The Challenges and Opportunities of Security Sector Reform in Post ...

Part Four (Articles VII and VIII) of the CPA is devoted to ‘Security Sector Reform’. The
CPA stipulates that ‘all irregular forces shall be disbanded’ 53 and that the AFL shall be
restructured and will have a new command’. 54 Article VII (2) of the CPA stipulates the
principles for the restructuring of the armed forces:
a. Incoming service personnel shall be screened with respect to educational,
professional, medical and fitness qualifications as well as prior history
with regard to human rights abuses;
b. The restructured force shall take into account the country’s national
balance. It shall be composed without any political bias to ensure that it
represents the national character of Liberia;
c. The Mission of the Armed Forces of Liberia shall be to defend the
national sovereignty and in extremis, respond to natural disasters;
d.All Parties shall cooperate with ECOWAS, the UN, the AU, the ICGL and the
United States of America.
Liberians have demonstrated a consistently high sense of expectation of American
involvement, and arguably guidance, in ending the war, and in security sector
reconstruction in particular. The CPA stipulates that ‘the parties also request that the
United States of America play a lead role in organising this restructuring programme’
(Article VII (1b). 55 The US subsequently pledged $35 million towards the restructuring of
the Liberian armed forces. The total package pledged for security sector reconstruction
by the United States is $200 million, which would include refurbishment of the Ministry
of Defence, retraining of staff, and refurbishment of military barracks. To this end, from
22-24 March 2004, the Defence Advisory Committee (DAC) of the Ministry of National
Defence conducted a Consultative Workshop in Monrovia. 56 The purpose of the
workshop was to update the AFL Restructuring Plan developed in 1998 and to affirm a
national consensus on the way forward with respect to the formation of the new military
of Liberia. 57 The workshop concluded that:
A four-phase implementation strategy should be followed in a sequential manner:
first, re-documentation; second downsizing through demobilisation; third,
downsizing through retirement and discharge; and fourth recruitment to form the
new army. 58
According to the DAC workshop, the new force would be known as the Liberian
National Defence Force (LNDF), and would be 6,500 strong. The LNDF, according to
53 Comprehensive Peace Agreement Between the Government of Liberia and the Liberians United for Reconcilation
and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) and Political Parties, Accra, 18 August
2003, Article VII (1a). (See Annex 1)
54 Ibid., Article VII (1b).
55
It is noteworthy that UNMIL’s mandate also requires it ‘to assist the transitional government in the formation of
a new and restructured Liberian military in cooperation with ECOWAS, international organisations and interested
states’. There however seems to be a consensus that reform of the security sector, in particular the restructuring
of the armed forces, is the responsibility of the United States.
56
The Defence Advisory Committee was not envisaged at the signing of the CPA but has since been created. It
comprises the Chiefs of Staff of the three factions, GOL, LURD and MODEL, and is located in the Ministry of
National Defence.
57
See Defence Advisory Committee, Consultative Committee Conclusion, ‘AFL Restructuring Plan Revised’, 22-24
March 2004, Monrovia, Liberia.
58
Ibid, p. 4.
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