‘LCC Compromised’ -STAND Condemns Statement Over Dec 17 Protest

MONROVIA – The Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) stands accused of facing a crisis of moral authority, of abandoning its prophetic role and aligning itself with a ruling party regime widely perceived as corrupt and neglectful of the people’s needs. The LCC days ago issued a public statement demanding a cancel of the December 17 protest against corruption and poor governance organize by a consortium of civil society organizations. And the organizers see this as a betrayal of its moral responsibility to stand with the marginalized and oppressed. In the view of STAND and other pundits, by choosing to side with the government, the LCC has seemingly surrendered its moral voice and compromised its ability to hold those in power accountable.

The Analyst reports. 

The advocacy group STAND has issued a scathing statement condemning the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) for its demand to cancel the December 17 peaceful protest against corruption and governance issues.

LCC’s Call for Protest Halt

The LCC on Sunday called on the government to impose a temporary suspension on public protests during the festive season in order to prevent disruptions and maintain national order.

In a statement issued, the LCC emphasized that while the right to peaceful assembly is protected, the holiday period is a time when citizens should be able to celebrate in peace and security.

The Council noted that heightened tensions or mass gatherings during this period could lead to unnecessary disturbances, strain security resources, and potentially escalate into unrest.

The religious body urged all political actors, civil society groups, and the general public to prioritize national unity and stability during the holidays. It also encouraged dialogue as a means of addressing grievances rather than resorting to actions that may threaten public safety.

The LCC reaffirmed its commitment to promoting peace and appealed to the government and citizens to work collaboratively to ensure a calm and joyful festive season for all Liberians.

STAND Reacts

In a statement signed by Mulbah K. Morlu, Jr., STAND accused the LCC of compromising its moral authority and aligning itself with the government, stating that the council has “finally torn off its last veil of credibility.”

“The Council’s reasoning (that Liberians should not protest corruption because ‘Christmas is near’) is the theology of cowards,” the statement read. “A church afraid of truth is no church at all. A clergy that bends the gospel to please a president is not serving Christ, it is serving its own appetite.”

STAND declared that the LCC has no moral standing to advise or restrain the Liberian people, saying the council’s actions have surrendered its altar, conscience, and ministry to “satanic forces that oppose justice.”

The group urged the media and the nation to remain focused on the December 17 protest, which it described as “constitutional, legitimate, and unstoppable.”

“On December 17, the masses will rise. And no council (especially one that behaves like a moral impostor) will stand in their way,” the statement concluded.

The STAND statement further asserts: “The Liberia Council of Churches has finally torn off its last veil of credibility. Its demand to cancel the December 17 peaceful protest confirms what Liberians already know: a once-sacred institution now reduced to a compromised fraternity of corrupt men who have traded principle for privilege, truth for token, and God for gold.”

“Instead of standing with the underprivileged, the Council now wraps its hands around the Executive Mansion,” the group said, adding that “Instead of speaking truth to power, it has shamelessly demoted itself to a loudspeaker for a corrupt regime.

“While the hungry starve, the brutalized bleed, the violated cry out, and the forgotten faint, this Council rushes to sit at the tables of political gluttons. Nothing about this resembles moral leadership. It is the posture of a spiritually bankrupt institution; one drunk on the intoxicating fumes of state power and blinded by the glittering bribes and fat offerings that keep its mouth shut and its conscience dead.”

Continuing, STAND said when the Ministry of Justice invited STAND to a so-called ‘security meeting’ alongside the Council, “we refused—because we do not legitimize institutions that have abandoned their calling. This Council lost its moral voice the day it applauded the illegal removal of the Speaker and remained silent as immorality and lawlessness flooded the nation. Yesterday’s statement merely seals their descent into full spiritual compromise.”

The civil society group added: “The Council’s reasoning (that Liberians should not protest corruption because “Christmas is near”) is the theology of cowards. A church afraid of truth is no church at all. A clergy that bends the gospel to please a president is not serving Christ, it is serving its own appetite. When religious leaders choose silver over sincerity, envelopes over ethics, and political access over prophetic duty, they have surrendered their altar, their conscience, and their ministry to satanic forces that oppose justice.”

STAND therefore declares that this Council has no moral standing to advise, rebuke, or restrain the Liberian people. A body that stays silent while corruption metastasizes, while police brutalize citizens, while powerful men prey on young girls, and while the nation sinks into hardship, such a body cannot claim to speak for God. It speaks only for the hands that feed it.

“We urge the media and the nation: do not be distracted by the noise of a compromised clergy. The December 17 protest is constitutional, legitimate, and unstoppable. No corrupted pulpit, no politically purchased statement, no fearful sermon crafted to please power will deter the will of the people,” it stated also. “On December 17, the masses will rise. And no council (especially one that behaves like a moral impostor) will stand in their way.”

Observers Chip in

Some observers say the heated clash between the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) and the advocacy group STAND has laid bare the country’s deep-seated governance challenges and raised questions about the moral authority of once-respected institutions.

While some posits that the controversy centers on the LCC’s request to cancel a planned December 17 protest against corruption and poor governance, which STAND has condemned as a betrayal of the church’s prophetic role, others say this exchange highlights the tension between institutional power and moral responsibility, as well as the growing demand for accountability in Liberia.

Now as the country teeters on the brink of social unrest, there are others who argue that LCC’s decision to flirt with the ruling party regime has undermined its credibility and reinforced perceptions that it has become a morally bankrupt institution.

“By abandoning its moral responsibility to the ordinary people fighting for greater democracy and freedom, the LCC has effectively relinquished its claim to moral authority,” one said.