By Tokpa Tarnue- tarnue82@gmail.com
Kolahun, Liberia– Over fifty justice actors from three districts in Lofa County have vowed to strengthen collaboration as a means of promoting the Justice System in the County.
The three districts are Voinjama, Kolahun and Foya in northwestern Liberia.
The decision was reached on Saturday February 23, 2019 in Kolba City, Kolahun district at a day-long reconciliatory meeting for organized by the Carter Center under its Access to Justice Program in Liberia.
Speaking at the start of the daylong meeting, the Legal Associate for the Carter Center assigned to Lofa Atty. Michael Kollie Jeke disclosed that, the initiative by the Carter Center is based on the lack of coordination between the Kolahun Magisterial Court and that of the Police in Kolahun.
According to Atty. Jeke, the lack of coordination between the two is seriously hampering the operations of both the police and the court in the area.
He said the police and the Voinjama Magisterial Court and Police as well as the Foya Magisterial Court and Police were brought to Kolahun, in order to shear the working experiences with that of the Kolahun Magisterial Court and Police as a way of helping to strengthen the justice of the district.
According to him, the Carter Center took interest in reconciling the two parties based on frequent reports from her local partners working within the justice sector of the county.
Justice actors attending the meeting identified several factors responsible for the poor coordination amongst them as justice actors in the county.
They named lack of liaison officers at various magisterial courts; lack of mobility to transport defendants or converts to Voinjama central Prison; lack of detention facilities at the district level; as well as the lack of coordination meetings and communication amongst the justice actors as key factors affecting the system.
The actors also proffer several recommendations as a way of improving the justice system.
According to them, government needs to construct at least two additional correction facilities both in Kolahun and Zorzor respectively, provide at least one vehicle for each of the magisterial courts in the county. They also cited massive media engagement across the county on the rule of law, that both police and court to use persuasive methods in executing arrest and the provision of liaison officers at each of the magisterial courts in the county and the holding of regular coordination meeting as justice actors in the county.
The one-day meeting brought together officials of the court, Liberia National Police (LNP), Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA), National Security Agency (NSA) and the Breuer of Correction and Rehabilitation (BCR) and representatives from human rights organizations working in the county.