The opposition Liberty Party is yowling at the Liberian government for the prevailing ‘state of insecurity’ occasioned by upsurge of criminal activities across the city and other parts of the country.

	• Mr. Israel Akinsanya

In a statement issued yesterday relative to the obtaining security climate, the party said it was seriously concerned about the security situation in Liberia, particularly in the Monrovia area.

Though it hailed the security for the strides it is making to protect Liberians in the wake of the enormous challenges, the party said it is, however, disappointed at government’s missteps in handling the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Liberty Party’s disappointment is, among things, shrouded in statement made by Solicitor-General Tiawon Gongloe’s that citizens and residents should avoid the streets of Monrovia at night, which according to the party presupposes that victims of recent mysterious killings have been persons out in the streets [late] at night.

The statement under the signature of its National Chairman, Israel Akinsanya, quoted the party as saying “The truth of the matter is that majority of the incidents of mysterious deaths reported in recent times have occurred as a result of armed robbers entering homes, seizing properties, brutalizing peaceful residents, and killing some of them.”

According the opposition party, some of the armed robberies are occurring during the early hours of the night in view of on-lookers, as was the case of the recent attack in the Joe Bar area which reportedly occurred at about 11:30 p.m.

The party said reports that some members of the police are involved in these attacks are disheartening.

Also, Liberty Party said it is disappointed that so soon the government is contemplating re-vetting and restructuring the police when the current force was vetted and restructured less than two years ago at great expense and effort.

At the same time, it said “considering the centrality of security to the country’s reconstruction efforts, the enormous reconstruction needs, and the scarcity of resources, Liberia can ill-afford to engage in a trial and error process in building our national police force and other security apparatus.”

On the third and final issue that warrants the release of the press statement, the party which came fifth in the first round of the 2005 general and presidential elections, said it was disappointed that, the government chose to divert attention from its handling of the troublesome security situation in the country by arresting Mr. John Whitfield, Secretary General of the former ruling National Patriotic Party.

It may be recalled that Mr. Whitfield was arrested after saying on a radio talk show that he was in possession of a firearm to protect himself and his family.

He is said to have interpreted President John-Sirleaf’s statement “The security situation is bad” to mean that the country’s security has collapsed and therefore the government could not protect its citizens.

According to the party, it supports the government’s effort to control the spread of firearms and encourages law abiding owners of guns and other weapons to obey the laws governing the possession of firearms.

“We believe that President Johnson-Sirleaf and Solicitor-General Gongloe are quite aware that the Government’s effort to enforce the country’s firearms laws will be greatly undermined if the government is perceived to be incapable of protecting its citizens,” it said, and added “Liberty Party is of the view that this perception is precipitously becoming the prevailing feeling in the country in view of the recent wave of killings.

Based on that, the party said Mr. Whitefield’s public admission of possessing a gun, no matter how irritating to the government’s ear, must, therefore, be viewed as a wakeup call and be dealt with as such.

In the wake of these developments, LP has made series of recommendations to the government for consideration, among which, is a call for the president to make public what the party calls “advisors’ report.”

During her last press conference, the president said there was need to revet the police because “it is not as rigorous as was the case with the restructured armed forces of Liberia.” She also said the US and British governments have done some assessment of the force and would shortly make their reports.

The party said “In comparing the outcomes of the restructuring programs of the Armed Forces of Liberia and the National Police Force, it must be borne in mind that the police interact more regularly with the general public, particularly the criminal elements of society, and are therefore more susceptible to temptation to behave unethically.”

“Such temptation will only be resisted if those “bad apples” on the force are given reasons to believe that grave consequences await them when they behave contrary to their vows. The leadership of the National Police Force must, therefore, demonstrate a more decisive posture and be known to be intolerant of criminal behavior,” it added.

At the same time, the Liberty Party has recommended that the government should “forthwith establish and publish guidelines for UNMIL, the Police, and neighborhood watch teams to patrol the various communities at night in order to ensure a balance between protecting lives and property and safeguarding the right of movement of others.”

Liberty party also said the government should begin to seriously prosecute corrupt officials in the current government, including members of law enforcement.

This would serve as a deterrent to other criminals. Government should also build the capacity of the Justice Ministry to be able to successfully prosecute armed- robbers and other blue collar criminals.

That besides, the party wants the government to design plans to create small scale employment opportunities in the various communities, while awaiting the multi-million dollar investment projects to come full scale.