IPNews-Monrovia: It appears that threats by former Soldiers of the disbanded Armed Forces of Liberia, to burn down Banks across Liberia, ‘if they go ahead opening accounts for AFL pensioners’, is resonanating following a failed order from the Armed Forces of Liberia, high command that they retract their earier threats.
The Ministry of National Defense, sharply reacted to threats of arson attacks on Banking institutions by disbanded members of the Armed Forces of Liberia, three days ago.
The Defense Ministry also stated that the threatening statement issued on Monday, January 18, 2021, by a group calling itself the “EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL DISBANDED SOLDIERS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF LIBERIA”, to burn down ECOBANK, United Bank of Africa (UBA), and SIB if ‘they dare open pensioner’s accounts for the disbanded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia’, is a treat to the National Security of the State, and warns it will use all necessary power provided for by the Constitution of Liberia, to ensure tje safety of lives and properties.
The Ministry further stated that it take serious exception to such statement and call on the group to publicly withdraw said statement within 72 hours or the Ministry will be left with no alternative, but to take all necessary actions within its reach in dealing with the threat.
The Ministry further reiterates that any attempt of arson on any of the institutions named, the leadership of said group will be held liable, as it viewed such statement as terroristic, adding that it will not tolerate any mischievous acts that have the propensity to undermine the gains the Ministry of National Defense has made in unifying the veterans community under the Bureau of Veteran Affairs.
“The Ministry of National Defense wants to be emphatically clear that any group of Liberians attempting to stall the ongoing account opening process of members of the former AFL at the Barclay Training Center will be vehemently resisted by the Ministry of National Defense and the Armed Forces of Liberia.”
“The authority of the Ministry of National Defense and the High Command of the Armed Forces of Liberia assure the banking institutions named not to panic as the Armed Forces of Liberia is on full alert to abort any threat coming from any group of Liberians.”the AFL High Command statement read.
However, and contrary to this order to retract the statement by the former Soliders, within 72hrs, it is now three days since the order was issued without a word from the Former Soliders of the AFL in reference to the retraction order.
There has been no immediate statement from the AFL High Command, neither the leadership of the Former AFL Soliders.
Recent world statistics put the military power of the Armed Forces of Liberia-AFL,to one of the lowest in the world.
Some political crtics of the Weah’s administration, especially Activist Martin K. N. Kollie, that Liberia does not have an army – Liberia has a brigade.
Kollie states that: “Our people deserve to know the truth. Liberians remain very vulnerable to heightened insecurity including external aggression. Do not tell me that I hate my country. Bring your facts to counter mine. I am going to use these 4 basic parameters or specifications to expose how weak and ill-prepared the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) is: manpower, airpower, land power, and water power.”
“In terms of military strength ranking, Liberia only tops a small south Asian landlocked kingdom. And it is Bhutan. This kingdom has a population of 779,898, six (6) times less than Liberia’s population. Out of 138 countries, Liberia ranks 137 with a rating of 9.5753 according to the 2021 Global Fire Power Military Ranking.”
“The militaries of even Niger, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Laos, Somalia, and Congo are far better than Liberia. Isn’t this a shame for a 173-year-old nation?”
Here is my proof: https://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-listing.asp
The youthful activist contents that over 50 factors were used to determine this military ranking or index, some of which include: manpower, equipment, finances, logistics, natural resources, etc. Let us get into it with specific glance at Liberia:
A) Manpower:
1) Total Military Personnel – 2,200
2) Reserve Personnel – 0
3) Paramilitary – 0
B) Airpower (Air Force):
1) Total Strength – 0
2) Air Fighters – 0
3) Trainers – 0
4) Helicopters – 0
5) Tanker Fleet – 0
6) Transports – 0
7) Special Air Mission – 0
8) Dedicated Attack – 0
9) Attack Helicopters – 0
C) Land Power (Land Force):
1) Tanks – 0
2) Armored Vehicles – 55
3) Self-Propelled Artillery – 0
4) Towed Artillery – 0
5) Rocket Projectors – 0
D) Naval (Water Force)
1) Total assets – 0
2) Aircraft Carrier – 0
3) Helicopter Carriers – 0
4) Destroyers – 0
5) Frigates (Large Warships) – 0
6) Corvette (Small Warships) – 0
7) Submarines – 0
8) Patrol – 0
9) Mine Warfare (explosive devices) – 0
Source of these current data (2021 GFP): https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=liberia
“Does Liberia even have an army? No, Liberia does not. What Liberia has can better be described as “a military”. In actual fact, Liberia has a brigade and not even a division or a corps. Liberia only has 2,200 soldiers or less. And to have an army, a country should have at least 100,000 soldiers or two corps. The below military units further explain and/or justify my point:
1) Squad – 7 to 14 soldiers and it is led by a Sergeant
2) Platoon (3-4 squads) – 20 to 50 soldiers and it is led by a Lieutenant
3) Company (2-4 platoons) – 100 to 250 soldiers and it is by a Captain or a Major
4) Battalion (2-5 companies) – 400 to 1,200 soldiers and it is led by a Lieutenant Colonel
5) Brigade or Regiment (3 battalions) – 2,000 to 8,000 soldiers and it is by a Brigadier General or a Colonel (1 star)
6) Division (2-3 brigades) – 7,000 to 22,000 soldiers and it is led by a Major General (2 stars)
7) Corps (2-7 divisions) – 50,000 to 300,000 and it is led a Lieutenant General (3 stars)
8) Army (2-5 corps) – at least 100,000 soldiers and it is led by a General (5 stars)
“With all due respect, the official rank of the Chief of Staff, Prince C. Johnson, is Brigadier General and not General, Lieutenant General, or even Major General. To add insult to injury, the Commander-in-Chief George M. Weah reduced AFL’s budget to US$10.9 million this fiscal year 2020/2021 amid the lack of equipment, logistics, and declining manpower.”
“These are hard facts that they will not challenge. Watch and see. They will soon say, “Martin is hateful. He is envious. He is confused. He is unpatriotic, bla bla bla…”
(Courtesy of Activist Martin K. N. Kollie writes from exile….)
