Set Up 5-Member Committee
PHOTO: A Session where delegates were listening during the meeting of church leaders and civil society organizations
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
A one-day consultative meeting of Liberian church leaders on the political, economic and social landscape after the 2023 presidential and legislative elections has ended, with the setting up of a five-man committee on the way forward on strategies aimed at addressing the many problems affecting the nation.
Last year’s elections were hotly contested and the country was gripped by tensions.
The meeting, which was geared towards shaping the public opinion discourse, fostering unity and advocating for justice and peace in Liberia, was organized by the Faith and Justice Network.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Executive Director of the Faith and Justice Network, Reverend Dr. Tolbert Thomas Jallah, said the meeting was called purposely to ascertain the opinion of stakeholders whether or not the donor continue to support the FJN projects in Liberia.
Rev. Jallah chaired the forum on behalf of Bishop Samuel Quire, the Resident Bishop of the Liberia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church,
The discussion centered on accessing the current political, economic and social situations in Liberia in the aftermath of the recent elections and identification of challenges and opportunities facing the nation, so as to explore strategies for addressing them collaboratively,
The participants also deliberated on efforts aimed at reaffirming the role of church in promoting reconciliation, healing and social cohesion in Liberia, and the developing recommendations and action plans for constructive engagement with the and civil society stakeholders.
For her part, the lead consultant at the Faith and Justice Network, Mrs. Musu kamara, gave an end evaluation on “Challenges Experienced and Lessons Learnt from the project titled: “Promoting Citizens’ Participation in Public Policies Formulation and Implementation through Churches within the Mano River Basin.”
During the deliberations, the church leaders and civil society stakeholders highlighted challenges on health, drugs abuse, dehumanizing and deplorable prison conditions in the country, access to justice, the war and economic crimes court, increase on domestic and gender-based violence, human rights, peace and networking amongst churches.
In summary on the key take away and next steps, Dr. Canon Harmon Browne of the Saint Timothy Episcopal Church, New Georgia Township, remarked that there is need for further deliberation, in order to compile the concerns and proposals of all the participants into a proper document.
The recent meeting was attended by Reverend Doctor James Selle, Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia; Reverend Father Dennis Cephus Nimene, Secretary General of the Catholic Bishop Conference of Liberia; Company Wesseh, former Senator of River Gee County and one of the signatories to the Comprehensive Peace Accord; representatives of civil society and human rights organizations, among many others.