Developments in Legislative Oversight in Liberia

First paragraph: Liberia degenerated into what became a protracted civil war in late 1989. Not a single body of the security forces was at the service of the population. Although the fourteen-year armed struggle at last came to an end in 2003, true reconciliation and justice remain distant objectives. With the brutal civil conflict transforming the national army into an armed faction, establishing republican security forces oriented towards the public good is a crucial part of the country’s process of post-conflict reconstruction and development. The country is facing a crisis of confidence in the state’s security forces and needs a professional security sector that is regulated by a democratically elected government, and that is outside the immediate reach of the president. In other words, what is required is a transformation of the state security forces: shifting from their role as a prop of the regime in power to providing for the security of the population.