By Mark N. Mengonfia- mmenginfia@gmail.com
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), Major General Prince C. Johnson is recommending a routine drugs test to be conducted on all public officials.
Gen. Johnson said this is a means of reducing the high rate of consumption of harmful substances by them.
The issue of drugs consumption is becoming common to the point that public officials who are to set examples are the once introducing it to the younger once, the Army Chief said.
Speaking at the end of a two-day Youth Legislative Policy Dialogue organized by NAYMOTE and the Legislative Information Service (LIS), the AFL Chief of Staff said he as head of the AFL, he has made it his duty to ensure that officers of the force are tested of drugs.
“I am always the first to be tested and after that the members of the force,” Gen. Johnson added.
According to him, in keeping 7.7 of UCNJ gives him the authority to remove ‘bad product” from the AFL.
“I am zero tolerant when it comes to drugs issues,” he said.
The AFL Chief of Staff further said majority of applicants to the AFL are denied after proven positive of drugs test examination.
“Even if those people make 100 written test of the AFL and fail the drugs test we conduct, they cannot be recruited into the army,” PCJ said.
He told the gathering that if possible, the same should be applied to every public office including elected positions in the Liberian society.
“If a person knows that he or she is going to be test of drugs before getting a job or before going for an election, they will disengage from the taking of those substances”.
He indicated that the bad substances are more in the Liberian society because it is being consumed by government officials including lawmakers.
Maj/Gen. Prince C. Johnson, III, Police IG Patrick Sudue, Sebastian Adam Gibson of the Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA), Sen. Steve J.H. Zargo and Rep. Thomas Goshua, III were those who should have spoken on the topic “ addressing the urgent need of illicit drugs and drug abuse in Liberia to sustain peace, security, and democracy” but fortunately, only two of the expected panelists showed up to speak to the pressing question.
The two panelists, Maj/Gen. Prince C. Johnson, III and Representative, Thomas A. Goshua, III at the dialogue did not hold back their feelings on how those harmful substances are causing societal problem for the Liberian society.
For his part, Grand Bassa County District #3 Representative, Thomas A. Goshua, III who described the issue of illicit drugs and its abuse in the Liberian society as a doom if nothing is done to arrest it.
The Grand Bassa Lawmaker has part of his duties as representative has introduced an anti-drug Bill to fight menace in the Liberian society.
He said “the use of these harmful substances is like a doom over Liberia. It is serious and we all need to something about it now”.
The lawmaker indicated that the issue of those harmful substances is so alarming to the point that those who are expected to fight it and the once deep into importation and circulation of it.
“When my children leaving from home I am worry because you do not know what kind of friends they are affiliating with while in school. This thing posses serious threats to the future of our children and to our society,” Rep. Goshua, III.