Profile of MODEL Chairman Nimely Yaya

Until recently, nothing much was known of Thomas Nimely Yaya, chairman of the second rebel group in the Liberian conflict, the Movement For Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). Slight in built, but sporting a distinctive moustache on a clean-shaven face, Nimely Yaya, at a first glance, is no different from your every-day senior civil servant or businessman. He was born in a rubber plantation at Pleebo in the Maryland County of Liberia on November 5, 1956. Soon after High School, he followed the steps of his father, Tarnyoung Seoh, and became a clinical nurse. "When I graduated from High School, there was no medical professional where we stayed. A lot of children I grew up with contracted diseases but had no one to care for them. So my mother, Ester, talked me into being a clinical nurse like my father," Nimely Yaya told IRIN. He worked in the medical field in Liberia for UNICEF and continued to the United States where he has stayed for the past twenty years. A behavioural psychologist by profession, he was the director in charge of the Postgraduate Centre For Mental Health, New York for 10 years but resigned in 1999. "I was in Sierra Leone when the civil war caught up with me. Later I got involved with forming MODEL to rectify injustices being meted out to my countrymen by Taylor. However, I still do some consultancy work every now and then and that is how I get my bills paid," Nimely Yaya said. Nimely Yaya currently resides in Philadelphia and having assumed American citizenship, he refers to himself a Liberian-American. Like its chairman, MODEL's Leadership is packed with Liberians, resident in the United States. "Seven committees, under the Chairmanship, consist of professionals most of whom reside in the United Sates," Nimely Yaya says. In fact, three members of its four-man delegation to the Accra Peace Talks - delegation leader Tiah Slanger, spokesman Eugene Wilson and Sam Wlue are professionals who live and work in the United States. The only exception is its Military Commander, General Boie Blay Ajou Boueh, who stays in Liberia. MODEL currently has its administrative headquarters in the southeastern Liberian township of Zwedru in the Grand Gedeh County. It spearheaded its rebellion against the Taylor regime six months ago from neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, where it widely believed to receive its financial support. However, Yaya is quick to dispel of that as mere speculation. "To be honest with you, Cote d'Ivoire has its own problems. We do not have any relationship with Cote d'Ivoire as an organisation. MODEL finances itself. MODEL consisted of 85 percent of the Liberian Armed Forces and that is where we get our arms and soldiers from." Like many political organisations, MODEL has had its own share of power struggles. It recently quelled a takeover attempt by Roosevelt Johnson, a former warlord and head of the Ulimo-J Rebel faction, which fought Taylor in the first civil war prior to general elections in 1997. Though Krahn tribemen of former president Samuel Doe are believed to form the core of MODEL's Leadership, Yaya is quick to dismiss any tribal sentiments. "I am a full-Blooded Krahn, from head to toe but MODEL is not an ethnic group. We control over seven and a half counties in Liberia. As we speak, we have all the Liberian tribes represented at the frontlines. So, it is untrue for people to say MODEL is an ethnic group," Yaya said. With the Liberian civil war officially over since August 18, when all warring parties endorsed a West African brokered comprehensive peace agreement, MODEL says it is yet to decide whether it will transform itself from a rebel group into a political party. "We will however continue to work within the interim government to achieve full disarmament and also to ensure that the promises of the donor countries with respect to the reconstruction of Liberia and rehabilitation of our fighters are fulfilled. That is our one major goal," Nimely Yaya said. Perhaps, this will also be the time for Yaya Nimely to take a quiet backseat from the arduous tasks of being embroiled in jungle warfare with his rebel force and rather spend more time enjoying his favourite pastimes of soccer, fishing and hunting...and sampling his favourite dishes of Rice and Fufu. Yaya Nimely is married to Lorpu, a registered nurse, with whom he has four children.