Liberia: Truth In Ink Statement of Commendation and Continued Advocacy “When Leadership Listens: A Thank You to the President, and a Call to Go Further”

On July 19, 2025, the Truth In Ink Editorial Board submitted an open memorandum to His Excellency President Joseph N. Boakai titled “A Call for Immediate Presidential Action to Safeguard National Security Against Transnational Narcotics Networks.”

This memo was publicly released on July 20, 2025, and was followed by a complementary commentary published on August 5, 2025, titled “From Outcry to Outcome: Policy Recommendations to Combat Liberia’s Drug Crisis.”

In both documents, linked herein for easy reference, we outlined urgent and radical recommendations for a national response to the deepening drug crisis. Among the core proposals were:

1. Enactment of an Anti-Narcotics Emergency Framework, including a Multi-Sectoral National Drug Emergency Taskforce (NDET) directly under the authority of the Presidency.
2. Amendments to Section 14.8 of the Drugs Law, to introduce shared transport liability for commercial carriers. It is in this spirit and intent we believe actions against landlords of drugs dealers are justified.
3. Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines and non-custodial rehabilitation for first-time users.
4. Asset Forfeiture and Reinvestment Mechanism, ensuring drug profits are redirected toward recovery and rehabilitation.
5. Enhanced Border Security Measures using K9 units and scanning systems.
6. Mandatory Anti-Drug Education in All Schools—public and private.

Today, August 6, 2025, we welcome with appreciation the President’s new policy directive issued in response to recommendations submitted by the Joint Drug Task Force ahead of tomorrow’s national anti-drug protest. The directive echoes many of the policy actions advanced by Truth In Ink and reaffirms that leadership, when guided by data and moral courage, can begin to confront national threats with urgency.

To His Excellency President Boakai, we say: Thank you.

Your response gives hope to thousands of families devastated by addiction, and to communities overrun by fear and despair. It signals a new beginning and the emergence of a national front against the cancer of narcotics.

However, as we commend this first step, we urge Your Excellency to keep your feet on the accelerator. The threat we face demands not just announcements, but implementation. Not just gestures, but reforms. Not just task forces, but enforcement.

In that regard, we respectfully urge additional action on the following unresolved but critical areas

Further Legislative and Executive Actions to Consider:

1. Amend the 2023 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
2. Shared Transport Liability (Section 14.8): Commercial carriers must be held liable for negligence resulting in drug trafficking. Ignorance must no longer be a shield.
3. Elevate Schedule I Drug Offenses to Capital Crimes: Cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine trafficking at scale must be treated with the same gravity as terrorism or murder.
4. Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines for drug kingpins, while promoting non-custodial rehabilitation for first-time users.

2. Enact the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Reinvestment Law
3. Public Auctioning of Seized Assets linked to drug crimes.
4. Revenue Allocation:

• 20% to the arresting agency as performance incentive.
• 80% to a National Rehabilitation & Recovery Fund for treatment, reintegration, and vocational support.

Let drug money fund recovery, not reward perpetrators.

4. Impose a Temporary Travel Moratorium on High-Risk Nationalities

We propose a targeted moratorium on the entry of Nigerian nationals, exempting:

1. Accredited diplomats,
2. ECOWAS officials,
3. Pre-screened individuals with documented humanitarian or investment credentials.

This is not xenophobic, it is strategic, as similar steps were taken by Thailand, Iran, and Indonesia during peak trafficking periods.

5. Empower the Judiciary to Fast-Track Drug Prosecutions
6. Establish Special Anti-Narcotics Courts in each judicial circuit.
7. Enact Whistleblower Protections for informants within law enforcement and government.
8. Launch a National Anti-Drugs Media Campaign
9. Funded through seized assets,
10. Featuring real stories from affected families and former addicts.
11. Require airtime contributions from licensed media houses as part of their public service obligations.
12. Ban the glorification of drug culture in music and entertainment.
13. Elevate Organized Cartel-Level Drug Trafficking to Capital Offense
14. Amend the law to reflect the societal devastation caused by organized drug trafficking, enabling the judiciary to treat it with the same gravity as war crimes and terrorism.

The people of Liberia are watching. From mothers in Red Light who’ve buried children, to students struggling to stay clean, to communities overrun by dealers, they demand more than declarations. They demand action. Permanent. Relentless. Patriotic action.

Mr. President, the credit is due, but the war is far from over.

We remain committed as partners in this fight. The pages of Truth In Ink will continue to elevate this issue, not as a partisan talking point, but as a matter of national survival.

If you continue on this path and with this commitment especially if consideration was given to those recommendations listed above, perhaps history remember you as the Liberian leader who did not blink when the enemy came through our borders with white powder, deadly pills, and blood-stained profits.

Signed:

The Editorial Board

Truth In Ink

August 6, 2025