MONROVIA – Several youths of the St. Paul Bridge Community over the weekend staged a solidarity parade to solicit financial assistance and support to the Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) who was electrocuted while on duty.
St. Paul Bridge is one of the congested communities in electoral district # 16, Montserrado County.
It can be recalled that Sergeant George Kaifa, a resident of the St. Paul Bridge Community, sustained major injuries on Saturday, October 19, while serving his post at the Barclay Training Center (BTC) barrack in Monrovia.
He was rushed at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Sinkor, Monrovia.
The prolong stay of the AFL Sergeant at the hospital continues to claim the attention of his immediate neighbors, relatives and sympathizers.
Solidarity parade
Scores of youths of the community, wearing white t-shirts stormed market places, entertainment centers, offices, and homes, among others to galvanize financial support for the hospitalized AFL Sergeant.
Those who staged the parade comprise of soldier and officers of the AFL, Liberia National Police
The spokesperson of the organizing committee for the parade, Vincent Dadzie, disclosed that the move is intended to ensure that the ailing AFL soldier ‘keep the hope’ despite being hospitalized.
He noted that the prolonged stay of Sgt. Kaifa at the hospital continue to claim the attention of community dwellers, and as such, the parade was timely to ‘identify and show solidarity’ during difficult times.
“This initiative is about our brother George Kaifa from St. Paul Bridge. We though it wise to carry on this initiative to identify with him. This parade is intended to show that we care for him and we are thinking about him. We want our brother to keep the hope and be motivated. We also want to send out a clear message that his friends from St. Paul Bridge Community are in prayers with him. We don’t want him to feel neglected by his friends in the community,” he stated.
Family in the know
Family members of victim Kaifa consented to a request made by the friends of the ailing AFL soldier to stage a ‘solidarity parade’.
The family, through the eldest brother Makundu Elton Kaifa admonished the organizers to do away from using their name to solicit financial assistance to foot the medical bills of their relative, or grounds that neither the Kaifa’s family, nor the Ministry of National Defense have reneged on their responsibilities.
“We reached the oldest brother of the AFL soldier and he gave us the go-ahead,” Dadzie pointed out.
No footing medical bills
The initiative launched by the youths in St. Paul Bridge raises suspicion over whether or not adequate medical care and support is being provided to Sgt. Kaifa at the hospital.
Medical sources have informed FrontPage Africa that authorities of the Ministry of National Defense are fully financing the medical cost of the victim.
But the youths clarified that the initiative does not in any way imply that proceeds generated would beef up the financial strength of the victim’s family and the government.
“We are not saying that the Government of Liberia, or the AFL, or Ministry of National Defense cannot afford. We are doing this to show to our friend George Kaifa that we care for him. For now, people are still contributing. We will give the money we generate to George Kaifa,” Dadzie maintained
The happening
Sgt. Kaifa has been serving the AFL for more than a decade.
He was electrocuted when he was manning one of the towers located in the compound of the BTC barrack.
While serving duty, the victim reportedly became hungry after waiting for several hours for his ration to be delivered by chefs assigned at the Ministry of National Defense.
It became unbearable for him and he then opted to find food elsewhere.
Sources said Sgt. Kaifa mistakenly touched the high tension electrical wire and was severely electrocuted.
Separate major surgeries have been conducted on the ailing AFL soldier, according to medical sources at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center.
Sgt. Kaifa’s consistently engagement with the community developmental and social initiatives continue to win the admiration of his friends and other dwellers.
The youths see him as a ‘friendly and down-to-earth soldier’ who is always willing to provide ‘helping hands’ towards the forward match of the St. Paul Bridge Community.