Young men and women determined to be enlisted into the Armed Forces of Liberia are, as we speak, under scrutiny across the Country to validate their preparedness.
Candidates must be high school graduates, Liberians, and must be 18 years or above.
Determined to be soldiers, they wake up as early as 3:0-clock or earlier, every morning, to form queues at recruitment centers to be in the number.
Many of them said aside seeking employment to make a living and take of their respective families, their desire to join the army is driven by patriotism.
As the recruitment process progresses, debate has sparked off on whether or not the process meets international standards. As part of the recruitment process, candidates are tested to prove their eligibility.
Some observers say while the process seems opened and transparent, others say asking individual candidates to read on live videos is humiliating and exposes them to public ridicule.
Many of the aspirants, in full public glare, struggled with, or fumbled over words during evaluation as if they weren’t high school graduates.
Critics say the aspirants’ poor reading skills have exposed the weaknesses in the Country’s education sector.
There hasn’t been any official reaction from the Ministry of Education.
The Armed Forces of Liberia or AFL’s recruitment exercise is meant to augment the strength and capacity of the Liberian Army. The ongoing recruitment exercise coincides with the Liberian-Guinean border crisis.
While some Liberians are suggesting military confrontation with the Guinean military, the Liberian Government of President Joseph Boakai says it is pursuing a diplomatic solution to the crisis. As it stands, the Guinean Army is significantly larger and better equipped than the Liberian military.
The Guinean Military has roughly twelve to thirteen thousand active personnel and combat aircraft, while the Liberian Military is small. Conversely, the Liberian military is a small with a professionally trained force of 2000 personnel focused on internal security.
