MONROVIA – Nimba County’s newest unity project has hit its first public fracture, from one of its most prominent sons. Representative Musa Hassan Bility has disowned the Nimba Solidarity Movement, saying his photograph was used without consent. But his objection runs deeper than a misused image. Bility argues the movement trades truth for photographs and principle for patronage. He notes that some of its faces were bitter political rivals only years ago, now united around government appointments. His challenge reopens old wounds Nimba has long avoided, including the deaths of Jackson F. Doe and Samuel Dokie. It also tests whether county solidarity can survive Liberia’s partisan divide before the next national contest, as THE ANALYST reports.
Nimba County District #7 Representative and Citizens Movement for Change (CMC) Political Leader Musa Hassan Bility has publicly dissociated himself from the Nimba Solidarity Movement, declaring that he has no knowledge of its planning and has given no consent for his name or photograph to be used in connection with it.
In his “Letter from Saclepea,” Bility stated that he has attended no meeting, participated in no discussion, and is neither a sponsor, an organizer nor a participant in the initiative.
The lawmaker said he had recently seen publicity surrounding the initiative, including promotional materials bearing his photograph and creating the impression that he is associated with, or supportive of, it.
More importantly, he argued, his understanding of reconciliation and solidarity in Nimba County is fundamentally different from what the initiative appears to represent.
Five Tribes, Unequal Voice
Bility noted that Nimba is a county of five indigenous tribes, each with an equal claim to its identity, history and future. Yet for too long, he contended, the county’s political affairs have been dominated by two major tribal groups, sometimes leaving others feeling like strangers in their own county.
He described as even more troubling the treatment of people whose family connections extend beyond the dominant groups. Sons and daughters born to Nimba mothers, raised within its communities, contributing to its development and succeeding in business and public life, he said, sometimes face questions about their tribal identity when political opportunities arise.
“How can we speak of solidarity when we have not addressed these contradictions? How can we celebrate unity while preserving the very prejudices that divide us?” Bility asked.
The CMC leader warned that what is being presented as Nimba solidarity risks becoming another exercise in political convenience rather than genuine reconciliation.
Some of the personalities now appearing together in the name of unity, he observed, were bitter political opponents only a few years ago, and some previously opposed the very political leadership they now publicly embrace.
While conceding that political differences can be resolved and that people have every right to change their positions, Bility argued that when such changes coincide with political appointments and access to government, it is reasonable to ask whether the newfound solidarity is built on principle or political benefit.
In his view, unity that depends on government employment, political patronage or loyalty to a particular administration is not the reconciliation Nimba needs.
No Loyalty Test for Belonging
Bility also rejected what he called the dangerous notion that supporting the government is a qualification for belonging to a united Nimba.
The county, he said, is home to educated, independent-minded people with different political convictions, some supporting the Unity Party (UP) and others the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), the CMC or other political institutions.
None of them, he insisted, should be treated as less Nimbaian because of those choices. A genuine solidarity movement, he argued, must make room for all these differences and unite the people around their shared identity and collective interests, not demand political conformity as the price of acceptance.
Wounds Swept Under the Carpet
The lawmaker identified what he described as a much deeper problem the county continues to avoid: its history.
Nimba, he recalled, has experienced painful political divisions, violence, betrayal and the loss of important leaders, and has never adequately confronted the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Jackson F. Doe, Samuel Dokie, Patrick Biddle and others whose stories remain painful chapters in its collective memory.
“We have repeatedly swept difficult questions under the carpet, hoping that time would accomplish what truth and honest dialogue have not,” Bility wrote.
Reconciliation, he maintained, cannot be built upon silence, and gathering people on a platform to exchange greetings, take photographs, deliver speeches and declare Nimba united does not honor wounds that deserve more than ceremonial recognition.
Bility said he has consistently argued that political reconciliation must begin with an honest examination of what went wrong, recalling that he made the same argument concerning the CDC and the need for its leadership to examine past mistakes before charting a new future.
Those who welcomed that position when it concerned another political institution, he said, should recognize the consistency of the principle when he applies it to Nimba. “We cannot selectively demand accountability. If reconciliation requires truth elsewhere, it must also require truth at home,” he declared.
He further called for an end to the destructive practice of treating every change of government as an opportunity to punish those who supported the previous administration.
When one political group assumes power, he noted, those associated with its predecessor are often excluded, marginalized or treated as enemies, and the same practice is repeated when the political tide changes again.
That cycle, according to Bility, has damaged relationships, weakened institutions and made political affiliation more important than competence, character and service.
A serious Nimba reconciliation initiative, he argued, should establish principles that protect the county’s people from this recurring political discrimination, regardless of which party controls the government.
Nimba Alone Cannot Elect
The CMC leader cautioned that Nimba, important as it is, does not exist independently of Liberia.
The county’s population, political influence and electoral strength are significant, he acknowledged, but Nimba alone does not elect a President of Liberia, since national leadership requires the confidence and participation of Liberians across all 15 counties.
He urged Nimbaians to resist the temptation to transform county solidarity into a political bargaining instrument or a demonstration of support for any individual seeking national influence.
The county, he said, should contribute to national unity, not create the impression that its collective identity belongs to one political camp.
Outlining his own blueprint, Bility said a serious reconciliation process must begin with broad consultations involving traditional leaders, religious leaders, women, young people, civil society, political stakeholders and representatives of all five indigenous tribes, including those whose identities cross tribal boundaries.
Participants, he proposed, must agree on the questions to be discussed, acknowledge the grievances that have divided them, examine the county’s political history and establish a common understanding of how they will conduct themselves in the future.
Such a process, he said, must confront tribal discrimination, political exclusion, historical injustice and the misuse of public influence. Only then, he argued, can the county develop a genuine Nimba agenda that survives changes of government and political leadership.
Bility also raised concern about any attempt to organize an elaborate public ceremony without first establishing its purpose, agenda, expected outcomes and source of financing.
If public resources are to be committed to such an event, he argued, the people deserve to know what lasting benefit they will receive, because reconciliation is too important to become an expensive gathering designed merely to project an image of unity to the rest of Liberia.
“A crowded platform is not proof of solidarity, and a photograph of political leaders standing together is not evidence that the people they represent have reconciled,” he wrote.
Despite his objections, the lawmaker said he remains willing, indeed eager, to participate in a genuine process of Nimba reconciliation. W
hen Nimbaians are prepared to sit around a table, confront the truth about their past, acknowledge their differences, establish rules for political coexistence and commit to a future in which no Nimbaian is excluded because of tribe, family background or political opinion, he said, he will gladly take his seat.
“But I will not lend my name, image, or credibility to a process whose objectives I have neither discussed nor agreed to,” Bility declared.
Nimba, he concluded, does not need another political spectacle disguised as solidarity but a moment of truth, with reconciliation honest enough to confront its history, courageous enough to challenge its prejudices and inclusive enough to accommodate its political differences.
The county’s unity, he insisted, must be rooted in the dignity of its people, not the convenience of those who temporarily hold political power. Until Nimba is prepared to pursue that kind of reconciliation, Bility said, he cannot associate himself with any movement that substitutes political appearances for genuine solidarity.
“Nimba belongs to all of us, not to a political party, a government, a tribe, or a collection of political personalities,” he stated.