Monrovia – The Executive Director of the West African Network of Peace has called on Liberians to see the election as a momentous event to usher the country into a historic transfer of power.
Chukwuemaka Eze, who is currently in the country after attending the 51st Summit of the Economic Community of West African States made the comment in an interview with FrontPage Africa on Monday at the Murex Plaza in Sinkor.
“In the last 70 years of the country’s history, you will be watching a transfer of power in 2017 from one democratically elected civilian president to another president – that is a very important process for Liberians,” Eze said.
He added that Liberians are enjoying a peaceful environment, unlike 15 years ago when the country was engulfed in a civil conflict. He called on politicians, the media, civil society, religious community and the security to all play a cardinal role in conducting successful elections.
Mr. Eze lauded President Sirleaf and other ECOWAS leaders for their intervention to curb violence in The Gambia.
Despite the relative peace being enjoyed in Liberia, he stated that there is an economic hurdle which has resulted from the drawdown of UNMIL.
He indicated that ECOWAS is looking in the direction of stepping up the economic pace of trade in the West African region rather than West African countries depending on European countries for trade.
On the issue of the 2017 elections, the WANEP boss also indicated that the West African Network on Peace-building during the elections period will have monitors to observe the communities, media, civil society organizations, religious leaders and reports will be sent to the regional body for input.
Also on the issue of Morocco, a North African country being admitted to the ECOWAS body as has been widely reported, Eze stated that everyone knows the location of Morocco but the issue of the country being admitted to the ECOWAS body is something that will require a lot of debate.