SUMMARY
MODEL (Movement for Democracy in Liberia) was a rebel group active in the Liberian conflict over government. In 1990, an armed uprising against President Samuel Doe erupted in Liberia, as he was first challenged by NPFL, and then by latter’s splinter faction INPLF. While the NPFL leader Charles Taylor was himself an “Americo-Liberian” – a collection term used to denote descendants of former black slaves from the Americas – many NPFL cadres were drawn from the Gio and Mano tribes. Consequently, the Liberian government engaged in brutal reprisal attacks against the Gio and Mano, which in turn led to NPLF atrocities against the Krahn – President Doe’s native ethnic group – and the Mandingo ethnic group, who were perceived as “Krahn collaborators” by the rebels because of the favors the group had received from Doe’s regime. In September 1990, President Doe was apprehended and killed by INPLF forces. However, ECOWAS’ deployment of the Nigeria-led ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group) force in August prevented any of the rebel factions from ousting the newly formed interim government and capturing the capital Monrovia. From 1991 to 1996, Liberia was characterized by failed negotiations and non-state fighting between various armed groups. For example, a primary rival of the Gio- and Mano-based NPFL was ULIMO (established in 1991), which was based around the Krahn and Mandingo ethnic groups. ULIMO itself then split along ethnic lines in 1993, creating ULIMO-J (Krahn) and ULIMO-K (Mandingo). The 1991-1996 conflict also had a pronounced regional dynamic, with NPFL expanding its activities into Sierra Leone, where it cooperated with RUF. Likewise, ULIMO received support from primarily Sierra Leone and ECOMOG, and to some extent Guinea. Following negotiations in Abuja in 1996 and subsequent elections held in 1997, NPFL’s Charles Taylor became President of Liberia in August 1997; it was in this context that MODEL emerged. Reflecting the chaotic situation in Liberia during the early 2000s. MODEL’s exact goals were unclear; what was known was that the group sought to overthrow President Taylor. It was also suggested that MODEL wanted to limit the influence of LURD, another anti-Taylor rebel organization active at the time.
Thomas Yaya Nimely created MODEL during the early 2000s, and it emerged as an independent warring actor in March 2003. MODEL, like ULIMO-J, was largely dominated by the Krahns; a large share if its cadre member were Krahn who had been forced to flee to Cote d’Ivoire. Politically, the group was closely linked to supporters of the former Liberian President, Samuel Doe, who had been overthrown and killed in 1990. In 2000, Yaya Nimley travelled to Cote d’Ivoire together with the experienced fighters Arthur Baygboe and Philip Pardea to set up a new rebel organization. However, Yaya Nimley’s first attempt to set up his own faction failed, as the authorities in Cote d’Ivoire was unsympathetic to his pleas for assistance; he then left for the United States. Nevertheless, the formation MODEL was an almost direct consequence of the eruption of armed conflict in Cote d’Ivoire in 2002. Liberian President Charles Taylor was known for supporting rebel organization in neighboring countries, which included supplying and training the Ivoirian group MPIGO 2002-2003. This infuriated Ivoirian President Laurent Gbagbo, and prompted him to support the formation of MODEL. Ivoirian authorities utilized the presence of displaced Liberians – a majority of which was anti-Taylor – to bolster its own capability to fight Taylor-sponsored rebels inside Cote d’Ivoire. The Ivoirian military agreed to arm a group of Liberian refugees, led by Eric Digbeson, conditioned that they agreed to fight for the Government of Cote d’Ivoire; Baygboe and Pardea joined this group, which was called Liberians Mobilized in Action (LIMA). As such, the process that eventually resulted in the formation of MODEL was closely linked to a regional conflict context.
After Digbeson was killed during clashes with the Ivoirian rebels, Baygboe assumed control over LIMA. It was at this point that Yaya Nimley returned to Cote d’Ivoire and began courting the Ivorian authorities in order to secure more investments into the LIMA militia. This time, Yaya Nimley managed to attract the sympathies of the Ivorian President Gbagbo, who agreed to provide LIMA with more military supplies. Following this, the group began to gradually develop a functioning command structure and bolstering its military capability; it was during this process that the name MODEL was adopted. Cote d’Ivoire remained MODEL’s primary foreign patron for the duration of its insurgency, providing extensive support to the group. For example, Cote d’Ivoire provided funds, supplies, and weapons; MODEL also maintained command posts on Ivoirian territory. Furthermore, it was suggested that Ivorian troops fought as part of MODEL, even if this information was never verified. Nevertheless, Cote d’Ivoire’s support was so extensive that MODEL most likely would not have been able to engage in conflict at all without it. It is also worth noting that in return for this support, MODEL forces fought for the Government of Cote d’Ivoire against the Ivoirian rebel groups (for more on this conflict, see Ivory Coast: Government).
While Yaya Nimley was the overall leader of MODEL, the group’s military commander was Arthur Byagboe. After Byagboe was killed in battle in August 2003, Kai Farley became the new military commander. Other important leadership figures included Amos Chayee, a military commander, and Thomas Byagboe, the group’s military spokesperson. In addition, Philip Pardea held a high military rank within MODEL, until he surrendered to French peacekeepers in Cote d’Ivoire; Pardea had refused to obey orders from Yaya Nimley not to participate in an Ivorian government offensive, and sought refuge with the peacekeepers to avoid reprisals. Yaya Nimley also survived an attempt by former ULIMO-J leader, Roosevelt Johnson, to take control over MODEL in July 2003. A majority of MODEL’s fighters had fought for ULIMO-J before, and some of the older member had also belonged to the AFL. It has also been suggested that a significant amount of Ivoirians fought with MODEL. There were also allegations that MODEL made use of child soldiers, some as young as fourteen. The rank-and-file members of MODEL were organized into 7-8 units (“companies”) of 100-300 fighters each; another estimation put the MODEL’s total number of troops at less than 1000.
On 18 August 2003, MODEL, alongside LURD, signed the Accra Peace Agreement with the Government of Liberia, led by Vice-President Moses Blah. As part of the agreement, MODEL was made part of a new broad-based transitional government, the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), which was inaugurated on 14 October 2003. After this, MODEL ceased to exist as an independent actor in the UCDP data, and became part of the Government of Liberia.
