GANTA, Nimba – The Armed Forces of Liberia has completed a ten-day recruitment exercise in Ganta. The recruitment exercise commenced on Feb. 1 and ended on Feb. 8 at the Ganta Sports Field.

At the end of the exercise, Captain Saimo Kortu, the Deputy Commander for Personnel Affairs at the AFL, spoke with reporters about the entire recruitment process.

“We are proud to say that we achieved our desired goal,” Kortu said.

However, Kortu declined to say the exact number of recruited persons for security reasons.

“We’ve come to Ganta to recruit young men and women to serve in the Armed Forces of Liberia, and we recruited those that we wanted; and in fact, we got a lot more than what we actually wanted,” Kortu said.

He said academic credentials were looked at, including school transcripts, letters of recommendation, and diplomas or WAEC Certificates. The recruits were also given AFL aptitude and medical tests.

He added that “all those who passed the screening process and qualified for further processing, are placed in one category, awaiting the vetting process.”

Recruits in line formation for screening, while onlookers watched the process. Photo: Arrington Ballah

Kortu told the press that two national sites were chosen for the recruitment process because the AFL wanted geographical balance. Along with Montserrado, Nimba was selected to cater to Bong, Lofa, Grand Gedeh, River-Gee, Maryland, Grand Kru and Sinoe Counties.

The recruitment exercise will continue at the Barclay Training Center in Monrovia on Feb. 15, following the annual Armed Forces Day celebration on Feb. 11.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah