Three Diaspora political parties - the Liberia People's Party, Liberty Party and Unity Party have issued a statement condemning the rise in the worsening and security concerns in the country, which the three parties said have been compounded by the "appearance of a compromised and partisan national security apparatus under the leadership of President George Mannah Weah.
Below is the statement:
Having discussed the pivotal role safety and security play in sustaining peace and making Liberia favorable place to live and do business, aware of the rapid deterioration of security in the country as a result of the lack of protection of citizens in their communities and neighborhoods, compounded by the appearance of a compromised and partisan national security apparatus under leadership of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government,
recognizing the Government of Liberia's failure to fully investigate cases, including but not limited to the following:
·Three home invasions (Feb 8, 2023, Feb 9, 2023, Feb 22, 2023) into the home of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott, a leader in the opposition community, which ultimately led to injuries to household members and the death of Justice Scott's daughter.
·The death of Executive Protection Service (EPS) officer Alex Saye, who died under questionable circumstances, allegedly shooting himself in the head three times. ·Deaths of Kollie Ballah and Matthew Innis, with alleged links to the missing $16 billion attributed to the Government of Liberia
·Deaths off our government auditors (Albert Peters, Gifty Lamah, George Fanbutu, Emmanuel Nyesuah) Deaths of William R. Tolbert and John Hilary Tubman, both sons of two past presidents of Liberia Death of Alfred Dunner, Logistics Officer of Grand Gedeh County Noting that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes have not been and likely will not be brought to justice, allegedly due to involvement of government officials and/or entities; Observing our country's past history, replete with similar murders that ultimately led to the atrocities of the Liberian civil war, where approximately 250,000 of our citizens lost their lives and countless others were torn from their families and country. Cognizant also of lives lost from member countries of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), and the United Nations in pursuit of peace and tranquility in Liberia. Well aware of the countless sacrifices and financial assistance from all our regional and international partners, including the United States of America, the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS;
Hereby adopt, on March 4,2023, the following joint declaration on safety and Security in the Republic of Liberia. That Liberians are once again unsafe and afraid in their homeland, and that if unchecked, these acts could jeopardize the peace Liberians and our partners worked so hard to establish and sustain prior to the Presidency of Mr. George Weah; That the returning dark days of bloodshed, questionable deaths and absence of justice are intended to intimidate the opposition and Liberians at large from their collective quest to remove this government in the 2023 elections. That in line with U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 907 of the 117th Congress, both relative to acts that threaten the peace and security of Liberia and the sanctity of the 2023 elections, we alarm that the attack on Justice Scott introduces the slippery slope of election violence compounded by other actions by this Weah government to disenfranchise the Liberian people, evidenced by their rigging of the national census with inflated numbers from Grand Kru, Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties to facilitate illegal voter registration and ballot stuffing in South East. This is a creeping autocracy that must not and cannot be allowed to prevail.
We, therefore, demand Weah government's adherence to its constitutional responsibilities, both in terms of ensuring safety and security as well as the provision for free and fair democratic elections. We call for immediate resignation or dismissal of those accountable for the safety and security issues in our country. We, therefore, also call on Liberians across the political spectrum, especially those in the opposition community to unite in protest against efforts by Weah and his henchmen to steal the elections and jeopardize our hard-earned peace. We also plea for engagement across the opposition leadership and stakeholder groups to ensure a united front holding this government to account for leading us into a free and fair elections, which are also tied to the safety and security of our country. We, finally, call on ECOWAS, the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States, who have invested so much time and resources in Liberia to attain and maintain peace; we ask that you do not sit by and watch your investments crumble. We call on you to step in and help us, the Liberian people, in our fight to rescue our country from slipping further into tragedy. We call on you to raise a collective voice against perpetrators of violence as well as accomplices of injustice and intimidation in our country. Help us by engaging this Weah administration to ensure that these efforts at election rigging and atrocities against innocent citizens cease immediately.
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