By Socrates Smythe Saywon
Today, August 18, 2025, Liberia marks 22 years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) in Accra, Ghana, an agreement that ended nearly 14 years of brutal civil conflict. That peace accord remains one of the most consequential milestones in the nation’s history, symbolizing a collective decision by warring factions, politicians, and citizens to abandon the path of bloodshed for dialogue and reconstruction.
Over the weekend, Robert Wilmont Kpadeh, Liberia’s Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), used his platform to reflect on this journey. In his Facebook podcast, he praised Liberians both at home and abroad for sustaining what he called “solid, uninterrupted peace.” His words echoed a familiar truth, peace has been costly, fragile, and hard-earned.
Yet, as much as Kpadeh’s reflections sounded patriotic and reassuring, the reality is more complicated. While Liberia has indeed avoided a return to full-scale war since 2003, it has not been spared the corrosive effects of corruption, political instability, and economic stagnation. These challenges threaten the very foundation of the peace so many are eager to celebrate.
The CPA was not simply a document of ceasefire, it was a roadmap toward reconciliation, governance reforms, and rebuilding national institutions. Two decades later, however, Liberia’s democracy remains under strain. Elections continue to spark tension, with allegations of fraud and intimidation undermining public trust. The justice system, weakened by political interference, often fails to serve as the impartial guardian of citizens’ rights. And despite billions of dollars in international aid and investment, the economy remains largely dependent on extractive industries, offering few opportunities for sustainable growth.
Kpadeh was right in noting that peace has allowed schools to open, hospitals to operate, and people to live without fear of displacement. These are tangible gains that must not be overlooked. Yet, the question remains: are Liberians experiencing the full dividends of peace?
A country that enjoys “peace” but struggles to provide jobs, healthcare, and functioning infrastructure is in danger of reducing peace to a slogan rather than a lived reality. The persistence of youth unemployment, rising drug abuse among the young population, and widespread disillusionment with political leadership demonstrate that peace without prosperity is incomplete. In some communities, the absence of war feels less like stability and more like a holding pattern, a fragile quiet threatened by deep social grievances.
This is where the collective responsibility that Kpadeh emphasized must be taken seriously. Liberians have indeed shown resilience, patience, and a determination not to return to the horrors of the past. But resilience alone cannot guarantee a better future. Leaders must go beyond paying lip service to peace anniversaries and instead commit to addressing the systemic failures that undermine stability. This includes decisively tackling corruption, creating jobs for young people, strengthening the rule of law, and ensuring inclusive governance.
In an interview with Joy F.M. today, Kpadeh also spoke about the dividends of peace and the need for socio-economic transformation, such as job creation, justice for all, and equality. Without these, Liberia is experiencing negative peace rather than positive peace.
The 22nd anniversary of peace should therefore be more than a commemoration, it should be a moment of sober reflection. Peace is not merely the absence of gunfire; it is the presence of justice, accountability, and opportunities for all. Unless Liberia works to close the gap between symbolic peace and practical peace, anniversaries like today will risk becoming hollow rituals, celebrated in words but contradicted in reality.
Liberia has traveled far from the days of savagery and mayhem that Kpadeh recalled. But the nation’s greatest challenge is not avoiding another civil war, it is building a society where peace is sustained not just by memory and resilience, but by justice and prosperity. That is the true meaning of the CPA, and 22 years on, Liberia must still reckon with how far it has, or has not, come in honoring that historic promise.
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