Monrovia- Ex-Foreign Minister Olubanke King-Akerele has lambasted the opposition community of instigating hate messages, urging them to refrain from statements that have the proclivity to escalate or incite conflicts.
By Jaheim T. Tumu
The Board Chair of Angie Brooks International Center (ABIC), King-Akerele noted that Liberians need to rise above the culture and fiercely resist the spirit of violence that is grasping the nation’s progress.
Addressing the audience at the close the Women’s Situation Room (WSR) post-election political, mediation and peace dialogue from the recently ended 2023 presidential and legislative elections, she asserted that though ex-President George Weah had received enormous acclaims for a peaceful transition of power but the outcome is not reflected in the citizenry.
Said king-Akerele, “Too much violence; the talk on the radio is real and terrible and we must take a look at Rwanda. The provocation is too much and we have to stop it; we have to move forward. We have to sustain the peace and stop these violence talks.”
“But if we are not careful, we will slip back. The incitation, provocation is too much. Is terrible, we got to stop this. We have to move forward. There isn’t no sustainable peace if we don’t have justice and stop this violence talk.”
She emphasized, “Oppositions [you] must stop all these politics. Let’s us move this nation forward constructively together. And nobody’s coming here to invest in this country if we keep on this nonsense. That is what it is.”
She, however, said ABIC would have series of training and capacity-building that were suggested to empower women in urban and rural communities through the ‘Sustaining Liberia’s Peace.’
“We will make this real in other words we don’t just going to leave this at the talking stage. The task is to help us structure the kind of training and capacity building that we are talking about, she added.
Making a brief remark, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, urged women to continue to push to ensure political landscape of the favor women participation in the governing and developmental agenda of the country.
According to her, Liberian women over the years had made enormous contributions in spite of the challenges they have endured from the male counterparts.
Said Minister Nyanti, “There must be space created for women because women must take their place in Liberia. No more should Liberia settle for less. If Liberia must reach 100 percent there must be women’s empowerment. Women tear down women and this is heartbreaking and it must stop now.”
Also speaking Grand Gedeh County Electoral District #2 Representative, Marie Johnson frowned her counterparts for being unsupportive to each other during election period. She, however, called female to change their mentality and envy and to begin to be supportive to each other.
According to her, women’s political participation in election processes are curtail financial and traditional barriers.
“We need to encourage women’s political participation morally and financially because this is important to the democracy of Liberia,” she said.