The National Chairman of the Liberia People's Party, Dusty Wolokollie, predicts security lapses after the departure of the United Nations Mission in Liberia unless Liberians themselves are made involved in the arrangement provided for by the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) for Liberia.

Mr. Wolokollie said, "Ways must be found to involved local communities in their own defense." The LPP senior partisan did not say how that would be achieved since it would involve rearming whole communities instead of disarming, but noted that Liberians must no longer be seen as passive citizens without a role in providing for their own security.

He said, "Villages must never be left with armed gangs. The implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) has achieved mixed results, even though much success has been made in ending hostilities and establishing physical security." Mr. Wolokollie made the observation when he addressed a news conference over the weekend at the National Headquarters of the party on Benson Street, where he indicated that the real test of the success of the security measures being put into place under the CPA is not simply how safe the people feel today in the presence of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) but how they will fare after UNMIL departs.

The LPP Chairman therefore wants the involvement of Liberians in the security building process so that they can be providers of their own security in the country.

Considering the nature, scope and duration of the Liberian Conflict, Mr. Wolokollie said, "An appropriate security for Liberia must be regional in scope, accounting for the security vulnerabilities from neighboring countries such as Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and the Sierra Leone since, it is proven that security breakdown in any of these countries can create conflict and destabilize the sub-region." According to him, disarmament and the demobilization in Liberia are likely to be less effective and the security outcomes compromised if an appropriate basin-wide security regime is not put into place before the international stabilization force ends its tour of duty in Liberia.

On the question of governance, Wolokollie said adjustment must be made to rescue the transitional process and to strengthen its potential of laying foundations for sustainable democracy after the departure of the international community.

He called on the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), UNMIL and all those superintending the transitional process to commit themselves to holding a sovereign national conference prior to the 2005 elections.

Such national conference, he said, should assess governing institutions, craft appropriate reform measures and determine strategies for the implementation consistent with current framework for the return of Liberia to constitutional governance.

"The works of the present Governance Reform Commission should serve as background documentation for the proposed National Sovereign Conference," Mr. Wolokollie suggested.

The lack of transparency and absolute failure to strengthen the Contracts and Monopolies Commission (CMC) and on account of ending the internal scrambles, Wolokollie said the NTGL management of the financial and economic affairs of the country should be subjected to internal oversight.

He then called for appropriate audit of the financial management system of the NTGL prior to elections.

He did not say when and why.

Gov't Establishes Roadmap - UN Sanctions May Soon Go The United Nations Security Council recently refused to lift diamond and timber sanctions on Liberia but acknowledged that the country has made progress toward meeting its conditions. The decision came in response to an appeal by Chairman Gyude Bryant, who said his government desperately needed the revenues from its two major exports to maintain peace and rebuild the country. While recognizing the need to lift the diamond and timber sanctions as soon as possible, the Security Council concluded that the conditions for lifting the sanctions have not been fully met. The council called on the government to meet the benchmarks before it conducts its next review in December. For a while the NTGL had appeared dazed from the enormity of the UN demand. But as The Analyst's Senior Staffer reports, the government is not laying the UN advice low.

The government of Liberia has begun to establish the roadmap for the removal of the UN sanctions on timber and diamonds trade Under the auspices of the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, a five-day workshop aimed at putting into place the requisite structure for the implementation of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) opens this morning with experts from the area of alluvial mining attending.

In a global attempt to control the movement of blood diamonds, all diamond-producing nations are required to introduce an internal control mechanism to trace diamonds from the point of extraction to the point of export.

The Security Council approved arms and diamond embargoes on Liberia in May 2001 after determining that former president Charles Taylor's government had helped rebels in Sierra Leone. A new ban on the timber trade also took effect in July 2003.

Taylor fled into exile in August 2003, paving the way for the power sharing transitional government, which is expected to run the country until elections late 2005.

Since then, several proactive steps have been taken by the government to have the sanctions lifted. But UN has refused to lift the sanctions until Liberia complies with an international protocol known as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a forgery resistant certificate of origin, which requires all diamond-producing countries to introduce an internal control mechanism to trace diamonds from the point of extraction to the point of export.

In furtherance of the desire to have sanctions lifted, the Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia set up a committee to review the status of Liberia's compliance with the Security Council Resolutions and make recommendations as to the way forward.

That committee submitted its report last December, advancing several recommendations thereby establishing a way towards the removal of sanctions.

Notwithstanding these efforts, the UN sanctions remain in force with Liberians continuing to endure the harshness of sanction.

The council emphasized that "the continuation of sanctions was not punitive, but only meant to consolidate the peace." At the same time, sources pointed to several justifications for the maintenance of sanctions by the UN.

They said the Government of Liberia did not have control and access to the countryside where mineral production was taking place.

Analysts say Liberia is desperately trying to become part of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, which is the diamond industry's response to growing world concern about so-called "blood diamonds" that have fueled deadly wars in The Congo, Liberia, Angola and Sierra Leone.

The council said there has been less progress in the timber sector and encouraged Liberia to make greater efforts to meet the council's conditions to lift sanctions by establishing full authority and control over timber-producing areas, and ensuring that revenues from the industry are used properly.

CCC, CWS Give To Students, Others The Concerned Christian Community (CCC), in collaboration with Church World Service (CWS), has begun distributing health and school kits to several hundred students, church groups, and war-affected women in Montserrado, Grand Bassa, Bomi, and Margibi counties.

According to the head of the CCC distribution team, Health Director Mrs. Jianjay Potter, over 500 war-affected women, last Wednesday, received health kits in Bokay's Town on the Buchanan-Robertsfield Highway.

The health kids contained towels, cakes of toilet soap, toothpastes and brushes, and combs, amongst other items.

In continuation of the distribution, Thursday last week, the team distributed health kits to a women's auxiliary group at a local Pentecostal Church in Brewerville while gave school kits to more than 1000 students in various schools in the Brewerville area.

Beneficiaries of the school kits included regular and adult literacy students living in the Siegbeh and Perry Town IDP camps, and the Perry Camp Way Station.

Others were students of the Mother Tsegiste School System (MTSS) also in Brewerville.

Meanwhile, still to benefit from the distribution are, ex-combatants currently being sponsored in various schools in Monrovia and its environs under CCC's Students Assistant Program (SAP), according to Mrs. Potter.

According to her, several CCC women and men fellowships in Bomi, Margibi, and Grand Bassa counties are targeted to benefit from the packages.

It may be recalled that the Church World Service recently dispatched a 40-ft container to CCC containing health and school kits to boost the organization's efforts in catering for the needs of students and war-affected women.

The distribution is expected to end this week.

Maintain Sanctions On Liberia -RAP Calls On UN; Proposes Salary Increment The Reformation Alliance Party (RAP), has caked for an "evaluation statement" on government's performance.

The call came as the Liberia National Transitional Government celebrated its first anniversary Thursday.

In a press statement issued over the weekend, RAP expressed regrets that after one year in office, the NTGL has failed to address itself to the basic social needs of the people.

The party made specific reference to light, water and public transportation. The statement also highlighted the promises made by the UN special envoy Jacques Klein who publicly said August 2003, that water and light would have been made available to the Liberian people two weeks after the seating of the NTGL.

Contrary to this statement, the NTGL has been in office for one year now; these services are yet to be provided to the people, the party observes.

Even though, RAP said Mr. Klein was not directly involved with the running of the government, the party believes that his statement represented the position of the UN. As such the UN must share the success and failure of the government.

At his last press conference, Chairman Gyude Bryant informed the Liberians that the mandate of his government was to disarm, demobilize, repatriate and hold elections.

"RAP believes that the NTGL is under obligation to provide the needs of its citizens and urge it not to only concentrate on disarmament and elections," the statement said.

RAP says "it is totally disappointing that the NTGL Chairman Gyude Bryant drives around the city and sees how dilapidated the road net work in Monrovia is, but does nothing to remedy the situation".

"RAP would like to remind the NTGL that the Liberian people pay their taxes into government revenues so that the government can in return provide them these facilities without any precondition RAP called on the United Nations Security Council "not to lift the sanction it imposed on Liberian diamonds and timbers until an elected government is put into office." On the issue of disarmament and repatriation, RAP commended the NTGL, UNMIL and UNHCR for the success attained thus far in the disarmament process as well as the recent repatriation of some Liberians from neighboring countries.