-    An arms embargo

-     A ban on diamond sales from Liberia

-         A travel ban on Liberia's leaders

Let us see how each of these sanctions is affecting the ordinary Liberians by looking at each one independently.

 Arms Embargo

This is meant to stop the flow of arms and ammunition from entering the territorial boundaries of the Republic of Liberia. Looking at the geography of Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had no port of entry along the Atlantic Ocean or known airstrip within its area of control to bring in large quantity of arms and military hardware to sustain its activities. Guinea and Liberia are the only two countries bordering Sierra Leone. Moreover, Guinea has committed hundreds of its soldiers to ECOWAS Peacekeeping Force for that country and thus, it would be inconceivable to think that the Guineans would supply the RUF to kill her own peacekeepers. However, one cannot rule out the possibility that there may be some unscrupulous Guinean Army officers or even ECOWAS Peacekeeping Officers that may have sold some weapons clandestinely to the RUF for diamonds. Upon that fact, we can rule Guinea out as being the source of the bulk of RUF supplies.

Next, we look at our country Liberia involvement. Charles Taylors National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) trained the RUF in Liberia and used our territory as the launching pad for the terror in Sierra Leone. Authorities in the Guinean capital, Conakry, are still fuming over the unprecedented capture and destruction of the key South Western city of Gueckedou and other surrounding villages by Guinean rebels (Allied Democratic Forces of Guinea), who they say organized and launched their assault from Liberia. These are 

serious allegations that have been substantiated by the U N Sanctions Committee. Hence, one can clearly see that Liberia has been fuelling the war in the sub region and in order to stop the war from spreading into other countries, arms must be stopped from entering Liberia. Liberia is today like a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy (U.N. Sanctions) so as to stop the spread of its virulent disease (wars, refugees and poverty).

It is however unfortunate that the arms embargo has stopped the government from decisively dealing with another bunch of criminals named and styled the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). I condemn in the strongest terms the activities of LURD, but it is the government who brought this calamity upon itself by not fully complying with the Abuja Accord that usher it into existence. I maintain that the electoral process is the only legitimate means for the people of Liberia to change any form of leadership. The President of Liberia, Charles Taylor is notorious for being unreliable especially in signing Accords and changing his mind later and in fact he regards himself as the most mischievous person in the country. I recall the Geneva Accord in which he said was not the Holy Bible and that only the Bible could not be altered. The International Community has dealt with our President in uncountable conferences where he has shown his unreliability. Thus, this time around, every effort is being exerted to ensure that total peace return to Sierra Leone before lifting the embargo. The amount of resources put into Sierra Leone is too much to see it flop at the end and I personally dont blame the UN for keeping the screws tight on Liberia especially on the arms because it is its highest ever funded operation (1 July 2001-30 June 2002: $717.6 million) that would lay the framework for its future peace keeping missions.

Again I dont see why Liberians are alarmed about this arms embargo when recent news reports quotes President Taylor as saying We are not close to being defeated. Anyone coming to Monrovia would meet the stiffest resistance from government forces. We say in Liberia that a dog trusts its buttock before it swallows a bone or another adage would say when a blind man says he will stone you with rock, implies the rock is already in his hands. The President surely knows what he is depending on to make such remarks. I honestly believe that the cry for lifting the arms embargo is not to quell the domestic rebellion, but a greater plan he has conceived to destabilize the entire West African sub-region.

Ban on Diamond sale from Liberia

A U.N.-appointed panel in December 2000 alleged Liberia had provided the rebels with weapons, training, logistical support, a staging ground for attacks and a safe haven for retreat, violating U.N. sanctions "with impunity." The panel's report said the volume of diamonds Liberia smuggled from Sierra Leone ranged from $25 million to as much as $125 million a year, more than enough to sustain the RUF. The panel also established that Liberias official export of diamonds in 1999 were valued at $900,000.00 and experts in Belgium and United Kingdom believes that Liberias true artisan and commercial production is between $10 million to $15 million per year.

There is a clear disparity in the figures above and it is only prudent to have a proper check and balance system (Certificate of Origin) be set up so as to put a control on conflict diamonds and thus, peace in diamond producing regions will bring about the potential for economic development and tax revenue for building infrastructure as legitimate mining ventures increase.

Many of those that were engaged in the diamond business affected by the embargo shifted to artisan gold production and figures from the alluvial gold export showed an increase in production from 5.36 ounces ($1317.93) in October 2001 to 192.90 ounces ($41,642.19) in January 2002. (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/Liberia2/470e.pdf)

Diamonds sale have never been a major component in Liberias export trade. Before the civil war, many Liberians knew less about the diamond trade. This business was predominantly in the hands of the Madingo tribe. The statistics are not readily available, but I dont see how the ban on sale of rough diamonds would affect the economy of Liberia when there are many other resources available to the government like alluvial gold, rubber, logs, iron ore and the maritime funds. Revenue is generated from domestic taxes also.

A travel ban on Liberia's leaders

The local media in Liberia has exposed the crux behind the noise of travel ban on the corrupt Liberian government officials. It is established that the idea of making trips in the name of government is to get foreign exchange or per diem and most officials dont make any notable contributions to these conferences in the interest of the country. An allafrica.com story Lawmakers in Emergency Session Today quotes disgruntled Legislators as saying that as a result of  "one-sided" selection by the Executive branch of Government, those that are being designated to serve the interest of the citizens have failed to bring peace to the nation despite huge per diem they continue to receive.

The Patriot Newspaper also mentioned the corrupt practices by officials in an interview with a Traditional Council Chief at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Paramount Chief Jallah Lone who called on government to stop dispatching cabinet ministers abroad, especially to the United States of America for building the image of Liberia, because those trips have not yielded any good and fruitful results. Instead, Chief Jallah Lone proposes that President Taylor give traditional chiefs and elders the opportunity. He further observed that despite the huge spending of funds to facilitate the travel of cabinet ministers abroad, especially to USA to meet with US government, there has been no improvement in Liberia /America relations.

Since most of the senior officials of government have been grounded by the sanctions, there should be tremendous sum of money being saved from the lack of travel. Where does this extra money that is listed as travel expenditure go?

 One of the chief financial policy makers of the country in person of the Minister of Finance was asked by the Executive Chronicles Newspaper: The sanctions are directed at diamonds and arms. Why is it that prices of basic commodities, including gasoline, are skyrocketing? His response was: 

Minister Barnes: That's a good question. The answer to that is basically two-fold.
The psychological impact associated with the stigma of sanctions cause people to anticipate several economic movements including the increase in prices. Such anticipations can actually drive up the prices of certain basic commodities by some business opportunists.
The second issue is the potential for people to try to take advantage of the crisis. There is an adage that, in chaos there is opportunity. So, initially there was an attempt by some business people to take advantage of the situation by escalating prices, but I'm proud to say that the Ministry of Commerce, along with the Central Bank, has worked very, very diligently to control that particular behaviour, and we have begun to see some better control of pricing that is not directly impacted by these particular sanctions. (Sic)

It is seen here that the problem does not lie on the shoulders of the UN but rather on the inability of these corrupt officials to apply the organic laws of Liberia. The people who take advantage of the situation are mostly the Lebanese traders simply because they have our beggarly Officials in their pockets. Many government officials dont have the guts to stand before the Lebanese trader to enforce the laws because it would mean that he/she would not get his usual Saturday (Liberian slang for money and gifts given to officials under the table or bribes). Also, the time taken to write cheap propaganda on the Internet and in the local media in Liberia should be used to educate the people on the potential psychological effects of the sanction rather than shifting blame on the UN.

It is clear that many of these officials dont have Liberia at heart and are merely sycophants that want to make a very fast break on their gold mine (Liberia). Checking their credentials, one finds that majority are placed in position of trust that they know absolutely nothing about. Pray tell me, how do you expect to have any meaningful policy coming from the various entities of government when the bosses dont have the slightest idea as to the modus operandi of his entity (A good example being a Mass Communication Instructor being sent to make Transportation policies). Such situation reminds me of the story where in the boss knew nothing about engineering and he asked his subordinates to prepare a list of materials needed for a road rehabilitation project. The engineer put on the cost estimate the following road clearing equipment: Bull Dozer (D-9) Caterpillar and a Dozer Bull (D-13). The boss didnt have the slightest idea what had been written and he signed the estimate. He didnt know there exists no Dozer Bull and the extra money was pocketed by the engineer.

 I conclude by maintaining that the sanctions are just and that our officials lack the vision to adequately solve the problems of Liberia. Shifting the blame on the UN for government failure to provide basic services is absolutely preposterous. I again admonish the leadership in Monrovia to put into place proper and sound fiscal management so that the resources benefit the entire populace and not a privileged few. Liberia should not be seen as a very poor country as we are very blessed to have lots of natural resources. Even though we elected this government in 1997, but current state of affairs indicates it is unable to carry Liberia from War to Peace. Thus, the solution is to simply leave our thing alone and resign! This is not a matter to be ashamed of. When you are not capable of toting a weight, simply put it down. In our own Liberian way, Dont eat crab with shame yah. Since you nah able this thing, leave it my son. Small shame better than big shame! A hint to the wise is quite sufficient.