The Ministry of National Defense (''MOD'') is the

government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

responsible for the maintenance of the national defense and the governance of the military of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, the Armed Forces of Liberia.

History

An amendment to the Liberian Constitution allowed the previously named War Department to be renamed the Department of National Defense on February 25, 1955. Then, during the early years of President William Tolbert's Administration after 1971, all departments were renamed Ministries and thus the organization became the Ministry of National Defense. Retired General Ziankahn remains the Minister of Defence.

List of ministers

Secretaries of War and the Navy (1848-1971)

* Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1848-1876) * Reginald A. Sherman (1876-1892) * Colonel Anthony D. Williams, Jr. (1892-1900) * George B. Padmore * Robert T. Sherman * Wilmot H. Dennis * Columbus Harris * Isaac Moart * James F. Cooper * B.W. Payne * James W. Cooper * Momolu Massaquoi * Joseph Dennis * Henry Reed Cooper * J. Foulton Dunbar * Wilkins Tyler * Isaac Whisnant * Ernest C.B. Jones * Ernest J. Yancy * Harrison Grisby * Robert A. Brewer (c. 1967-1971)

Ministers of Defense (1971-present)

* Everett Jonathan Goodridge () * Allen H. Williams () * Harry A. Greaves (1976–1978) * M. Burleigh Holder (1978–1979) * James Y. Gbabee (1979–1980) * Samuel Bennie Pearson (April 1980-1981) * Albert Karpeh (1981-1982) * Grey Dio-Glaye Allison (1982-August 1989) * J. Boima Barclay (1989–9 September 1990 ) * J. Hezekiah Bowen (1995–1997) * Daniel Chea (1997–2006), as National Transitional Government of Liberia Defense Minister * Brownie J. Samukai (2006–2017) * Major General

Daniel Ziankahn Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

(since 22 January 2018)

Building

The Ministry's three-story building used to be located on Benson Street in downtown Monrovia, but upon the conclusion of the DynCorp army training effort in Liberia, moved to the Barclay Training Center, also located in central Monrovia, in July 2009. In early August 2009 the Ministry's Comptroller was dismissed, apparently for misappropriating US$50,000 intended for paying soldiers of the rebuilt AFL.Corruption at Ministry of Defense? (Comptroller Sacked for 'Eating' US$50,000 Soldiers' Pay )
August 9, 2009

References

* *M. Burleigh Holder, "The Hand of God," Xlibris Corporation, April 2006. * *

External links

Ministry of National Defense official site

National Security Agency official site
{{authority control National Defense Military of Liberia