Yormie Johnson

Prince Yormie Johnson (born July 6, 1959 ) is a Liberian politician and Senator for Nimba County since 2014 . In this position, he announced his willingness to run as Liberian presidential candidate in 2011.

As a former warlord , Johnson was a key figure in the First Liberian Civil War .

biography

Johnson was born in Nimba County in 1959. In the 1980s he had chosen a military career and served as an officer under the Liberian Brigadier General Thomas Quiwonkpa , at that time the commander of the armed forces of Liberia . Johnson fled into exile with Quiwonkpa in 1983 .

Abroad, Johnson allied himself with the later rebel leader Charles Taylor and joined the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL, German: Nationale Patriotic Front von Liberia ), the armed part of which crossed the Liberian border on December 24, 1989, around the ruling President Samuel Overturn K. Doe . The country was plunged into a first bloody civil war. However, an internal power struggle led to a break with the run of Taylor NPFL, and Johnson responded immediately with the formation of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL, German: Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia ). This led to a division of the rulers, and Johnson acquired the status of a "warlord" there.

Despite military intervention by some West African states of ECOMOG , Johnson managed to penetrate the capital Monrovia, where fierce fighting broke out, in which large parts of the population fled and the infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. On September 9, 1990, Doe was captured by a group led by Yormie Johnson. Johnson was filmed torturing Doe to death. Johnson had Doe cut off both ears and then bleed him to death. Videotapes of Does's torture and execution soon circulated across West Africa.

In this context, Johnson is also charged with multiple war crimes such as the kidnapping and torture of several Firestone executives. With Doe's death, leading Johnson supporters voted to appoint him President of Liberia, but the territories dominated by his rival Taylor refused to approve. In an attempt to consolidate the still weak government of the putschists, Johnson traveled as leader of the INPFL party to a conference in Guinea, where another rival, Amos Sawyer , was elected Liberian interim president in his place. Fearing that this election result in Liberia would lead to another bloody power struggle with the Taylor rebels, Johnson voluntarily went into exile in Nigeria . According to his own account, a period of purification began there for him, and he was reconciled with the Does family. Indeed, the former ally and later rival Charles Taylor prevailed against all adversaries and became Liberian President. But in 1999 a rebellion began from northern Liberia, led by a group called the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).

Johnson did not return to Liberia until March 2004 following the forced resignation of Taylor as president and the installation of a transitional government. Johnson, who still had strong support in his home province, immediately declared his intention to return to politics, despite immediate death threats from the United Liberians for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).

In the 2005 election year, Johnson won a Senate seat representing Nimba County . For a brief period he was the chairman of the Senate Defense Committee. In 2010, he announced his intention to run as a candidate in the 2011 presidential election. He came third in the first ballot with 11.3% and thus did not take part in the next runoff election.

Others

Johnson calls himself Prince Yormie Johnson. "Prince" is not a title, but a common first name for men in Liberia.

See also : List of attacks on the President of Liberia

literature

• Denis Johnson: In Hell: Look into the abyss of the world . Tropenverlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-932170-90-4 , p. 186 .
• George K. Kieh Jr .: The first Liberian civil war: the crisis of underdevelopment . In: Society and politics in Africa . tape 17 . Lang, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8204-8839-4 , pp. 211 .
• Dirk van der Boom: Civil War in Liberia: Chronology - Protagonists - Forecast . In: Studies in Political Science; Department B, research reports and dissertations . tape 80 . Münster / Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-89473-623-2 .