The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) said Wednesday it
"is disturbed over events" in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire following
two days of disturbances there.
UN Special Envoy to Liberia Allen Doss said "there were
disturbances not far from the Liberian border. But we will continue
to monitor very closely to prevent arms from crossing the
border."
"We are also ready to attend to humanitarian needs and to assist
evacuate our personnel if it is required. But we hope that there
would be a reasonable resolution to the Ivorian conflict," he
added.
Reports from Cote d'Ivoire say supporters and the ruling party
of Gbagbo are dissatisfied with the decision of the international
community requesting the dissolution of the Ivorian parliament
whose mandate expired, terming the decision as "interference in the
internal affairs of Cote d'Ivoire."
Cote d'Ivoire, through international mediation, has been
grappling with an ongoing conflict for the last three years between
rebel soldiers in the north and the government controlled
south.
The UNMIL is therefore concerned that a spill-over effect could
threaten the newly achieved peace in Liberia, brokered by the
Economic Community of West African States, with the inauguration on
Monday of the country's first female President Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, following 14 years of civil war.
"Our mandate is to consolidate the peace in Liberia and maintain
security," the UN envoy said. Doss said, "the election of
Johnson-Sirleaf was not only significant to Liberia, but the world,
since there are very few women leaders in the world."
"Women in Africa," he said, "have not enjoyed the full benefits
of the continent. Seeing women ascending to political leadership
was therefore significant for their cause." "We welcome
Johnson-Sirleaf's inaugural declaration of intent to crack down on
corruption," Doss said, adding that "her remark to implement the
GEMAP (Governance Economic Management and Assistance Program) was
encouraging."
Under the GEMAP, the Liberian government along with its
development partners would contract foreign experts for three years
to control and manage key revenue generating agencies of the
government in an effort to curtail what has been observed as
"systemic corruption" within the public sector.
According to a World Bank representative to Liberia, the
contracted international financial and management experts would
intervene at all levels of revenue collection and expenditure
process with "binding co-signature authority" along with their
Liberian counterparts.
It is expected that under the agreement, an enabling environment
would also be created to attract and guarantee direct foreign
investment in the country.
The GEMAP agreement stipulates that procurement, concession,
contracts and licensing would go through competitive bidding in
line with internationally accepted standards as well as ensuring
that monopolies in these areas are liberalized.
The Liberian civil crisis was to a large extent attributed to
mismanagement of the country's resources at the expense of the
ordinary citizens.
But with the new democratically elected government now in place,
the UN special envoy said, "the government has a great deal of
international good-will, and I think the UN mission in Liberia will
stay the course and maintain a strong security profile and security
footprints."
The UN mission's mandate in Liberia will expire in March this
year. But Doss said, "it would be surprised if the UN Security
Council does not extend the mandate."
The Security Council in resolution 1509 (2003) authorized the
deployment of 15,000 international peacekeeping troops which has
since kept the peace in the west African state and disarmed more
than 100,000 ex-combatants and created an enabling environment for
the holding of national elections last October and November in
which Harvard-trained economist Johnson-Sirleaf defeated football
star George Weah in a presidential runoff with 59.4 percent
votes.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2006)
