06/05/2025
Official endorsement of the WE THE PEOPLE Protest slated for July 17, 2025:
In a dawn of political dispensation, where mediocracy is the leading consciousness that is nestled in the midst of human rights violations and disrespect for rule of law in Liberia; it is unavoidable that one must rise against the interest of a political class and the betrayal of the peoples’ struggles to speak truth to power.
Whether we supported the current Unity Party or not, responsible citizenship means demanding for democratic accountability and social reforms for the progress of our society.
Under President Joseph N. Boakai, I have witnessed an increase in human rights violation ranging from sexual and gender-based violence, widespread secret killings, grand corruption and unjustifiable dismissals of qualified Liberians. These circumstances pose threat to Liberia’s post-election reconstruction process, and undermine our collective efforts to drive a sustainable democracy and rule of law.
For instance, in 2024, 2,759 r**e cases were reported. Of this amount 1,902 cases occurred in Montserrado county which constitute 68.7%. This means, the average monthly incidence rate is 276 per month, while the average daily incidence rate is 9 per day. These figures simply show that every day in Liberia, 9 r**e cases were reported while 276 r**e cases were reported every month from January to October of 2024.
Five years ago, we the people demanded former President George Weah to address the menace of SGBV through three days anti-r**e protests, one that saw the involvement of President Joseph N. Boakai, Senator Darius Dillon and several politicians calling out Mr. Weah to deal with SGBV cases.
Five years after, today, SGBV have become the new normal under President Boakai, with survivors leaving behind without recourse services and access to justice. No one deserves to live through the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence, while corrupt politicians enrich themselves with the national cake. The time is now that we must also rise against the reluctance of the government of Liberia to address these unmet social crises. Whether it’s r**e, corruption, unemployment, secret killings; we have the power as people to demand for immediate reforms.
Fellow Liberians, we must not sit idled to allow the progress of our nation gets erode by the personal interest of politicians who do not mean well for us—by resisting this damage means joining a call to action, especially one that Is pioneered on the bravery of patriots who see our nation above self-interest.
The “WE THE PEOPLE” protest is not only a conglomeration of concerned Liberians who want to express their soul-wounding issues—but a popular action that reclaims the narrative of social justice and offers the Liberian people to lead their own cause. In this movement, I believe we can collectively achieve the desired priorities of the Liberian people by asking, in numbers, a simple question of accountability and systemic change.
As a Liberian rights defender, you may recount that several of my contributions to Liberia’s progress is deeply rooted within social activism and policy dialogues. Some of which are: Facilitating the community engagement session of the National SGBV road map which attracted over US$1.5 million and an immediate launch of the National SGBV Taskforce under Former President Weah, designed a joint-action plan in 2018 to support the repatriation of Liberians who were once entrapped in Libya—this action plan led to the repatriation of 20 Liberian migrants to their homeland, launched and managed a community SGBV response mechanism in 2019 that consolidated community action and reported over 300 situational cases of SGBV.
However, joining the WE THE PEOPLE’s protest is a patriotic duty which comes at a time when Liberia deserves young people who can bravely contest the growing wave of public morality crisis, and hold President Boakai accountable!
So Help me God!
