The first 100 troops of Liberia’s new army graduated on Saturday, as the country’s vice-president called for a new relationship after decades of military rule and civil war.
About 500 people, including government officials and foreign envoys, attended the passing-out parade at a Monrovia barracks of the troops, resplendent in new uniforms paid for by the United States government along with their training.
With President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf absent while attending the Sino-African summit in Beijing, Vice-President Joseph Boakai congratulated the soldiers and warned them that they face a difficult task.
”We need to redefine the relationship between the military and the civilians,” he said. ”We want a military that play an important role in the consolidation of democracy and the protection of our human rights.”
Boakai added: ”A new culture must be formed in the military. The army should be firmly rooted in the rule of law and respect for democratic institutions.”
Liberia came under military rule in 1980 and later went through one of the most brutal wars in Africa for 14 years until 2003, when president Charles Taylor stepped down to go into exile in Nigeria.
Its abundant resources, including diamonds, timber and rubber, were pillaged and illegally exploited to fund the war, which claimed directly and indirectly an estimated 270 000 lives. — Sapa-AFP