While the Message of Morality, saying God Bless Liberia and Save The State, as given on the 175th Birth Anniversary of Liberia, was being spread in the local and global media, the Message of Brutality was being seen in the local and global media, when citizens of Liberia who were protesting peacefully were being brutalized in the streets of Monrovia, Liberia. This display of brutality has motivated me to write and publish this Commentary, Morality Not Brutality, a responsible way of helping to end brutality and prevent its reoccurrence.
It is most important to end brutality and prevent its reoccurrence because violence has become the pretext for coup d'etat and civil war. Let us recall the Civil War in Liberia that took the lives of at least 300,000 people, 10 percent of the population of Liberia, at the time, damaged billions of dollars worth of infrastructure, and left the economy of Liberia unrecovered at its pre-war level. It is the experience of the people of Liberia in the Civil War that has convinced them to conclude that they prefer Peace to War, as heard clearly and loudly in their Cry: We Want Peace! No More War!
According to the Constitution of Liberia, the Supreme Law of Liberia, the State of Liberia is to protect the people of Liberia. Whenever people want to protest, the Law of Liberia calls for them to inform the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The MOJ then instructs the Liberian National Police (LNP) to provide protection for the protestors. This means that NO ONE MUST OBSTRUCT the protestors.
From the local and global media, we observe that the protestors on July 26, 2022, were brutally obstructed by some entities. The ruling political party has made claims about this brutality and so have the non-ruling political parties. The public cries for an immediate investigation into the brutality. Hopefully, an independent team of investigators will be appointed immediately to investigate the brutality and make its findings known locally and globally.
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In the midst of the pretext for violence, remembering the violence of the Civil War and the violence at the University of Liberia recently during the Honoring Program for the late Prof. Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer, there is a need to act urgently through the Rule of Law to end violence and prevent its recurrence. The way to go forward for the better is to spread knowledge in ways that motivate people to take action through the Rule of Law to end the system of injustice and bring in the system of Justice. In working this way, we work to Save Lives rather than to kill lives. In this way, we work together to Save Lives with Morality for Humanity.
