Monrovia – Frequent demands are being made for the government to settle severance and other benefits of deactivated soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr – [email protected]
These demands are taking on more dreadful dimensions each time, especially when the so-called disbanded soldiers take to the streets in demand of benefits.
What is most dangerous and perplexing about the saga is that, whenever everyone is relatively assured of its completion as an aspect of the overall restructuring process of the security sector, new and additional demands are made.
Liberia is approaching elections in October and a peaceful transfer of power is needed with cooperation from all Liberians, including the disbanded soldiers.
But with the level of threats from the former soldiers at a news conference Monday May 29, 2017, many believe that if government does not settle scores with the soldiers, there are fear of disturbance during the elections by the former soldiers.
The disbanded soldiers have described President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s failure to compensate their back pay owed them by government as wicked and inhumane.
Speaking at a news conference in Monrovia, the head of the disbanded soldiers, Colonel Wolo Nagbe said the former soldiers are prepared for any action that will make them get their money owed them by the government.
He described president Sirleaf as wicked and refused to reconcile the people of Liberia.
He noted that president Sirleaf has also failed to reconcile the newly trained soldiers of the Army and the former soldiers of the AFL.
“I will tell you one thing, the commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a bad woman, she’s a wicked woman, and she’s a woman who doesn’t forgive, she cannot reconcile her people, has it being so, she would have reconcile the old soldiers and the new soldiers, you plait new mat on the old mat, she so wicked and bad, she a woman who doesn’t consider anybody, she does things in her own wisdom,” he noted.
He said the disbanded Soldiers are not treated fairly, ”we are not being treated fairly by this government, the president and the government of Liberia don’t want pay us our money, we are calling on all of the Ambassadors, EU mission here and UNMIL to prevailed on the president and her people for our money,” he pleaded.
He said if government does not give their benefits the former soldiers will disgrace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for their money.
“If she feels that because her tenure is about to finish so she will not give our money, then she lie, because we will disgrace her for our money, we want peace but we want our money,” he said.
He also called on all political parties and politicians to join in the advocacy for the ex-soldiers to receive their money, “If this government do not give us the permission to talk to our men, we fear nobody but to do wrong.”
“So let them give us what belong to us, we are calling on all political parties, politicians and all Liberians to join us in our advocacy,” he noted.
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