The donor conference, coming on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, apparently assumed it would attract international attention and goodwill. Additionally, Liberia’s 13th Peace Accord reached last August in Abuja, Nigeria, is believed to possess the best opportunity, thus far, of ending the Liberian war. Therefore, the conveners may have anticipated that the donor conference would have engendered a more generous response from the world community. The assumption and anticipation was mooted in that the total pledge at the conference was a paltry $145 million.

The conference had hoped to raise $90 million for the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), a regional peace keeping group that has been in Liberia since August 1990 to impose peace on that beleagured country. ECOMOG needs to increase its troop strength from about 7000 to 12,000 in order to police the entire country. Several African countries including Togo, Burkina Faso and perhaps Cote d’Ivoire are prepared to contribute to ECOMOG’s renewed troop strength but do not have the financial wherewithal.

ECOMOG is also expected to provide border patrols to prevent arms flows into or out of Liberia. Aside from policing the country, the peacekeepers are expected to play the leading role in demobilizing and encamping about 60,000 armed rebels belonging to the 7 factions of the Liberian war.

The Conference also intended to raise $110 million for the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs. $62 million of this would have gone to the United Nations Monitors in Liberia (UNOMIL) for the purpose of creating “assembly points and demobilization sites throughout Liberia and for incentives to induce the ex-combatants to surrender their arms…”

The question of adequate incentive to ex- combatants is an important, if not the most significant aspect of demobilization. This was one reason why the Cotonou Accord of July 1993 did not succeed. U.N. officials then estimated that a pair of dungaree pants, few cups of rice, a tee- shirt, a matchete or a hoe and a one-way fare for an ex-combatant to return to his village was sufficient. They demobilized only 600 soldiers. Even then, they did not generate enough money to cover those expenses.

More monies were expected to be pledged to attend to such issues as repatriation, resettlement and the rehabilitation of the country’s destroyed infrastructure. “Minimally, $500 million would be required to achieve those goals” said a member of the Liberian delegation to the talks, who wants to be anonymous.

Participants at the talks who made pledges included: the United States of America which pledged $75 million. According to John Hicks, U.S. Representative at the donor conference, “Up to $10 million will be provided for ECOMOG logistical support, including trucks and communication equipment; $61-63 million will be made available to support community centers, private voluntary organizations and rural communities engaged in demobilization, reintegration and resettlement activities over the next year; $3-5 million will be provided for democracy/governance and recovery activities to help rebuild civil society in Liberia.”

Other donors included the United Kingdom, which pledged $7.7 million largely for relief work and the reintegration and demobilization of combatants. The U.K pledged to also provide military advisors and communication gear for the Ghanaian contingent of ECOMOG. France pledged $3 million to be used for relief; Canada followed with $200,000; the Gambia $5,000. The Egyptians said its soldiers will continue to serve in UNOMIL while the European Community conditioned its pledge of $65 million on a successful disarmament. The Germans pledged 35 trucks and Libya says it is willing to airlift supplies.

Whereas international financial support for peace in Liberia is lukewarm at best, the behaviour of the leaders of the major factions in the current COS is making it difficult to accuse the international community of being callous towards Liberia. Liberia warlords have agreed to 12 previous accords only to renege on their responsibilities and return to war. Several violent breaches of the accord took place on the eve of the donor conference which may have dampened the confidence of the international community to invest in peace in the country.

The need for speedy demobilization has become even more urgent because of recent violence in the Gbarnga area, Taylor’s erstwhile provincial headquarters, and in Tappita, Nimba County, where a massacre of 100 persons was reported to have occurred. According to Enoch Dogolea, a senior member of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), the culprits in the massacre have been arrested and will face court martial. NPFL leader Charles Taylor accused Alhadji Kromah’s United Liberia Movement for Democracy (ULIMO-K) for the Gbarnga attack. Kromah has denied the charges and said his men are nowhere in the vicinity. Press reports suggest that the Gbarnga incident may be the handiwork of a mutiny within the NPFL rank. Some NPFL soldiers have expressed displeasure at their treatment since the latest peace treaty was signed.

The warlords, who habitually called the BBC to air their grievances have undermined international efforts to garrner financial support for the Liberian peace process. The current peace treaty elaborates a mechanism for the adjudication of grievances. The body, which is comprised of ECOMOG, UNOMIL and representatives of the various warring factions should be the venue for the airing of warlords’ grievances. Yet, NPFL leader Charles Taylor and ULIMO-K leader, Alhadji Kromah, two of the most important warlords, prefer the international airwaves. If Mr Walter Sankawolo, current head of Liberia’s 3rd transitional government, is to be believed when he told a Liberian audience in Washington, D.C. on October 25, while visiting the area, that the warlords are “cooperating” and the working relationship in the current transitional government is “smooth”, then Messrs Taylor and Kromah will do their country a great favor by scrupulously respecting the intent and letter of the August 19, 1995 Abuja Accord. What is more they should, at the minimal, reject the international airwaves as the medium through which grievances are aired since no redress can possibly be obtained therefrom.

The international community for its part, needs to review the Liberia peace process with an intent to generate adequate finance to assist the Liberian people in making peace a reality once more. Certainly, the people of Liberia urgently deserves such support. Besides, the current momentum needs to be capitalized upon.