2011 elections Liberia - A national joint security team is expected to be deployed throughout the 15 political sub-divisions of Liberia for the purpose of maintaining peace and security in the country, especially during the elections process. Liberia's Presidential and Legislative Elections are scheduled to come up next month (October). According to the spokesman of the Liberia National Police (LNP), George Bardue, personnel of the LNP in collaboration with officers of other state security apparatus, including the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Liberia Fire Service Agency, among others will be deployed firstly in the rural parts of the country in phase one of the nation-wide security deployment exercise.

In an exclusive interview with this paper in Monrovia on Monday, the police spokesman said:"We will be deploying by road on Friday, and on the 29th which is the second phase of deployment, it will be done via air, especially to those far away counties where there is inaccessibility."

He said the joint security operations are expected to commence with a heavy concentration of security alertness in the leeward parts of the country.

But he was quick to point out that the security strategy will later be drawn down to Montserrado County as the polling date for the elections draws nearer.

The police spokesperson, who maintained that he could not disclose the numerical strength of the forces to be deployed, divulged that the numbers of security personnel to be deployed will "commensurate with the elections process".

He furthered that members of the various security deployment teams across the country have been given a "straight mandate to ensure that they handle their respective areas of assignment peacefully, respect the rights of those they will interact with and make sure that the rights of the people are not violated."

He added that the mandate of the various security teams also entails that they discharge their duties within the confines of the recently signed Code of Conduct between the LNP and political parties, police ethics and the laws of the country.

Heritage/20/09/2011