Willie N. Tokpah
Africa-Press – Liberia. Drug abuse and illicit trafficking continue to remain a menace in Liberia, with the government failing to win a recent legal proceeding that saw a US$100 million case of cocaine allegedly smuggled into Liberia favoring four defendants.This setback in the fight against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking comes just a few weeks after the world celebrated International Drugs Day on Monday, June 26.
The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is marked on June 26 every year to strengthen action and cooperation in tackling drug abuse.
However, former Vice President and Political Leader of the Opposition Unity Party, Joseph Nyumah Boakai, is apprehensive about the surge in drug abuse and illicit trafficking of narcotic substances into Liberia, which he believes has branded the country a “Narco State.”
“We are fast gaining notoriety as a transshipment country for illicit narcotics, with the country shamefully appearing now as a ‘narco-state’,” Amb. Boakai stressed.
In a press statement on Monday, June 26, in observance of the International Day against Drugs, Boakai panicked that Liberia stands to face a possible future of increased crime rates, unemployment, increased sexual and gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, and tuberculosis, among others, if strong measures are not put in place to curb illicit drug usage and trafficking.
He asserted that the country’s weak law enforcement capacity, porous borders, and proximity to major drug transit routes are contributing factors to trafficking to and through Liberia.
Boakai cited the recent seizure of US$100 million worth of drugs, the trial saga that ensued, and the mysterious and unexplained departure from the country of all those who stood trial and were “acquitted” as an indication of the extent to which he believes Liberia has been rapidly exposed in the last few years to the narco trade, and the vulnerability of Liberian society to the impact of such large-scale assault by international criminal enterprises.
He said that this occurrence significantly reveals the “failure of national leadership, a weak and criminal justice system, and crucially raises suspicion” about the probable complicity of some higher-ups in the drug affair.
He added that it is now clearly obvious that the Weah Administration is “incapable, unwilling, complicit, and indifferent” to this crisis.
“They don’t see it as most Liberians see it – A National Emergency.”
“This is why a change in national leadership is and should be now.
We must see our votes as an opportunity to reverse this dangerous trend by saving our children and securing their future.”
Nevertheless, he surmises that this “grave situation” can be addressed by providing responsible leadership that would institute appropriate measures to bring hope to the young victims of the epidemic, relief to hurting families, and assurances, to frankly, a shocked society.
He said this will include declaring it not just an ’emergency’ but a “national security crisis” that must be arrested through a system-wide approach.
The Unity Party Political Leader understands that doing so will require looking at the crisis and determining the extent to which the failure of the provision of public goods, social service delivery, weaknesses in the criminal justice system, and inadequacies of the public health system have all conspired to contribute to what may yet be the biggest threat to the society after the civil war.
source:frontpageafricaonline
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