The Acting Chairperson of the Governance Commission (GC), Professor Alaric K. Tokpa, has called on the government to ensure that those who don’t have legal possession to carry firearms are disarmed for the full maintenance of the country peace and stability.
In a recent interview, Dr. Tokpa said the fact that there are armed robbery activities and crimes across the country, means that the “guns are still in the hands of the wrong people,” something he described as a “threat to country’s peace and stability.”
“The last time, I was asked to talk about demobilization at program that marked the celebration of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (ACPA) ceremony held in Monrovia. I know that demobilization is interrelated with the design of reintegration and rehabilitation. In the past, Liberia was demobilized to a large extent, but the fact that we saw armed robbery, the rapid frequency of war, means that some guns are around that need to be taken away from those who don’t have legal rights to possess them. Also, there were indeed dynamic portions of migration from rural Liberia to the urban center during the war,” he explained.
Dr. Tokpa is GC’s Acting Chairperson. He observed that the country had made significant progress in upholding peace and stability since the ACPA was signed.
According to Tokpa, even though there are still challenges, peace and stability can continue on the trajectory with intensive, collective and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders, especially the locals, policymakers and academic professionals.
Prof. Tokpah indicated that the country needs to identify challenges, build the peace process together and construct tactics to move forward.
He recalled how many of the people who came to Monrovia never had relatives and families in communities where they integrated, but were informally connected with colleagues and friends who fought the war alongside them.
Dr. Tokpah said as a means of survival, some of them began to engage in criminal activities, particularly in situations where there is overpopulation and growing unemployment.
“Efforts have been made in contemporary times. The decentralization, construction of roads, electrification and the enabling of water to other parts of the rural environment are efforts. Those are important steps, but I think when they are combined with Public Private Partnership or collaboration, it will help to reverse the migration trend from theb rural part of the country to urban areas,” Dr. Tokpa stated.