The need to fully equip the national security apparatus to effectively prevent voter trucking and adequately provide community security to curb electoral violence during the pending general and presidential elections in Liberia has been stressed.
Liberians made the call to their government on Tuesday at the close of the first of three-cluster training of trainers (TOT) workshop organized by the Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CECPAP) in Tubmanburg, Bomi County.
According to a release issued by CECPAP, the call by the participants comes against the backdrop of a presentation by Immigration Officer Col. Morlue Borley Bolley, Sr. on Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrants Smuggling.
The participants in the recommendation to the organizer concluded that the joint security lacks the logistical capacity to effectively man Liberia’s 177 borders of which only 46 are properly manned while the rest remain vulnerable.
“In order to effectively man Liberia’s 177 borders and provide proper community security in this coming general and presidential elections, we, the participants at this two days’ workshop, call on our government to see the need to equip the national security with the needed logistics to perform its national responsibility. Our security forces cannot and will never succeed in the fight against voter trucking and prevent electoral violence in the absence of adequate logistical support, the participants said in the recommendation,” they recommended.
The Tubmanburg ToT workshop taught participants on various topics such as Promoting Peaceful Electoral Environment Through Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrants Smuggling, Community Policing, Voter Trucking and Basic Border Management, Election Integrity, Analyzing Social Media News Content, among others.
Meanwhile, the second phase of cluster three ToT workshop kicks off today in the City of Gbarnga, Bong County.
Participants taking part in cluster two training session will come from Lofa, Nimba, and Bong counties.
Cluster three ToT workshop will bring together participants from Grand Gedeh, River Gee, and Maryland counties. Zwedru City, Grand Gedeh County, will serve as the venue for the training session which commences on March 21-22.
The workshop is being held under the theme: Promoting Peaceful Electoral Environment and Community Security in Liberia.
The training session will endeavor to build capacity development for joint security actors, local authorities, women, and youth groups to reinforce peace corridors in identified hotspot areas including boarder communities to respond to risk associated with potential issues arising from voter trucking.
The TOT workshop is being organized and facilitated by CECPAP with funding provided by the UN Peacebuilding Office in Liberia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is supervising the implementation of the workshop.
