Democracy Is Not Crowning a Ruling Party: Independence Day Orator Exposes Political Tyranny in Liberia
- Michael T
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Independence Day orator Reverend Emmett Dunn’s message at some point sounded like a direct assault on Liberia’s political establishment. Pointedly accusing the ruling party of sliding toward political tyranny, Reverend Dunn insisted that “democracy is not a front-row seat at a coronation, nor a rubber stamp for any ruling party clinging to power”12.
His words, delivered before a captive audience of government officials, diplomats, civil society leaders, and citizens, cut to the heart of growing concerns over Liberia’s democratic health. “In Liberia today, too many treat the opposition as an enemy rather than a partner in progress. But make no mistake: silencing dissent is the first step toward tyranny,” Dunn continued12.
These words reflect a scorching reality of the last two years. In March 2024, violence erupted during a protest in Kinjor, Grand Cape Mount County, when police reportedly used live ammunition against demonstrators. At least three protesters were killed, including 17-year-old Abraham Kamara and 21-year-old Bangalie Kamara, with several others injured. Police and human rights group confirmations later verified multiple civilian deaths and scores of arrests during this and other politically charged demonstrations3.
The picture of repression didn’t end there. Notably, prominent constitutional lawyer Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull and Representative Luther Collins were injured by police during the December 2024 “White Tuesday” protest. Collins was hospitalized after being struck by a police baton, with nearly 70 protesters—including a former presidential aide—detained or assaulted, reinforcing a disturbing and ongoing pattern of abuse against those exercising their right to assemble34.
In early 2024, the most notable, concrete incident of state hostility towards the opposition centered on former President George Weah. Weah’s private aircraft was reportedly refused landing clearance at Roberts International Airport (RIA). This deliberate obstruction was publicly confirmed by Weah’s own Chief of Staff, Lenn Eugene Nagbe, in a national radio interview. As a result, Weah and his entourage were forced to divert and land in neighboring Sierra Leone—a move widely condemned as a brazen act of political hostility and humiliation, with many seeing it as a reckless endangerment of the lives aboard35.
On a separate occasion Weah was denied access to the newly dedicated Presidential VIP lounge at RIA—a facility he himself commissioned during his presidency. Security officers, following "orders from above," locked the doors, forcing the former president to use the old lounge. These actions, calculated and public, have only deepened the perception of state-sanctioned humiliation and reprisals against political opponents35.
Throughout late 2024 and 2025, government authorities repeatedly banned or violently dispersed opposition rallies and detained party members. International observers and the latest EU country report highlight a pattern: opposition leaders and supporters are routinely brutalized or arrested while trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Opposition lawmakers have decried coercion, witness tampering, and selective justice in high-profile cases367.
Multiple independent sources, including Liberia’s own Independent National Commission for Human Rights and international monitors, have concluded that since the 2024 transition, there has been a disturbing pattern of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and the intimidation of critics and journalists—marking a severe democratic backslide. Investigations into police and security force abuses are rare, and impunity for human rights violations seems the rule37.
Liberia’s opposition has endured grave abuses under the Boakai administration: fatal police crackdowns on protests, high-profile acts of public humiliation, harassment, arbitrary detention, and a climate of intimidation against critics and the press. The warning in Reverend Dunn’s speech could not be clearer: Liberia stands on the edge—caught between hope for renewal and the gathering shadows of repression137.
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