MONROVIA – As way to build up impetus in the last lap of her second and final tenure, The Chairperson of the National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL), Loretta Alethea Pope-Kai has re-committed to executing structural reforms within the National Civil Society Council of Liberia with an initiative of reviewing and revising the constitution of the CSO Council being the first priority in the process.
In a midweek interview at the National Civil Society Council of Liberia, Madam Pope-Kai said that the constitution of the CSO Council has lots of ambiguities that need to be discussed and clarified. She furthered that ambiguities aside, the constitution of the CSO Council is silent on a number of issues which are critical for the running of the Council and which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. She said in the coming weeks, a constitution review committee will be established to begin looking at the issues that are germane in building a vibrant CSO Council. She revealed that members of the constitution review committee will be CSO actors with strong legal knowledge and with deeper understanding and greater appreciation of the CSO landscape in Liberia.
Commenting on the style of leadership she intends to execute in her second term, Madam Pope-Kai was emphatic that strategic leadership will be the hallmark of her second term. She informed journalists that going forward; the CSO Council will be more robust in executing its mandate. By this, Madam Pope-Kai mentioned that empowering grassroots organizations across the country and promoting strategic partnerships and collaborations around thematic issues will be her next focus after reviewing and revising the constitution of the Council.
The National Chairperson intoned that she is quite aware that 2023 is an election year and therefore, ensuring that the CSO Council remains depoliticized will be her third priority. She committed that as long as she remains chairperson of the Council, there will be no political infiltration and the Council will not allow itself to be distracted by political actors or their surrogates attempting to manipulate the Council from within. She also indicated that a non-violent electoral environment will be a key factor that the CSO Council will insist on, going towards the October 10, 2023 general and presidential elections. “Most particularly, our focus will be on erecting the necessary safeguards against electoral violence through strategic engagements with key actors within the political landscape in Liberia” she stressed.
Madam Pope-Kai’s mandate was overwhelmingly renewed in December, 2022 on a white ballot in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, in the Council’s 2022 General Assembly held from December 14-17. During her first administration, Madam Pope-Kai registered the CSO Council giving it a legal standing, developed many institutional policies and began the process of decentralizing the CSO Council across the country. She also ensured that the Council elected all fifteen county coordinators and regional coordinators, as a way of completing the leadership and maintaining an elaborate presence of the Council across all counties and regions of the country.
She maintained that completing her mandate and leaving an enviable legacy for her successors is her key focus going forward. “I am deeply focused on completing my mandate, leaving an unmatched legacy and transitioning to something else. I therefore will give attention to no distractions coming from anywhere, whatsoever!” she concluded.