A civil society conglomerate under joint West Africa civil society pro-democracy organizations is calling on the Liberian government, through the National Legislature, to enact appropriate laws to make the Fula tribe as the 17th tribe of the country.
The West Africa Civil Society Committee is led by the Patriotic Consciousness Association of Liberia (PACA), Movement With Integrity For National Development (MIND), Girls In Distress, Eminent Women Organization of Liberia (EWOLI), Youth and Student Organization on National Interests (YOSONI), among others, and has been engaged with advocacy on several crucial issues, ranging from drug abuse, insecurity to economic emancipation and integration among African nations.
The civil society conglomerate was engaged with finding resolutions to Liberia’s over two decades of civil conflict, heading Liberian civil society organizations to the 2003 Comprehensive Accra Peace Accord.
The release revealed that if Liberia is to move forward in progress, development and peaceful coexistence, Fulanis residing in Liberia over decades in peace, tranquility and development now deserve to be granted tribal and inalienable citizens’ rights under the Liberian Constitution.
The West Africa civil society group recounted numerous contributions by the Fula community to the country’s overall development, including economic prosperity, job creation and peaceful existence, as well as educational advancement without religious barricades as with other West Africans residing in Liberia.
The statement disclosed that the joint West Africa Civil Society Committee has launched a nationwide campaign to obtain a resourceful resolution from the Liberian people for presentation to the National Legislature through a petition to assure that Liberian Fulanis are officially recognized in the country and be allowed to participate in all meaningful development initiatives across the country.
Meanwhile, the joint West Africa Civil Society Committee is expected to shortly submit findings of its analysis tour across the country on the need for the Fulanis to be recognized as the 17th official tribe of the Republic of Liberia, in line with ECOWAS protocols on integration and the Liberian Constitution on Black Africans becoming citizens of the Republic of Liberia.
