Africa-Press – Liberia. Integrity Watch Institution, Accountability Lab Liberia, in partnership with the Citizens Bureau, re-launches community justice project here.
In a bid to encourage citizens to uphold the rule of law and abstain from mob violence, Accountability Lab Liberia, in partnership with Citizens Bureau and with funding support from the Legal Empowerment Fund, re-launched a community justice project across various communities within Montserrado and its environs.
“We Liberians should learn how to trust in the rule of law. This mob justice thing has to stop. As long as we get angry, we just say, we take the law in our hands”, says Accountability Lab Liberia Executive Director, Lawrence Yealue.
Mr. Yealue performed the official launch here on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Logan town, a slum community on Bushrod Island.
He says they have been conducting such exercises in various communities across three counties, including Montserrado, Margibi, and Bong.
“… And once people get offended, they don’t report to the police; instead, they prefer taking the law into their hands; these are things that undermine the rule of law and threaten our peace”, he adds.
Mr. Yealue notes that it is against this backdrop that the lap in collaboration with local partners, Citizens Bureau, thought to re-launch the community justice team project to provide community dwellers with requisite knowledge that would enable them to uphold the rule of law.
“When people offend us, we ignore the police and the court, and we begin to react by taking another life, or burning properties, and things like that. These are not good approaches.
So, we are saying this other approach is that if you know you are angry, the distance between you and the police is too long; reach to the elders in your community and say let’s try to test law rather than just using only our heads.”
He says the lap was re-launching the project simply because they have been doing this for years, adding, “So what we’re trying to do now is to make it even more engaging.”
He discloses an exercise that he calls cross-country collaboration, saying, looking to other communities outside, sharing experiences.
“So on behalf of the Accountability Lab Liberia, and of course, as we launch this community justice program here in Logan Town, we are very pleased as an organization, in partnership with our colleagues here, that this is one of the things that we’re proud of.”
The rule of law, according to Director Yealue, is something that all citizens should respect in building better partnerships in communities. “We are also looking at providing capacity support for community justice mediators.”
The Executive Director for Citizens Bureau, John Kamma, reveals that Accountability Lab Liberia and Citizens Bureau strongly believe that building the capacity of community members to solve disputes in their various communities is one of the best ways to promote peace and democracy, which he says can lead to development.
“We have observed that aggrieved parties are more responsive to non-binding mediation and often engage in more constructive dialogue without the threat of formal legal sanctions that inherently arise in government courts”, Mr. Kamma says.
He continues that in their works across four communities in Montserrado, Bong and Margibi counties, there has not been a single instance of recidivism in cases that were dealt with by trained mediators, because they follow up on cases, making sure that parties are at peace.
Police Representative
The special assistant to Zone# 10, Police Depot# 2, Blamoh T. Cheteh, expresses appreciation to Accountability Lap and partner for what he terms a bold step in tackling mob violence.
“So, I’m very happy. I pray that the organizing committee will be able to reach out to other communities, so they will be able to solve problems. Because sometimes at the police station, you find a lot of cases”, Blamoh says.
Community Dwellers
On behalf of Blamo Town community, Leroy J. Nyankoon expresses gratitude to the organizers for re-launching the community justice project.
“Well we want to say we appreciate the efforts and strategies that have been put together for the Community Justice Team and speaking on behalf of the Blamo Town community, which is one of the challenging communities on the Bushorld Island, and we believe this team will help us understand our rights and how we can approach our rights, not to carry on mob justice, but the rightful proceeding.”
The launch brought together scores of community dwellers, including youth and women groups, students, and elders.
For More News And Analysis About Liberia Follow Africa-Press
