Brewerville, Montserrado County – The Apostolic Pentecostal Church (APC) International has resolved to work with other churches and para-church groups to organize and promote prayers of intercession for peaceful, free and fair general elections for a new President of Liberia and Members of the House of Representatives in October 2017.
The resolution was adopted at the end of the 12th general annual conference of the church on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at New Water in the Desert Assembly in Brewerville, based upon a seven-point prayer proposal by its newly-consecrated Bishop, Rev. Dr. Kortu K. Brown in his formal address to the conference
The conference which was attended by more than 300 registered delegates from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the United States, called on all Liberians to be active players in efforts to promote the national interest in 2017.
“We must strain every spiritual and physical muscle to win the prize, both in the church and the nation. We must work for national unity and to move our country forward.
Today, I call on all Liberians and friends of Liberia to join us in an aggressive, energetic action of intercessory prayer during the next nine-months for the conduct of peaceful, free and fair elections in the country”, Rev. Dr. Brown declared.
The seven-point prayer agenda includes a prayer for:
- A Strong Voters’ Registration Turn-out – Because many Liberians argue that our current political leaders performance have been unimpressive and have discouraged their voting desires;
- Peaceful, violence-free elections – Because our country is making a historic democratic transition it hasn’t made in 73 years; one that will also cement our post-civil-war democratic credentials worldwide. Liberia reportedly has about 131 unmanned security border points which can be a threat; 3. Free and Fair elections – Because our country has a previous reputation of rigged elections that some argue contributed to igniting the civil war that brought mayhem and death to our people;
- A God-chosen leader – Because Liberians believe a God-approved leader would bring blessings to the country and turn people’s miseries around;
- An enlighten and informed electorate – Because many argue that the electorates themselves contribute to the – non-performance – problem – of government officials- by allowing themselves to be influenced by material gifts in selecting their leaders thereby sometimes making the wrong choices for leaders for public office in the country;
- Good roads and fair weather – Because most of the countryside is impassable by road during 6 months of rains – April – October every year making preparations, campaigning and voting difficult;
- The National Elections Commission – For wisdom, knowledge and understanding as they administer the affairs of these elections so that they will bring honor to our country and glory to God’s name.
The conference also called upon the National Elections Commission to ensure that, if necessary and required, for peaceful, free and fair elections, that:
- The time for voters’ registration be extended to make up for areas where the registration process started late due to logistical challenges;
- The capacities of voters’ registration center workers are enhanced to resolve some of the grammatical and other challenges they face;
- Strong legal actions be taken to discourage any form of trucking of potential voters and/or any forcible seizures of individual voters’ registration cards by prospective candidates for public offices to influence support for their bid;
- Local leaders including community watch teams help mobilize and sensitize eligible voters and monitor voter’s registration centers within their proximity to avoid people registering in communities where they do not reside and/or creating panic;
- All public facilities are accessible to all political parties.