-Cllr. Yvette Chesson Wureh rallies Liberian youth
By Jerromie S. Walters
Yvette Chesson Wureh, the Establishing Coordinator of Angie Brooks International and the Initiator of the Women’s Situation Room (WSR) has rallied at-risk youth of Liberia to take ownership of the country and not be swayed by divisive politics or external influences.
In a statement via Zoom on day two of the Women’s Situation Room (WSR) women’s political, mediation, and peace dialogue in Monrovia, Cllr. Yvette Chesson Wureh expressed concern about disadvantaged youth being manipulated by politicians for monetary gain. She highlighted the risks and consequences faced by young people who engage in political disturbances and urged them to channel their passion towards building a peaceful and prosperous Liberia.
Cllr. Wureh drew attention to the exploitation of vulnerable youth by politicians, contrasting their plight with the comfortable lives enjoyed by the children of the same individuals orchestrating these conflicts. She challenged the youth to recognize their intrinsic value and contribution to the country and emphasized the need for them to reject violence and embrace their role in shaping Liberia’s future.
Moreover, Cllr. Wureh commended the resilience and leadership displayed by youth during 2023, elections, and called for a continued commitment to peace and progress in the nation. She highlighted the unique approach of the Women’s Situation Room in empowering disadvantaged youth and providing them with a platform to engage constructively in political processes.
She encouraged the youth: “When politicians wanted to send them our, they talk about it before they did it. I’m not going to tell you that they won’t go with the money, of course, they are going with the money, they are in politics but they are not putting their lives on the ground, they will not do it. We the women have made it clear. Let the politician’s child be in front of you. Just the way their girlfriends and wives born their children, that’s the same way your mother carried you for nine months.”
“Yes indeed you may be on drugs, and you may have problems, but that doesn’t mean that anybody must use like toilet paper and throw you away. At the same time, Cllr. Yvette Chession Wireh rallied the women and youth to be their security and ensure their safety,” Cllr. Wureh continued.
At the same time, she emphasized the critical role of mothers in ensuring a peaceful and prosperous future for Liberia. Cllr. Wureh, reflecting on the importance of motherhood, highlighted the need for mothers to take charge of guiding and nurturing their children toward success. “Each of us in this room we are mother, and that’s what this situation room is about, let us be clear that when brought this thing to my heart called the Women’s Situation Room (WSR), it was because it came from a point that we as mothers, must be in charge of our children and we as a mother must have an aspiration of our children. We must care about what happens to our children. Where they are going, how we are going to open doors to them, what system are we able to put into place to secure them.”
“I’m so happy because today is the day that deals with the youth, and these are my passion (The youth) because like I said we will take care of them. Today, you will see our at-risk youth, but you will also see our youth in political parties. The main thing is this, I want you all to know that from this Situation Room (WSR), in 2023, as we held the Women’s Situation Room, all of these youth worked together even though they are from different political parties. And I want to let you know that what they left us with was a feeling that no matter who won, even when their party didn’t win, their objective was there must be peace in Liberia,” Cllr. Wureh noted.
In his brief testimony at the event, Joseph T. Bear, a transformed at-risk youth who met his transformation through Angie Brooks, told his audience “I serve as the Secretary General of the 25 Strong, Brave and Intelligent Ghetto Youth. I’m a transformational person, I was transformed through the hands of Angie Brooks, before becoming the Security General of the 25 Strong, Brave, and Intelligent Ghetto Youth.
Bear, “The 25 Strong, Brave and Intelligent Ghetto Youth was a group that was captured by Angie Brooks before the elections. When we are talking about the 25 Strong, Brave, and Intelligent Ghetto Youth, we are speaking of people who were very terrible within the society. They were people who you couldn’t just talk to face to face, they were people that you couldn’t just talk to on the phone but through the strength of Angie Brooks, we were able to capture all of them and make them one that was able to have peace in the last election.”
“Through 25 men we were able to capture 85 percent of the entire country when it comes to regulating the ghettos of course today you see there was not much violence during the elections. We started our processes by going to ghettos, sensitizing the addicted youth about transformation. We were supported by the Angie Brooks Foundation by feeding them, encouraging them, transforming them,” he emphasized.
With support from Angie Brooks, Joseph T. Bear also noted that his group worked along with the police in curbing the crime rate and violence during the elections. “Some politicians never knew that we were already captured by Angie Brooks, so some of them will call ((because my name is T-20) my man T-20 put some kind of 200 men together because I have the authority over that. I am standing here if you just give me the authority I can produce one thousand men right here and now through my phone call. I can do that so some of them will call and ask for about 200 men. Some of them will send sometimes one thousand to my phone at the end of the day we don’t turn up because we were already transformed by Angie Brooks.”
He recalled that during the tallying process by the Nationa Elections Commission (NEC) at its Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex center, they were contacted by some politicians who requested about 200 men (Youth) to disrupt the process. This request, according to Joseph T. Bear, came with an offer of $USD2,000. However, they declined.
“The less man in my group spent not less than eight years in jail. Some of them spent fifteen years but through Angie Brooks, we were transformed. So when they called we said we were not going there because we were already taught and nurtured by Angie Brooks,” Joseph said. Like Joseph, Jones B. Doe is a full member of the 25 Strong, Brave, and Intelligent Ghetto Youth. He brands himself as “Angie Brooks junior boy, considering the institution’s positive impact on his life.
Famously known as “Cash”, Doe, articulated: “Angie Brooks made me interact with former ministers and former president. We had a strong team, when the team moves, you can have your last right, you will most your right a that moment but through the Influence of Angie Brooks, the team decided to work along with them.” He acknowledged Joseph’s disclosure that on different occasions, they were contacted by politicians to produce men to create chaos during the elections. At some point, Doe said they also intercepted some violence that would have led to the worse in Liberia.”
On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the Women’s Situation Room (WSR), a peace body committed to ensuring nonviolent elections in Liberia, kick-started a three-day women’s political, mediation, and peace dialogue, aimed at Promoting a peaceful electoral environment and community security in Liberia.
Tagged: “Promoting peaceful electoral environment and community security in Liberia Women’s Situation Room,” Tuesday, April 2, 2024, unveiled day one of the dialogue. Divided into three parts, day one dealt with security, media, open discussion, and a way forward. Concomitantly, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, focused on the youth (At-risk youth and first-time voters) while April 4, 2024, marked the climax.
Cllr. Yvette Chesson Wureh is the Establishing Coordinator of Angie Brooks International, Initiator, of Women’s Situation Room (Room), Co-Chair, of ECOWAS FemWise, and Founder and member of the Lapper Revolution. The Women’s Situation Room (WSR) is a women’s peace-building mechanism for the mitigation of conflict before, during, and after elections in African countries.
