The Acting Chairperson of the Governance Commission (GC), Dr. Prof. Alaric K. Tokpa has urged the Government of Liberia to ensure that those who don’t have legal possession to carry firearms are disarmed for the full maintenance of the peace and stability of the country.
Speaking in an interview recently, Dr. Tokpa said that the fact that there are armed robbery activities and crimes across the country means that the guns are still in the hands of the wrong people, something he described as a threat to Liberia’s peace and stability.
“The last time, I was asked to talk about demobilization at the Celebration of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement ceremony held in Monrovia. I know that demobilization is interrelated with the design of reintegration and rehabilitation. In the past, Liberia was demobilized to a large extent, but the fact that we saw armed robbery, the rapid frequency of war, means that some guns are around that need to be taken away from those who don’t have legal rights to possess them. Also, there were indeed dynamic portions of migration from rural Liberia to the urban center during the war,” he explained.
The Acting Chairperson of the Governance Commission noted that Liberia had made significant progress in upholding peace and stability since the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed.
According to him, even though there are still challenges, peace and stability can continue on the trajectory it’s on with intensive, collective and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders, especially the locals, policymakers, academic professionals, among others.
Dr. Tokpah indicated that Liberia needs to identify challenges, build the peace process together and construct tactics to move the country forward.
He narrated that many of the people who came to Monrovia never had relatives and families in communities where they integrated, but were informally connected with colleagues and friends who fought the war alongside them.
Dr. Tokpah said as a means of survival, some of them began to engage in criminal activities, particularly in situations where there is overpopulation and growing unemployment.
“Efforts have been made in contemporary times. The decentralization, construction of roads, electrification and the enabling of water to other parts of the rural environment are efforts. Those are important steps, but I think when they are combined with Public Private Partnership or collaboration, it will help to reverse the migration trend from rural Liberia to urban areas,” Dr. Tokpa stated.
He further pointed out that many Liberians look to government for job creation because there is no other possibility, and in effect, the government is responsible for creating the enabling environment for the private sector to be energized to create jobs and employment for the people.
“It is normal that the youthful population of the country needs to be monetized and capitalized so that other sectors of the Liberian society experience social and economic development. I am talking about the agriculture sector; it needs to be monetized also, so that it’s very possible that Liberia remains successful in seeing more peace and stability. The fact that after two decades we have not reverted to war is commendable. And for this, we have to thank the leaders of West Africa and the United Nations System and our local national leaders,” he added.
Commenting on the excessive hunger across the country, which represents a potential trigger of conflict, Dr. Tokpa argued that if warring factions are demobilized, they are broken down, because it separates them from their command structure and support system.
According to him, sometimes victims of circumstances can turn to crime; therefore, he recommended that attention should be given to technical and vocational education, the formal education sector, with efforts made to support agriculture and encourage young people to venture into the job market with an inclusive understanding.
“If those individuals are not able to provide for themselves, they look to other means of survival. This is the context in which I see this. Young people depend on family and community to feed them, but after the war, they have to depend on themselves for food. Like for Monrovia, where unemployment is high, and young people don’t have the opportunity to get education and reorientation for rehabilitation, and technical vocational education, it’s understandable that some of them resorted to crimes in order to survive, ” Dr. Tokpah added.
