Heavy Armed Bandits Create Fears In Grand Gedeh

The local authorities and residents of Grand Gedeh County have raised serious alarms over the presence of heavily strange armed men in the territory jungle of Liberia suited in Grand Gedeh. The movements of these unknown armed men in the area have caught the attention of local authorities of the county, thus installing fears in the inhabitants and travelers in the county.

The alarm comes in the wake of the Liberian government struggle to deal with the dilemma of the gradual drawdown of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) with concerns about whether Liberia will be able to handle its own security. The strange heavily armed men believed to be Ivoirians intrude on the Liberian territory soil through the jungle forest of Grand Gedeh and have established an agricultural estate by planting tree crops including cocoa and palm.

Less than a year before the planned departure of the United Nations Mission from Liberia, it is becoming increasingly clear that life after UNMIL would pose some serious problems for post-war Liberia. The Government of Liberia recently revealed a costly transition plan to facilitate its readiness for life after UN troops leave its shores, setting an implementation plan at US$104.848 million, much of which is expected to be mobilized by the Liberian government.

In a communication to the plenary of the Liberian Senate, Senator Marshall Dennis explained the people of Tiahn Town in B’ hai Administrative District, Gbarzon statutory District, discovered some Ivorian intruders who entered their forest and established an agricultural estate by planting tree crops including cocoa and palm.

The situation, he said prompted County Authority leading to arrest and detain six of the armed men in Zwedru City, but shortly thereafter and for some unexplained reason, those arrested were ordered released and turned over to Ivorian border authority.

Senator Dennis communication further stated that barely a week later, and as an act of provocation, apparently spurred by the failure of Government to institute corrective action, more than two hundred Ivoirians reentered the forest, well-armed and prepared to defend their settlement on Liberian soil.

Senator Dennis communication stated “Again, heeding my advice from the United States of America through phone calls, another complaint, this time documented, was made by the B’hai District people to the Ministry of Internal Affairs through the county superintendent and as a result of the second complaint, and only then, a team of investigators from Monrovia joined by a local citizen group, went on the scene for verification”.

Karin Landgren, Special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Coordinator of United Nations Operations in Liberia, writing in a Huffington Post Op-Ed in April suggested that Liberia only really has 14 months to assume full responsibility for all facets of its security while asserting that lessons learned during the Ebola crisis could help ensure a successful transition.

The UNMIL Boss said that in order for the security transition plan to succeed, the Government must consistently prioritize security sector and rule-of-law reforms throughout the 14 months remaining until the handover deadline. “President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is fully committed to the transition, and made sure that justice and security issues were included in the nation's post-Ebola recovery plan.