Panafrican News Agency
February 18, 2000

Monrovia, Liberia (PANA) - Liberian police chief Paul Mulbah has attributed the growing wave of armed robberies in Monrovia to the proliferation of state security men in the streets of the capital.

He told Liberia's senate standing committee on National Security and Defence that most of the armed robberies and harassment being reported in Monrovia were committed by state security agents.

Committee chairman George Koukou said the hearing was called to enable the committee get first-hand briefing on the co-ordination of over-lapping functions by security agencies.

"There are no illegal arms in the country. Only the various state security men carry arms. So when you hear about armed robbery, it is among us (state security)," Mulbah told the parliamentarians.

He said "every night the police arrest other security men carrying arms and harassing the public," and noted that "this tend to frighten and confuse residents in Monrovia."

"I have serious problems with the ministry of defence. There are just too many soldiers with arms," Mulbah said in specific reference to members of the Armed Forces of Liberia being abundant in the streets with arms.

There are some 14,000 active and inactive members of the Liberian army who are for the most part under-utilised, especially after the creation of new security units by the Charles Taylor government.

Taylor announced earlier this week the restructuring of the army would begin 1 May at a cost of 40 million Liberian dollars (about 1 million US dollars) allotted in the 2000 fiscal budget.

Government has always said it wants a "small but efficient" army of not more than 7,000 men in its navy, airforce and infantry.

In his testimony to the Senate, Mulbah reiterated that "in time of peace such as now, the soldiers should be in the barracks, not in the streets."

The police chief appealed to the Senate committee to ensure that the police are left to patrol the streets because they are trained to interact with civilians, arrest criminals and protect lives and property, and not the soldiers.

Several other heads of security bodies in the country, including the director of the national security agency, Freddie Taylor, who is cousin to President Taylor appeared before the Senate committee.

Freddie Taylor also decried the "over-lapping of functions among security agencies."

The Liberian media is replete with reports of clashes among security personnel, sometimes involving firearms, in Monrovia as well as in rural areas.