The United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was an anti-rebel group that participated in the
First Liberian Civil War
The First Liberian Civil War lasted from 1989 to 1997.
President Samuel Doe had established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of support from the United States by the late 1980s. The Nat ...
(1989–1996).
ULIMO was formed in May 1991 by
Krahn and
Mandingo refugees and soldiers who had fought in the
Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) fighters.
[Damrosch, Lori Fisler. ''Enforcing Restraint: Collective Intervention in Internal Conflicts'', 1993. Page 170.] It was led by
Alhadji Kromah and Raleigh Seekie, a deputy
Minister of Finance in the Doe government. After fighting alongside the Sierra Leonean army against the
Revolutionary United Front (RUF), ULIMO forces entered western Liberia in September 1991. The group scored significant gains in areas held by another rebel group – the
National Patriotic Front of Liberia
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996.
Leadership
The military aspects of NPFL were led by Charles Taylor, a former governme ...
(NPFL), notably around the
diamond mining areas of
Lofa and
Bomi counties.
From its outset, ULIMO was beset with internal divisions and the group effectively broke into two separate militias in 1994: ULIMO-J, an ethnic
Krahn faction led by General
Roosevelt Johnson, and ULIMO-K, a
Mandingo-based faction led by
Alhaji G. V. Kromah.
ULIMO-J was poorly ruled, which led to leadership struggles and general discontent among its fighters. It had approximately 8,000
combatants. ULIMO-K was relatively united under Kromah, in contrast to the fractious nature of the ULIMO-J. It had approximately 12,000 combatants.
The group, both before and after its breakup, committed serious violations of
human rights.
List of ULIMO Commanders
*
Mohammed Jabbateh aka "Jungle Jabbah" (ULIMO-K since 1994)
*
Roosevelt Johnson (ULIMO-J since 1994)
*
Kunti Kamara
*
Alieu Kosiah
*
Alhadji Kromah (ULIMO-K since 1994)
*
General Butt Naked (ULIMO-J since 1994)
* Raleigh Seekie
* Armah Youlo
References
{{Reflist
History of Liberia
Rebel groups in Liberia
Krahn people