MONROVIA – A Liberian US-based security expert is recommending to President-elect Joseph N. Boakai that all top officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) be vetted within stipulated timelines.
By: Victoria G Wesseh
This is aimed at addressing leadership challenges and the public criticism of neutrality that are affecting the force, said Monroe A. Dennis II.
Dennis recommended a fresh vetting by an independent panel to be appointed by President-elect Boakai to vet competent and qualified candidates to steer the affairs of the police.
“This process, I refer to as digging deeper into the LNP, discovering the hidden professionals with competences and qualifications,” the expert said.
According to him, this reflects the meritorious system that President-elect Boakai stands for and is reflective of the succeeding clause and ranks and files in conformity with best practices.
Dennis said, as Liberia embraces a new regime/administration on January 22, 2024, one key institution that the public is eager to know who heads it, after the inauguration is the LNP.
“The public curiosity is owing to the fact that the LNP had, for the past four or five years, faced enormous criticisms as it relates to its neutrality as defined by the law,” Dennis noted.
Dennis said, with the debate surrounding the nomination of a new police boss, the president-elect should focus on officers within said institution instead of concerning people from outside of the force.
He emphasizes that the LNP Act of 2016 defines who is a police officer, suggesting “the four deputies Inspector General should be nominated or appointed from within said institution.”
He observed that more professional officers are not seen or heard about in public, and therefore, they are not known, and their professional compass cannot allow them to get involved with political maneuvering or lobbying.
“Those professionals can only be identified through a vetting process if the President-elect sets up a security committee or council, which is the best way forward if the Liberia National Police must be merit-driven like the Armed Forces of Liberia,” recommended Dennis.
He, however, said, the continuous nomination of leadership from outside of the institution has given rise to passive resistance, undermining, and underperformance of the force.
According to the security expert, since 2004, the security forces, particularly the LNP, have gone through a restructuring and reform process under the guidance and mentorship of the United Nations Police (UNPOL), with support from the US government.
He said, after the completion of basic theoretical and practical training, they were provided with specialized and mongering training to enhance their leadership competences in steering the affairs of the police.
Additionally, he noted that the UNPOL, through the UN Mission to Liberia, provided international training for officers of the police that afforded them the opportunity to have attended top-notch law enforcement institutions around the world, including the US, UK, Germany, China, and France, among other countries.
“The United Nations Development Program, with funding from the Irish Government, signed an agreement with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in 2014 for the sole purpose of offering a Post-graduate Diploma and Certificate in Public Administration to the Liberia National Police officers in developing their leadership style to a greater extent,” Dennis said.
Also, Dennis maintained “the United States Government, via the Bureau of International Narcotic and Law Enforcement Affairs, had provided and continued to provide officers of the Liberia National Police with local and international training periodically in line with its capacity-building programs, while the German Government provided funding to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center to train over 200 senior Police in leadership and conflict resolution.”
He said, police officers over the years braved the storm and stood up to the cause of educational enhancement by using their limited resources to educate themselves.
Some of whom have earned Bachelor’s, Master’s, Law, and even Doctoral degrees, says Dennis.
According to him, with those supports and sponsorship from the International community and friendly countries to the officers for capacity building and knowledge enhancement, it would be important that Boakai’s administration will definitely dig deeper into the Liberia National for the nomination of new leadership of the LNP.