Senator Prince Yommie Johnson, the leader of the erstwhile Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), is dead.
Family sources confirmed that Senator Johnson collapsed in his bathroom during shower on Thursday morning and went into coma. He was later confirmed dead upon arrival at the Hope For Women Hospital in Paynesville.
The self-proclaimed Godfather of vote-rich Nimba County was instrumental in deciding the last few elections in Liberia.
Senator Johnson was last seen on November 25 when he honored the legacy of the late Gnassingbe Eyadema, former President of Togo, by naming his university’s auditorium after him.
The event was attended by a diverse group of officials, including traditional leaders, legislators, and students, celebrating Eyadema’s contributions to goodwill and generosity.
In his remarks, Senator Johnson reflected on Eyadema’s significant role in fostering peace in Liberia and throughout West Africa, labeling him a “man of peace.”
Senator Johnson’s history with civil war
Johnson allied himself with Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group when it launched the First Liberian Civil War in 1989 to overthrown President Samuel Doe. Due to a rift with Taylor, Johnson soon formed an NPFL splinter group, the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), which captured, tortured and executed Doe in 1990.
Following continued clashes with Taylor and the pro-Doe ULIMO group, the INPFL was disbanded and Johnson was forced into exile in Nigeria in 1992, where he converted to Christianity and reconciled with the Doe family.
Johnson returned to Liberia in 2004 following the end of the Second Liberian Civil War and was elected to the Senate of Liberia in the 2005 Liberian general election. He founded a political party, the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP) in 2010, before being expelled from it in 2014.
He founded a new party, Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) in 2016. He has since been re-elected to the Senate in 2014 and 2023. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for President in 2011 and 2017, respectively finishing in third and fourth place in the first round.
Johnson was born in Tapeta, Nimba County, in the east-central interior of the country, and was brought up by an uncle in the capital city of Monrovia. In 1971, while living in Monrovia, he joined the Liberian National Guard (LNG), which was transformed into the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) in the aftermath of Samuel Doe’s 1980 overthrow of President William R. Tolbert.
He rose to the rank of Lieutenant, receiving military training in both Liberia and the United States, where he was instructed in military police duties in South Carolina.
A stern, often draconian, disciplinarian, he served as aide-de-camp to General Thomas Quiwonkpa, the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia and accompanied him into exile in 1983, after Quiwonkpa was accused of plotting a coup against Doe.
Written with agency reports
