Liberia - Guinea Border Tensed

Lawmaker Expresses Dislike, Concerned Liberian Comments

Reports from the Liberian Guinean border have indicated tension characterized by seizures of belongings of Liberian traders by Guinean security forces; reports Bill K. Jarkloh.

The reports indicated that Guinean security at the borders have been mistreating Liberian traders, confiscating personal belongings including money and good, but a Nimba County Representative in Parliament who just returned from Ganta indicated that the treatment by the Guineans security is unacceptable, vowing to officialize her position against it to the Liberian Government.

The Nimba County Representative, Rebecca Norkidor, said the mistreatment of Liberians have defied official position of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Administration following a local newspaper report that madam Sirleaf was supplying weapons to Guinean dissidents against the military junta of that country.

The Plain Truth Newspaper published a news story to the effect of alleging that the administration of Madam Sirleaf was arming some Guineans against the military government, but the publisher of the paper, Attorney Saymah Cyrenus Cephus, was investigated by state security forces and is being prosecuted in connection with the story.

A concerned Liberian, in a letter published on the FrontPageAfrica online newspaper wondered whether there is a disconnection between the Plain Truth Story and Liberians traveling to Guinea.

Mr. Maxim Freeman, having listed to reports on the Africa network of the British Broadcasting Corporation concerning the situation at the Guinean border with Liberia noted that since the coup in December 2008 such mistreatment of Liberians was not happening until recently when people started spreading rumors about Liberian support to dissidents for regime change in Conakry.

“These are the sort of things that responsible factor into their calculation before making alarmist claims against their own government,” Mr. Freeman said, noting that the Liberian trader who spoke to the BBC is not the President, Vice President, Speaker or Chief Justice.

According to Mr. Freemen, the speaker on the BBC was rather not the Minister of Defense, Justice or Finance, but one who spoke because of his livelihood, and the purchasing power of ordinary consumers that will be affected by the unconventional actions of the Guinean security people.

“Can we say there is a complete disconnect between what is happening to our people traveling to Guinea and the publication that appeared some weeks ago? I think probably not,” Maxime Freeman concluded.

Efforts to get statements from the appropriate government authorities have not materialized.