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UNMIL’s Giant Leap Forward: Joy For A New Liberian Police Force (Editorial) 5 May 04 “We are looking for the men and women – let me repeat, and women – of Liberia who stand tall in character, who have the commitment to succeed, who have a strong sense of integrity and respect for fellow man, and who can perform a truly difficult job with compassion and dignity,” declared Jacques Klein, the UN chief in Liberia. He cautioned that the interim regime must continue to commit itself to, “a rule of law guided by the participation of the people, to assist the people, and to protect the people from those who may have other agendas.” Added Interim chair, Charles Gyude Bryant: “When you go through your training, we will never again experience what we have experienced in the past,” he said. “The new recruits must earn the respect of the people by respecting their basic civil liberties.” Mr Bryant further said, “The abuses, harassment, intimidation and humiliation our police have brought on our people.” Mr. Klein’s words, so filled with wisdom and compassion, reverberate through all those determined to see the country transformed from a dark pit of terror to an enlightened society prepared for development and pushing forward reward based on merit, not the ability to shoot and kill. This is truly a day of joy, for it is a key step in getting Liberia back on track. With the disarmament of 18,000 fighters, far less a number (45,000 to 53,000) that has been projected over the years, the landscape is emerging for stability and therefore reconstruction. A professional police force, distinct from the Libyan trained thugs that Charles Taylor threw on the population—looting, extorting and killing— will help build confidence in state structures to convince investors of their safety and that of their investment, so that the pillars of the economy can begin to be slowly erected. We are certain that the UN has the mechanisms well in place to tell the difference between men and women who terrorised the population for years under the protection of their rebel leaders, and those Liberians who have shown strength of character by resisting the temptation to belong to gangs and reap the benefits, however transient, as events have shown. The task ahead for the UNMIL is not an enviable one. Corruption, partly due to depressed salaries and non-existing benefits that have made honesty a crime, has taken roots in Liberian society. Integrity disappeared in the rush to get rich quick before time runs out. Government service has become attractive because of the free-wheeling system of theft allowed to germinate. Those vying for government service do not do so for the monthly salary, but for the enormous opportunity to steal. Then there is the heavy politicisation of the what used to be the service, a process that commenced in the 1980s under the military and degenerated further under Charles Taylor the warlord, taking a further dive now with some of the most incompetent and ill-educated men in charge of state institutions.
Training a police
force capable of tacking these vices, and of being above this ingrained
system of corruption, and staffed with competent individuals of integrity determined
to do battle with criminals at all levels—whether in the Executive
Mansion or in the streets—is a heavy task, but it must be done. Without
succeeding, all things will fall part to return to the dark years
of violence and theft. Mr. Bryant may be too optimistic by saying “never”
would Liberia return to this era. But it is necessary to embrace
this optimism, or the options are too horrible to contemplate. |
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