IN AN INTERVIEW with the Inspector General-designate of the Liberian National Police (LNP) Col. Gregory “Buster” Coleman over the weekend, he outlined limited funding as the most challenging constraint the Police were faced with.
“The Ministry of Finance gave us a budget ceiling of about US$15.9 million, which cannot even cover a lot of our medium line items,” Coleman told FrontPage Africa in that exclusive interview.
NEARLY THE ENTIRE POLICE budget—89 percent (US$14 million)—goes for personnel salaries alone, Coleman added. Only US$1.7 million goes for goods and services (uniform, logistics and repairs, for instance), while only US$500 and US$200 are allotted to the purchase of medical items and toiletries, respectively.
“WE’RE ASKING GOVERNMENT for US$13.266 million and we’ve got zero Dollars as per request, so there will be logistical constraints,” Coleman lamented. “Policing in the world over, things are always lacking, even in the great United States…We are going to justify the need for more logistics on the performance with the limited that we have right now.”
COLEMAN SOUNDED very buoyant in that interview but the fact is that you don’t expect anything less diplomatic from an appointed official when his confirmation is still on going. You cannot sit on someone’s shoulder and tell him his arm stinks, the adage goes.
WE KNOW THAT IT IS a cliché that the Police make a futile, annual appeal to the Government of Liberia for increased budgetary allotment but this time around is very much unlike, perhaps, anytime in the history of our country. For the first time more than a decade, Liberian security operatives are shouldering the security responsibilities of Liberia, still recovering from the ashes of the civil war, still grappling with the same things that precipitated the war. These are extraordinary times and the country is once more at a crossroads.
BEFORE THE BEING handed back security responsibilities, bulk of the public criticized the move, expressing mistrust over the local security personnel and the nightmare of relapsing back into the conflict and self-destruction. The fear was that not only that the Police was faced with logistical challenges but also that the personnel could not be trusted. It was a portion but a significance outburst of the public lack of confidence in the governance process of the country.
HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM is working pretty much into that public conception. There are too many implications involved amid logistical constraints our Police force faces. We get it all mixed up when we try not to prioritize our Police force when we should in the first place.
PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON Sirleaf said recently that turning over to another civilian government will be the greatest democratic achievement to ever be made by Liberia. This further emphasizes the need for the process that will lead toward this democratic transition. This means rallying the support of the general public, getting political parties collaborate at peace and tolerance fronts and, among others, the state of state security apparatus, especially the Police.
COLEMAN SEEMS to mean business and his effort will validate his fervency to seeing a more secured and peaceful environment leading towards the elections. His achievement just in less than a month is stunning: chasing and dislodging street gangs as well as taking armed robbery head-on. The infamous Turtle Base, here the Christian Gospel songs was remixed into criminal chants has been dismantled. Zogo—drugged pickpockets and way-wards—look like something of the past. It is highly likely that the American States Department report will not contain these hijackers this year.
IT HAS NOT STOPPED THERE. The Police are not working harder than ever before to enforce the Vehicle and Traffic Laws of Liberia, deterring violations by issuing tickets—some 175 of them in the last two weeks. And Coleman told us in that interview that the Police themselves are bracing to respect the laws by putting into place a mechanism that guides against the misuse of emergency and siren. Even motorcyclists are part of this plan as well as the community via the community Police forum.
WE CANNOT BE TOTALLY convinced that good things are coming or the Police but we are certainly cognizant of the things that we have heard and seen the Police achieve of lat. It is important that we support the effort of the Police under the watch of Coleman and his revived deputy, Abraham Kromah to fight crimes in these difficult times.
