Despot hero

James Sackie would make a good frontman for a campaign to help ex-child soldiers. At the age of 17, he was press-ganged into one of Charles Taylor’s juvenile militias. Twenty years on, he talks movingly, in his matter-of-fact pidgin English, about the dreadful things he saw, including the day he had to stop his own baby son, JR, being whisked away as lunch for a general called Eat Human Being.

But ask Sackie about Taylor himself and he changes. Taylor is a war hero, not a war criminal, James insists. And if he were freed from his jail cell in Britain, where he’s currently serving 50 years for war crimes, James would welcome him back as leader of Liberia. Not the kind of talk that gets donors reaching for their chequebooks.

‘Pa Taylor’ remains a big talking point ahead of next week’s Liberian elections, where voters will choose a successor to donor darling Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who has been president since 2006. By most measures, the election should be a rather cheery landmark. Ebola is no more. The Liberian capital, Monrovia, is safe for foreigners. And ‘Ma Ellen’ is doing the decent democratic thing and stepping down after two terms, as constitutionally required. The worry, though, is that just as Liberians bid farewell to one powerful, formidable woman, they will say hello to another — who just happens to be Taylor’s second wife.

Jewel Howard Taylor, 54, who was married to him during his 1997-2003 presidency, is vice-presidential candidate for football-star-turned-politician George Weah, in what some see as a Hillary Clinton-style dry run for the top job itself. For some voters, it’s the perfect blend of brawn and brains. Weah, who played for Chelsea and Man City, is much-liked but not too bright, while Howard Taylor, like Johnson Sirleaf, has a clutch of degrees in banking and finance and is considered one of the smarter women in the Liberian senate.