Amidst the plethora of challenges and constraints the National Elections Commission face from the start of the Voter Registration exercise till now; Challenges such as: inadequate resources, unqualified VR staff, insufficient awareness/sensitization, VR equipment (most especially cameras) not functioning well, lack of security personnel at some VR centers, among others.
The NEC on the 8th February 2017 (One week after the start) announces and claims that the commission through her VR centers & staff has registered one million Liberians across the 15counties, 73electoral districts, and 2,080 registration centers (source: New Dawn Newspaper Online). From the day this information was released many of us still find it difficult to believed, because as it stands there are still challenges and in fact the NEC is even considering an extension of this process.
But here is the thing about these elections, thousands of our fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters both in rural and urban communities across Liberia who are eligible voters, are very much hesitant about this whole voter registration process and are angry and disenchanted over the entire election.
On the bases of that, their vote being cast from time-to-time hasn’t yielded any positive or tangible results due to their living conditions and the current state of affairs. Some even hold the view that most of our politicians are liars and that they all do not mean well for this country.
In this case, what do we do as ordinary citizens, politicians, advocates, NEC officials, etc? That is the question that we must ask ourselves now and come up with a solution that will mitigate this situation.
In an effort to mitigate this problem, the below recommendations are the keys to unlocking the puzzles of these challenges:
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More awareness and sensitization needs to be done by political parties, civil society organizations, and faith-based institutions, among others; explaining the significance of the VR process and why we (most especially hesitant voters) should vote in these elections.
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Political parties, Leaders, Stewarts, and Politicians should be sincere in their thoughts and ideas this time around. They must ensure that their campaign message (s) commiserates with the needs, wants, views and aspirations of the electorates.
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The NEC should take into consideration the activation and dispatcher of her National Monitoring & Evaluation Teams across the country. This M & E process will put VR staff and personnel on the right path against the odds of error making. Furthermore, the NEC should reach a decision now to extent the VR process.
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Election Observers must strive to report all electoral malpractices being exhibited at their different VR centers on a day-to-day or weekly basis, via the various media outlets. And ensure that the NEC addresses those concerns.
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An official apology from our current national leaders and politicians to our distinguished citizens who are hesitant and equally disenchanted over the current political and governmental system for the gross betrayal of their stewardship and confidence, keeping them in abject poverty, denying them the opportunities to succeed and not providing them basic social services that should have improved their lives over the last 12 years.
Towards this end, the supra recommendations are tools we can use to convince our fellow compatriots to stop being hesitant. Let us not take these and many other suggestions for granted in these elections or else the NEC will not reach her projected 2.5M voter registration target. If these issues are not addressed, we ought to have the lowest turnout on Elections Day in our nation’s history.
In the same vein, it is important to again encourage fellow compatriots, those of whom that have not registered and still yet hesitant, to come out in their numbers and register to vote.
Because that is the only way we are going to have a new President, Legislature or a Government. Also be (hesitant voters) reminded that change is a process and not an event and it does not take place out of instance. The change we want to see starts now and begins with us.
With this, I rest my case for now.
The Author
Bako Korboi Shuaibu, Jr., is Sophomore Student of the African Methodist Episcopal University in Monrovia reading Public Administration-Major and Economics-Minor. He is also an Advocate, Writer, Social Entrepreneur, Pan-African Evangelist, and Global Change maker, Community Organizer, Social Change Activist, Communications Strategist, Motivational Speaker, Innovator and a staunch Intellectual of the Pan-African Conscious Corner. 0777-604-909/886-161-455/[email protected]