Prince Johnson.html



This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

Prince Yormie (or Yeomi) Johnson (born 6 July 1959) is a Liberian political and former military figure. He was elected to serve as a Senator in the Liberian congress in the historic 2005 election. "Prince" is a common given name for males in Liberia, rather than a royal title.

Johnson was born in Nimba County, in the east-central interior of the country. In 1990, Johnson was allied with Charles Taylor as part of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), ¹ which crossed the border from Côte d'Ivoire and began operations in Liberia on Christmas Eve, 1989. However, an internal power struggle resulted in Prince Johnson leading a faction of fighters which he named the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL). In spite of Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) opposition, INPFL forces captured most of the capital, Monrovia, late in the summer of 1990, and Johnson's supporters abducted President Samuel Doe at ECOMOG headquarters, the Free Port of Liberia.

Doe was tortured and executed in Johnson's custody on September 9, 1990 and the spectacle was videotaped and seen on news reports around the world. Johnson later denied killing Doe. The video shows Johnson sipping a Budweiser as Doe's ear is dismembered. Ahmadou Kourouma also accused Prince Johnson of war crimes (abduction and torture of several Firestone's executives) in his book "Allah is not obliged".

Shortly after Doe's death, Johnson allied with UN-supported ECOMOG peacekeepers in capturing the Liberian capital. Subsequently, Johnson briefly claimed the presidency of Liberia in the fall of 1990. His claims ended following the consolidation of rebel power by his rival Charles Taylor of the NPFL. In an attempt by the weak national government to reconstruct Liberian politics, the INPFL was recognized at a conference held in Guinea, where Amos Sawyer was elected president. However, Johnson was forced to flee to Nigeria in fear of rebel forces supporting Taylor. He returned to Liberia in March 2004, stating his intention to return to politics by running for a Senate seat in Nimba County; however, he left Liberia again on 7 April, apparently due to death threats he had received from the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group.

In the October 11, 2005 elections, Johnson contested and won a Senate seat representing Nimba County. He is the chair of the Senate's defense committee.

Further reading

• Stephan Ellis, ‘The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War’, Hurst & Company, London, 2001 - Introduction 'A Death in the Night' has an excellent account of Doe's death.

References