-Not part of Joint Security Forces
By Alfred Kollie, alfredkolliejr92@gmail.com
The State of Emergency and the COVID-19 lockdown took off to a rather uncoordinated start in parts of Monrovia and its environs, with members of the Boy Scouts, Motorcycle union seen mushrooming checkpoints, wielding canes and some batons on the first two days.
There were reports that they and some other overzealous state security officers went into neigbourhoods, flogging residents and forcing them into their houses after 3Pm.
But now, the President of Boys Scout Association of Liberia, Jackson M. Morle is calling on all Boy Scouts to immediately leave the streets or risk being arrested by State Security.
The Boy Scouts of Liberia, the national Scouting organization in this country was founded in 1922, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1965.
The Scout Movement is a voluntary, non-political educational movement for young people, open to all without distinction of origin, race or creed, in accordance with the mission.
According to Atty. Morlu, their action is as a result of several complains from citizens on the misconduct of personnel of Scout at various check points in Montserrado.
Since the Stay home action began, some personnel of the Liberia Scout Association in the streets helping security forces to enforce government stay home mandate.
‘’we are calling on all scout to leave the streets, this is an order from us, any scout cut in the streets after 3PM carrying out enforcement, you will be arrested and send to jail,’’ Mr. Morlu noted.
The President of the Boy Scouts of Liberia told our reporter that there was a join security meeting today by State Securities mandating the Scout Board to ask all its members to leave the streets beginning 3PM today.
Atty. Morlu explained that Boy Scouts are not responsible to carry out enforcement order in such a crisis in the country noting that doing so will be a total violation of law seven of the scouting force of Liberia.
Morlu noted that the Mission of Scouting is to contribute to the education of young people, though a value system based on the Scout Promise and Law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society.
“Our Scouts done have the necessary training to enforce such order in such a crisis, therefore we are asking them to leave the streets and avoid problems in the country,’’ he said.
According to Atty. Morlu, the Boy Scouts of Liberia received a communication from the Scouts Office in Kenya mandating them to halt all scouting activities in Liberia and observed the global crisis on the fight against the deadly coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the President of the Boy Scouts of Liberia has apologized to all individuals that were victims by the misconduct of its members.
“I want to use this medium to apologize to the public, those that were affected by both the national security or Scouts, we say sorry on behalf of the scouting movement, we say it will not happen anymore, they are not part of the join security movement,” the Boy Scouts Association of Liberia President concluded.