By Moses M. Tokpah,mosesmtokpah@gmail.com
KAKATA, Liberia –The National Counties Coordinator of the Community Watch Forum (CWF), Harris G.J. Johnson has frowned at Justice Actors in Liberia for not doing their job, calling for the Rule of Law to be applied.
CWFs have gained momentum in recent years due to the increase in criminal activities in various communities and limited response of the police and the need for citizens to collaborate with them by providing alert on crime-breeding areas.
Speaking to Journalists in Kakata nearly 72 kilometers east of Monrovia over the weekend, Mr. Johnson said Justice Actors are reneging on their responsibilities, adding that people perpetrate crimes in the Country and go with impunity.
According to him, perpetrators of crimes are sent to prison and can later be seen in the communities in which they committed the crimes, thus endangering their lives and the lives of the victims.
Mr. Johnson could not confirm to this writer whether the Justice System is weak or strong, stating that it is not his word to say the system is weak but they’re not doing their job and he thinks someone is not doing his/her job thereby causing Liberians to go through what they are going through.
The Community Watch Forum official disclosed that there are some issues that the system can be strong on while there are other issues that it reneges on because of personal interest.
“It’s not that there is weakness in the Justice System, if you implement the Law it doesn’t work like weakness but people just renege on their responsibility like for instant; today is Friday where people expect that family wants to get their people from prison, people want to get their cases heard you see Court Officials coming to work as though they don’t want to work and these are issues that government has to look into because it affects the Community,” he lamented.
Mr. Johnson further noted that there are good laws on the book, but the implementation of those laws is lacking.
The CWF National Counties Coordinator indicated that the Forum has been having the issue of crime, people going to prison and returning to the Community committing the same crime because of the Justice System and they’ve been having the issue of violence against Community and police indicating, ‘that’s why we are here today to make sure we curtail that breach that the Community can understand their role and the responsibility of the police towards the community’.
Mr. Johnson mentioned that he was in Margibi to talk with the City Solicitor and the Court to be able to mitigate the issue of people committing crime and going with impunity, community uprising and mob violence respectively.
He averred that the issue of people going to prison and getting free going back in the community committing the same crime because of the Justice System is a human right violence and it gives negative information about human rights in Liberia.
Mr. Johnson meanwhile wants the rule of Law applied on those who perpetrate crimes.
“”When someone offends you take them to the Court and the Court will be able to determine as to whether this person has committed a crime.”