Military Reform – 2006

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Military Reform – 2006

2006

Intermediate Implementation Intermediate implementation

In January, a standoff developed between retired members of the AFL and the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL). A group of soldiers and officers refused to vacate the Camp Schefflin military base as part of the military decommissioning exercise, claiming that the order to do so contravened the Constitution of Liberia and AFL regulations. According to officers leading the protest, the AFL could not be dismissed without a referendum supervised by an elected Government of Liberia because the creation of the AFL was an act of the national legislature (in 1908). In addition, protesting soldiers cited AFL regulations that give personnel a 90-day grace period to remain on military premises after dismissal. They also claimed that the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) did not call for the specific dismissal of the AFL and all of its personnel. In its defense, the NTGL did cite the provisions of the CPA that called for the restructuring and reconstituting of the AFL and also mentioned suspending any parts of the Constitution of Liberia that contravened CPA provisions.1 Other problems arose in the decommissioning exercise when 800 retired soldiers stormed the Ministry of Defense demanding the full payment of the $860 in retirement benefits promised to them at the onset of the decommissioning exercise. At the time, the government’s retirement package had dropped to $540 per individual. Decommissioned soldiers also protested being required to re-apply to join the AFL as new recruits rather than getting preferential treatment due to their former status in the armed forces.2

The UNMIL began receiving applicants for the newly reformed armed forces in early 2006. The Ministry of Defense established guidelines requiring that all recruits were high school graduates between the ages of 18 and 35.3 Former AFL service members that were not above the retirement age for the armed forces were allowed to re-apply to be new recruits. All applicants had to pass literacy, physical fitness, and medical tests in addition to being screened by the UNMIL. The first group of 110 recruits began basic training on 22 July 2006 and graduated from training on 4 November 2006. An additional 500 recruits had been selected for basic training by the end of the year. An additional 130 middle-level personnel in the armed forces began a 17-week training program funded by the United States to prepare them for posts at the Ministry of Defense.4

  1. “Liberia; AFL Command Rejects 72-Hr. Ultimatum, Wants Int’l Community to Intervene,” Africa News, January 3, 2006; “Dissolve or not to Dissolve, AFL Gives the Dying Horse’s Kick,” Africa News, January 4, 2006.
  2. “Liberia; Demobilized Soldiers Threaten Recruitment, Issue 72 Hr Ultimatum,” Africa News, January 24, 2006.
  3. “Liberia; Army launches recruitment drive in central, southeast regions,” BBC Monitoring Africa – Political, May 1, 2008.
  4. “Secretary General’s Report to the UN Security Council,” United Nations Security Council (S/2006/958), December 11. 2006.