Prince Yormie Johnson[a] (born 6 July 1952) is a Liberian politician and former warlord who has served as a senator for Nimba County since 2006. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent role in the First Liberian Civil War.
A former officer in the Armed Forces of Liberia, Johnson allied himself with Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group when it launched the First Liberian Civil War in 1989 to overthrown President Samuel Doe. Due to a rift with Taylor, Johnson soon formed an NPFL splinter group, the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), which captured, tortured and executed Doe in 1990.[1][2] Following continued clashes with Taylor and the pro-Doe ULIMO group, the INPFL was disbanded and Johnson was forced into exile in Nigeria in 1992, where he converted to Christianity and reconciled with the Doe family.
Johnson was born in Tapeta, Nimba County, in the east-central interior of the country, and was brought up by an uncle in the capital city of Monrovia. In 1971, while living in Monrovia, he joined the Liberian National Guard (LNG), which was transformed into the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) in the aftermath of Samuel Doe's 1980 overthrow of President William R. Tolbert.
He rose to the rank of Lieutenant, receiving military training in both Liberia and the United States, where he was instructed in military police duties in South Carolina. A stern, often draconian, disciplinarian,[3] he served as aide-de-camp to Gen. Thomas Quiwonkpa, the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia,[4] and accompanied him into exile in 1983, after Quiwonkpa was accused of plotting a coup against Doe.
During the civil war, Johnson was notorious for killing anyone who opposed or criticised his actions. When Hare Krishna devotees, who were distributing food to starving people in Monrovia in the midst of the chaos of the civil war, sent him a letter begging him to stop killing people, he personally orchestrated the murder of Hladini devi dasi—born Linda Jury—and five of her students on the bank of the Saint Paul River on the night of Thursday, 13 September 1990.[7][8][9]
Killing of President Doe
On 9 September 1990, Johnson's supporters abducted President Samuel Doe from ECOMOG headquarters in the Monrovia port district. Doe was tortured and executed in Johnson's custody on 9 September, with the spectacle videotaped and broadcast around the world. The video showed Johnson sipping a Budweiser beer and being fanned by an assistant as his men cut off Doe's ear.[10]
Johnson later denied killing Doe.
Claim to power
After Doe's death Johnson briefly claimed the presidency of Liberia. Johnson's claim to power ended following the consolidation of rebel power under Charles Taylor. In an attempt by the weak national government to reconstruct Liberian politics, the INPFL was recognised at a conference held in Guinea, where Amos Sawyer was elected president.
Flight to Nigeria
Johnson was forced to flee to Nigeria to avoid capture by rebel forces supporting Taylor and was not involved in the Second Liberian Civil War.
While in Nigeria, Johnson became a Christian and reconciled with the Doe family through the intervention of Nigerian pastor T. B. Joshua.[11]
Return and public office
Johnson returned to Liberia in March 2004,[12] following the resignation of Taylor as president and the installation of a transitional government. He stated his intention to return to politics, though he briefly left Liberia again on 7 April due to death threats he had received from the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group. In the 2005 general elections, Johnson contested and won a Senate seat representing Nimba County. For a period he served as the chair of the Senate's defence committee.
In the June 2009 final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was established as part of the 2003 peace deal, the TRC recommended Johnson's inclusion on a list of 50 people who should be "specifically barred from holding public offices; elected or appointed for a period of thirty (30) years" for "being associated with former warring factions."[13] Johnson labelled the recommendation a "joke," noting the absence of several other combatants from the list, and vowed to resist any charges brought as a result of the report.[13]
In January 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in Williams v. Tah, a case brought by another person recommended for disqualification in the TRC report, that the TRC's recommendation was an unconstitutional violation of the listed individuals' right to procedural due process, and that it would be unconstitutional for the government to implement the proposed bans.[14]
On 9 December 2021, Johnson was sanctioned by the United States Department of Treasury for alleged political corruption, claiming he would sell votes in elections for financial gains.[21]
Towards the ending of 2022, Johnson withdrew his support for President Weah and the CDC. Johnson cited the lack of Nimba County representation in top appointed positions.[22] In December 2022, Johnson resigned as head of the MDR.[23] In an MDR convention on 22 December, Senator Jeremiah Koung was elected standard bearer.[24] As standard bearer, Koung continued Johnson's policy of opposing the CDC.[25]
In the 2023 Senate election, Johnson was re-elected with the MDR.[26]
Footnotes
^"Prince" is a common given name for men in Liberia, rather than a royal title.
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.
Alao, Mackinlay, and Olonisakin, Peacekeepers, Politicians, and Warlords, The Liberian Peace Process (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1999), 22.