Elections Coordinating Committee Holds Talk with National Securities Ahead of 2023 Elections
Following the growing wave of militancy within political parties, and women’s insecurity, the Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) has held a day-long engagement meeting with the national security sector of Liberia to discuss relevant security issues ahead of the 2023 elections.
During Friday’s meeting, the ECC informed the security sector that it was deeply concerned about the proliferation of political parties’ militancy, voters’ trucking, and the use of the color of the National Police uniform by private security agencies.
The ECC also inquired members of the nation’s security apparatus about their plans regarding the provision of adequate security protection for Liberians during the ensuing elections.
Responding to ECC’s inquiry, the various agencies that spoke at the engagement meeting expressed their respective security agency preparedness to provide adequate security protection to Liberians irrespective of their political affiliations.
They informed the ECC that they were taking measures to curtail the acts of growing political parties’ militancy, voters’ trucking, and other issues that might impede the prospect of holding free, fair, and transparent elections in the country.
Despite their preparedness to provide security protection to all Liberians during the 2023 elections, the security sector lamented the lack of financial and logistical support to their agencies.
They described the lack of support (financial and logistical) as a serious hindrance to doing their work. The security sector used the engagement meeting to ask the ECC to include in its advocacy the issue of financial and logistical support for its sector.
The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) is Liberia’s largest domestic election observation network with diverse competencies, experiences, and expertise in democracy, elections, and governance established since 2010.
The ECC comprises of seven-member institutions and networks including the Center for Democratic Governance (CDG); Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP); Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CECPAP), Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD); Naymote Partners for Democratic Development; West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP), and the Women’s NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL). The ECC works in partnership with Democracy International, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Meanwhile, the engagement meeting with the ECC was attended by the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the joint security taskforce on elections which include the Justice Ministry, Liberia Immigration Services, and Ministry of Defense, among others.
By: Press Release
