Liberian politician and public figure Miatta Fahnbulleh has recounted the atrocities from Liberia’s civil war during the tenure of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

She blamed Taylor for the destruction of generations of Liberians due to the lasting trauma caused by the country's civil war.

Speaking in an interview with Ghanaian broadcaster Kafui Dey and sighted by GhanaWeb on July 27, 2026, Fahnbulleh said more than two decades after the conflict ended, she still cannot find anything positive to say about Taylor because of the devastating impact of his actions on Liberia.

"I know Charles Taylor and the entire family. Liberia is a small country; we all know each other. I would like to be able [to say something about him], 20-something years after the war, to say something nice about Charles Taylor. But I'm sorry, I can't," she said.

"I hold Charles Taylor responsible for the destruction of three generations of Liberians, the disintegration of our country that we're not going to be able to put together. We're still fighting, and the damage that has been done to the Liberian psyche, the trauma and everything else, we're going to pay for it until two generations die out," she added.

The former presidential candidate also argued that the 50-year prison sentence handed to Taylor could never adequately reflect the scale of suffering caused during the conflict.

"When I was asked if I thought Charles Taylor deserved the 50 years, I was honest. It's not even about the 50 years. Fifty years can never be worth the destruction of a country," she said.

According to Fahnbulleh, future generations may eventually form a different opinion of Taylor, but she believes those who witnessed the horrors of the civil war firsthand continue to bear emotional scars.

"Maybe in 2060 or 2070, Liberian children will have different thoughts. But for me personally, still seeing the damage, still seeing the harm, still suffering for what Charles Taylor unleashed, I can never say something nice about him," she added.

Fahnbulleh also recalled witnessing some of the atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone civil war, which she linked to Taylor's influence.

Describing the violence as "barbaric," she said she saw children as young as seven or eight years old whose limbs had been amputated.

"I saw seven, eight-year-old children right there in Sierra Leone. Limbs chopped off. Why did they have to chop children's limbs off? Children," she recounted emotionally.

She further alleged that the mutilations, commonly referred to during the conflict as "short sleeve" or "long sleeve," were carried out on the advice of Taylor.

Taylor, who served as President of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, was convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2012 for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sierra Leone's civil war. He is serving a 50-year prison sentence.

NA/VPO