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Liberia's future looks hazy

Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/15/2005

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has claimed victory in Liberia's first presidential elections since the end of 14 years of civil war two years ago and if confirmed, she will be Africa's first elected female president.

Mrs Johnson - Sirleaf told the BBC’s World Today programme that she was humbled by the fact that the Liberian people have elected her to lead the Nation.

But to her dismay, her rival, George Weah, says there has been fraud and furthermore stated that she shouldn't claim victory while the Supreme Court is investigating his complaint.

Mr Weah accuses election commission officials of illegally casting ballots in favor of Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf.

With the final result pending, as The National Elections Commission has two weeks to officially announce the results after they come in from remote areas of Liberia, the focus is already shifting to the challenges ahead.

Will peace last? Years of civil war in Liberia have for now come to an end. If it sticks even after this election then that would be a rare blessing to a place that has had suffered from more than 150 years of chronic bad governance, corruption, ethnic exploitation since it was set up as a home for freed American slaves.

May be, it will because the Liberian’s are tired of war and the peace will allow them to jointly build the country they have ruined. So Liberia’s step forward, small on paper, may for long prove larger in practice, if they all unite and march ahead with a resolute heart.

But for that to happen, Mr. Weah, however, increasingly has to play a delicate balancing act between ex-combatants, former warlords, who along with his other supporters are protesting against the election fraud, and the women and the educated elites, the majority of the Ellen’s supporters, who are celebrating the victory.

Mr. Weah has called on his supporters to react peacefully to news of his defeat but some Mr. Weah's supporters broke through a line of Liberian riot police trying to hold them back from the embassy, Reuter’s news agency reports.

The clash that happened despite Mr Weah's earlier appeal to supporters "not, in the name of peace, to go on the streets raises some eyebrows about the country’s future most probably because The Weah camp, which is supported by most of the 100,000 ex-combatants from Liberia's 14-year civil war, who were supposed to have handed in their weapons to a UN-backed programme have hidden a few weapons, and this is an open secret.

Meanwhile, observers declared the vote "peaceful and transparent". But a senior diplomat following the election closely said he thought there had been some irregularities but that these would not influence the final outcome, according to the BBC.

In the meantime, most of the onlookers are asking, the guns may be silent but for how long. This question is in back of every mind as some of the Weah’s supporters are very angry about the result. But since Mrs. Ellen has high hopes of Mr. Weah joining her new government in the future, no one should doubt her goals.

One thing is sure. No one wants violence in Liberia. This is the time for every Liberians to unite and move ahead instead of moving backward in the name of deception. Liberia needs to do loads of things together and move shoulder to shoulder with other African nations in making progress.

There are many national diseases in Liberia and any government taking over should try to cure if Liberia is to stay on course and keep the confidence of its friends in the international community. Roads, schools, sanitation, electricity and hospitals all need to be rebuilt but Despite these challenges, there is an air of optimism that Liberia is finally on the road to peace.

Peace must prevail in Liberia at any cost. If peace continues to hold in Liberia, much of West Africa will be able to breath more easily as the fighting in Liberia has also spread to Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Guinea. If fighting resumes, however, there is the danger it could once more spread.