Exotic Vehicle Sales, Mining, Mineral Exploration; and Petroleum Refinery.
One of their collaborated efforts birthed the Liberia National Petroleum Company (LNPC) in 1989 which privatized key functions of the government owned LPRC through a South African National, Mark Wolman.
Shaw eventually became Chairman of the Board of LNPC.
In the same year 1989, Shaw was appointed Minister of Finance through the alleged connection, influence and recommendation of Rep. Glay, and Edward Slangar.
Mr. SEALLY THOMPSON was an Insurance executive with political leanings to the opposition LAP. And by that he was NOT a fan; neither was he a supporter of Doe based on a feud between he and Presidential Affairs Minister John Rancy that bordered on insurance finances. That led him to depart the country for the United States where he encountered several supporters of LAP, and former TWP heriachs that included Madam Sirleaf who eventually became one of the notable sponsors of Taylor’s NPFL.
The fraternal bond between Rep. Glay, and Mr. Thompson encompassed several discreet considerations which was solidly concretized, and enhanced through two sisters with roots from Harper, Maryland County. They eventually became the two buddies’ most trusted mistresses aside the borders of their fraternal sworn oaths.
The damsels were housed in one of Monrovia’s most exquisite apartments with exotic furnishings in the Messurado Compound on Bushrod Island. The referenced mistresses uncle was one of the former TWP officials who was publicly executed on April 22, 1980.
Their aunt shared a bond of relationship with Madam Sirleaf, and worked with her when she served as Finance Minister prior to the coup.
In another angle, Mr. Thompson was a contemporary of Cyril Allen and Varney Sherman at Cuttington in the 1970s.
Mr. Sherman eventually became a staunch member of LAP of which Madam Sirleaf was a founding member in 1984.
In the 1980s, Mr. Allen and Mr. Thompson were also insurance executives.
At Cuttington, Dew Tuan Wleh Mayson of MOJA’S fame was one of their professors.
Mr. Mayson served as Doe’s first National Investment Commission chairman, and ambassador to France. Both positions brought him in direct contact with several high profile investors in the petroleum industries from South Africa, Nigeria and few OPEC countries. Through that he befriended Nigeria’s oil magnate, Prof. Tam David West, and other well off oil barons.
For years, Mr. Mayson had cultivated a hefty relationship with Taylor and Shaw which bordered on similar tastes for glamour, exquisite and opulence. Through that, they lure a Nigerian billionaire; Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe to Liberia for a business investment in the tone of $50 million USD which was short circuited by finance minister G. Alvin Jones after he discovered that it was shrouded with nebulous transactions.
With the exception of Shaw, both Mayson and Taylor fell afoul with Doe at intermittent times between 1983, and 1986.
Upon his appointment in 1989 as finance minister, Shaw eventually took the entire center stage with President Doe whereat he became one of his strategic advisors and confidants. They wore similar exotic apparels and don an afro outlook that were typical of the negros during American Civil Rights movements.
Surprisingly, in an interview conducted in early 1990 when the war was in its embryo stage; Taylor boasted over BBC that he knew the movements and clothes worn by the president.
Under three months thereon, Mr. Shaw resigned as Minister of Finance in May of 1990 while on a government mission abroad.
In Taylor’s “Greater Liberia” Mr. Allen eventually headed their Hydro Carbon Corporation of which those that served in the heriach of LNPC from South Africa were some of its biggest clients.
So after his introduction, Thompson hit the ground running. He took over Doe’s entire internaries. He was also arrogated to served as envoy to Prince Johnson, ECOMOG and the American Embassy.
His shuttled diplomatic errands and go in between President Doe, and Prince Johnson successfully brokered a peace deal that witnessed Johnson’s triumphant visit to the president at the BTC barracks on September 7, 1990.
Amid Johnson’s visitation, some of Doe’s kinsmen who were traditionally dubbed with occultic powers which could reveal insights that bordered on ruses and dangers from afar, hugely protested.
Howbeit, Doe decided otherwise and trusted Mr. Thompson to the dismay of his kinsmen who questioned why at the time of “crisis” an outsider was accrued such unchecked powers over the President. And by that, they decided to intervene with, or without the president’s consent.
At the time, Rep Glay was allegedly given a diplomatic passage out of the country that eventually led his smooth landing into America.
During Johnson’s visitation, both military foes turned friends jointly decided to marshall their respective forces, and forge a united front to collectively “fight” Taylor who they identified as their “common enemy.”
After Johnson’s visitation was consummated, the very president’s kinsmen decided to traditionally incarcerate him for three days in a bid to exorcise or counter whatever spell was cast upon him.
Unfortunately, times and tides couldn’t advert what was destined, and or predestined against the President.
Two days thereon, Doe paid a reciprocal visit at the Freeport in Johnson’s controlled Bushrod Island territory under the guise of a courtesy call on ECOMOG field Commander Arnold Quinoo.
Like other days, Mr. Thompson was at the side of the president on that fatal day of September 9, 1990 as they quietly drove from the bailiwick of the Executive Mansion, and on to the Freeport without the knowledge of Doe’s staunchest protectors; his kinsmen.
Mr. Thompson was the last who had the vantage point, and privilege to converse, and discuss with the president. If there were issues the president had expressed; confided; his feelings; disposition, and, or, concerns during his last presidential minutes on earth, Mr. Thompson is the ONLY individual who should be in the know and duly positioned to unveil the storylines.
How, at the end of it all that Mr. Thomson managed to survive the Freeport onslaught, while Doe was caught in a whirlwind of that deadly dragnet which eventually engulfed he, and several of his trusted loyalists who were disarmed and gunned down by Johnson and his INPFL rebels, is a puzzle of perplexities that needs to be unraveled.
Thereafter, Mr. Thompson surfaced in Nigeria whereat he was exclusively given a centerspread interview to a Lagos based TELL MAGAZINE which was paid for by one of the aforementioned individuals.
Therein in he narrated that Doe was a CIA agent.
Whether his narratives were part of the privilege conversations he held with President Doe is opened to further conjectures.
Strangely, several years in Madam Sirleaf’s adminstration Rep. Glay and Mr. Thompson were seen moving freely in and around Monrovia with a vehicle that was regularly gassed at full tank.
The vehicle was provided upon “presidential directives” through a young official who headed one of the government’s lucrative public enterprises; and whose father was Madam Sirleaf’s contemporary in the Tolbert’s cabinet.
Most importantly, both individuals were accommodated in a fenced compound on the outskirts of the Robertsfeild Highway which was owned by a Taylor’s confidant, and trusted loyalist with ties to Madam Sirleaf.
As time elapsed, some of the very aforementioned individuals intermittently visited both Glay and Thompson for merrymaking with few young ladies as glosses. Amongst them also included one of the referenced mistresses from the Messurado’s Compound who was serving in a lucrative position in Madam Sirleaf’s government.
So, in the ultimate Doe became a casualty of the collective acts of betrayal, and deceits from his innermost circles who delivered him on a silver platter to Prince Johnson whose directives witnessed his INPFL gangs to tortured the president to his fatal end.
As Doe’s gruesome murder made HISTORICAL HEADLINES worldwide, his Judases comfortably watch the torturous scenes in the comfort of their respective fiefdoms. The rest is HISTORY..
