MONROVIA – A pundit once argued: “Before anyone doubts that Gabriel Baccus Matthews is the father of multiparty democracy in Liberia, they must ask themselves which Liberian, even including the rest of the progressives, was more tactical, more direct, more forceful, and more clinical in the engagement, preparation and mobilization the masses against the moribund establishment. Only G. Baccus Matthews did.” Cadres and devotees of the progressive struggle may be divided on their preference of who they think is the chief midwife and catalyst of the Liberian people’s struggle ‘for rice and right’ which saw the 133-year hegemony tumbling down. But there is a sense, explained by history and witnesses, where the just quoted pundit could be right: Gabriel was the man – the centripetal force around whom most of the strategists, ideologues, foot soldiers and aficionados gravitated to spark multiparty democracy which is still budding in Liberia. And many – mainly stalwarts of the Progressive Alliance of Liberia, United People’s Party – still hold him in awe, which is apparently while they are keeping his legacy and birth anniversary cherished and celebrated, releasing a short piece in posthumous honor to their benefactor, mentor and hero whose 77th birthday anniversary is today Thursday, May 8, 2025 . SEE BELOW:
Harbinger of Contemporary Liberian Multi-party Democracy
Gabriel Baccus Matthews (May 8, 1948 – September 7, 2007) was a Liberian politician. He is considered one of the leaders in developing a multi-party system in Liberia, long dominated by the True Whig Party. He founded the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) in 1975, the first active opposition pressure group since the demise of the Republican Party.
It was succeeded by the Progressive People Party (PPP) and later the United People’s Party. Matthews twice served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, under Samuel K. Doe (1980–1981) and later under Amos Sawyer (1990–93).
“One of the first actions of the coup makers was to order the release of all political prisoners. Upon daybreak, we were released, and I was invited to meet with them. I went accompanied by two other party leaders. We told them that we would cooperate in exchange for a commitment that they would help the Liberian people get a multiparty constitution.” This was the informal social contract entered into between Gabriel Baccus Matthews and the military leaders who recognized Mr. Matthews’s vision and his political activities in Liberia immediately preceding and precipitating the 1980 coup.
As a young man, Matthews joined the dissident movement against President William R. Tolbert. He worked to create an opposition party, as the True Whig Party had been in power for more than 100 years. In 1975 he and many among the Liberian diaspora formed the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL), then the Progressive People’s Party, the first legal opposition party to be recognized in decades.
After the April 1980 coup in which Tolbert was overthrown and Samuel K. Doe came to power, Matthews, at age 32, was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs for the first time. Matthews served as Foreign Minister until 1981. He later fell out of favor with Doe, who had become increasingly dictatorial.
During the 1980s, Matthews was the main opposition politician in Liberia. In 1985, when the ban on political activities was lifted, Matthews reorganized the PPP, but this time as the United People’s Party (UPP).
After Doe’s death in 1990, Matthews was again appointed as Foreign Minister, serving under President Amos Sawyer in the Interim Government of National Unity. He was instrumental in bringing the ECOMOG Peacekeeping force to Liberia. He remained Minister of Foreign Affairs until 1993, when Dr. Amos Sawyer was replaced in a bid to reinforce the call for inclusiveness of the warring factions in the governance process, so as to bring about peace in the country as the civil crisis raged on.
Long before the 1980 military coup, Baccus had been incessantly consumed by the conviction of multiparty democracy for the Liberian nation and people. Born a product of the Liberian status quo at the time, Matthews, in his early days, conceived and subsequently embarked on a national mission focusing on the imperative that Liberia needed to be reconciled in a fashion that will induce social integration and political reconciliation by bringing together the then minority ruling elite and the indigenous majority population as the basis for lasting peace and political stability in Liberia. Driven by the conviction for a society of equal opportunities, equality before the law, equal access to public services irrespective of class, creed, and political orientation, Baccus quickly distinguished himself among many young Liberians who were yearning for peaceful change in their country by exposing himself to countless and unthinkable security risks toward the realization of his political ideals and in pursuit of nationally beneficial objectives for constructive social change in the country.
In the Cause of the People, the Struggle Continues!!!
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