After several months of negotiations and participations in several workshops and conferences by the technicians of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the European Union (EU) and ECOWAS have finally agreed to set up a Cyber Crime Forensic Lab in Liberia.
The laboratory, when set up, will be directly controlled by the Ministry of Justice, with support assistance from technicians from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
In a communication dated June 15, 2020 to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah, Sr., ECOWAS informed the Government of Liberia (GOL) through the ministry to provide a space, while the funding, equipment and technical support will be provided by EU and ECOWAS.
Minister Kruah has formally written a communication to the international bodies in acceptance of the implementation of the project in Liberia. He stated in the communication, “Let me formally inform you of Liberia’s acceptance of such a decision and officially thank the project as such.”
Minister Kruah’s communication continued, “The implementation of the mentioned activities will serve as a milestone in Liberia’s effort to secure its Cyber Space”. He told the Implementation Committee of the project that there would have been no better time than now, as the cyber security landscape continues to be challenging.
A few months ago, Minister Kruah held a press briefing and informed the public that Liberia does not have a cybercrime law, but that his ministry was doing everything possible to complete a review of a Cybercrime Act with other stakeholders before submitting it to the office of the President of Liberia and the National Legislature for enactment.
It can be recalled that, in early February 2019, the Telecommunications Information Technology Commissioner of ECOWAS, Dr. Zouli Bonkoungou, met with Minister Kruah, the Senate Committee on Posts and Telecommunications and the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) and promised more projects to Liberia in the ICT sector. The discussion was focused on some of ECOWAS’ regulation that have not been implemented by some member states, such as the intra roaming traffic connectivity, cyber security training, ICT Infrastructure development, amongst others.