Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia | |
---|---|
Incumbent Vacant since 5 February 2024 | |
Armed Forces of Liberia | |
Type | Chief of staff |
Abbreviation | COS – AFL |
Appointer | President with Senate advice and consent |
Term length | at the pleasure of the President |
Formation | 1909 |
First holder | Major R. Mackay Cadell |
Deputy | Vice Chief of Staff |
Website | Official website |
The Chief of Staff is the professional head of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Liberia. The Chief of Staff is appointed by the President of Liberia, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces according to the Constitution.
The current Chief of Staff is Major General Prince C. Johnson III, since 6 February 2018. [1]
No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) | Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
? | Alexander Harper | Major General1952 | 1954 | 1–2 years | – | |
? | Abraham Jackson | Lieutenant General1954 | 1956 | 1–2 years | [2] |
Portrait | Name (born–died) | Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||
Chief of staff | |||||
![]() | Lieutenant General Abraham Jackson | 1956 | 1960 | 3–4 years | [2] |
![]() | Lieutenant General George T. Washington (born 1928) | 1965 | 1970 | 4–5 years | [3] |
![]() | Lieutenant General Henry Korboi Johnson | 1970 | September 1979 | 8–9 years | [ citation needed ] |
![]() | Franklin J. Smith | September 1979 | 1980 | [ citation needed ] | |
![]() | Brigadier General Edwin Lloyd | ? | May 1980 | ? | [4] [2] |
Commanding general | |||||
![]() | Brigadier General Thomas Quiwonkpa (1955–1985) | May 1980 | 1983 | 2–3 years | [4] |
![]() | Lieutenant General Henry Dubar | 1983 | 30 June 1990 | 9–10 years | [5] |
![]() | Lieutenant General Charles Julue | 30 June 1990 | 5 July 1990 | 5 days | [6] |
![]() | Lieutenant General Hezekiah Bowen (1943–2010) | 1990 | 1997(?) | 6–7 years | [ citation needed ] |
Chief of staff | |||||
![]() | Lieutenant General Prince C. Johnson II (?–1999) | August 1997 | November 1999 † | 2 years, 5 months | [7] [8] |
![]() | Lieutenant General Kpengbai Y. Konah | 25 November 1999 | February 2006 | 6 years, 3 months | [8] [9] |
Command officer-in-charge | |||||
![]() | Major General Luka Yusuf (1952–2009) | February 2006 | May 2007 | 1 year, 119 days | [ citation needed ] |
![]() | Major General Suraj Abdurrahman (1954–2015) | 6 June 2007 | 11 February 2014 | 6 years, 250 days | [10] |
Chief of staff | |||||
![]() | Major General Daniel Dee Ziankhan (born 1971) | 11 February 2014 | 6 February 2018 | 3 years, 360 days | [11] |
![]() | Major General Prince C. Johnson III (born 1976) | 6 February 2018 | 5 February 2024 | 6 years, 22 days | [1] [12] |
The Politics of Liberia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic modeled on the government of the United States, whereby the President is the head of state and head of government; unlike the United States, however, Liberia is a unitary state as opposed to a federation and has a pluriform multi-party system rather than the two-party system that characterizes US politics. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the legislature.
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.
Samuel Kanyon Doe was a Liberian politician who served as the 21st president of Liberia from 1986 to 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1986 and then as president from 1986 to 1990.
Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician who has served as a senator for Nimba County since 2006. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent role in the First Liberian Civil War.
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The First Liberian Civil War was the first in a series 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 support from 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.
Thomas Gankama-Quiwonkpa was a Liberian military officer who was a Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 24 December 1989 – 2 August 1997. The NPFL emerged out of rising ethnic tensions and civil unrest due to the Liberian government that was characterized by totalitarianism, corruption, and favoritism towards ethnic Krahns. The NPFL invaded Liberia through Ivory Coast’s border with Nimba County in Liberia under the direction of Charles Taylor, a former Liberian politician and guerrilla leader who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003.
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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.
Suraj Alao Abdurrahman, was a Nigerian Army general who served as the Command Officer in Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia, with former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the Commander-in-Chief. According to then President Johnson Sirleaf, General Abdurrahman "was an exceedingly exceptional gentleman officer whose contributions lifted the Armed Forces of Liberia to professional greatness and emplace our military amongst UN peacekeepers”.
Stella Maris Polytechnic University (SMPU) is a private university in Monrovia, Liberia. Founded in 1988, the school is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia. Located on Capitol Hill, the school has approximately 2,300 students. The school is recognized by Liberia's National Commission on Higher Education as an approved baccalaureate granting school of higher learning, and is a member of the Association of African Universities.
Thomas Weh Syen was a Liberian soldier and politician. He was a leading member of the group of enlisted men that overthrow the country's government in an April 1980 military coup d'état, and accordingly, he became one of the leaders of the new military junta, the People's Redemption Council. In the wake of the coup d'état, he took the title of major general in the Armed Forces of Liberia and became the co-chairman of the PRC; as a result, he was the immediate deputy of Commander-in-Chief Samuel Doe and the Vice Head of State.
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The Liberian National Coast Guard is the naval force of Liberia, part of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Its main duties are law enforcement along Liberia's coast and in its maritime area, and aiding those in distress.
The Monrovia Church massacre, also referred to as the St. Peter's Lutheran Church massacre, was the worst single atrocity of the First Liberian Civil War. Approximately 600 people were killed at the church, on 14th Street, in the Sinkor district of Monrovia on 29 July 1990. The massacre was carried out by approximately 30 government soldiers loyal to President Samuel Doe. The perpetrators were of Doe's Krahn tribe while most of the victims were from the Gio and Mano tribes, which were in support of the rebels.
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Lieutenant General Prince C. Johnson II was a Liberian military officer.
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