Samuel Doe: Corruption In Liberia

A history of corruption can have an end. Liberia's hopes of being rescued from its misery were failed again and again. From elitist rule to bloody coups, the situation was horrible. However, there was a light in the darkness: the women of Liberia. The determined and influential women of Liberia helped initiate a series of changes that bettered the political state and human conditions of their country.

Liberia has a long history of political instability, governmental corruption, and oppression, which has left the Liberian people in a near hopeless cycle of destruction and violence. The cycle of oppression began with the Americo-Liberians – African American immigrants to Liberia who created the nation of Liberia and ruled over it for many decades

In 1980, Samuel Doe led a military coup. Doe’s regime was extremely oppressive, in spite of the fact that he claimed his government “battled oppression and corruption” (Britannica). Doe was a self-proclaimed general, and he established the People's Redemption Council (PRC), a kind of government, which, in effect, controlled the country. Even though he won the presidential election in 1985, many believed that the elections were fraudulent. Regardless, Doe took office after the election. His regime was considered to be corrupt and brutal both by the local Liberians as well as the international community. Finally, after nearly a decade of terror under Doe’s regime, a rebellion arose in Eastern Liberia in 1989. The rebellion quickly spread to Monrovia (the capital), and although the rebel forces had pushed into the seat of his power, Doe refused to back down. In 1990, Doe was captured and assassinated, and Charles Taylor, another military figure, took power. The assassination of Samuel Doe was a shock and caused confusion among the Liberian people. What also contributed to their fear was the killing and disappearance of people who had been Doe’s followers. Even though Doe was no longer part of the picture, the instability, fear, and oppression remained an experience in day-to-day life in

After Doe’s defeat, "the hope was that peace would usher in a fresh start and a new democratic order and economic development” (Aboagye). But the 1980 coup and the 1985 presidential elections had greatly destabilized Liberia, fracturing its already fragmented society even further. This is why, "no sooner had the initial euphoria which greeted the putschists of 1980 evaporated than the military regime progressively descended into a brutal reign of terror. This repressive rule in turn engendered economic decline, accompanied by widespread corruption" (Dunn and Tarr). When peace failed to come, Liberia spiraled into an extremely bloody civil war. Armon and Carl write that “the outbreak of the Liberian civil war cannot be explained by a single dominant factor. The war grew out of the domestic, socio- economic and political environment of the 1980s.” The civil war lasted for seven years and resulted in mass devastation, including 200,000 casualties and thousands of refugees. The war finally came to an end in 1996, and shortly thereafter, Charles Taylor was appointed president of Liberia. These few years caused damage to the society of Liberia. It contributed to Liberia's economic downfall, and it overall made it a very fragmented and broken society. A lot of distrust and false hope began to take place within the hearts of the citizens. Distrust, from the past, and false hopes for a better