By 2003, Charles Taylor was running out of options.
Rebel forces were advancing on Monrovia. His standing across West Africa had collapsed. An indictment from the Special Court for Sierra Leone was hanging over him. And inside Liberia, a remarkable movement of women was demanding an end to the war.
In this episode, Aaron Weah remembers those final months from inside Monrovia – including waking up to 78 missed calls to discover that LURD rebels had crossed the bridge and he was effectively behind their lines. His response was to flee through the fighting carrying one possession he wasn’t prepared to abandon: his guitar.
Aaron and Gerry also discuss the international pressure building around Taylor, the Liberian women’s peace movement and its cultural significance, the Accra negotiations, and Taylor’s eventual departure for exile in Nigeria.
Finally, they ask what became of the armed factions that had dominated more than a decade of Liberian history – and how some of their political and ethnic constituencies survived the transition from war to peace.
In this episode:
* LURD’s advance into Monrovia
* Aaron behind rebel lines – with his guitar
* The international isolation of Charles Taylor
* The Special Court for Sierra Leone indictment
* Liberia’s women’s peace movement
* Taylor’s departure for Nigeria in August 2003
* ECOMIL, UNMIL and the beginning of Liberia’s transition
* What happened to Liberia’s wartime factions?
Liberia: Remembering the Future is presented by Gerry Naughton and Dr Aaron Weah.
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In the next episode, we’ll turn our attention to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the woman who became Africa’s first elected female president. We are Aaron Weah and Gerry Naughton. Thanks for listening.
You can find Liberia Remembering the Future on Substack and wherever you get your podcasts. Search for Liberia Remembering the Future to hear the whole series.
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