``History will be kind to
me………..’’These are the words of Liberia’s former strongman, Charles Taylor, as
he publicly announced his resignation in the country’s capital Monrovia, in
2003, after a 17-year at the helm of Liberia. Never did he think that he would
be forced to eat the humble pie and pay for the atrocities that he had abetted
and aided, in neighboring Sierra Leone.
These words must have reverberated afresh in Taylor’s mind
on Thursday, as the International Criminal Court finally convicted him for
crimes against humanity, committed in Sierra Leone. He had been found guilty of 11 counts of following
his indictment in 2003, the war-lord turned president was finally found guilty
of abetting and aiding crimes against humanity in Sierra- Leone’s 11-year old
war, which ended in 2002. Following the conviction for war crimes and crimes
against humanity, the former president is now staring at long-term
imprisonment, in the face. Indeed a bitter pill to swallow for a man who not
long ago was enjoying the trappings of power. From the powerful president to a
man who has been humbled by the patience of time, Taylor must curse the very
power that he had fought so hard to attain.
Power and greed choked him and he aided the Armed Forces
Revolutionary Council and Revolutionary United Front, rebel factions, in return
for the infamous blood diamonds. This decade-long civil war was one of the
deadliest in Africa. From the kidnapping of innocent children, who were then drugged
and turned into merciless killers, to
the chilling episodes of innocent civilians having their hands chopped off. The
rebels had chilling trademarks for these gruesome mutilations such as
short-sleeve and long-sleeve, depending on where victims would prefer to lose
their hands from, either above or below the elbow. Yet to Taylor, the bloody
diamonds gave him satisfaction at the expense of the untold suffering that the
people of Sierra Leone underwent. A war that left more than 50,000 people dead
and eleven years down the line, Sierra Leone is still struggling to rebuild.
It is now a matter of when not if, Taylor will be jailed.
This must give sleepless nights to other tyrants who are obsessed with power,
especially in Africa. Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, Congolese
warlord Thomas lubanga among many others awaiting their fate at The Hague based
court. Our very own Deputy Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North
legislator William Ruto, former head of Civil service Amb. Francis Muthaura and radio presenter,
Joshua arap Sang, are also waiting in baited breath to find out whether they
will go the Taylor way or not.
Taylor’s conviction and possible lengthy imprisonment is a
just the bitter reality that the untouchables under whose watch, crimes of war
and against humanity have been committed, must wake up and accept.
The fact that the former Liberian president is the first
head of state to be convicted by The Hague based court must have send ripples
across the class of tyrants the world over, who had thought that law could not
catch up with them. The wheels of justice have finally ground in on one of the
most powerful presidents, in Africa. The calibre of leaders who have overseen
some of the deadliest conflicts the world has ever witnessed. Sudan’s Omar El
Bashir can cling onto the presidency for as long as he likes, Joseph Kony of
the Lord’s Resistance Army, in Uganda can hide deeper in the dense forests of
Congo, but their date at The Hague is drawing near, with each passing day. There
time is up and no matter how long they may be on the run, the wheels of justice
will one day catch up with them; Taylor and Lubanga can now attest to this
stark reality.
Just as the victims of Sierra Leone bask in the glory of Taylor’s
conviction, many more that were voiceless will finally get the long awaited
justice, that had appeared elusive and a pipe dream for years.
Unlike his famous statement that history will be kind to
him, it has judged him harshly.
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