- NIC Program Manager Andrew Anderson allegedly indulges in Domestic violence
By. Jerromie S. Walters
The former wife of National Investment Commission Program Manager Andrew Anderson raises concerns about instances of domestic violence.
Mrs. Laurie D. Anderson, the ex-wife of Andrew Anderson, who is the Program Manager at the National Investment Commission of the Republic of Liberia, has expressed alarm over the consistent physical and verbal abuse that her ex-husband exhibits toward her. Mrs. Laurie D. Anderson was married to Andrew Anderson when he was in Liberia working for the National Investment Commission.
Laurie D. Anderson, who was in a very poor state of health when she was contacted on Saturday, October 22, 2022, specifically mentioned, amongst a number of other things, the recent brutal abuse that her husband had inflicted upon her when she went to pay a visit to their children at their father’s house on Duport Road on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
On Thursday, as is my custom, I paid a visit to the children. When my husband arrived, he immediately began to verbally and physically abuse me in front of our children, our neighbors, and the security personnel. I was beaten up by him. He removed the belt from his pants and used it to beat me in a vicious manner. She bemoaned, “As I speak to you, my entire body is covered in bruises, and I was so embarrassed to show the photos in court.”
Laurie D. Anderson stated that she required medical attention and consequently had to go to the Good Will clinic in Fiamah Sinkor. There, she stayed for approximately two (2) nights and received treatment for the injuries that were sustained as a consequence of the brutalization.
“When he got in the yard, he came directly to me and said, ‘get your ass from the yard,’ and he instructed the children to go upstairs, so I told the children that I wasn’t ready to leave, so they should sit with me for a while.” “When he got in the yard, he came directly to me and said, ‘get your ass from the yard.'” He kicked me first before I even had a chance to finish what I was going to say. He started hitting on me. The two girls stood in front of me trying to block him from hitting me, but he penetrated them and continued hitting me severely, my head, my side, and other parts of my body. He was hitting and kicking me all over the pavement in the yard”, she alluded.
Laurie D. Anderson had gone to see her children at their father’s house as they (she and Mr. Andrew Anderson) had been on separation after she filed for divorce in February of this year due to his alleged violent behavior.
Amongst many other instances of his alleged unorthodox attitude, Laurie D. Anderson said another instance of his severe brutality was on September 3, 2021, when she was unmercifully beaten by her husband at their best man’s house on the Old Road, while they were in a discussion about purchasing land.
With no regret for his actions, she alleged that Mr. Andrew Anderson often brags about being untouchable, and emphasized that his proximity to prominent personalities in the government is capable of protecting him in any situation.
“My husband always shows off that nobody can do anything to him, and he’s this big government official that is untouchable and no one can do him anything,” she said.
Both Laurie D. Anderson and Andrew Anderson got married on June 16, 2012, but upon exhausting the divorce process, she alleged that there has been a huge restriction as to how she meets with the children even though they are yet to receive a final judgment from the court with regards to who the kids will stay with or how visitations or appointments with them will be.
She said that as a result of the consistent abuse and other forms of violence exhibited by her husband toward her, she had to leave their home in June of 2021, especially after being advised by some of her relatives.
“Our divorce case has been at the court. Judge Gbassay was the one that was presiding over it, and he advised our attorneys that after the divorce process, we would go back to the court to settle issues with regards to the children, like visitation rights of both parents, who they will stay with, who will have them at this time, and all the legal stuff, so I was never denied access by the court to see the children,” she stressed.
Contrary to what they were told by the court, Laurie D. Anderson said upon arriving at her husband’s house last Thursday, she was informed by the care for her Boss Andrew Anderson said the children shouldn’t meet her downstairs where they normally meet, but upon attempting to call him, he cancelled the call twice, after which she sent him a message having him informed that she was there to meet the kids and they were meeting her downstairs, but unfortunately, in a few minutes, he responded very aggressively.
I don’t call my husband because he and I don’t have any dealings of calling. I don’t have anything to do with him now and because of his violent behavior, I keep away from him as much as possible. So when I want to see the kids, I don’t go upstairs to his apartment that he is renting. Let me make that clear, I don’t go upstairs to his apartment and even the children told me, “Mommy, we don’t want any problems, so if you come, we will come downstairs to be with you until you leave,” she clarified.
Laurie D. Anderson said she was confidentially informed by her daughter Rachel Anderson that her father told them he didn’t want them to be in contact with her at all, which also resulted in him getting angry with them for calling her on her birthday.
“My daughter Rachel Anderson told me personally that her father told her that he doesn’t want them talking to me, so he seized her phone. He said because he doesn’t want them calling me, he will not give them the phone, and he even promised to fire the nurse if he catches her allowing them to use her phone to call me,” she noted.
When contacted, Mr. Andrew Anderson denied all allegations made against him, stressing that he at no point brutalized as reported by Laurie D. Anderson.
He accused her of infidelity, adding that all issues were resolved by the court, and she was told to visit every second and last Saturday of the month only, and she should communicate with him prior to the day of the visit.
“She broke the court’s order, because I was at work when she called and she started insulting”
She has been going in the yard several times, insulting the nurse, taking the children from their study class sessions during weekdays and she said nobody can do anything to her and I told her about the court and but she said it’s her children so nobody can tell her when to see them,” he said.
But according to unanimous sources from the community where Mr. Anderson resides, he was seen physically abusing Laurie D. Anderson at his house last Thursday, but they didn’t acquire what was actually the cause.
“I was there and from what I saw, he only came through the fence, packed his car and walked straight to the woman, insulting, saying you cheap woman leave my yard and when he got close to her, that’s how he started slapping and kicking her,” our source disclosed.
Another source who requested unanimity further noted, “She didn’t touch him, and she didn’t insult him while he was insulting. He beat her with the belt iron and dragged her outside of the fence. It was even the securities that were appealing for her, but he didn’t stop.”
However, she has called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and women’s rights advocates to come to her aid, in order to ensure that justice is served
I have kept silent for a very long time because of my kids. I have always thought of my kids and what people will say when I pursuit a case of domestic violence, or when they see police coming into our yard, but I didn’t know this is what the kids wanted from me until recently, when the girl sat me down and said, “Mommy, it is time that you pursuit all these domestic violence cases and the beatings that daddy keeps giving you.”
She encouraged women to speak out against physical and verbal abuse and avoid shielding it as she believes it has the propensity to lead to greater effects.
According to the UN Women Global Database on violence against women in Liberia, lifetime physical and sexual intimate partner violence accounts for 49.3 percent of all cases, while physical and sexual intimate partner violence in the last 12 months accounts for 34.8 percent of all cases.
The BioMed Central Ltd (BMC) women’s health report also established that almost one third of women aged 15–49 years who have been in a relationship have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is an intentional act of an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and controlling behaviors.
