The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and retitled in 1956. For almost all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.
Charles Gyude Bryant was a Liberian politician and businessman. He served as the Chairman of the Transitional Government of Liberia from 14 October 2003 to 16 January 2006. The installation of the transitional government was part of the peace agreement to end the country's second civil war, which had raged since the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebelled against President Charles Taylor in 1999. Bryant was previously a businessman and was chosen as chairman because he was seen as politically neutral and therefore acceptable to each of the warring factions, which included LURD, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), and loyalists of former President Taylor. He was a prominent member of the Episcopal Church of Liberia, and was critical of the governments of Samuel Doe (1980–90) and Taylor (1997–2003).
General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October 2005, with a runoff election for the presidency held on 8 November. The presidency and all seats in the House of Representatives and Senate were up for election. The elections were the first held since 1997 and marked the end of the political transition following the second civil war, having been stipulated in the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2004. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former World Bank employee and Liberian finance minister, won the presidential contest and became the first democratically elected female African head of state in January 2006.
The First Liberian Civil War was the first of two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia. It lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of the support of the United States by the late 1980s. The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast to overthrow Doe in December 1989 and gained control over most of the country within a year. Doe was captured and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), a splinter faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson, in September 1990. The NPFL and INPFL fought each other for control of the capital city, Monrovia and against the Armed Forces of Liberia and pro-Doe United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy. Peace negotiations and foreign involvement led to a ceasefire in 1995 but fighting continued until a peace agreement between the main factions occurred in August 1996. Taylor was elected President of Liberia following the 1997 Liberian general election and entered office in August of the same year.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa.
The Hon. Lewis G. Brown II is former Minister for Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism in Liberia. After serving as minister of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Lewis Garseedah Brown II was appointed by President Sirleaf as Liberia's permanent Ambassador at The United Nations and Liberia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Republic of Cuba in 2016. He's also the chairman of all ECOWAS's Ambassadors at UN. Amb. Brown also served as National Security Advisor to Charles Taylor and also Managing Director of LPRC.
Antoinette Monsio Sayeh is a Liberian economist and Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Sayeh served as the Director of the African Department at the IMF from July 14, 2008, to August 31, 2016. She also was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development.
A new civil war began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighboring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), emerged in northern Liberia. By the spring of 2001, they were posing a major threat to the Taylor government. Liberia was now engaged in a complex three-way conflict with Sierra Leone and the Guinea Republic. By the beginning of 2002, both of these countries were supporting the latest addition to the lexicon of Liberian guerrilla outfits – Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), while Taylor was supporting various opposition factions in both countries. By supporting Sierra Leonean rebels, Taylor also drew the enmity of the British and Americans.
Johnnie N. Lewis was a Liberian lawyer and politician who served as the 18th Chief Justice of Liberia from 2006 to 2012. Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a circuit judge in Liberia's judicial system.
The Ministry of National Defense (MOD) is the government ministry responsible for the maintenance of the national defense and the governance of the military of Liberia, the Armed Forces of Liberia.
Mary Tanyonoh Broh is the former mayor of Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. She first served the Liberian government in March 2006 as the Special Projects Coordinator for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's executive staff. In 2007, she was promoted to direct the Passport Bureau in a successful attempt to curtail and eliminate corruption and bribery within the division. In 2008, Broh became the Deputy Director of the National Port Authority. In February 2009, she was selected to serve as Acting Mayor of Monrovia in place of the previous mayor, Ophelia Hoff Saytumah, in the President's effort to legitimize the Monrovia City Corporation's (MCC) administrative and financial management. Although Broh was seated in February 2009 by appointment, rather than by the usual democratic election process, she was not officially confirmed by the Liberian Senate.
General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October 2011, with a second round of the presidential election on 8 November. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and half of the seats in the Senate, were up for election. The election was overseen by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
Amara M. Konneh is a Liberian national who serves as a senior advisor for Africa for the World Bank. In this role, he advises the World Bank on regional economic integration to create economic hubs for value chains and helps build strategic partnerships with Africa's regional economic commissions. Prior to that, he served as lead advisor for the Bank's engagements in countries affected by fragility, conflict, violence, and forced displacement with emphasis on Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The Iron Ladies of Liberia (2007) is an independently produced documentary film that gives behind-the-scenes access to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's first year in government. Johnson-Sirleaf is Africa's first female president.
The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the command of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe. Following a period of transition, Doe ruled Liberia throughout the 1980s until his murder in 1990 during the First Liberian Civil War.
Marjon Vashti Kamara is a Liberian diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018.
A political scandal in Liberia developed in 2014 after the arrest of a group of South Korean businessmen and seizure of US$247,500 from them by the National Security Agency, a national level internal security agency of Liberia.
Major General Prince Charles Johnson III is a retired Liberian military officer who served as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces from 5 February 2018 to 5 February 2024.
Events in the year 2016 in Liberia.
Events in the year 2013 in Liberia.
Liberian