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Liberia
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Despite its political, economic, and social troubles, Liberia, as the only free republic in Africa, was a model for African colonies struggling to achieve independence. William V.S. Tubman, elected president in 1944, further highlighted the country's world profile by traveling abroad and allowing international investment in Liberia. With this investment and the income from the newly discovered mineral deposits, he modernized parts of Liberia (mostly along the coast) and built schools, roads, and hospitals. Tubman ... expanded the incorporation of indigenous populations into the social and economic mainstream, granting them, for example, the right to vote. Under Tubman, Liberia was a founding member of the United Nations as well as of the Organization of African Unity, and he strongly championed the independence of other African states.
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Liberia was a major exporter of iron ore on the world market. In the 1970s and 1980s, iron mining accounted for more than half of Liberia's export earnings. Following the coup d'etat of 1980, the country's economic growth rate slowed down because of a decline in the demand for iron ore on the world market and political upheavals in Liberia. Liberia's foreign debt amounts to about $3.7 billion. Efforts are currently underway to relieve Liberia of its bilateral and multilateral debts. Several bilateral creditors, including the United States, have pledged debt relief, and ways of clearing Liberia's arrears are being developed at the international financial institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank).
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On April 3, Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, had his first day in court in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The court prosecuter read out the 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity facing Charles Taylor due to his involvement in Sierra Leone's civil war of the 1990s. Three years after the original indictment Charles Taylor has finally been brought into the custody court to face the charges against him. Read the transcript of the online discussion
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Liberia has a dual system of statutory law based on Anglo-American common law for the modern sector and customary unwritten law for the native sector for exclusively rural tribes. [9] Liberia's modern sector has three equal branches of government in the constitution, though in practice the executive branch headed by President of Liberia is the strongest of the three. Following the dissolution of the Republican Party in 1876, the True Whig Party dominated the Liberian government until the 1980 coup. Currently, no party has majority control of the legislature. The longest serving president in Liberian history was William Tubman, serving from 1944 until his death in 1971. The shortest term was held by James Skivring Smith, who controlled the government for two months.
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Settlement of freed slaves from the US in what is today Liberia began in 1822; by 1847, the Americo-Liberians were able to establish a republic. William TUBMAN, president from 1944-71, did much to promote foreign investment and to bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendents of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior. In 1980, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles TAYLOR launched a rebellion against DOE's regime that led to a prolonged civil war in which DOE himself was killed. A period of relative peace in 1997 allowed for elections that brought TAYLOR to power, but major fighting resumed in 2000. An August 2003, peace agreement ended the war and prompted the resignation of former president Charles TAYLOR, who was exiled to Nigeria.
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In 1847, Liberia became Africa's first independent republic with a constitution modeled after that of the United States. The United Kingdom officially recognized the Republic of Liberia in 1848, as did France in 1852. The Republic's first 100 years have been described as a "century of survival" because of attempts by neighboring colonial powers (France and Britain) to encroach on Liberia. William R. Tolbert, Jr., 19th President of Liberia, took office in 1971, upon the death of his predecessor, William V. S. Tubman. Tolbert was overthrown in a coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe on April 12, 1980, when the constitution was suspended and martial law imposed. A new constitution was drafted and reviewed by an elected assembly; the ban on political activity was lifted and an Interim National Assembly appointed in July 1984; and four political parties were able to register and complete in presidential and legislative elections held on October 15, 1985.
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