Nimba County, one of the vote-rich counties in Liberia, is at the center of political turmoil for different reasons, reportedly ranging from bigotry, power concentration, control and many other issues. The centrality of the debate is a new group calling itself the Nimba Solidarity Movement.
With uncertainty seems to be surrounding it, observers say it sounds noble on paper, but in practice, it has divided Nimba more than it has united it.
The question still resonating is whether it is a genuine reconciliation and unity initiative for Liberia’s second most populous county, or a tacit political structure built to protect the interests of the ruling Unity Party. Of course, several political players in the county believe it is political wolf in sheep clothing.
Minister of Lands, Mines, Matenokay Tingbah, one of the pushers of the Nimba Solidarity initiative, is convinced something can come out of the process, saying unity and reconciliation are possible in spite of the emerging differences.
On OK FM Tuesday, he said there will always be opposition to issues of such, adding “what he can do is to explain and convince them, even if they see negatives, we should take positive out of the negative.”
He said peace, unity and solidarity in Nimba is consequential at this political juncture, stressing political differences should not be the reasons the county is divided and eventually loses its place of importance.
But Garrison Yealue and Senator Samuel Kogar shared different views on the initiative.
For Yealue is a political manifesto that favors the ruling Unity Party ahead of the 2029 elections, while Senator Kogar said Minister Tingbah and others should not be the ones in the forefront because of their records.
From the USA where he is presently, Senator Kogar said there was no need for Minister Tingbah to accept to be Minister of Land and Mines after then Minister Wilmot Paye, a son of Nimba, was dismissed.
That single act alone, he believed, undermines and dampens the intent of what he Tingbah and others are seeking.
He accused some elements of the county and those within the Nimba Solidarity Movement of not speaking out on the important issues that have divided the county.
Recall that the Nimba Solidarity Movement emerged in recent months claiming to unite Nimbaians under one voice after years of factionalism between Dan and Mano, between upper and lower Nimba, between supporters of the late Senator Prince Y. Johnson and his critics, and between the political camps of Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, Senator Nya Twayen, and Representative Samuel Kogar.
Its conveners, a mix of businessmen, former PYJ loyalists, some elders and youth leaders, say Nimba has been too divided for too long, and that without solidarity, and that the county will lose its leverage in national politics.
“Nimba must speak with one voice,” one organizer said in Ganta. “We are 20% of the voters. If we are divided, we are exploited.”
They point to recent events, the long battle over who replaces Prince Johnson as the godfather of Nimba, the fight over appointments in the Boakai government, and the growing perception that Nimba votes are taken for granted after elections.
For them, the movement is cultural, not political, a platform to promote unity, development, and collective bargaining for Nimba.
But its critics see something else, as a political vehicle in traditional clothes.
Three reasons fuel the suspicion.1. Timing and Sponsorship: The movement gained momentum after the death of Senator Prince Y. Johnson and ahead of the 2029 presidential calculations. Nimba, with over 300,000 registered voters, decides elections. Whoever controls Nimba controls a path to the presidency.
Critics allege that the movement is being quietly bankrolled and blessed by elements within the ruling Unity Party to consolidate Nimba behind Vice President Koung as the natural heir to PYJ’s political empire.
“The Unity Party knows it cannot win without Nimba. After PYJ, they need a new structure to hold the votes. This movement is that structure,” said a youth leader in Sanniquellie who declined to be named for fear of reprisal.
Though a genuine unity movement would bring all sides together, several key Nimba political actors say they were never consulted.
Senator Nya Twayen, Representative Musa Bility’s supporters, and some traditional leaders from Upper Nimba say they first heard about the movement on Facebook.
“How can you claim to unite Nimba when you start by dividing Nimba into those invited and those excluded?” one elder asked in Bahn. “True reconciliation starts with the elders and the Zoe, not with a press conference in Monrovia.”
There are also tribal undercurrents. Nimba is dominated by Dan and Mano, but with significant Mandingo, Krahn and other populations in Ganta and border towns.
Some Mandingo leaders say the movement’s language has been subtly exclusionary, framing Nimba solidarity around “sons of the soil” in a way that echoes old bigotry that fueled violence in Ganta in the past.
The tipping point was when the movement, which claimed to be non-partisan, began issuing political statements supporting the Boakai-Koung administration’s agenda and defending government officials from Nimba against criticism.
At one meeting in Monrovia, organizers reportedly declared that “any attack on a Nimbaian in government is an attack on Nimba.”
That, critics argue, is not unity, it is shielding power concentration and control.
“Solidarity should mean holding our own sons accountable, not covering for them,” said a civil society activist in Ganta. “If a Nimbaian minister fails, Nimba must be the first to say so, not the last to defend him.”
Nimba’s dilemma is bigger than this movement, said a concerned son of the county.
He said since the end of the civil war, Nimba has been defined by one man, Prince Y. Johnson, who delivered bloc votes in exchange for influence.
According to Nimbaians, his death has left a vacuum with three competing visions said to be fighting for Nimba
There is the traditional loyalist vision, according to observers, which is aims to keep the PYJ model od one godfather, one party (now UP), bloc voting.
Others point to the reformist vision, which has to do with break Nimba into issue-based, independent voting where candidates compete on ideas, not tribe.
The other vision pivots around business, which is “use Nimba’s vote-rich status to negotiate development, roads, university, hospitals, regardless of party.”
The Nimba Solidarity Movement claims to be the third, but its critics say it is the first repackaged.
If the movement wants to be seen as truly for reconciliation and unity, elders and observers say it must do four things.
The first thing is to go to Nimba, not stay in Monrovia, and that real reconciliation palava must be held under the palava hut in Saclepea, Zoe Geh, and Yarwin-Mehnsonnoh, not in a hotel conference room.
The other aspect is to include the zoe and women, Nimba’s traditional leaders and women leaders, who kept communities together during the war, have been sidelined.
Others say call for publishing of its funding and leadership, who is funding it, who elected its leaders. With these steps and transparency, it is argued the Movement will be seen as a political project.
Others are suggesting separation of culture from politics, adding that “A cultural unity movement should not endorse parties or defend government officials. Once it does, it becomes a tacit structure for political reasons.”
As the debate about the Movement continues, many Nimbaians are watching with cautious eyes.
According to one motorcyclist in Ganta, “We want unity. We are tired of fighting. Dan and Mano are one people. But we don’t want someone to use our unity name to do politics for themselves. Nimba has been used too much before.”
Whether the Nimba Solidarity Movement becomes a bridge that heals old wounds or another political tactic that deepens them will be decided not by its press releases, but by what it does in the villages of Nimba, and who it truly serves.
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