Political context

In January 2018, Georges Weah succeeded the first woman democratically elected as president of an African country, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. As revealed by recent surveys from Afrobarometer, although a majority of Liberians approve of President George Weah’s performance since he assumed office, they rate him relatively poorly on economic management. Shortly after his election, a political, scandal which is still under investigation, further tarnished the popularity of the newly-elected government – more than USD 100 million (LRD 16 billion) reportedly disappeared. In June 2019, Weah’s political opponents demonstrated to demand his resignation over this suspicion of fraud, leading to sporadic clashes with the police.

This growing discontent among ordinary Liberians is likely to worsen as a result of the economic impact of Covid-19, which is hitting the poorest segments of the population. Liberian authorities responded by taking revenue and expenditure measures to support emergency food aid for those relying on uncertain daily income. President George Weah also appointed a new National Response Coordinator for the Executive Committee on Coronavirus and gradually eased lock-down restrictions to revive economic activity. Despite these emergency measures, Liberia is still struggling to cope with the current sanitary crisis. Many observers fear that this situation may lead to a surge in violence in the country – making the oversight function of the Legislature ever more essential.

Security sector context

Since the signing of the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended 14 years of civil war, Liberia has made significant progress towards post-conflict reconstruction. Several policies aimed at fostering national reconciliation were adopted; a National Security Strategy meant to implement a security sector reform was developed; and presidential and legislative elections were held (2017).

In January 2018, the 54th Legislature was sworn in, playing a crucial role in maintaining this positive momentum. Although widely acknowledged to be responsible for overseeing the security and justice institutions, the Legislature faces several challenges that should remain a high priority. Even marginal improvements in the efficiency of the security-related committees in performing their oversight functions could have an important impact on overall security and justice sector reform efforts.

Current implementation strategy

In these contexts, DCAF intervenes in helping to design and implement a multi-annual project to help develop institutional and individual capacity within the Legislature. The project, “Increasing security sector accountability in Liberia", focuses primarily on building the capacity of the Legislature in performing its core functions of oversight, law-making and representation.

For more information please download our Liberia Country brochure (available soon).

Past DCAF achievements in Liberia

DCAF’s engagement in Liberia builds on past experience – beginning in 2003 – when we supported the implementation of the CPA through the strengthening of civil and parliamentary oversight of the security sector. Previous activities also included:

• A parliamentary support programme, in partnership with King’s College London, consisting of an interactive needs assessment on parliamentary oversight of the security sector; training sessions on SSG and oversight for members of the Liberian Legislature; and the production of a compilation of Liberia’s security sector legislation (2004-2008; 2012-2013).

• A project in six Liberian border counties (2014-2017), in partnership with the Liberia Chapter of the Mano River Women Peace Network (MARWOPNET), which strengthened the capacity of women’s organisations to actively participate in SSG, conflict prevention and peacebuilding. This project also contributed to raising community awareness of SSG and the role of women therein, and enhanced dialogue at a local level on security and gender.

• Support to the UN Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), through DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT), with an extensive review of the 15-year mission in Liberia and contribution to the report “Lessons Identified from United Nations Mission in Liberia Support to Rule of Law in Liberia” (2018), detailing the lessons identified in key areas such as SSG, justice and reform, and human rights assistance.

• Support to Liberia’s Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with UNMIL (2016-2017), to set up a multi-stakeholder group and reformulate private security legislation. The group drafted a proposal for a new, private security law, which was subsequently introduced to the Legislature.