CJPS and LDEA Launch Partnership to Combat Illicit Drug Abuse and Promote Accountability

The Center for Justice and Peace Studies (CJPS) and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under a Program for  Reducing Organized Substance Proliferation and Enforcing Resilience (PROSPER).

The MOU is to enhance awareness to promote citizens’ actions against the spread and consumption of illicit drugs in their respective communities, strengthen accountability and compliance among officers of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, and lobby for increased support towards the fight against drugs and substance proliferation and abuse in Liberia.

Under the partnership, the Center for Justice and Peace Studies and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency will, among other things, provide specific support to community awareness initiatives, which shall include legal information and awareness programs on three radio stations in Montserrado, Margibi, and Bong Counties, and the conduct of stakeholders’ roundtable sessions.

The MOU also calls for the development of a monitoring tool that tracks and reports ethical and compliance issues among LDEA personnel, popularizing a complaint mechanism that will be used for citizens to report issues and concerns against personnel of the LDEA, the development and printing of 100 copies of a simplified / awareness version of the New Drug Law into a booklet for distribution to key stakeholders, and producing and publishing quarterly shadow reports among others things.

Mr. Francis S. Konyon, Acting Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Peace Studies, lauded the LDEA administration for its willingness to partner and collaborate. “This is a way of increasing awareness to increase citizen trust and stimulate actions to reduce the spread and usage of illicit drugs in the country.” Mr. Konyon averred. He pledged CJPS support to strengthening citizens’ actions against illicit drugs; accountability and compliance among security officers, particularly the LDEA.

In remarks, the Officer In-Charge of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Administration, DCP Fitzgerald T. M. Biago, called on all LDEA officers to fully support the work that CJPS and its partners will be doing.

“The LDEA alone cannot succeed in eradicating illicit drugs, but this can be achieved through collective efforts, and all of us need to get involved, because you don’t know who the next victim will be. That person could be your child or any family member.” DCP Biago said.

The MOU, in its implementation, is expected to increase public awareness and community engagement, and strengthen dialogue and collaboration among communities, civil society, and law enforcement actors.  Strengthened ethical accountability within the LDEA, improved citizen reporting and public trust, and enhanced access to the simplified version of the Drug Law of Liberia

The program will be implemented by the Center for Justice and Peace Studies (CJPS) and the Civil Peace Service (CPS) Liberia Network with support from Bread for the World.