Monrovia – As the issue of the December 30 “Weah Step Down” protest takes center stage in the country, widows of former Armed Forces of Liberia officers have expressed concerns about the protest. The protest is being organized by the Council of Patriot.
The AFL widows told reporters on Wednesday, December 18 that “it is better for Liberians to live in hardship than to have a protest that will call on President George Weah to step down”.
They claimed that protest has the propensity to escalate into further violence, adding that past protests have led to incidents that have taken away many lives including their husbands.
Speaking Wednesday in the Doe Community on the Bushrod Island at the start of the community awareness against the December 30 protest, the Vice Chairlady of the AFL widow Madam Musu Kermue said the protest could undermine the current peace process in the country.
According to Madam Kermue, it is good to promote the message of peace because the 14 years’ civil war caused them so much pains that they are still living with.
“For the past 14 years [there have been] ups and downs – you know our story. The very protest had brought us where we are today, a place of rejection by society because we are widows.
“And so, we say George Weah was elected, let it be. We want to eat our dry rice in peace. If we will not find food to eat, we will love to go to bed in peace. We do not want our children we sold cassava leaf for to be where they are today; we do not want anyone to come and put them in the streets to cause violence.”
“So, we want to bag those people that are coming to say President Weah should step down to stop, enough is enough,” Vice Chairlady of the AFL widow said.
Also speaking, Rufus Neufville, the Head of the Independent Council of Patriot (ICOP), who was a one-time stanch member of the Council of Patriot (COP), called on planners of the upcoming protest to abandon their quest and use the democratic process.
Neufville, who is also a former Representative of Electoral District #8 in Montserrado County, asserted that while he or the ICOP does not support the government in totality owing to the prevailing economic situation, any attempt to call for the President to step down forcibly is treasonable and undermines the peace and stability of the country.
He noted that continual violence does not only affect the ruling class, but rather increases hardship on the suffering masses as such would continue to scare away potential investors from coming into the country.
“We are not in total support of the government; we are not saying that the government should not work for the people, but what we are saying is that we don’t want any more violence here. Our people must follow the law, because there are laws and procedures on the book on how to remove a sitting President,” Neufville stated.
He said the ICOP is going to take the sensitization initiative into 35 different communities within Monrovia before the 30th of December in order to speak to the minds of Liberians so that they are not missed-guided.
Also speaking, the youth chair of Doe Community, Mr. Lorenzo Weah, in similar manner, condemned the protest. Weah said “violence does more harm than good” to the country, scares investors and carries the country backward.
“We are not going to sit and allow our country slip down the drain. We, too, are going to speak to the consciences of our people; letting them to know that demonstration is not the way forward,” he added.