Scott G. Toweh for President Campaign &

Liberians United To Elect Scott Gblorzuo Toweh President October 2005 (LUTEST)

 

Press Release

 January 4, 2005

The purpose of this statement is to respond to claims by Mr. Harrison Karnwea, Superintendent of Nimba County, reported in the Analyst Newspaper, that Nimbaians were responsible for the Liberian Civil War and the destabilization of the West African Sub-region (Nimba Claims Responsibility of War).

The Scott G. Toweh for President Campaign considers Mr. Karnwea’s remarks as far from the truth, ill-advised, and not helpful to attempts by courageous Liberians working together to heal the nation.  Superintendent Karnwea is yet to explain the link between Nimbaians’ responsibility for the Liberian Civil War and the deaths of Jackson F. Doe and other prominent Nimbaians including General John Flomo, David Dwanyen, David Toweh, Judge Alfred Flomo, Cllr. Patrick Biddle, Stephen Daniels, Cooper Teah, Moses Duopu, etc.  The truth is that Nimbaians were not responsible for the Liberian Civil War. 

On April 17, 2003, the Manos, Krahns, Mandingoes, and Dans of Grand Gedeh and Nimba Counties residing in the Americas issued a joint statement appealing to Nimbaians and Grand Gedeans in Liberia and elsewhere in the West African Sub-region to work together in search of a peaceful resolution to the Liberian conflict (Liberians Urged not Repeat the Mistakes of the 1980s and 90s).  In that statement, the curtain was lifted and the people truly responsible for the Liberian Civil War were exposed. 

As the joint statement indicated, the Liberian Civil War, which began on December 24, 1989, “was not an isolated event but the highpoint of a carefully planned conspiracy.”  Those responsible for starting the Liberian Civil War, some of whom are campaigning to become President of Liberia, went beyond creating division among the indigenous population—the most successful strategy for maintaining political power since the founding of the nation.  They paid cash from their own pockets to launch their evil enterprise.  Not only are there records but also there are living witnesses to the truths of their acts of terror and treason. 

Furthermore, the joint statement put the conspirators responsible for the Liberian Civil War on notice that, “we have seen through their scheme and that we are working to free” the Liberian people from “the web of mutual suspicions and animosity” brought about by the Civil War. 

Today, in similar vein, the Scott G. Toweh for President Campaign wants to remind the people of Liberia that Nimba County Superintendent Harrison Karnwea’s statement that Nimbaians were responsible for the Liberian Civil War and the destabilization of the West African Sub-region is a part of a grand scheme by the same conspirators. 

Again, they are using “the natives to do their dirty work” as they did at the beginning of the Liberian Civil War.  This time, their goal is to paint Nimbaians with a bad brush and, in effect, neutralize any presidential aspirant from Nimba County.

Indeed the actions of these conspirators do not excuse those of individuals from Nimba and all counties in Liberia that caused harm and destruction during the Civil War.  For this reason, the Scott G. Toweh for President Campaign calls for a path toward national reconciliation, healing, and national unity footed on the truth.  In doing so, the campaign hastens to remind the people of Liberia about those who count on dividing the natives and using them again to do their dirty work in order to secure power.   

To allow the first stroke of the brush of untruths to tar Nimbaians is to pre-qualify the conspirators for the leadership of Liberia because no county or indigenous population will be spared in this scheme to resurrect their age-old ideology that “countryman cannot govern.”  The only difference between this scheme and the one upon which they launched the Civil War is that, now, there are no AK-47s.  However, the effect and the goal, respectively, to destroy indigenous unity and secure power, are the same. 

To conclude, the difficult issues surrounding reconciliation in Nimba County are an in-house matter.  They require time, caution, and substantive consultations involving legitimate aggrieved parties to resolve.  In this respect, the people of Nimba County should not and will not allow these conspirators as well as strangers to use these sensitive issues that matter to real people to be a circus for scoring political points. 

The Scott G. Toweh for President Campaign calls on all Liberians to join hands in a spirit of understanding and cooperation to strengthen peace and end the suffering of the Liberian people.

God bless Liberia.