This, Too, is Liberia

"This, Too, is Liberia" The above quote of the late Tom Kamara is emblematic for his writings and a characterization of the social, economic, and political landscape of his motherland. He fearlessly and objectively fought to expose the ills of the Liberian society. Tom was committed to promoting press freedom, social justice, and good governance in his beloved country and he did that even at the peril of his life. T.K., as he was affectionally called, did not only articulate the plight of the ordinary Liberians but devoted his life to the search for realistic solutions to the problems confronting Liberia. He wrote hundreds of articles in the New Democrat, the Liberian newspaper he founded in 1993, and in The Perspective, an online Liberian magazine, during his asylum in the Netherlands. This, Too, is Liberia contains a selection of his articles, with particular focus on Charles Taylor, the Liberian Civil Wars, the troubling relations between Liberia and the USA, the Samuel Doe and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf eras and the development of democracy in Liberia and other African countries. The book also includes three articles about the life and work of Tom Kamara. 274 pages - colour photos - maps

Tom Kamara (1949-2012) was born in Lofa County, Liberia. He towered among the few famous journalists in Liberia. Though his critics viewed him as a controversial journalist, both his detractors and admirers undoubtedly respected his refusal to bend the truth and compromise his objectivity. After his studies in the United States, Tom immediately returned home in 1981 to become Editor-In-Chief of the government-owned The New Liberian newspaper. In 1983 Tom became Director of Press and Public Affairs of the Constitutional Drafting Commission. For reasons that were never revealed, he was thrown into jail by the National Security Agency from where he clandestinely escaped and fled into exile to the Netherlands. Returning home in 1990, he established in 1993 the New Democrat newspaper as an alternative medium for free press in Liberia. When Charles Taylor seized power in 1996, he had to flee into exile again in the Netherlands. Returning to Liberia in 2004, Tom Kamara reached the pinnacle of his career as Publisher and Managing Editor of the New Democrat newspaper. He died on June 8, 2012 in Brussels, on his way to the Netherlands for medical treatment following a brief illness.