We wish to applaud the Government for the decision, which augments ongoing efforts to eradicate COVID-19 from Liberia. We join the President and Health Authorities to admonish Liberians and the Public to fully respect and observe all protocols announced as effective means of preventing further spread of the Virus as well as consolidating efforts to eradicate it. We are optimistic that with an inclusive and concerted fight, led by the President and institutions with the requisite mandates and proven capabilities and experience, COVID-19 will be a matter of history in Liberia, soon.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the Press, Fellow Liberians, despite our support for measures announced by the President and Government of Liberia, we are concerned about lingering issues, which if not timely addressed could effectively undermine Liberia’s fight against COVID-19 and further undermine citizens’ ability to fully respect and observe announced stay-home mandate and other actions needed to win the war against this killer disease. 

The President announced a stay-home order, with exemptions for movements, without fully considering the socio-economic impacts and implications of the measures on citizens, especially the over 75% Liberians living on $1 or less a day and have no reserve (food, water, and other essential items) for the following day(s). Simply put, they live on a “daily hustle” as foods and other essential materials are not guaranteed for the day after and beyond.  Besides, the sources of income and livelihoods for many, especially those vulnerably employed, are far away from their communities and will have no access to them during these periods. We noted that their plights were not considered because Government has not announced any reduction in prices of Rice, Gasoline and other basic commodities, neither has the government announced plans to supply food items and other essential supplies to poor and vulnerable groups, including orphanages, poor communities, the elderly, those with various forms of disabilities, etc. How will those who do “from hand to mouth” survive in these crises? The government cannot be trying to prevent citizens from being killed by Coronavirus but does little or nothing to prevent them from being killed by hunger and starvation.

Nothing can be more important than using the Peoples’ taxes and resources mobilized from donors to carter to their felt needs in difficult moments like these.

Besides, we wish to reiterate that we are not seeing the level of leadership, coordination and collaborative engagement with civil society and other groups that characterized the fight against Ebola in 2014. Independent civil society and national and international organizations were increasingly involved with community engagement and mobilization efforts then; we are not seeing much of that from the government in terms of recognition of the roles of these actors as well as giving them the leverage to operate, even with some restrictions and exemptions. The mere announcement by the President for civil society and political party leaders and religious actors to join the fight and use their social media pages to engage with the public is NOT ENOUGH. This does not indicate the level of inclusion, collaboration, and increased partnership needed to win the war against COVID-19, which the government alone cannot successfully do.

Furthermore, we are concerned about the increased and undue involvement of some political actors in the fight, something that could narrow the roles of professional institutions and individuals with the required expertise and mandates to deal with this situation. We have observed disregard for the structures and resources used to fight the Ebola Virus Disease. Many of the frontline workers and community engagements experts used are being sidelined, while new persons identified, especially people widely believed to be partisans of the Coalition for Democratic Change. While we welcome accommodation of new talents from all backgrounds, this cannot entirely be at the exclusion of those with proven expertise to play such role (s) such as the community health committees, county surveillance teams, county health teams, etc.

Lastly, we have observed multiple and splinted efforts by the government, especially the President and Vice President. Why are we seeing Weah and Taylor’s projects and not initiatives of the government of Liberia? No International partner or donor will want to support such individualized projects. We, therefore, want to make the following recommendations: 

1.    That Government identifies funds and other resources to support poor communities targeting women, children, the elderly, and people living with disabilities. This includes, but not limited to the provision of safe drinking water, food, and other essential items to enable them to survive while staying at home. Timely provision of electricity and pipe-borne water where they exist. 

2.    That President and Vice President lead by example in fostering and promoting a national fight that rallies the support of all stakeholders. The President and Vice President cannot be running individual projects when they should be leading a Government of Liberia’s actions and efforts, to which all senators, representatives, civil servants, and even ordinary citizens and development partners can identify.

3.    That the Fight against the Coronavirus Disease is de-politicized. The Ministry of Health, National Public Health Institute of Liberia, and other relevant bodies must be adequately capacitated to lead the fight, void of undue political influence and interferences. At the moment, we strongly believe that their roles are being undermined by the increasing involvement of the Monrovia City Corporation in contact tracing and surveillance with no prior experience and capacity. 

4.    Non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, traditional and religious leaders, community leaders, and the media played key roles during the Ebola fight and must be recognized by the government and provided the opportunity to contribute. The Leaderships and essential staff of CSOs must be equally allowed to work, as they play vital roles in creating awareness, proving valuable inputs to government as well as independent monitoring and reporting on key trends and decision-making processes around the fight.

5.    That Government subsidizes the cost of electricity, water, and gasoline to enable Liberian families to access these services. We do recognize that the government does not have the capacity and resources to fully implement all these measures. Therefore, it must work with funding partners to source money and other resources to undertake these recommendations.

6.    That government, in consultation with Commercial Banks, places a moratorium on payment of loans and interests by creditors to commercial Banks for the period of 3-months. This will alleviate the pressure and economic impact on businesses, many of whom either not operating or doing so not at full capacity.

7.    We wish to remind the government of its accountability responsibility to itself, citizens, and development partners contributing valuable resources and inputs to the process. Updates to the public must include resources received and expended, while mechanisms and frameworks, accessible to the media, civil society and partners must be established and maintained, to ensure availability of basic and timely information to the public about ongoing efforts and resources received for the efforts.

8.    We wish to caution that, while the government enforces these measures using the national army and state security apparatus, the human rights of citizens and other residents must be fully respected and protected.

In conclusion, we wish to reiterate calls for all Liberians and residents to fully respect instructions from the government, health authorities to protect themselves and others during this period. We must all observe the social distancing rules and avoid action(s) that undermine the fight against COVID-19, which cannot be won without collaborative and well-coordinated efforts of all concerned: Government, development partners, citizens, civil society and media and other groups in society. Also, civil society recommits to remain constructively engaged with Government to forge a united, concerted, well-coordinated and citizens-driven fight against the deadly Coronavirus in the Country.

Signed:

Lawrence Yealue

Country Representative 

Accountability Lab Liberia

Anderson Miamen

Executive Director

Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL)

Harold Marvin Aidoo, Sr.

Executive Director

Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD)

Eddie D. Jarwolo

Executive Director

Naymote Partners for Democratic Development