Key Points
- Former warlord Prince Johnson dies at 72.
- Johnson’s brutal role in Liberia’s civil wars remains notorious.
- He influenced Liberian politics even after the war.
Prince Johnson, a 72-year-old former Liberian warlord who served as a senator and political kingmaker before overseeing the ruthless assassination of former president Samuel Doe during the nation’s civil conflicts, passed away.
Prince Johnson, former warlord, dies at 72
“He did indeed pass away this morning,” Moses Ziah, a family member, told Reuters on Thursday. Johnson’s death was also verified by family spokesperson Wilfred Bangura, who also mentioned that he had long-term high blood pressure.
Johnson’s involvement in Liberia’s civil wars, which raged from 1989 to 2003 and claimed over 200,000 lives, made him notorious. Over a million people were uprooted during the bloody fighting, and thousands more were raped and mutilated. After his troops abducted and tortured former President Samuel Doe before murdering him, Johnson gained recognition for his controversial and significant part in the conflict.
Johnson celebrated with Budweiser cans in a now-famous 1990 film while his warriors used a knife to cut off Doe’s ear before putting him to death.
The terrifying video came to represent the brutality that characterized the Civil War. Johnson later apologized for the murder and stated that he wanted to make amends with Doe’s family.
Johnson was never put on trial despite being listed by Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission as one of individuals who should be prosecuted for war crimes due to his group’s role in rapes, killings, and other atrocities.
Johnson played kingmaker in post-war Liberian politics
According to reuters, Johnson continued to be involved in politics after the war and was chosen to serve as a senator for Nimba County in 2006. He later became an important kingmaker in Liberia’s political system. Johnson backed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president, in 2011. In the 2017 runoff election, he supported George Weah against Joseph Boakai, Sirleaf’s successor, six years later.
Johnson shifted his support to Boakai in the 2023 election, and the latter won a fiercely contested run-off against Weah. Despite his contentious past, Johnson’s changing party affiliations demonstrated his ongoing sway over Liberia’s political landscape.
