Prince Johnson

But the long wait for accountability has also taken a toll on former combatants who say they were forced into the war.

Here in Nimba County, Victoria Zare was 17 and a virgin in 1990 when she says she was forced to join the rebel faction of the late Senator Prince Johnson.

During the war, she was known as Boki Nabi.

Today, she lives in Bunkley Town, Nimba County.

And they've always been able to fuel a candidate and they have consistently representatives in the legislature.

And then we have the Prince Johnson party, the NUD.

So Prince Johnson party is seen as a party that represents the social memory of the 1980s, the grievances of the 1980s that were mobilized during the period of the Civil War.

So that party is basically organized around the grievances, the ethnic grievances of ethnic Nibayans.

So yes, you have...

There are a few.

And that comes with Ulemo, which I think is in our cope.

That comes with NUDP, the Prince Johnson Political Party, which in a way represents the ethnic reconfiguration or the reconfiguration or it's a party that represents the aspirations of Nibali and post-war Liberia.

You know, now that you mention it, I remember, yeah, because you're absolutely right.

We had just finished up that summer in Philadelphia Freedom Schools, looking at the conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Prince Johnson, that whole conflict.

So I'm sure she was thinking about her family in Sierra Leone and then it hits here.

My goodness.

Now, what is the downside, assuming that Liberia doesn't get the court approved be- between now and December when it takes, um, the seat, uh, of the presidency of the UN General Assembly, would that be classified as a missed opportunity?

Well, I think it would be more than a missed opportunity because what we have done since the TRC report was released, and in spite of all of the ups and downs, we've consistently raised the expectation and over the last four years, the expectations has peaked, especially with the f- the first time you have a president, the third president after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah, and then you have Boakai, who is giving assurances to Liberian that the court will be established and we will be able to address these grievances and finally come to terms with it.

You don't want to raise the expectations of people and, and, and let them down.

I think it has a lot of security risk because we have a youthful population.

So Liberia became a preoccupation, uh, by the politics in Washington in London and different parts of the West.

So there were mutual interest in, in showing out places such as Liberia and Sierra Leone became stable, and that the informal economy that, uh, different actors had access to in terms of diamonds, that economy would brought on a much better scrutiny and, and monitoring.

After Taylor left, there was a transitional government led by Gyude Bryant, then Ellen Johnson Sirleaf came to power, the first woman president of Liberia in Africa.

Um, many expected a lot to be done, but in her own view, yes, of course, she didn't succeed on in fighting corruption, also on, on reconciling the country.

In Chastela's group, there was another group.

And that group was led by a man called Prince Johnson.

Brother Prince, he said, yes, yes, yes, farm, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

And then he got enough people that obtained him, every child stealer group in him.

He got a following and then him and his followers, who were originally part of child stealer group, they drifted from child stealer group.

Because they were like, ah, so why should we follow you to go and overthrow Sambodo and become president? When we meet Prince Johnson, Prince Johnson and his people also left the group and then they went to form another group and they started capturing the other parts of Liberia.

So Charles Taylor's group was growing.

Now Prince Johnson's group was also growing.