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Liberia news

Some Liberians want UNMIL out!

Many Liberians in Monrovia and its environs think it’s time the United Nations Mission in Liberia or UNMIL departs the country instead of being here for another year. The assertion comes in the wake of appeal by Liberian authorities to the U.N. Security Council to grant UNMIL another one year extension in the country.

The U.N. mission officially turned over security functions to the Government of Liberia in June this year following nearly 12 years of duties here. A resident, Mohammed S. Konneh said, there is no need for the Government of Liberia to keep UNMIL here for one more year because despite the U.N. presence, arbitrary killings were prevalent across the country.

He said UNMIL’s mandate has ended and the peacekeepers should go because they are not doing anything much in this country.  “UNMIL was here when Michael Allison and others died and nothing came from out of it, so we do not need their presence, our security will protect the country even better than UNMIL”, he expressed.

Another Liberian, LassanaFofana said UNMIL should leave because they are not doing anything in Liberia. According to Lassana, because of UNMIL’s continuous presence, Liberian national security forces are under paid.

He noted that because security forces are not well catered to, bribery has characterized their performance. “These are people that are here to protect lives and properties, and so we need to pay them good in order to take care of their families, the Government just spending more money on foreign officers, if they spend those money on our officers here, Liberia will have a better security.”

Another resident only identified as Jacob said, Liberians are tired of war, so they all will be security for one another to maintain the peace. “Liberians know how their families died during the civil war, so with or without UNMIL, Liberia will be a peaceful country; we will govern ourselves and will have a peaceful elections next year”, he added.

Jacob stressed a need for Liberia to make use of her own security forces, saying, “Some of the securities were sent out of the country for training, so why can’t we trust our security and stop depending on UNMIL, because in the presence of UNMIL, people are dying and no one knows the cause of their deaths.”

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By Ethel A. Tweh-Editing by Jonathan Browne

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