AFL Accused of Acting as “Private Army” for Bea Mountain Mining, Supreme Court to Hear Case

Michael T
Jul 22
2 min read

L-R, Former Solicitor General Syrenus S. Cephus & Defense Minister Brigadier General (Retired) Geraldine J. George

Former Solicitor General of the Republic of Liberia, Cllr. Syrenus Sayma Cephus, has taken issue with the Ministry of National Defense for the alleged unconstitutional deployment of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) at the Bea Mountain Mining Company (BMMC) concession in Grand Cape Mount County. In a formal complaint, Cephus accuses AFL personnel not just of acting as “private bodyguards” and errand boys for expatriates, but also of engaging in serious acts of intimidation, illegal land seizures, and extra-judicial evictions of villagers targeted for BMMC’s gold mining expansion1 2 3.

Local communities have reported numerous incidents of AFL soldiers intimidating civilians, running errands for mining company expatriates, and forcibly displacing indigenous residents from their ancestral homes. The military’s sustained presence within the mining concession, observers say, has fueled public perception that the AFL is serving powerful corporate interests at the expense of ordinary citizens1 2 3.

By law, the internal deployment of AFL troops is strictly limited to defending the Republic—typically in response to a declared state of emergency. Such a declaration requires presidential action, swift legislative oversight, and consultation with both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Crucially, the deployment must be promptly communicated to the Legislature, must not be indefinite, and cannot substitute for policing or private security functions1 2.

However, multiple lawmakers have sounded their own alarms. Both the House and Senate have either called for—or already voted to demand—the recall of AFL and Emergency Response Unit (ERU) officers from BMMC and similar private mining concessions, explicitly citing clear violations of the Constitution. According to recent legislative sessions, over 60% of Grand Cape Mount County lawmakers voiced direct opposition to the AFL’s deployment, describing it as “routine security work unfit for military intervention”1 2 4.

The allegations against the AFL suggest a dangerous slide back toward a dark chapter in Liberia’s recent history—one in which national security forces were often misused by private interests and political elites. Cllr. Cephus’s legal action before the Supreme Court puts the country’s security doctrine on trial and stands as a test of Liberia’s resolve to uphold constitutional checks and balances and protect the rights of its citizens1 2 5.

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