Given the record of violence in Liberia, which, at times, takes on the forms of coup d'etat and civil war, where hundreds of thousands of people get injured and die, the people of Liberia have overwhelmingly decided that they prefer Peace to War, as heard in their chant: We Want Peace! No More War! Therefore, this Commentary is directed at following the Mandate of the people who love Liberia in their call for the prevention of violence to have Justice that brings Peace.
There are plans by some organizations to have protests about the suffering of the people of Liberia on December 14, 2022, and December 17, 2022, respectively. Without the dates of the protests reaching, counter protesters stormed the Voice of Liberia radio station and attacked persons who support the protests, injuring some of them. The Police personnel were there, helping to stop the violence but they were overpowered, and some persons got injured. No word has come out about any investigation result!
Experience in Liberia tells us that it is possible to prevent violence. Witness the leadership of Mother Dr. Mary Nema Brownell in the Stay Home Action that kept of the people at home and the streets and marketplaces were empty. No violence took place, and no one got injured or killed. To get the Stay Home Action working, there was a lot of awareness raising about the importance of Staying Home to prevent violence and change conditions from bad to good. It was a good thing that no violence took place, as violence mongers are well prepared to overwhelm the Police.
Realizing that the Law Makers are the persons who make the laws, the raising of awareness by people who love Liberia has been working on the Law Makers or Legislators. Witness how the raising of awareness stopped the five-year playing around with the Decent Work Bill and it finally got passed into Law in 2015. Now, the task remains to raise awareness among workers to know how to use the Law in their interest.
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The raising of awareness activities is good, but the most important of these activities is to change the electoral system from UNFAIR to FAIR. It is only through this change that the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia, which continues to manage the UNFAIR electoral system, that NEC can operate in a FAIR way for persons with good records to be elected. When persons with good records get elected, they will make laws and implement laws that prevent violence and promote Justice, the indispensable ingredient for Peace and Progress in Liberia and in any other Country.
Witness how the raising of awareness about the Legislators has convinced the voters of Liberia not to reelect almost all the Legislators from the 52nd and 53rd Legislatures because of their bad records, meaning that they were working for themselves rather than working for the voters. The same fate will befall the Legislators from the 54th Legislature when they go for reelection, not forgetting the refusal that will be exercised by the voters when it comes to the election of persons with bad records.
