Cllr. Tah who has been Liberia’s Minister of Justice for the last three years, firstly thanked President Sirleaf for her preferment to serve the nation in such capacity for the President’s second term of office.
The Minister praised her immediate predecessors for laying the foundation, which she is now building on at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
Touching on some of her achievements over the years, Cllr. Tah said that with help from international partners, there is a better working relationship between the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on one hand and Police and MOJ’s Prosecution Unit on another.
“We are slowly, but surely, introducing community corrections, such as Probation, with funding from the German Government, so that individuals who truly make mistakes in getting into conflict with the law will be given a second chance to do the right things .
Minister said incarceration of many people, especially people who committed lesser offenses places unnecessary tax burdens on other citizens for their care while in prison.
The Minister-designate further stated that MOJ, in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has significantly improved the sanitary conditions of the Monrovia Central Prison (MCP).
She said government has also increased funding support for prisons food nationwide under the current budget by US$72,000.
The Attorney General disclosed that her Ministry has broken grounds for construction of a new Prison in Montserrado County, with initial funding from the UN Peace Building Fund.
She said Monrovia Central Prison (MCP) which was built nearly a hundred years ago lacks adequate capacity to accommodate inmates who need to be exposed to rehabilitation and capacity building programs that would make them better people in society after serving their prison sentences as required by law.
She also said that MOJ and UNICEF have been collaborating to develop a Child Justice Section at the Ministry so that the needs of children who come in conflict with the law will be specifically addressed.
Minister Tah also mentioned the training of several personnel of MOJ and their subsequent deployment nationwide in an effort for people to have access to justice among others.
On her future plans, Minister Tah told the Senate’s Judiciary Committee that every Liberian needed to step up the campaign against corruption in and out of government. “Those who are vested with authority to enforce laws should be examples to the public. There will be zero tolerance of officers who commit crimes against citizens whom they should protect,” the Minister stated.
She also told the Senate that efforts needed to made in protecting Liberia’s children (both boys and girls) from drugs dealers and sex offenders.
The presidential nominee who is also professor of Sociology stressed: “We must ensure that our social institutions, such as the families, schools, religious organizations, and our legal system are restructured so that the core values that serve as the bedrock of a successful nation are kept sacrosanct.”
She named some of the challenges faced by the MOJ as lack of capacity in all sectors; overcrowded and deplorable prison condition; corruption of all kinds and in all sectors; obsolete laws as well as lack of logistics in all sectors of the nation’s Justice System.
She, at the same time, lauded the operations of the nation’s security network while at the same time highlighting their challenges.
“The problems in the Security Sector are humongous,” she told the Senate while vowing to meet them head on.
Caption: Justice Minister Christiana Tah
