U.S. Embassy threatens possible sanctions against attempt to disrupt Liberia’s elections

Monrovia, Liberia – The government of Liberia has once more been asked to guarantee that the upcoming general elections are held in a free, fair, and peaceful environment by the US Embassy in Liberia.

Catherine Rodriguez, the recently appointed Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Monrovia, has reaffirmed that the international community supports the crucial presidential and legislative elections in Liberia scheduled for October 10, 2023.

The U.S. Government is also ready to help by taking action against anyone or groups that try to sabotage the electoral process in Liberia through extra penalties, according to Catharine Rodriguez.

She encouraged the Liberian government to provide sufficient financial, human, and organisational resources to safeguard citizens including candidates, polling places, and election workers from coercion and damage.

“These elections and the way they are conducted are in the spotlight around the world. As a long-time ally of Liberia, the United States has been collaborating closely with the NEC to ensure that all election observers have complete access to polling places on election day as well as access to the vote tallying. In addition to our own duty to monitor the election process around the nation, the U.S. Embassy is also directly sponsoring local and international election observer missions through USAID.”

Catharine Rodriguez made the remarks on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, in Monrovia.

There have been three straight presidential elections in Liberia since the end of the country’s 14-year civil war two decades ago. First female president of Africa Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was chosen in the first election, which took place in 2005. In 2011, she was then re-elected. The third one took place in 2017, and George Manneh Weah, Africa soccer legend became vactor.

The general election this year, unlike the previous three, would be the first to be entirely overseen by the Liberian government, the National Elections Commission (NEC), and solely protected by the Liberian National Police (LNP) and Joint Security following the withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

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