The Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA) says it has begun rolling out activities under the LNBA/NEC collaboration project, which is intended to build the capacities of the National Elections Commission (NEC), civil society organizations, security sector actors, religious community, and the media.
With funding from the Electoral Support Program of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the project will last for a period of five months.
According to a LNBA release, the implementation of the project activities has been disaggregated on a regional basis in the fifteen political subdivisions of the country.
The LNBA on Friday held a major public dialogue in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, to train election stakeholders in the western region, which include Bomi, Gbarpolu and Grand Cape Mount counties.
The event was attended by over 100 participants, while the LNBA will on tomorrow, September 26, 2023, hold another public dialogue and awareness event in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, with participants drawn from Margibi, Rivercess, and Grand Bassa Counties.
The implementation of the project, according to the LNBA, started Tuesday, September 19, 2023 with the holding of a public dialogue on electoral dispute resolution, with emphasis on the distinction between courtroom litigation and administrative hearings conducted at NEC, and public awareness on the election timetable and pre-election activities.
The event, held at the Paynesville Town Hall, was also attended by over 100 participants drawn from various sectors of the Liberian society, including members of the bar, CSOs, security sector, and the media.
The project, which is the first of its kind, has been widely praised by members of the Bar, the Supreme Court, and the general public, given the sacred role of the Bar over the years.
The objective of the project, accordingly, is to ensure the peaceful conduct of a free, fair, transparent, credible, and democratic elections.
In their remarks, the LNB National president, Cllr. Sylvester Rennie; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Jamesetta Howard Wolokolie; ECOWAS Ambassador, Josephine Nkrumah; NEC Commissioner, Boakai Dukuly, as well as the Legal Analyst of the EU Observer Mission, underscored the need for the conduct of a peaceful and transparent election, and praised the efforts of the LNBA, NEC, and the UNDP, for such wonderful initiative.
It can be recalled that the LNBA recently received US$150,000 from the UNDP Electoral Support Program to roll out activities under the project.
