A non-governmental organization, Serving Humanity for Empowerment and Development or SHED, has convened a day-long dialogue to discuss the Criminal Justice System of Liberia, focusing on understanding the law and its implementation.
The forum, held at Mamanowah Guest House along Bong Mines Road in Kakata, Margibi County, brought together justice actors from several different backgrounds, giving their own experiences with the law and what they have observed over the years.
Participants include the Liberia National Police (LNP), Liberia Marketing Association (LMA), Ministry of Youth and Sports, Kakata City Corporation, community leaders, and people living with disability, as well as the religious community, amongst others.
SHED Liberia was represented by its Margibi County Coordinator Cecelia J. Gbee and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Alysious Flomo, who coordinated the dialogue.
Speaking to this paper about the dialogue, the Coordinator of SHED Liberia, Cecelia J. Gbee, said the forum was important to assist beneficiaries in following the law rightfully.
She said that the experience-sharing of some people tells that there are people residing in communities who don't know the law.
She recalled a case study of one of the participants, who unknowingly took the law in his hands by manhandling someone he accused of stealing from him.
She insisted that the accused was supposed to be taken to the law, urging others always to seek the way of the law.
She added that people should not ignore the law on the basis that the person being maltreated is not related to them.
For his part, Alysious Flomo noted that the forum, which is not the first of its kind by SHED Liberia, was organized to bring together justice actors, including community leaders and the police, to discuss the criminal justice system specifically, focusing on their roles and responsibilities.
He explained that the police, the religious leaders and others were in attendance at the forum.
He noted that it was a free and open discussion, which allowed participants to freely speak their minds, maintaining that it was also essential because every sector needs to understand the law.
