State of Security in Liberia: Who Guard the Guardians
By Sylvester Moses
“In addition to the rebels and unqualified people referred by the Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, and perhaps the President, the administration of the EPS is pilling up the payroll with others. Where is the budget? The EPS is without doubt over staffed. Nobody is being sent to other security institutions. Ex- disqualified fighters are being integrated into the Service. This presents a serious national security threat”.
Willfully, and without waiting for inputs from former security sector professionals, FPA made erroneous claims about a so-called "Doe SSS" based on one biased statement that he "purged" the protective service and replaced qualified personnel with his Krahn kin. But nothing could be further from the truth, like Tolbert before him, SKD changed the leadership of SSS and the National Security Apparatus. For instance, Gbeku Wright, a Krahn, who had been in the service since the 1970's was elevated to Director and shortly replaced by Nathan Nelson, a Bassa native. Needless to say that Tolbert had his two sons-in-law as Minister of National Security and Commissioner of Immigration while EJS had her son as NSA Director, and relatives, supposedly, in AFL.
Frankly, if any president truly "purged" the protective service and replaced professionals with family, loyalists, and rebels, it was undeniably EJS. Furthermore, because she had sponsored two invasions, her paranoia led to an early dependence on White foreign protectors and Nigerian soldiers, who must have cost Liberia millions of US dollars. These clarifications ought to disabuse FPA and like-minded off the notion that the scandal-infested EPS is Liberia's standard for VIP protection, thus must be relied on by every VIP.
The highly nepotistic hiring habits at EPS suggest that President Weah and Vice President Jewel Taylor have all the right to bring in trusted individuals to beef up their individual protection; more so, in a service where the privacy of a VIP protectee ought to be highly confidential.
Nonetheless, FPA deserves a pat on the back for initiating the first significant discussion on President Weah's safety in a coalition alliance with leadership of former warring factions, and a former president whose appointees are still holding the purse-strings of government and power to investigate those dipping their hands in the nation's cash till. It makes one wonder about the motivation of the EPS informant who concluded his observation to FPA with - "Ex-disqualified fighters are being integrated into the Service. This presents a serious national security threat”. The question then becomes, is this just another turf war at EPS, or are people with ulterior motives fanning the dysfunctional EPS narrative to carefully conceal a sinister agenda?
Granted that in the era of fake news one must be cautious of conspiracy theories, however, considering FPA's attention-grabbing headline and grave report, the above question is legitimate. Moreover, compounding anxiety, the public can't say for sure whether the past government abided by the 2003 UN mandate articulated by then SRSG US Major General Paul Jacques Kliene that the composition of AFL should reflect the ethnic and sectional diversity of Liberia. An idea, no doubt, conceived to prevent two or three ethnic groups dominating an army which control the awesome instruments of state violence.
So in view of those existential issues raised by FPA, I'm recommending to government the following:
1) Immediately ensure that AFL is in compliance with the UN mandate about proportional ethnic and sectional representation; 2) Let the legislature and Executive probe into the current state of security sector preparedness with available manpower and equipment; 3), Empower Security Sector principals to review the public safety and homeland Security contigency plans of the previous government in order to find out whether assumptions which necessitated them are still relevant, if not to prepare new ones according to recent NSA and G2 threat predictions; and 4), Like all VIP protectees, GMW should reduce the protection nightmare of perceived habitual over-exposure at an open space.
Lest present security sector principals' forget, civilians and the security services knew and reported that a coup was in the offing before April 12, 1980, prior to the 1985 Qwinwonkpa invasion, and way ahead of the December 1989 Taylor invasion. Inexplicably, what has been lacking is the capacity of AFL to disrupt anticipated violent threats to stability.
Yet no attempt was ever made, even after the aborted Qwinwonkpa takeover, to investigate why, for instance, he reached LBS in Paynesville when AFL leadership knew from NSA that the invaders were coming via the MRU bridge, and the army promised to have the Sixth batallion at Bomi County in readiness? Seemingly, the mentality is to not admit shameful screw-ups hence nothing is learned from past mistakes; whereas the US Liberia claims to imitate set up a commission after 9/11, and upon its recommendations put in place processes and procedures to avoid repetition. Well, to move forward, Liberia must change in so many ways and areas.