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| George Weah's CDC has vowed to take to the streets tomorrow |
All roads lead to the party head-quarters of the Congress for Democratic Change tomorrow, where Cdicians claim they intend to ‘walk’ peacefully to hold on their grounds, a memorial service---and nothing more---that has been in the making for a while.
But, words like ‘walk,’ ‘peaceful,’ ‘memorial service’ etc. that seem to have been popping (no pun intended) up all over the place, might have helped put Justice Minister Tah on her guard. With her antennas up, she appeared to be leaving nothing to chance when it comes to peace, security and the smooth and uninterrupted flow of life, traffic and human movement in the city, on tomorrow.
Minister Tah could have been falling back on a statement that Representative Munah Pelham [of the CDC] made at an October 25 meeting between the Justice Ministry and the CDC; the Minister had relayed to the CDC leadership, Ms. Pelham’s statement: “I will personally be leading a delegation of 2,000 partisans to the party’s headquarters on November 7.”
What if ten, 20, or more such partisans decided to ‘walk’ their own 2,000 troops to the ‘service,’ some pundits have been asking? The Ministry’s position on this matter was clearly communicated (sent out) by the Minister in her letter to the CDC:
“It is easy to imagine that other leaders and representatives of the CDC will compete to do the same. Accordingly, tried as we have, it is difficult to see such movements of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals, overwhelming the narrow streets, chanting political slogans and heading in one direction only as a ‘walk’ that…will not…disrupt or alter the normal flow of daily activities,” she exclaimed.
And then, of course, there has been a lot of back-and-forth between the Justice Ministry and the CDC leadership over the tricky issue of requesting a permit for their ‘walk’ since, according to the CDC, a walk is a completely different thing from a “march” or from a demonstration.
The party instead called for “an urgent joint-meeting with the Justice Ministry asking that the Ministry, through the police regulated the movement of all individuals on that day, equally ensure that smooth and orderly use of the public space by all individuals in keeping with equal protection of all citizens.”
The request, however legitimate, pre-supposed a Ministry of Justice issued permit, to go ahead with the celebration. Some legal minds say that they presented the Government a fait accompli with their ‘here is what we are going to do’ approach about the permit thing.
In swift response, Deputy Justice Minister for Administration and Public Safety, Freddie Taylor, informed executives of the CDC that they had not requested a permit to parade the streets of Monrovia on November 7 this year.
“It is easy to imagine that other leaders and representatives of the CDC will compete to do the same. Accordingly, tried as we have, it is difficult to see such movements of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals, overwhelming the narrow streets, chanting political slogans and heading in one direction only as a ‘walk’ that…will not…disrupt or alter the normal flow of daily activities,” she exclaimed.
And then, of course, there has been a lot of back-and-forth between the Justice Ministry and the CDC leadership over the tricky issue of requesting a permit for their ‘walk’ since, according to the CDC, a walk is a completely different thing from a “march” or from a demonstration.
The party instead called for “an urgent joint-meeting with the Justice Ministry asking that the Ministry, through the police regulated the movement of all individuals on that day, equally ensure that smooth and orderly use of the public space by all individuals in keeping with equal protection of all citizens.”
The request, however legitimate, pre-supposed a Ministry of Justice issued permit, to go ahead with the celebration. Some legal minds say that they presented the Government a fait accompli with their ‘here is what we are going to do’ approach about the permit thing.
In swift response, Deputy Justice Minister for Administration and Public Safety, Freddie Taylor, informed executives of the CDC that they had not requested a permit to parade the streets of Monrovia on November 7 this year.
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| Justice Minister Tah has warned the CDC against violence during tomorrow's "walk" |
However, in response to CDC’s October 9 request for a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Justice, a roundtable was convened on October 25, between the two parties. At that meeting, the CDC argued that it needed no permit to walk or assemble; an argument it claimed was backed by a constitutional provision.
“We have gathered from previous experiences with such ‘walks’ likely to turn into a mass movement of people in the streets of Monrovia. Evidence abounds that such ‘walks’ carried out without proper coordination and prior arrangements have infringed upon the rights of others and have tended to be disruptive of normal flow of activities in the city,” the Minister responded.
The Minister then reminded the CDC Secretary General McGill, that “given the overpopulation of the city of Monrovia at this time, the limited road networks, and the multiplicity of business activities, the mass movement of people through the streets of Monrovia, requires proper coordination to avert unwarranted disruption of the ordinary course of activities in the city.”
The CDC, however, has remained firm about its decision to go ahead with its plans (albeit ‘peacefully’ plans) this Wednesday, in memory of last year’s November 7, election-violence in which at least one of their number lost his life, according to official reports. (Unofficial, reports placed the number at four and seven.)
But officials of the Ministry of Justice continue to insist that the Party obtains a permit, which, according to the Justice Minister, when granted would accord the proper coordination, setup and arrangement between the relevant authorities and the leadership of the CDC to accommodate such shifts in the normal flow of daily activities brought about by such anticipated “mass movement”.
“This, I believe, is in keeping with the law and without prejudice to the CDC. The rationale governing the request for permit for mass movement of people is to enable the government and the requesting party to work together to ensure that not only those who request permissions for marches are protected, but also, within the boundaries of the physical infrastructure and the limitations in our technical and human capacities, to avoid, as much as possible, any breakdown in law and order,” the Minister said.
But more importantly, the Minister continued, the permit is intended to ensure that measures are put in place to always protect the rights of others who may desire to participate in such mass movements but would wish to attend to their daily activities without interruptions as well.
She closed her letter by adding that the leadership of the CDC is expected to take the appropriate steps to comply with the law. “In the event, however, that CDC elects to proceed without obtaining a permit from the Ministry of Justice, we wish to advise that its leadership will be held responsible and accountable for any violations resulting from encouraging huge numbers of citizens to come out en mass on the public streets of Monrovia without proper coordination.”
But the CDC sees it differently, arguing that it is the Ministry of Justice that would be held accountable in case of anything, since it is the Ministry’s responsibility to ensure that citizens (including CDC partisans) are fully protected.
The Party’s Secretary General, Nathaniel McGill, told this newspaper yesterday that the Ministry is nudging them to march or demonstrate, by insisting that they obtain a permit.
“They want us to legalize this thing, because the permit will give us the right to march and demonstrate. But we don’t want that. We don’t want to march or demonstrate,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 10am meeting is scheduled to be convened between officials at the Justice Minister and CDC today. Previously scheduled for yesterday, this follow-up meeting was an offspring of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s intervention in the matter between both parties.
The President’s immediate intervention was solicited (asked for) by the CDC, because, according to Secretary General McGill, the Justice Ministry “kept insisting that we got a permit.”
Yesterday’s meeting was set for 1:p.m., but did not take place because the CDC failed to show up. But the Party’s Secretary General argued that they were only informed minutes after 1:p.m. about the meeting.
“Nobody called us. A call from the Ministry only came in after 1:p.m. We then asked for the meeting to be postponed to 4:pm but they said no,” McGill told this newspaper yesterday.
“We have gathered from previous experiences with such ‘walks’ likely to turn into a mass movement of people in the streets of Monrovia. Evidence abounds that such ‘walks’ carried out without proper coordination and prior arrangements have infringed upon the rights of others and have tended to be disruptive of normal flow of activities in the city,” the Minister responded.
The Minister then reminded the CDC Secretary General McGill, that “given the overpopulation of the city of Monrovia at this time, the limited road networks, and the multiplicity of business activities, the mass movement of people through the streets of Monrovia, requires proper coordination to avert unwarranted disruption of the ordinary course of activities in the city.”
The CDC, however, has remained firm about its decision to go ahead with its plans (albeit ‘peacefully’ plans) this Wednesday, in memory of last year’s November 7, election-violence in which at least one of their number lost his life, according to official reports. (Unofficial, reports placed the number at four and seven.)
But officials of the Ministry of Justice continue to insist that the Party obtains a permit, which, according to the Justice Minister, when granted would accord the proper coordination, setup and arrangement between the relevant authorities and the leadership of the CDC to accommodate such shifts in the normal flow of daily activities brought about by such anticipated “mass movement”.
“This, I believe, is in keeping with the law and without prejudice to the CDC. The rationale governing the request for permit for mass movement of people is to enable the government and the requesting party to work together to ensure that not only those who request permissions for marches are protected, but also, within the boundaries of the physical infrastructure and the limitations in our technical and human capacities, to avoid, as much as possible, any breakdown in law and order,” the Minister said.
But more importantly, the Minister continued, the permit is intended to ensure that measures are put in place to always protect the rights of others who may desire to participate in such mass movements but would wish to attend to their daily activities without interruptions as well.
She closed her letter by adding that the leadership of the CDC is expected to take the appropriate steps to comply with the law. “In the event, however, that CDC elects to proceed without obtaining a permit from the Ministry of Justice, we wish to advise that its leadership will be held responsible and accountable for any violations resulting from encouraging huge numbers of citizens to come out en mass on the public streets of Monrovia without proper coordination.”
But the CDC sees it differently, arguing that it is the Ministry of Justice that would be held accountable in case of anything, since it is the Ministry’s responsibility to ensure that citizens (including CDC partisans) are fully protected.
The Party’s Secretary General, Nathaniel McGill, told this newspaper yesterday that the Ministry is nudging them to march or demonstrate, by insisting that they obtain a permit.
“They want us to legalize this thing, because the permit will give us the right to march and demonstrate. But we don’t want that. We don’t want to march or demonstrate,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 10am meeting is scheduled to be convened between officials at the Justice Minister and CDC today. Previously scheduled for yesterday, this follow-up meeting was an offspring of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s intervention in the matter between both parties.
The President’s immediate intervention was solicited (asked for) by the CDC, because, according to Secretary General McGill, the Justice Ministry “kept insisting that we got a permit.”
Yesterday’s meeting was set for 1:p.m., but did not take place because the CDC failed to show up. But the Party’s Secretary General argued that they were only informed minutes after 1:p.m. about the meeting.
“Nobody called us. A call from the Ministry only came in after 1:p.m. We then asked for the meeting to be postponed to 4:pm but they said no,” McGill told this newspaper yesterday.
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