By Mark N. Mengonfia mmenginfia@gmail.com
President George M. Weah has told head of states that the country has learned for its ugly past as it relates to coup d’état.
In his remarks to head of states at the extraordinary virtual summit of the authority of ECOWAS head of state and government on the political situation in Guinea and Mali, president Weah said as a country and its people have learned the bitter lessons of a military coup d’état and its aftermath, which include the suspension of fundamental freedoms under military rule.

He reminded his colleagues that Liberia is today a post-coup and post-war success story.
He told his fellow head of states that Liberia also knows how painful it is to live under international sanctions imposed on a country because of a military coup.

“We are aware of what it means when the Constitution is suspended and the expected goods and services from good governance are un-delivered to the people” the Liberian leader intoned.

Furthering his discussion, President Weah said Liberia understands what it means when such deprivations exacerbate poverty, deepen inequality, and make the political and security situation ripe for civil war.
He said, “Liberia also knows how civil wars can cause massive humanitarian crises that lead to the collapse of the state, the complete break-down of law and order, and forced migration of our citizens to neighboring and other faraway states.”

Recounting the dark days, Weah said that Liberia has experienced and is continuing to experience the enormous economic and social costs of reconstruction and rebuilding of infrastructure and human capital from scratch.
It is based on what President Weah called unfortunate and negative experiences that he said it is understandable that Liberia has taken a strong zero-tolerance stance against military coups d’état in the region, because of the retrogression that they cause.

“We can say, with certainty, that there is no better substitute for good governance than constitutional democracy, no matter how difficult and challenging the circumstances” the Liberian leader said.
Additionally, he said Liberia and Guinea are fraternal neighbors bound by history, geography, culture, and geopolitics, among other factors.

“We share a 320-mile border from the Makona River to the Nimba Mountains. Our people are inter-related in terms of social and linguistic lineages and customs. And we are founding members, including Sierra Leone, now Cote d’Ivoire, of the Mano River Union, that aims to integrate trade and economic development in our sub-region” he added.
As a means of prevention, the Liberia leader said in the meantime his government has already sent troops to various checkpoints along the borders to assist any of Liberian citizens, as well as any of Guineans who may need to cross over to Liberia as a result of the current situation. In the wake of the situation, President Weah called on his colleagues to act and act now.

According to the Liberian leader, based on precedence, and all the facilities at their disposal, they need to send out a clear message about their zero-tolerance for the military coup d’état in Guinea, and to call for the immediate restoration of the Government of Guinea under the constitutionally-elected President and Government.
He said as a way forward, it is important to devise an all-in-one path to the restoration of constitutional democracy in Guinea.

“To accomplish this, I would like to proffer a suggestion that we benefit from lessons learned in Mali so far based on the efforts of the ECOWAS Mediator” President Weah said.
In a related one, on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, members of the House of Representatives invited the Liberia’s heads of Military.

Their discussion was conducted behind closed doors and findings from there were not made public to the Legislative reporters who waited to get an outcome of the meeting with the Military.
Our legislative reporter said after the meeting, members of that body walked out one after the other without disclosing what were discussed.

Our legislative reporter narrated that normally security discussions are not made public, but with the ongoing military takeover in Guinea, legislative reporters were of the thinking that they would have gotten informational as it relates to Liberian Military position on the Guinean coup d’état.

New Republic Liberia

Alphonso Toweh

Has been in the profession for over twenty years. He has worked for many international media outlets  including: West Africa Magazine, Africa Week Magazine, African Observer and  did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Times, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He is the current correspondent for Reuters 
 He holds first  MA with honors in International  Relations and a  candidate for second master in International Peace studies and Conflict  Resolution from the University of Liberia.