As Liberia Enters Election Year, Opposition ALCOP Releases Caveat On NEC Activities


ALCOP Flag Bearer Luciny F. Kamara

The opposition All Liberian Coalition Party (ALCOP) issued a critical warning about the activities of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) ahead of the October 2023 poll, accusing registered voters of racism and tribalism. I urged the Electoral Commission not to fall victim to the virus. , and Islamophobia.

The warning, issued in a statement by ALCOP standard-bearer Lusinee F. Kamara, was included in a recently issued statement that Liberians, despite their different tribes and religions,1 They are two ethnic groups and need to work together to make Liberia better.

“It is difficult for all of us to respect the fact that all citizens have the right to register and vote. The Fula community is no exception. Illiterate Muslims are no exception. Muslim women who wear them are no exception,” he said.

Kamala, who is also a former finance minister and a Mandigo native, called on others to respect the important role they continue to play as an integral part of Liberia.

“We see a clear double standard in this and call on the NEC to stop subjecting Muslims to these obscenities, harassment and denials during voter registration.” As Liberians in Liberia, we must be aware of the pain, grief, danger, and frustration that Liberia has suffered from the injustice of discrimination and social inequality.”

Kamala said Muslim women wearing the hijab are equally entitled to respect and dignity if women wearing different styles of dress are not stopped.

“We would like to encourage all citizens to use this registration period as an opportunity to prepare for the 2023 presidential election.”

“To encourage all Liberians to participate in these democratic processes, we urge the National Election Commission (NEC) to discourage registrants from violating civil rights during voter registration. I urge you not to let it go unchecked,” he said.

But over the past 12 months, NEC has witnessed a series of procurement disputes. The latest involved selecting and contracting qualified companies to provide NEC with biometric hardware, software and technical support.

After about five months of rigmarole, the commission revealed on December 22 that Dutch company Ruxton had officially won a contract worth about $12 million, a two-step process. did.

Phase 1 of the biometric voter registration exercise will last for three weeks, “March 20 to April 9, 2023.” The second phase of voter registration will begin on his April 10th and will last for three weeks.

This means that Phase 2, the final phase of biometric voter registration, will end on May 11, 2023.

Seven counties will be served in Phase 1, including Montserrado, Marjibi, Grand Bassa, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount and Valpol, while Riverses, Sinoe and Grand Cru will form part of Phase 2.

Other regions served in Phase 2 include Maryland, River Zee, Grand Gede, Nimba, Bonn and Lofa, completing Phase 2 counties of biometric voter registration.

However, Mr. Kamala said the NEC should ensure that voter registration agencies respect the rights and dignity of all citizens and implement free and fair voter registration for all citizens regardless of their tribal or religious background. I said I had to tell you to do it.

“Sadly, in fact, during voter registration exercises by the NEC voter registration office, we constantly hear many complaints of impunity for flagrant denial of Hula ethnic groups,” he said.

Kamala further argued that it was unethical to confiscate documents issued by legitimate government authorities from the Hula people.

“How can we disrespect the work of our national agency that provided the documents to Fula after meeting the standards required by the agency’s authority to authorize such documents?” Kamala asked. rice field.

“Let us not forget that our society, Liberia, is multicultural and multireligious,” he said. Please let us know that you will continue to contribute greatly in the future.”

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