Women Situation Room (WSR), an arm of the Angie Brooks International Center here, is cautioning young people not to let politicians mislead them into violence.
By Lewis S. Teh
Monrovia, Liberia, April 4, 2024—The establishment coordinator and founder of the Women Situation Room in Liberia, Cllr. Yvette Chesson-Wureh is urging the youth of Liberia to stay away from self-seeking politicians who want to use them to cause chaos and destruction in the country.
“Let me encourage all of our at-risk youth and motorcyclists participating in this mediation peace dialogue not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to divide Liberia,” she cautions.
Cllr. Chesson-Wureh spoke here on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, via Zoom from the United States when eminent women of the WSR hosted political, mediation, and peace dialogue for young people.
She told participants that the mediation dialogue is intended to maintain the peace in Liberia, saying, “We can’t allow politicians to divide our country, especially the youth.
“Even if you are on drugs, you need to understand that Liberia is the only country that we all have, and we must protect it,” she emphasizes.
She said that against this backdrop, the eminent women under the WSR, through the Angie Brooks International Center, thought it wise to hold this mediation dialogue to transform youth, women in politics, and media, among other things.
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She noted that the WSR peace dialogue clearly shows that the women have taken control of Liberia, noting that if they don’t take control of themselves, the police and others won’t do it for them.
She extolled youth across the country to maintain peace throughout the election period, adding that the 2023 election was different, as young people and women held themselves together, as all Liberians envisaged a peaceful Liberia.
“Our youth are beginning to get transformed; no more will they allow politicians to use them to instill violence and cause chaos.
I think we should thank the youth of Liberia for conducting themselves; it was a great showing.”
Madam Josephine Kou Gaye, a commissioner with oversight responsibility for gender at the National Elections Commission, spoke on the roles and responsibilities of government during the election period, saying it’s binding on every government to provide safety for its people.
She said, “The has a responsibility to protect her citizens, regardless of their political affiliation and ethnic groups, including providing peace.”
She said every government’s full responsibility is to ensure that society is safe for its citizens, including ensuring that they have equal access to political participation.
“The government must take full responsibility for providing funding for its own elections. It should also respect the laws governing the country. Our laws need to be strengthened so that everyone can participate.”
The Youth Coordinator at the Women’s Situation Room, Mr. Archie Gbassey, said during the elections, they noticed that issues about basic civic education were lacking something, which he said gave rise to huge invalid votes in the first round of the polls.
We also realized that half of the country’s population is youth, and if they must be informed to make good decisions about the country’s growth, it’s incumbent upon the NEC to conduct civic education for first-time voters, but this was never done, and it poses a challenge to us,” Mr. Gbassey pointed out.
According to him, at-risk youth or youth living on drugs were used to instill fear and cause violence, as their voting rights were determined by individuals who sent them to register.
He said that at ABIC, those were some of the major challenges the institution saw and thought of gathering them to form part of the mediation dialogue that would transform their minds.
“Today, our at-risk youth were able to stand firm to politicians that they will not get involved in violence to cause chaos; these are successes that the ABIC has made in the transformation of at-risk youth,” he added.
The leadership of the Motorcycle and Tricycle Union of Liberia complained about intimidation of its members during the electoral process, mentioning unnecessary arrest and subsequent detention of its members, among other abuses that he said challenged the Union during the election.
According to the leadership, huge members of the Union in Maryland County didn’t participate in the voting process because of unnecessary arrests and harassment by state security officers, among others.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the organization for women and children, Attorney Mombeydo N. Joah, who spoke on understanding citizens’ fundamental rights and civic responsibility during elections, frowned on how people, especially women, were labeled and bullied during the 2023 election.
“Democracy means equal rights, and as such, no one should be bullied or labeled based on the sexual decision,” she underscored.
The WSR is a flagship initiative of the Angie Brooks International Center that started in Liberia as a direct intervention by women in collaboration with youth to mitigate threats and violence the country faced during the elections. Editing by Jonathan Browne
