death of Prince Johnson, figure of the bloody civil war of the 1990s

Former warlord Prince Johnson, a major player in the civil war which ravaged Liberia between 1989 and 2003, and renowned for his cruelty, died suddenly on Thursday November 28. “We lost him this morning. He died [à l’hôpital] Hope For Women »in the suburbs of Monrovia at the age of 72, Wilfried Bangura, one of his party officials, declared to Agence France-Presse. The exact causes of his death were not immediately specified.

“The death of Senator Johnson is very unfortunate and unexpected. This morning, the vice president [du Liberia, Jeremiah Koung, l’un de ses proches] went to the hospital, to Hope For Women, and he and other senators are scheduled to go to the senator’s home to meet the family”confirmed Siaffa Jallah, head of the Senate press service.

Prince Johnson, who was videotaped sipping beer while his men tortured President Samuel Doe to death in 1990, was still an influential senator in his country, and never expressed regret about his past. The death of President Doe was one of the first bloody episodes that would tip Liberia into civil wars which, until 2003, left some 250,000 dead and ravaged its economy.

After this conflict, Prince Johnson became a senator from his home region of Nimba (North), he became a preacher in an evangelical church and was followed by many faithful, maintaining a strong popularity. He was also one of the main opponents of the creation of a court to try civil war crimes, playing on the danger of reopening old wounds and declaring that establishing such a court was “to seek trouble for the country”.

Influential and without regrets

Mr. Johnson was one of the principal militia leaders during the Civil War. First allied with Charles Taylor, future president of Liberia convicted of crimes against humanity, he then broke with him and then was forced into exile in Nigeria where he remained for twelve years. This father of 12 children, returned to Liberia in 2004, preached peace and reconciliation. He never expressed regret about his warlike past, which he nevertheless seemed to want to forget.

“I can’t be prosecuted, I haven’t done anything criminal (…). I fought in defense of my country, of my people who were being led to the slaughterhouse, like chickens and goats, by the Doe regime.”he declared in 2011, when he was a presidential candidate in which he finished third with 11.4% of the votes. And to add: “There are circumstances that change people, that regenerate them (…). I have changed, my action proves it, look at the enormous support I have in the country. »

The former warlord continued to be politically engaged. During the 2017 presidential election, he once again created a surprise by winning more than 8% of the vote. A key figure in Liberian politics, that year he gave his support in the second round to former football legend George Weah, who became president after winning his face-to-face with Joseph Boakai.

During the 2023 presidential election, he supported the latter and negotiated a position of vice-president for Jeremiah Koung, a decisive alliance for Joseph Boakai who won the election with 50.6% of the vote.