Professor Alaric K. Tokpa, Acting Chairperson of the Governance Commission, warns that those carrying illegal firearms in the country should be disarmed immediately.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia; September 2, 2025 – The Acting Chairperson of the Governance Commission (GC), Dr. Prof. Alaric K. Tokpa, has urged the Government of Liberia to ensure that those who don’t have legal right to carry firearms are disarmed.
He says this will ensure full maintenance of peace and stability of Liberia, in keeping with the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement that restored civilian governance to the country.
Speaking in an interview recently, during celebration of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Dr. Tokpa said, given the fact that there are armed robbery activities and crimes across the country, it means that the guns are still in the hands of the wrong people, something he described as a threat to Liberia’s peace and stability.
“The last time, I was asked to talk about demobilization at the Celebration of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement ceremony held in Monrovia. I know that demobilization is inter-related with design of reintegration and rehabilitation. In the past, Liberia was largely demobilized. But the fact that we saw armed robbery, the rapid frequency of war, means that some guns around that need to be taken away from those who don’t have legal rights to possess them. Also, it’s true that there were dynamic portions of migration from rural Liberia to urban centers during the war.” He recalled.
Chairperson Tokpa stated that Liberia had made significant progress in maintaining peace and stability since the signing of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2003.
According to him, even though there are still challenges, Liberia’s peace and stability can continue on the trajectory it’s on with intensive, collective, and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders, especially locals, policymakers, and academic professionals, among others.
Dr. Tokpah indicated that Liberia needs to identify the challenges, build the peace process together, and develop strategies to move the country forward.
According to him, many of the people who came to Monrovia never had relatives or families in communities where they were integrated, but they were connected informally with colleagues and friends who had fought the war alongside them.
He further indicated that as means of survival, some of them began to engage in criminal activities, particularly in situations where there is over population, growing unemployment, criminal activities are always possible.
“Efforts have been made in contemporary times. The decentralization, construction of roads, electrification, and the enabling of water to other parts of the rural environment are efforts. Those are important steps, but, I think when they are combined with Public Private Partnership or collaboration, it will help to reverse the migration trend from rural Liberia to urban.”
He pointed out that many Liberians look to the government for job creation, and it’s because there is no other possibility, but warned that in effect, the government is responsible for creating the enabling environment for the private sector to be energized to create jobs and employment for the people.
“It’s a normal energy that the youthful population of the country needs to be monetized and capitalized so that other sectors of the Liberian society experience social and economic development. I am talking about the agriculture sector, it needs to be monetized also, so that it’s very possible that Liberia remains successful in seeing more peace and stability.”
According to him, sometimes victims of circumstances can turn to crime; therefore, he recommended that attention be given to technical and vocational education, the formal education sector, and efforts should be made to support agriculture. He also encouraged young people to enter the job market with an inclusive understanding.
“If those individuals are not able to provide for themselves, they look to other means of survival. This is the context in which I see this. Because young people depend on family and community to feed them, but after the war, they have to depend on themselves for feeding basically. Like for Monrovia, where unemployment is high, and young people don’t have the opportunity to get education and reorientation for rehabilitation, technical vocational education, it’s understandable that some of them went into crime in order to survive.” He concluded. Editing by Jonathan Browne
