IPNEWS: The government of Liberia says it is alarmed by former Liberian president George Manneh Weah request for the assignment of 38 additional officers of the elite Executive Protection Service (EPS).
Addressing the Ministry of Information, Cultural And Tourism (MICAT) press briefing, Information Minister Jerolemik Piah said the former Liberian leader made a request to the government to assign to him 38 agents of the Executive Protection Service.
But Minister Piah said he has been informed by the Director of the VIP security service that the government will not honor such request.
According to him, the assignment of EPS officers to any individual is at the discretion of the President of the Republic of Liberia, stressing that the EPS is a presidential unit.
The information minister further noted that Executive Protection Service recently chose to assign fifteen EPS agents to former President Weah, stating that the former President rejected eight of the officers that were assigned to him citing their unknown identities.
In 2008, the government of Liberia under the Security Sector Reform (SSR), amended the Executive Law promulgated 1972, creating the Special Security Service (SSS), to the Executive Protection Service (EPS).
The SSR called for the Identification of key security challenges confronting Liberia based on national consultations, views of security and other agencies to determine the composition of the reformed architecture required to address these security challenges efficiently, effectively and accountably.
Under this process, the government shall lead to the development of a nationwide security coordination mechanism at National, County and District levels to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of joint working between security agencies, and operational tasking and policy formulation support to the National Security Council (NSC); Establishment of a holistic approach to security and a working sustainable architecture of which the National Security Council (NSC), chaired by the President, shall act as the supreme security policy coordination body operating within the domestic, regional and global contexts which affect Liberia’s national security agenda.
