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The New DEAL Movement condemns in the strongest term, the recent ugly situation that occurred in Lofa County, Voinjama in particular, leading to deaths, destruction of properties, and the diabolical desecration of cultural and religious shrines. The violent incident represents a gross display of criminality and a flagrant disregard for efforts by peace-loving Liberians and their international partners to build and sustain the on going national peace building endeavors.
The point remains that what happened in Lofa a few days ago was not an isolated development; rather, it represents a direct consequence of 14 years of Liberia’s brutal armed conflict – a conflict that was generally driven by armed banditry.
Characteristically, the Liberian armed conflict served as a medium for the criminal accumulation of economic wealth and political positioning. The remnants of that conflict are still around and are determined to employ those same tactics to blackmail peaceful and law-abiding citizens, and place them in a state of permanent fear and insecurity. This we must not allow and must fight as a people and a nation. What is further disturbing is the well-calculated design by these criminal elements to exploit small disturbances for the provocation and invitation of a wider religious conflict by the attack of religious institutions, churches and mosques alike.
Furthermore, we are also aware that the armed violence in Voinjama was a direct manifestation of a combination of various post-conflict-related characteristic features, namely: ethno-tribal envy and hatred (nurtured by the war); unemployed and idle youths without programs of engagement, many of whom have been trained in criminality as a mode of making a living; land conflicts; cross border crimes, including drug trafficking and its abuse, particularly amongst the youth; the crisis of identity and citizenship. Others include criminal rumor mongering, misinformation and disinformation, as well as ritualistic killings. Last but not the least is the problem of prolonged stay and undocumented illegal immigration in the county and elsewhere in the country.
Under such circumstances, the lack of a strong criminal justice and law enforcement system, and a sound national reconciliation policy on the part of government has further aggravated the situation in that county; and if we are not careful, the peace building process could be threatened by these lapses.
Bluntly put, part of the problem responsible for the Lofa crisis is the failure of the Unity Party-led Government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to put in place a genuine national reconciliation policy framework that would guide the process of national dialogue, healing, reconciliation, and social justice. All sincere and lofty ideals that have informed the findings and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have been demonized by the Johnson Sirleaf Government; by so doing, the Unity Party Government (in collusion with members of the 52nd National Legislature) has virtually thrown a monkey wrench into all efforts made by that Commission.
Let it be stated here that there will be no peace in Liberia if the root causes for war in the country are not identified and squarely dealt with; if the perpetrators of war are continuously rewarded with political power; and if war criminal suspects are not prosecuted, and aggrieved people of our country not attended to.
Meanwhile, the culture of impunity, its prevalence in the Liberian society, and the lack of political will by successive administrations, including the incumbent, to pursue the policies of social justice, represent the greatest threat to the Liberian peace process. Once more, until those who have been accused of committing crimes against humanity in the Liberian civil conflict (based on the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission) are properly dealt with, the anti-peace menace will persist undeterred.
The New DEAL believes we are bound as Liberians to have grievances amongst ourselves after 14 years of getting at each others’ throats; and that we should not hesitate to bring such problems on the table for discussion and redress. The point however remains that no problems of any group of Liberians, however grave, should take precedence over the national security of Liberia as a nation-state; neither should we venture to use such problems as pretexts for violence and vandalism.
In this regard, the acts of cold blooded murder, arson, vandalism, theft, and robbery that were committed in the Lofa crisis are all criminal offenses, and are distinct from genuine post-conflict societal issues; as such, they should be handled distinctly and strictly within the context of the criminal justice system of Liberia.
Finally, in an attempt to help resolve the crisis in Lofa County, the New DEAL Movement, signatory to the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a moral guarantor for the Liberian peace process, would like to put forward the following Recommendations:
1. That the recent incident in Lofa County should not be treated as an isolated phenomenon; instead, it is directly related to root causes of the Liberian civil crisis, and specifically as they relate to Lofa. The death of a student only served as a spark. Therefore, all major pre and pos-conflict issues of the county responsible for recurrence of violent outbursts must be identified and brought to the table for proper and adequate redress;
2. All criminal suspects in the Lofa crisis for acts of murder, arson, vandalism, theft, robbery, etc. should methodically be identified, pursued and arrested. These elements should be separated from the legitimate conflict issues.
3. This category of people should be dealt with severely, strictly in conformity with the criminal justice and the judicial system of the Republic, irrespective of tribal and religious cover;
4. Like other counties, Lofa is a hot bed for post-conflict tension. In this regard, a new security strategy should be put in place for the county. The strategy should take into consideration need to augment the strength of the various county security contingents, including a robust criminal intelligence gathering unit, as well as adequate logistics (mobility and communication) to effectively operational the force. The security managers of the county should be efficient, very serious-minded, and should be up to the task. Moreover, the incident in Lofa should now prepare all Liberians for the rest of the country, particularly including other possible hot beds.
5. The Government of Liberia, as a matter of national security urgency, should begin to contemplate on instituting a bio-metric national identification card system for the registration and documentation of all citizens, as well as resident aliens alike that are residing in every nook and corner of the Republic. It will help to improve the general security situation, and will protect all those residing within the Republic.
6. Similarly, the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization should begin to put in place a national program for the documentation of all undocumented aliens, and where possible, their statuses legalized, as well as ensure that illegal immigration and cross-border crimes are effectively checked and curtailed in Lofa and throughout the country.
7. The investigation of the incident in Lofa should possibly include experts from the Land Commission and other related professional areas so as to begin to address possible land and other conflict-related issues as an undertone to the current crisis. Make no mistake to leave the Lofa crisis of huge complexity into the hands of faith-based institutions; they should only compliment the efforts of technical and professional teams.
8. It is the reading of the New DEAL Movement, that the recent incident in Lofa (like the 2004 “Monrovia Christian-Moslem upsurges”) has no religious undertone whatsoever. The underlining factor is that criminal gangs largely youths, always try to exploit tribal and other crisis situations order than religion, for the purpose of inflaming and further widening the conflict to their criminal advantage, by the of attack religious institutions.
9. The point simply is that peace-loving Liberians generally care less about the religious affiliation of others; instead, the real issues of Liberians are all about having access to the wealth of their country through employment and business opportunities. Moreover, law-abiding Liberians are more concerned about better living conditions such as better roads, schools, hospitals, and those general things that would make them happy.
10. Additionally, after 14 years of war and destruction, the entire country and its citizenry, other residents alike, are engulfed with post-traumatic hysteria. As such, we have to find new unconventional and ingenious ways to run the country. For example, we need to train people in post conflict psychosocial counseling for handling in the schools, security systems, the communities and society at large. The unemployment situation in the country is serious amongst the youth, and needs immediate attention. Other youth programs must be sought and put in place now! Drugs abuse and trafficking are also serious and need prompt and extra attention. Crimes are on the rise, and criminal prosecution in the communities should be fast-tract, with criminal sentences to possibly including community service and rehabilitation. The situation in Lofa should prepare us now for other possible situations so that we are not caught unaware.
11. Finally, our Party proposes that the national system of budgeting should begin to make provisions for disaster relief purposes, whether natural, or situations like the current Lofa crisis, where prosperities of innocent citizens and/or foreign residents who are trying to rebuild their lives were destroyed and/or looted. Government must begin to prepare far ahead for such crisis situations in order to promptly and meaningfully intervene. The situation in Lofa demands of Government some financial and material intervention in order to bring minimum relief to those that have been affected, as a way to help calm the situation. This would require adequate assessment of destruction that took place, with possible cost attached.
LIBERIA FIRST!!!
Signed___________________________
Moses B Mady-yuu, National Chairman
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