By S. Siapha Mulbah (Cub Reporter)
“AFL statistics shows that females in Montserrado are not physically fit like their colleagues from the leeward counties,” Asst. Min. Sam Collins has revealed.
The Asst. Minister for Public Affairs at the Ministry of National Defense in an interview yesterday revealed that the army had experienced poor performances by women in Montserrado County right from the physical fitness sessions.
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) seems to have met its desire for pre-recruitment in the first phase as over 200 women turned out on the grounds of the Barclay Training Center but Collins explained that the women in other counties are always graded over their colleagues from Montserrado in terms of the physical training.
The females who were mostly drawn from Monrovia and its environs assembled in response to a call from the Ministry of National Defense requesting women’s participation in a three-week preparatory training for the upcoming recruitment drive for 2022.
However, he explained that those from Montserrado are graded for their brilliant performances in the academic aspect of the recruitment process.
Meanwhile, Collins stated that the exercise is a preparatory training purposely to build the females in Montserrado in terms of physical fitness that will serve as a means to have them forward the interest of serving the army to the main recruitment drive expected to kick off soon across the country.
Min. Collins further clarified that the ongoing process is not in any way a requirement to secure a space for anyone ahead of neither the main recruitment drive nor reliance for the participants to stand hopeful of bearing the national flag of the country.
He narrated that the army is encouraging females to sign up for the military because the United Nations and other partners are requesting a quota to have women in peacekeeping and other missions.
The army however maintained that the call to have more than 50% of its recruits as females will not be a means to lower its standards but will go for those that will be fit for the military duties in defending the country and prepare to take on the Armed Forces.
“We want the females to be prepared to match up with their male counterparts, because in the main recruitment exercise, there is no male or female. Everyone will be considered as recruit,” he said.
Adding “we will not lower the standard of the army to have some preference given to females, every opportunity in the military is cut across, that’s why they will do the push-up, sit up and the running together.”
According to the assistant minister, the main recruitment drive will be open to all Liberian citizens who are interested in joining the army other than the few persons that will be given access passes during the preparatory training.
“The age requirement is 18-35yrs but we will be taking professionals above in specialized areas like nurses, doctors, lawyers and other disciplines for the army,” he noted.