Published: January 16, 2026
Dear Editor,
The charging of Mulbah Morlu and other leaders of the civil society group STAND following the planned “Lead or Leave” protest marks one of the darkest moments in Liberia’s postwar democratic journey. This is not about public order. It is not about the rule of law. It is about power—raw, insecure, and increasingly despotic.
A government that burns down the headquarters of a peaceful pressure group and then turns around to prosecute its leaders for organizing a protest has crossed a constitutional red line. This is the classic playbook of authoritarian regimes: destroy the platform, criminalize the voice, and intimidate the citizenry into silence. It is governance by fear, not consent.
The Liberian Constitution is unambiguous. Freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to peaceful assembly are not privileges granted by the Executive—they are inalienable rights guaranteed to the people. A “Lead or Leave” protest is not sedition; it is political speech. It is the language of accountability in a republic where sovereignty belongs to the people, not to those temporarily occupying public office.
What makes this episode even more alarming is its hypocrisy. This same political class once marched, protested, and condemned repression when it was out of power. Today, it deploys police power, selective prosecutions, and intimidation to crush the very civic tools that brought democracy to life. History has a name for this behavior: betrayal.
Charging civil society leaders while ignoring rampant corruption, economic hardship, and abuse of state power sends a dangerous message—that dissent is criminal, while incompetence and misrule enjoy state protection. That is not law enforcement; it is persecution. It transforms prosecutors into political enforcers and courts into instruments of fear.
Let it be said plainly: governments do not collapse because of protests; they collapse because they refuse to listen. Burning offices and filing charges cannot extinguish public anger. They only confirm it. Every authoritarian step taken in the name of “order” accelerates the erosion of legitimacy.
Liberia has paid too high a price for tyranny to return wearing democratic clothing. The prosecution of Mulbah Morlu and others must be seen for what it is: a test of whether Liberia will remain a constitutional republic or slide back into rule by coercion.
History is watching. The people are watching. And no government that criminalizes conscience can escape the final verdict of its own citizens.
Respectfully yours,
Jacob Doe
Discussion about this post