On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, National Independence Day, the Liberian nation was greeted with terrifying reports of bloody violence and lawlessness when a peaceful protest by students of the state-owned University of Liberia campus-based Students Unification Party (SUP), was later countered, according to multiple eyewitnesses, by a purported pro-regime group, styled: “CDC- Council of Patriots (CDC-COP).
The melee subsequently led to the injuries of several students of the state-owned University of Liberia including the broad-day and macabre brutalization of SUP member, Christopher Water Sisulu Sivili, by individuals alleged to be members of the CDC-COP.
Amidst rousing public outcries and vehement condemnations relative to the mayhem and disorder, the National Chairman of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Mulbah K. Morlu, called on the Liberia National Police (LNP), to conduct a “holistic” investigation.
Mr. Morlu said the investigation should be carried out “in response to strong allegations that members of the CDC (who are being treated in different hospitals) sustained injuries meted out by anti-government protestors in different occasions.”
For us, at THE INDEPENDENT, we consider violence in any form and manner including the July 26 attack that led to the injuries of others including students of the University of Liberia as not only unacceptable, reprehensible, barbaric but also inimical to sustaining Liberia’s hard-won peace and democracy.
That the Liberian nation was awash by bloody violence at the time its 175th Independence was being celebrated and when chains of foreign guests and other dignitaries including the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ECOWAS Representatives, American Ambassador accredited near Monrovia, among others graced the occasion, is not only a serious and grave national embarrassment but speaks volumes as it relates to how divided we remain as a nation.
In other words, the ‘26’ bout which victimized other Liberians whether students of the University of Liberia or not, was, to say the least, unwarranted, unjustifiable, unholy and callously disappointing.
Even to gather that some members of the national security forces including the Liberia National Police (LNP), were at the violence scene but opted not to intervene as it is depicted in multiple videos circulating on social media platforms leaves much to be desired in our strive for good governance, rule of law, national healing and reconciliation.
This is why, we are calling on the Liberian government, which is the custodian of state power including ensuring the firm and indiscriminate protection and safeguarding of its citizenry to promptly investigate the ‘bloody 26’ Independence Day violent outbreak and bring to book, sooner than later, all those suspected to be its ‘white-collar’ masterminds, bankrollers and implementers.
In post-war Liberia, we, as a nation and government must never allowed our differences, whether political, religious or socio-economic, to drive our dear country towards another path of anarchy and bloodletting at the behest of handful of self-serving politicians and their lackeys and apologists.
This is also why we, at THE INDEPENDENT, are calling on President George Manneh Weah, who is also former ‘Peace Ambassador’ and now FATHER of the Liberian Nation, to Step Up To The Plate by ensuring that the July 26 obnoxious violence is independently investigated and the outcome of the investigation is not only duly publicized but all those responsible are brought before the altar of justice to account for their ugly deeds and the unwarranted disgrace they caused Liberia during its 175th Independence anniversary.
Otherwise, we, as a government and people, will have ourselves to blame sooner than later. This is not a threat but a caveat.
