76 Female Officers Certificated

76 female officers from Liberia’s various security agencies, including the army, police, immigration, EPS, DEA, NSA and customs were certificated on Friday, 13 November at the end of a week-long empowerment training at the YMCA on Broad Street down town Monrovia.

The officers, under the banner of the Liberia Female Law Enforcement Association or LIFLEA, underwent the training at the Center for Criminal Justice and Research Education, with funding from Kvinna till  Kvinna.
They were trained in various areas beyond their regular programs at the academy, including leadership, supervision, report writing, as well as project proposal, among other professional skills.
The Center for Criminal Justice and Research Education or CCJRE Director Cecil B. Griffths said less females were found at the top of the security sector, thus prompting the training exercise as a way of empowering female officers with additional skills and knowledge to compete with their male counterparts.
“Particularly in terms of promotion, you have to be trained; you have to know the subject matter in addition to your attitude, your conduct, performance,” he said at the YMCA where the certification ceremony was held.
According to him, the CCJRE may continue the training at the Gbarnga Regional Hub next year to bring officers from the counties to be part of the training. LIFLEA President Atty. Asatu Bah-Kenneth urged the female officers to unite and respect each other in the sector, warning against the “Pull –her-down” tendency or undermining each other if they are to excel.
She warned that such practice be stopped, while females do away with the class system whereby those in higher positions would look down upon their fellow females, noting that undermining has been killing the women here, rather than helping each other to excel.
For her part, Kvinna till Kvinna’s Country Director Rie Lukowski urged the certificated female officers to utilize and implement the skillsacquired, challenging them to be the change they want to see in Liberia.
Madam Lukowski said she was proud of the officers and their performance, saying “well done” to LIFLEA and CCJRE for implementing the program. Group leaders for the various security agencies represented at the training made remarks, vowing to utilize their new skills effectively, as well as to constructively compete with the male counterparts.

By Winston W. Parley -Edited by George Barpeen