| Samuel Kanyon Doe | |
 |
|
|
21st President of Liberia
|
|
|---|---|
| In office January 6, 1986 – September 9, 1990 |
|
| Vice President | Harry F. Moniba |
| Preceded by | William R. Tolbert, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Charles G. Taylor |
|
|
|
| Born | May 6, 1951 Tuzon, Liberia |
| Died | September 9, 1990 (aged 39) Monrovia |
| Political party | National Democratic |
Samuel Kanyon Doe (May 6, 1951 – September 9, 1990) was the 21st President of Liberia from 1980 to 1990. His regime was characterized by ethnically-based dictatorship and the suppression of political opposition.
Doe was an ethnic Krahn, part of a rural tribe in inland Liberia. The Krahn were part of the large majority of the Liberian population that was of native African descent, which had long been repressed and suppressed by the Americo-Liberian elites, who were descended from free-born and formerly enslaved blacks from America who founded Liberia in 1847.
Under Doe, Liberian ports were opened to Canadian, Chinese and European ships, which brought in considerable foreign investment from foreign shipping firms and earned Liberia a reputation as a tax haven.
Doe attempted to legitimize his regime with a new constitution in 1984 and elections in 1985. However, opposition to his rule only increased, especially after the 1985 elections which were declared to be fraudulent by the U.S. and other foreign observers. In the late 1980s, as fiscal austerity took hold in the United States and the threat of Communism declined with the waning of the Cold War, the U.S. became disenchanted with entrenched corruption in Doe's government and began cutting off critical foreign aid to Doe. This, combined with the popular anger generated by Doe's favoritism toward his native Krahn tribe, placed him in a very precarious position.
A civil war began in December 1989, when rebels intent on toppling Doe entered Liberia. Doe's forces were defeated, and in September 1990 he was captured, tortured, and killed.
Contents |
On April 12, 1980, Doe led a military coup, killing President William R. Tolbert, Jr. in the Executive Mansion. Many claim that Doe and some of his men disemboweled President Tolbert in his bed while he slept. Twenty-six of Tolbert's supporters were also killed in the fighting. Thirteen members of the Cabinet were publicly executed ten days later. Hundreds of government workers fled the country, while others were imprisoned.
The early days of the regime were marked by mass executions of members of Tolbert's deposed government. One of Doe's first acts after seizing power was to order the release of about 50 leaders of the opposition Progressive People's Party who had been jailed by Tolbert during the rice riots of the previous month. Shortly after that, Doe ordered the arrest of 91 officials of the Tolbert regime. Within days, eleven former members of Tolbert's cabinet, including Tolbert's brother Frank, were brought to trial to answer charges of "high treason, rampant corruption and gross violation of human rights."[1]
Thus ended 133 years of Americo-Liberian political domination. This coup marked the first time since Liberia's establishment as a country that it was governed by people of native African descent instead of the Americo-Liberian elite. Many people welcomed Doe's takeover as a shift favoring the majority of the population that had been excluded from power since the establishment of the country. However, the new government, led by the leaders of the coup d'état and calling itself the People's Redemption Council (PRC), lacked experience and was ill prepared to rule. Doe became head of state and suspended the constitution, but promised a return to civilian rule by 1985.
In August 2008, before a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Monrovia, Former Justice Minister under Samuel Doe, Cllr. Chea Cheapoo alleged the American CIA had provided the map of the Executive Mansion, enabling the rebels to break into it; that it was a white American CIA agent who shot and killed Tolbert; and that the Americans ‘were responsible for Liberia’s nightmare.’[2] However, the next day, before the same TRC, another former Minister of Samuel Doe, Dr. Boima Fahnbulleh, testified that ‘the Americans did not support the coup led by Mr. Doe.’[3]
The mystery of the 1980 coup is clouded in the "Unknown Soldier".[citation needed] It is reported that the "Unknown soldier" was one of the "white" mercenaries who staged the 1980 military take over of the century-long one party state.[citation needed] According to Mrs. Victoria Tolbert in her book, wife of the slain President William R. Tolbert, she saw a masked man with a "white" hand stabbing her late husband.[citation needed]
The weeks leading up to the coup are I believe key to understanding the possibility of external involvement. Gabriel Baccus Matthews was imprisoned. He had been arrested for advocating a multi-party, democratic politcal system. His arrest followed a political rally in Monrovia; the anniversary of which was approaching. My husband worked for a President owned organisation, Mesurado. The then chief of police came to us and delivered guns for protection during the assumed riot that might take place if "measures were not taken". The measure taken was to create a public holiday, shut the schools and close the markets. During the afternoon of the "Bank Holiday", we and many others went to the beach, to the east of Monrovia - the weather was good the skies were clear. A plane approached the coastline from the sea, very low. It was a British plane. It was clearly flying at an extroidinarily low height. People on the beach hit the groud it was so low - it turned toward Monrovia and men tumbled out, without parachutes. My husband took the numbers and indeed later asked the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington what a British plane (numbers not remembered, many apologies) was doing in an area less than 12 hours before a military coup. Many people left the beach to go to their homes. Talk was that it was going to be more than a riot in town. We lived very close to the presidential palace. We went for supper at a close neighbour's house and walking home, carrying sleeping children we heard the shots. The shots came from the direction of the Presidential palace. I still have the radio tapes of the days following the coup. It is clear that it was chaotic. Radio presenters who were on duty at the time of the coup were kept virtual prisoners and made to broadcast for more than 24 hours. The following days were frightening. We were lucky. The Firestone compound within a few hundred metres of our house was been attacked by soldiers. Women were raped, men were beaten. President Tolbert's physician lived opposite us. He was dragged out by soldiers and beaten in the street. He was taken away and we didn't see him again. Carmenia Pierre Doe, a prominent figure of the Tolbert family also lived in our road. Gunfights around the large mansion were frequent during the immediate days after the coup. We wer remarkably lucky. I believe there were external forces working to support a coup, well planned but something went badly wrong. I believe that Samuel K Doe killed the man who was the "chosen" new leader. This was the "word on the block" in the weeks that followed the coup. Lord Carrington's reply was interesting: He believed we were mistaken about the plane and the associated numbers.
During his first years in office, Doe quickly re-established diplomatic relations with the United States.[4] He openly supported U.S. Cold War foreign policy in Africa during the 1980s, severing diplomatic relations with Libya and the Soviet Union).
The United States valued Liberia as an important ally in the Cold War ally, helping to contain the spread of Soviet influence in Africa. As part of the expanding relationship, Doe agreed to a modification of the mutual defense pact granting staging rights on 24-hour notice at Liberia's sea and airports for the U.S. Rapid Deployment Forces, which were established to respond swiftly to security threats around the world.
Soon after the coup, there were internal rifts, and Doe began to systematically eliminate Council members who challenged his authority. Paranoid about the possibility of a counter-coup, Doe began to favor people of his own ethnic background, the Krahns, placing them in key positions. Meanwhile, the economy deteriorated precipitously and popular support for Doe's government soon evaporated.
In August 1981, Thomas Weh Syen, who opposed moves by Doe that were perceived as pro-American, was arrested, along with four other members of the People's Redemption Council, for allegedly plotting to assassinate Doe; the alleged conspirators were executed a few days later. Despite two coup attempts in 1981, the government declared an amnesty for all political prisoners and exiles. Forty political prisoners were released in September of that year, and another twenty were released in December.
At the same time as the modification of the defense pact with the U.S. (see #Relations with the United States), Doe's government grew increasingly corrupt and repressive, banning political opposition and shutting down newspapers. Human rights violations were frequent. A portion of U.S. aid was suspected of landing in Doe's own pocket.
After tolerating a relatively free press immediately following the coup, the regime began to react more defensively, banning some editions of newspapers and jailing reporters. In early 1984, the government shut down the leading daily, The Observer, edited by Kenneth Best, one of Africa's best known journalists. The PRC also used a ban on political activity, enacted in the aftermath of the coup, to crack down on critics. Even after the ban was lifted at the time of the referendum, the authorities refused to let students engage in political activities.
A draft constitution providing for a multiparty republic was issued in 1983 and approved by referendum in 1984. On July 26, 1984 he was elected President of the Interim National Assembly [5]. Doe had a new constitution approved by referendum in 1984 and went on to stage a presidential election on October 15, 1985, giving himself 51% of the vote. The election was heavily rigged, as he took the ballots to a secret location and had 50 of his own handpicked staff count them, and prior to the election he had murdered more than 50 of his opponents. It is also thought that Doe changed his official birthdate from 1951 to 1950 in order to meet the new constitution's requirement that the president be at least 35 years old. Thomas Quiwonkpa, who had been a leader of the 1980 coup along with Doe, attempted to seize power on November 12; the attempt failed after fighting in Monrovia and Quiwonkpa was killed. Doe was formally sworn in on January 6, 1986.
In the elections of 15 October 1985, nine political parties sought to challenge Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), but only three were allowed to take part. Doe was elected with 51% of the vote, and the NDPL won 21 of the 26 Senate seats and 51 of the 64 seats in the House of Representatives. Foreign observers declared the elections fraudulent, and most of the elected opposition candidates refused to take their seats.
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker testified before Congress that the election was imperfect but that at least it was a movement toward democracy.[citation needed] He further justified his statement with the claim that, in any case, all African elections were known to be rigged at that time.[citation needed]
Doe's corrupt government became more repressive, shutting down newspapers and banning political activity. The government's mistreatment of certain ethnic groups, particularly the Gio (or Dan) and the Mano in the north, resulted in divisions and violence among indigenous populations who until then had coexisted relatively peacefully.
In November 1985, military leader Thomas Quiwonkpa and an estimated 500 to 600 people died in an unsuccessful coup attempt—the seventh since Doe took power. Doe then initiated crackdowns against rival tribes such as the Gios and Mano, where most of the coup plotters came from and where opposition to Doe was already widespread.
Charles Taylor, a former ally of Doe's, crossed into Liberia from Côte d'Ivoire on December 24, 1989 to fight a guerrilla war against him. Taylor had broken out of a United States jail after Doe had accused him of embezzlement. By mid-1990, most of Liberia was controlled by rebel factions. Doe was captured in Monrovia by faction leader Prince Y. Johnson on September 9, 1990 and tortured before being killed. The spectacle was videotaped and seen on news reports around the world. The video shows Johnson sipping a Budweiser as Doe's ear is cut off.[6][7]
| Preceded by William R. Tolbert, Jr. |
Head of People's Redemption Council 1980–1986 President of Liberia 1986–1990 |
Succeeded by Dr. Amos Sawyer |
| Preceded by none |
President of the Interim National Assembly 1984–1985 |
Succeeded by none |
|
|||||||
   | Meeting the hard man of Liberia - BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Meeting the hard man of Liberia |
| | Scare Tactics - Liberia's cross-dressing soldiers. - By Mark Scheffler - Slate Magazine |
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
