By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The Prison Fellowship Liberia, with support from the United Nations Women and the Open Society for West Africa, has petitioned the Legislature to enact a law legalizing the Alternative Dispute Resolution policy in the country.
The fellowship’s Country Director, Reverend Francis Kollie, said the prime objective of this policy, when it is passed into law, is to reduce the overcrowdedness of prisons throughout the country.
Reverend Kollie was speaking recently, when the Prison Fellowship Liberia donated central air condition and one water dispenser to the Department of the Alternative Dispute at the Ministry of Justice in Monrovia.
According to Reverend Kollie, the over crowdedness is creating huge expenses for government in terms of feeding and already, the food problem is posing challenge for the inmates and the Justice Ministry.
He assured the Ministry of Justice of the Prison Fellowship Liberia continuous support to its many programs including the access to justice , alternative dispute resolution mechanism, training of inmates for integration into among others
Reverend Kollie recounted the many cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Fellowship over the years.
“The Prison Fellowship Liberia will continue to work with the Justice Ministry in order to achieve its objectives under its statutory mandate,“ Rev. Kollie added.
Receiving the items on behalf of the Justice Minister Musa Dean, the Chief of Office of Staff in the Office of the Minister, Mrs. Odell Erskine thanked the Prison Fellowship Liberia for the donation .
She assured the Prison Fellowship Liberia that the air condition and the water dispenser may seem small but “much is in it when it is given in the name of the Lord. “
For his part, the Program Manager of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Department at the Justice Ministry, Gobah Anderson, also commended the Prison Fellowship Liberia for the donation.
He assured the Prison Fellowship Liberia that the items will used for the purpose for which they were donated and will help will go a long way accelerating the work of Alternative Dispute Resolution Department.
Mr. Anderson used the occasion to call on other institutions to follow the good examples of the Prison Fellowship Liberia
The program was witnessed by staffers at the Alternative Dispute Resolution Department at the Ministry of Justice, some staffers of the Prison Fellowship Liberia, among others.