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Lutheran Bishop Calls for Calm after Post-Election Standoff

Posted in: Faith in Action, News

Liberian Bishop Sumoward E. Harris © LWF/Fredrick Nzwili

Reaching Out to Keep Country Unified

MONROVIA, Liberia/GENEVA, 24 November 2011 (LWI) – Liberian Lutheran Bishop Sumoward E. Harris is calling for calm in his country, following a presidential runoff on 8 November in which Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the incumbent, was the only candidate.

Most parts of the country have been calm, according to Harris, except for a few opposition areas in the capital, Monrovia. Two people reportedly died after shots were fired during an opposition protest in the city, a day ahead of the second round of voting.

With the sporadic violence, Harris said the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) was passing messages of urgency that calm must prevail, while announcing their availability to support an all inclusive peace dialogue. In their latest action, the leaders were reaching out to the opposition urging them to accept the election outcome.

“We are seeking urgently to meet with the aggrieved parties. We want to urge them to join in the reconciliation process. This is a process in which we are asking them to participate with open minds,” Harris told Lutheran World Information (LWI).

In the first round of the 11 October general election, Sirleaf, running under the Unity Party, led 16 other presidential candidates and won with 44.7 percent of the ballots cast, still less than the required majority for an outright win. The opposition party Congress for Democratic Change boycotted the runoff, in which the incumbent received over 90 percent of the votes.

Responsible Citizenship

Prior to the elections, the LCL bishop preached a series of homilies on “Responsible Citizens Making Responsible Decisions” in St Peter’s Lutheran Church in Monrovia. The church was the site of the worst recorded massacre of that country’s civil war where on 29 July 1990 more than 600 unarmed civilians were killed by then government troops.

At a 28 September news conference, Harris recalled that his church was one of the worst affected institutions during the 1989-2003 civil war in the West African nation. An estimated 250,000 people died, hundreds of thousands were displaced, and property and infrastructure was destroyed.

Most of the LCL’s institutions and churches, including the Curran Lutheran Hospital in Zorzor and the Lutheran Training Institute in Salayea, were burned twice. Zorzor Lutheran School was also destroyed. Most of the churches were burned along with parsonages, Harris recalled.

“That is the reason why as your bishop, I am passionate about good governance, about making the right choice, about making the right decisions, about all the registered voters going out to vote, about a free, fair and transparent national electoral process and about violence-free elections,” said the LCL leader who is an executive member of the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia.

Encouraging, Working and Praying

Local and international observer groups, including representatives of church and other religious organizations, accepted the recent election as transparent, free, fair and credible.

“We continue to intervene. We are putting positive pressure on the CDC to accept the results of the election. We are doing everything possible and encouraging, working and praying that the country will remain unified.”

Sirleaf became Liberia’s president following the 2005 elections, which was preceded by a United Nations-brokered peace process. The peace has held since but the Lutheran bishop is concerned that the current standoff could trigger renewed violence.

Africa’s only elected female president, Sirleaf was one of the three women, including LCL peace activist Leymah Gbowee, who in October shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. (580 words)

(With contributions from the Lutheran Church in Liberia and LWI correspondent Fredrick Nzwili.)

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