If only walls could speak in Liberia!

War no good oh! Travel and see! Seven years after the war, pockets of houses in Monrovia still stare quietly as if they are itching to tell their stories of pain, of torture, of untold human cruelty, of abuse, and of neglect. But houses can’t speak. They simply stare, with their stories locked up firmly in the hard jaws of concrete. For several years, these houses bore witness to untold atrocities committed by human beings against human beings and of compatriots against compatriots to the point that victims became as guilty as victimizers.

I’m back in Liberia briefly. As the country’s flag depicts, Liberia is a lone star state – an obvious reference to its history of emancipation of freed black slaves from America, beginning in 1822. A lopsided liberation in which oppressed Black folks gained freedom from white oppressors and relocated to a habited land but pretended that it was empty; that they had discovered the land. And worse of all, that they, the new arrivals, were superior to the indigenous people.

The Liberian history holds eerie resemblance to the story of Christopher Columbus who claimed to have discovered America despite the presence of native Americans; with implied bogus claims of superiority of the white race.

Houses have caught my attention during this time here. As I take a close look at some buildings that are still in a sorry state of disrepair and depression, I can’t help but wonder how many of the occupants of these buildings died during the war. Could it be that their fortunes changed as a result of the war to such an extent that that they now cannot afford to renovate the buildings? What happened in these buildings – during the war?

How I hope that walls have mouths to speak! I would have asked several buildings scattered throughout Monrovia one big question: “What really went on during the wars?” Yes, several buildings seem to want to speak – to tell and retell stories of atrocities, of doom and gloom, of rapes and maiming and murders. But they can’t say a word; they just sit there, growing mouldy, with windows broken and walls pounded with bullets.

You might recall the Donald Rumsfeld Principle. Rumsfeld was the US Defence Secretary during George Bush Junior’s administration in the heat of the senseless Iraq war. In the now classic rhetorical play on words to justify the war, he said, “There are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns.” That statement appropriately describes the message of buildings that were victims of the war in Liberia. So I wanted to experience one of such buildings.

Inside a war-torn building:

This morning, just before I sat down to write this piece, I entered a typical war-torn building in the company of a taxi driver and a colleague because I could not dare to do so alone. Yes, I’m an ‘afraid woman’ of some sort. Yet, the curious part of me wanted to experience a moment in a war-punctured building, a building that was pestered with bullets during the war – that is, one or both of the two wars. I still feel the eerie weight of the building as I write.

The building I entered is by “Old Road”(pronounced as “Ol Row” by the locals), a major street in Monrovia. It is a part storey building. By all standards, it looked like a house that once belonged to a well-to-do family; a house that had seen real glory in times past – before the war. A house that was gorgeous – before the war. A house that commanded a presence – before the war. So clearly, the war changed everything. Now, the house is just the remnants of concrete that can tell the story – if they can at all, after the war!

During the time I spent in that building, I felt raw emotions of doom and gloom. The building had a spooky feel to it. The windows were smashed. The walls were mostly crumbled; what remains had so much greenish mould. Some doors had lost the look of having ever been doors. The roof was long gone – at least most of it. The staircase is half of its former glory. A few pieces of the wall still stood.

Numerous multi-sized bullet holes are very visible in walls. The bullet holes boldly scream fear into any onlooker. The dilapidated “Boys Quarters” nearby appeared to have some squatters. This is obvious from the sight of a few clothes hanging on a make-shift drying line.

As I walked inside and out, carefully stepping on what felt like sacred ground, a graveyard of some sort, questions rushed through my mind – fast and furious. What happened in this house? Who killed whom and by what gadget? Machete (a nice word for good old cutlass)? Stones? sticks? Sledge hammer?

For how long did the victims suffer? Was there any reason for the atrocities or it was just driven by the venom of drunken mob-like emotion? But the many salacious details are forever locked up in this house, and in many other houses throughout Liberia as well as other countries on our continent that ignored tolerance and went to war.

As I stare at the many abandoned buildings in this city, I can’t help but ponder: “What, if any, did Liberia benefit from the prolonged war?” Maybe, just maybe, Liberia has learned that war is unnecessary. But hopefully, that Ghana has also learned that it is critical to keep its status as the only country in the West African neighbourhood that has never gone on a full scale war; and that war is truly unnecessary.

But the good news is that Liberia is rebuilding. During my last trip here three months ago, some dilapidated buildings have since been fixed – painstakingly. But the truth remains that rebuilding is tougher that destruction. What is needed to destroy is a big boom! But it takes the meticulous laying of brick upon brick, plus mortar and a lot of sweaty labour to (re)build.

A Cautionary Tale for 2012 Elections:

As I look around Monrovia, I wish I had the resources to do a video documentary entitled, “The Scars of War.” With the video in hand, I would lobby GTV, TV3, Metro TV and other emerging TV stations in Ghana to show it every day from October 2012 until January 2013 – weeks before, during and after the elections. Civil Society – would you please take on this laudable project? Pictures, they say, are worth thousands of cash.

I don’t feel right about the 2012 elections because of the apparent polarization and acrimony in our political climate. Or, is it just me? Besides, the 2012 elections is about crude oil. We might as well call it what it is: “The Crude Oil Elections”. Here is why.

2015 will be the peak of the sucking of oil in commercial quantities from the Jubilee Fields. Therefore whoever wins the 2012 elections wins crude oil, big time! With greasy oil as a motivator, greed and foolishness can power the 2012 elections. And you know what greed can do! It can power even the most rational people into heights of irrationality, of desperation, of madness, and of many other indescribable things.

dorisdartey@yahoo.com; dorisdartey.blogspot.com