The Politics of Liberia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic modeled on the government of the United States, whereby the President is the head of state and head of government; unlike the United States, however, Liberia is a unitary state as opposed to a federation and has a pluriform multi-party system rather than the two-party system that characterizes US politics. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the legislature.
Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician and former warlord who has served as a senator for Nimba County since 2006. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent role in the First Liberian Civil War.
Foday Saybana Sankoh was the founder of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which was supported by Charles Taylor-led NPFL in the 11-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. An estimated 50,000 people were killed during the war, and over 500,000 people were displaced in neighboring countries.
Monie Ralph Captan is the former foreign minister of Liberia from 1996 until 2003, former of Presidential Affairs 1996. During most of that time he served under President Charles Taylor. Captan's mother was a native of Liberia and his father was Lebanese. Before serving as foreign minister, he was a local businessman, owner of an independent Liberian newspaper and a professor at the University of Liberia. During the Liberian Civil War, his newspaper expressed views which sometimes came across as being sympathetic to Charles Taylor and his National Patriot Front of Liberia (NPFL). When Taylor won the elections, he was subsequently named foreign minister. He is one of several Liberian elites who were not members of Taylor's NPFL to be appointed to high level positions. During the Liberian Civil war he resided in Monrovia which was never controlled by the NPFL. Currently, Executive Chairman Comium Liberia. Captan who was overwhelmingly elected with over 70% of the votes on March 16, 2010 as President of the Liberia Chamber of Commerce.
Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia. Cuttington College, a private, Episcopal-affiliated institution, is located near the town. Its campus was once home to the Africana Museum, which was destroyed during the civil war.
The First Liberian Civil War was the first of two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia. It lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of the support of the United States by the late 1980s. The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast to overthrow Doe in December 1989 and gained control over most of the country within a year. Doe was captured and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), a splinter faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson, in September 1990. The NPFL and INPFL fought each other for control of the capital city, Monrovia and against the Armed Forces of Liberia and pro-Doe United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy. Peace negotiations and foreign involvement led to a ceasefire in 1995 but fighting continued until a peace agreement between the main factions occurred in August 1996. Taylor was elected President of Liberia following the 1997 Liberian general election and entered office in August of the same year.
The Second Liberian Civil War was a civil war in the West African nation of Liberia that lasted from 1999 to 2003.
Bong is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has twelve districts. Gbarnga serves as the capital. The area of the county measures 8,772 square kilometres (3,387 sq mi). As of the 2022 Census, it had a population of 467,502, making it the third-most populous county in Liberia. The county was organized in 1964 and is important for its mining industry.
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 24 December 1989 – 2 August 1997. The NPFL emerged out of rising ethnic tensions and civil unrest due to the Liberian government that was characterized by totalitarianism, corruption, and favoritism towards ethnic Krahns. The NPFL invaded Liberia through Ivory Coast’s border with Nimba County in Liberia under the direction of Charles Taylor, a former Liberian politician and guerrilla leader who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003.
The Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) was a rebel group that participated in the First Liberian Civil War under the leadership of Prince Johnson. It was a breakaway faction of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL).
Momolu V. Sackor Sirleaf was a Liberian politician. During the First Liberian Civil War, he represented the National Patriotic Front of Liberia internationally. He served as foreign minister of the National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government of Charles Taylor in 1993. He represented the NPFL in the 1993 Geneva talks that followed the Harper massacre.
The National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government (NPRAG) was a self-declared, alternative administration established in early 1991 in areas held by the rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during the country's civil war. It was formed in opposition to the internationally recognized Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) led by Amos Sawyer. The NPRAG was based in the Bong County town of Gbarnga. NPFL leader Charles Taylor declared himself head of the NPRAG, but this led to a dispute that eventually split the rebel group. Both the NPRAG and IGNU ceased to exist in 1994.
United Nations Security Council resolution 856, adopted unanimously on 10 August 1993, after reaffirming Resolution 813 (1993) and welcoming a peace agreement signed, under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), between the Interim Government of National Unity of Liberia (IGNU), the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), and the United Liberation Movement for Democracy (ULIMO), the Council approved a dispatch of 30 military observers to Liberia.
Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, also known as Tom Woewiyu or Thomas Smith, was the former leader of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), with Charles Taylor.
Dorothy Harriet Eugenia Musuleng Cooper was a Liberian educator, politician and the first woman to serve as Foreign Minister in Liberia. She was born at Arthington, Liberia and obtained her B.S. and M.S. from College of West Africa and San Francisco State University respectively. She worked as a school teacher between graduation and high school and matriculation in 1964 in San Francisco in 1964, curriculum development in the Ministry of Education, and principal of Cuttington University College. She was an education minister in Charles Taylor's shadow government from 1990 to 1993 in the National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government
The Press Union of Liberia was founded on September 30, 1964, by a group of independent journalists. It serves as an umbrella organization for media professionals and institutions to advocate for press freedom and the legal protection of journalists.
Hassan Bility is a Liberian journalist, and the founder and Director of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), a non-governmental organization dedicated to the documentation of war time atrocities in Liberia and to assisting victims in their pursuit of justice for these crimes.
Bill Horace was a Liberian fighter, a former member of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and alleged war criminal.
Agnes Reeves Taylor, ex-wife of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, was born on 27 September 1965 in Liberia. On 2 June 2017, she was arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police and charged with torture on the grounds of her suspected involvement with the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NFPL) rebel group, which was led by her ex-husband, during the First Liberian Civil War, from 1989 to 1996.
The Liberia national transitional government was a provisional government, or rather the name given to three successive governments, in Liberia formed in the midst of the First Liberian Civil War. The LNTG was product of the July 25, 1993, Cotonou Peace Accord, whereby the Interim Government of National Unity disbanded. The respective LNTG-I, LNTG-II and LNTG-III governments were differentiated by being led by three different chairpersons. Initially supposed to last for six months to allow for disarmament of warring factions and preparations of national elections, the LNTG timeline lasted until mid-1997. Various of the warring factions had direct participation in the LNTG and civilian elements were gradually sidelined. Through participation in the provisional governance of LNTG the different warlords could gain access to state resources, even in situations when armed hostilities continued. The LNTG period ended with the 1997 Liberian general election whereby Charles Taylor was elected President of Liberia.
ULIMO-K 