AEL calls for discrete, just and sincere leadership

The Association of Evangelicals of Liberia or AEL has on national leaders in Liberia to be discrete, just and sincere in their dealings. The AEL says leaders relegate self to the background and place Liberia ahead in their services, noting “We hold our leaders responsible to display excellence and maturity in leadership and we expect nothing short of these. How they lead today will largely influence the Liberia we will have tomorrow.”

In a statement issued on the recent leadership crisis in the House of Representatives, the evangelical body says its but time Liberia graduates from faulty precedence and let the court be the yardstick for everyone involved in the Global Witness Report as supposedly the matter is more judicial than political.

Reflecting that precedence is very important to development situation, it said Liberia’s recent electoral history reminds all citizens that the country has not attained the constitutional population threshold needed for elections for well over three decades, adding that this became an issue in the 2011 Presidential and General Elections.

“We resolved this situation by saying since we conducted other elections (1985, 1997 and 2005) outside that requirement, we should go ahead with the 2011 elections under the same clause so that by 2017, we would have overcome the circumstances that created the threshold problem. Our argument was past precedence”, the statement reads.

It says the 2017 elections will be different in this respect, but recalls that precedence was similarly set when recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report were swept under the carpet for reasons Liberians know best.

“Now in 2016 with the Global Witness Report, we tend to have forgotten the precedence with the TRC Report and we again have moved to set another. Even if we argue that the situations are different, our point is that we focus on the forest and not the trees. Certainly, we admit that our leaders’ actions are honest and in Liberia’s best interest and they are sincere given how they handle critical national matters.”

Ahead of 2017, AEL calls on all Liberians to remain peaceful and law-abiding and hope for a better, brighter Liberia, saying “We shun all actions that potentially or actually threaten the nation’s welfare or detract from our collective gains, no matter who does them. Liberia’s peace, stability, progress and prosperity remain our chief concern.”
The statement, issued under the signature of Dr. Samuel K. Monwell, President, Board of Directors, further stresses that AEL affirms that excellent leadership is critical to the nations’ progress and argues that true leaders serve the best interest of those they lead, not personal interests.

“In this respect, we thank the Liberian people and Government for the level of maturity we show in dealing with thorny political situations. But we also admit that Liberia needs to grow fast along its recovery trajectory and every Liberian should prioritize this. Our focus is on the forest and not the trees.”

The AEL is Liberia’s largest network of Churches and para-Church organizations of Evangelical persuasion.