November 12 1985 Actors Whisper

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 made it 39 years since some of the major military and political actors in our country’s checkered history released another blockbuster – an attempt to topple the military junta on November 12, 1985.

By Ledgerhood Julius Rennie, contributing writer

 The military junta was, at the time, preparing to dress in mufti and portray itself as the democratically elected government. A few weeks earlier, on October 15, 1985, the country had only just voted in a Legislative and Presidential Election to choose members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as a civilian Head of State. The previous elections of that sort were held 10 years earlier in 1975.  The 1985 Poll was to replace the Presidential- appointed 58-member Interim National Assembly after July’s referendum that approved the draft constitution and election of a civilian Head of State. The referendum set the stage for the dissolution of the People’s Redemption Council that vested itself with the presidential and legislative authority of the country when some enlisted men of the army. led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe engineered a successful deadly military coup d’état on April 12, 1980.

Widely called “November 12” by most Liberians who lived through the day and the various strands of harrowing events that followed the failed coup over the days, months and succeeding years know all too well, that it prepared the setting for the December 24, 1989 “thriller” – the country’s protracted devastating fratricidal civil war that lasted a decade and a half.

The horrific lessons of “November 12” after almost four decades are still fresh in our national psychic and ridiculously regrettably ingrained in our national political and social spheres to date. Shamefully and despicably, we seem to be okay with the negatives – tribal politics and sectionalism; exclusion and the crisis of identity; massive corruption, personal greed, and aggrandizement, as well as injustice and inequality.   These vices are creepingly and scaringly becoming the new norm.

Although we have shown glimpses of turning the dark pages of our history into positive light, with silencing the guns and stopping the bestial attacks on our fellow compatriots with whom we socially and politically disagree, at least to some measured degree, and with a little economic and infrastructural boom, the political and social undesirables are clear with flashing indicators that we are still in the dark woods haunted by our own demons.

Lest we think that by holding two successive elections to determine the political leaders of the country is in themselves sufficient panacea for addressing the deep-seated vices that continue to hold us down. In fact, I would argue further that the people’s exercise of their democratic franchise continues to be abused and misused, often dashing the hopes of the down-trodden and impoverished majority.

So, when will we stop to think, take stock, and chart a new political and social order? Interestingly, I have had the privileged opportunity, as a journalist to be in company of a few major political and military actors of “November 12” that providence has blessed us with their presence after 39 years. One occurring theme or refrain you hear is that “if I were to do it again, it would be done differently” each would retort when asked about their political and social actions of yesteryears. And I dare say it is an honest admission of a sort of wrongdoing that is honorably made in hindsight.  Albeit it is our past and our history now, and there is some sort of remorse and regret, regardless of what it has cost the country. What happened over the years was unfortunate, to say the least. However, we, who are actors of today’s Liberia, must not thread that path.

We should rather learn from the horrifying lessons that “November 12” and its offshoots left us with. Our current political, civil and other leaders and actors could use these horrifying antecedents to gauge their political and social actions and policies, as well as governance and leadership strategies and approaches adopted to veer the country away from the ruins of our past. We must remember the saying- “if a society fails to learn from the lessons of its past, it is likely to repeat the same mistakes,” potentially leading to its downfall or significant problems in the future”.

Regrettably, it would seem the very little lessons have been learnt, and the major actors of “November 12” are miffed about what we the current generation of leaders are doing with our country. We are now toying with a curing peace, exploiting ethnic cleavages, stoking sectionalism, enriching ourselves at the expense of the poor majority, flouting the law, and gambling with the politics of exclusion. The November 12 actors are whispering daily from the respective retirement settlements, and I would even venture to say even from the “great beyond” where most have already travelled, that we should rather be taking advantage of the vast opportunities that the world now offers through globalization backed by Information Technology to catapult our country and people to where we should be, while using our God given natural resources and enormous human talents and expertise.

As I end this piece, let me say in plain words my thoughts on the impasse at the House of Representatives. First, what is obtaining is simply “out of order”. I say “out of order” because there is no order. The people’s deputies are no longer in order to conduct the people’s business in an orderly manner. This has now brought shame to our country, and it’s time to stop! You, Honorable Men and Women, must return to session. Follow the law and use your rules.  Otherwise, find a political compromise that will ensure that all sides win!! Yes, it can be done!

The author is the most recent Minister of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism and an adjunct lecturer of journalism.

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