Let peace welcome Weah – no celebration is worth bloodshed

LET PEACE LEAD. Former President George Manneh Weah returns home today to an outpouring of affection that cannot be ignored. His supporters have every right to welcome him, wear their colours, sing and demonstrate their political strength. That right carries an equal duty: the gathering must remain peaceful and respectful of Liberians who do not share their enthusiasm.

This day must pass without bloodshed, injury, destruction, intimidation or needless arrest. When the last bus leaves the airport road and the final loudspeaker is switched off, Liberia must be able to say that its citizens celebrated a political leader without turning a homecoming into a national-security crisis.

We direct this appeal first to the jubilant supporters moving from Montserrado, Margibi, Bomi and elsewhere. The size of a crowd is no licence for lawlessness. Do not block ambulances. Do not attack motorists who refuse to display party colours. Do not insult police officers, damage private property, invade restricted airport areas or respond to provocation with violence.

Supporters should obey the designated arrangements, follow authorised marshals and keep airport routes open. Alcohol and substances that impair judgment have no place in this procession. Party leaders must position identifiable marshals throughout the convoy and empower them to remove troublemakers before one reckless act stains thousands of peaceful citizens.

Weah carries special responsibility. His voice can calm the crowd faster than any police command. He should tell his followers that nobody honours him by throwing stones, threatening officers, damaging property or provoking another party. The strongest image from this homecoming would be a disciplined sea of blue moving peacefully.

The security authorities bear a heavier burden because the state possesses weapons and detention powers. Officers deployed at RIA and along the Monrovia route must act professionally and with restraint. They must distinguish excitement from violence, a congested crowd from a criminal threat and political chanting from conduct that endangers life.

No officer should treat a blue shirt as evidence of wrongdoing or deploy armed personnel to frighten citizens. Coercive measures must remain the last resort, used proportionately against identifiable offenders—not indiscriminately against an entire crowd.

Liberia knows how quickly tension grows when supporters believe security officers were sent to humiliate them. It also knows how an undisciplined crowd can endanger officers, passengers and residents. Both sides must reject the trap in which fear produces aggression and aggression invites force.

The Liberia Airport Authority was correct to establish movement procedures. RIA is a functioning international airport, not a rally ground. Passengers must reach their flights and emergency vehicles must move freely. Weah’s committee should explain every restriction before the buses reach Margibi.

Government officials must choose their language carefully. This is no day for provocative statements or claims that a large opposition gathering automatically threatens the state. A secure administration does not fear peaceful citizens, and professional police do not manufacture confrontation to prove control.

CDC leaders must apply the same discipline and stop anyone turning the reception into an occasion for threats or inflammatory speeches. Grievances over drug investigations and Jewel Howard-Taylor’s detention may be real, but the crowd must not become a substitute courtroom or an instrument of pressure.

Citizens who encounter the procession should also exercise patience. Motorists should avoid deliberate confrontation, residents should protect children from congested roads, and political opponents should resist taunts that could provoke otherwise peaceful supporters.

Journalists and online broadcasters must verify claims and resist sensational captions. One old video, false arrest report or exaggerated confrontation can travel through hundreds of WhatsApp groups within minutes and drive frightened people into the streets.

Liberia’s peace was purchased at an unbearable price. That history should not be invoked only during official ceremonies. It must guide conduct when political emotions are high, rumours are moving quickly and thousands of citizens occupy the same road with armed officers watching them.

Today offers the country a chance to display democratic maturity. Supporters can show that enthusiasm is compatible with discipline. Security officers can show that authority is strongest when exercised with restraint. Political leaders can show that rivalry does not require hatred, and the government can show that opposition mobilisation is protected rather than punished.

Let the buses come, the songs rise and the flags fly. But every participant must remember that no cheer is worth a broken body, no political display is worth a damaged airport and no provocation is worth reopening Liberia’s wounds.

The true victory will not belong to the CDC, the Unity Party, the police or the largest crowd. It will belong to Liberia if evening comes without incident and tomorrow morning finds the country calm: streets quiet, citizens safe, aircraft moving, businesses open and the nation rising in the peaceful silence for which its people have sacrificed so much.