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CHILLING REVELATIONS: THE TRUE STORY OF KERPER'S NIMBA REDEMPTION COUNCIL
Kerper Dwanyen
by Nathan Vleh-Karnweay
FORMER NRCL REBEL LEADER KERPER DWANYEN
IN JUSTIFYING
HIS ROLE SAID, "Hottest place in Hell is reserved for those, who in time of crisis remain neutral"
NOW, HERE IS AN ACCOUNT OF AN ELDER OF NIMBA COUNTY RESIDENT IN MINNESOTA.
LISTEN TO THE WORD OF WISDOM:
November 16, 2007
Dear
Minnesota-Liberians,
I bring you sincere greetings in the
name of God our Father, and it is my fervent prayer that He continues to grant us peace, tranquility and long life.
Following my last communication, I received numerous calls and emails, many of them
extolling me for providing a clearer picture of the Kerper Dwanyen fiasco. Let me say this now: It is not my intention to
take credit for anything. The challenge I have taken here, is to ensure that at the end of the day, Liberians in this great
state of Minnesota would make the right choice on December 2, 2007. And that choice is NOT to vote for Kerper Dwanyen, a soon
to be indicted war lord (however petit he may have been). Kerper Dwanyen has lied to many of his current followers just like
he lied to young men and women of Nimba County , when he promised them “the good life , only
to take them to their early graves. It is more than important to point out to the current group of Liberians following this
war lord that they are doing a disservice to themselves, their kids, their community and their country.
Many of these fine Liberians would never vote for Charles Taylor, Prince Johnson,
Paul Vaye, Benjamin Yaeten, George Dweh or even George Boley to be president of Liberia . Why then would some of these same
Liberians opt to vote for Kerper Dwanyen to be the head of our community? Kerper is a war lord, and if you will not vote for
a war lord to be your country’s president, please, please do not vote for one to be the president of our
community. Search your conscience my people, and do what is right!
The painful aspect of this
whole situation is the arrogance being exhibited by Kerper Dwanyen. First, he claims that his rebel group did not commit atrocities.
What a lie!! On that fateful Saturday night, around 10:30pm
on February 28, 1992 his rebel Nimba Redemption Council (NRC) stormed villages in and around areas of Logahtuo and Gbainta,
kicking doors open and dragging women, children and the elderly out in the brutal night, shooting and blasting thatch homes
to pieces in the process.
Fathers, mothers and young children
ran helter-skelter blindly into the dark night in the paths of bullets. Can you imagine sleeping, and I mean fast asleep,
and you are awakened by the overwhelming sound of heavy gun fires outside your door, and terrifying looking men stepping your
doors down and ordering you out, whether you were naked or scantily clothed? That was the scene that night! Those who attempted
to resist where considered NPFL rebels and shot, execution style.
In a couple of hours following Kerper Dwanyen's rebel group entry into Nimba County, through the porous Ivorian
border, his mentor Charles Taylor sent in a counter reinforcement group from Yekepa, headed by the late Cassius Jacobs. As
the NPFL forces fought and drove Kerper ‘s NRC out of the area, his retreating rebels grabbed women and
children to use as human shields as they fled in the bushes and back towards the Ivory Coast . And some of those people never
made it back home!
Additionally, as Kerper’s retreating rebel forces tried
to cross into Ivory Coast , those who made it alive to the border were arrested by the Ivorian authorities. There are numerous
accounts that those young men and women were tortured, lying on their backs and facing the hot sun.
They were brutalized and those who lived through the agony were returned to Charles
Taylor. Your imagination is as good as mine about what Taylor did to those young men and women.
Meanwhile, Kerper Dwanyen was heard on BBC’s Focus on Africa , boasting of how his NRC forces
(a group that lasted for less than a week) had captured Logatuo, Gbainta and other surrounding villages, and that he would
take Nimba away from the NPFL. All this time, Kerper Dwanyen was sitting in Lagos (Nigeria) and partying "under the tree",
offering money to people to speak to the international press for his rebel group. He had the comfort of a warm bed, and he
had food to eat while talking rubbish and sending other people’s children to suffer and die for nothing!
A grave injustice was done to the people of Nimba County by the likes of Kerper Dwanyen, and no well-meaning Liberian must
reward such people with leadership.
Kerper Dwanyen also lied
that his rag tag Nimba Redemption Council was sponsored and supported by IGNU and ECOWAS. That’s complete
nonsense! But even if as he claims (and just for the sake of argument), that ECOWAS asked him to take up arms and shoot his
own people in return for a “piece of the pie , didn’t he have the sense
of pity for the poor people of Nimba who had already gone through so much? What kind of leader takes up arms and shoot his
own people to death, just to make a statement to another criminal? What kind of justification is that?
Fellow Liberians, our adopted country, the USA offers us so many virtues that we
need to apply to our community and our country as a whole to make them better. This great country is as strong as it is because,
among other things, it never gives state leadership or power to criminals and evil men. In this country, if you are
a criminal, you forfeit your right to vote! And the people don’t turn around and grant you the esteemed
privilege to run for an elected office and to lead them. Why are we then even contemplating doing this injustice to ourselves?
Our children are watching us! The younger guys are watching us! What message are we sending to them? We must not be that cruel
to our own community!
My final word toady goes to those decent
Liberians who were thinking about throwing their votes behind Kerper Dwanyen. Please, I trust that you have thought hard about
this and will make the right decision. You are being patriotic to this community and your country Liberia by saying
NO to rebel leaders who continuously crave for power. Stand firm and say No! Do not let others point fingers at you for blatantly
disregarding the suffering and death of our people, and for betraying the confidence and trust of those who are not able to
speak out against those rebel leaders who bear greater
responsibility for the mass murdering
of our people and the wanton destruction of our country.
Speak for those who were killed in Logahtuo and say NO to Kerper Dwanyen. Speak for the pregnant lady who was shot
dead on that dreadful night and say NO to Kerper Dwanyen. Speak out for non-violence in Liberia by voting NO to Kerper Dwanyen!
Do the right thing so you can be able to walk with your head up high. It’s your votes, but let it speak
for the voiceless!!
Thanks for this opportunity once again
to speak to you.
Very truly yours,
Nathan Vleh-Karnweay
Burnsville , MN
nvkarnweay@yahoo.comnter subhead content here
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