Pres. Boakai Orders GAC To Decommission NSA’s Audit; Cites “Sensitivity” Of Its Operations, But…
The Auditor General of the Republic of Liberia, P. Garswa Jackson, Sr., has officially announced the decommissioning of the audit of the National Security Agency (NSA), affirming the sensitivity of the entity’s operations.
It can be recalled that President Joseph Nyuma Boakai on Monday, February 5, 2024 directed the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct a comprehensive audit of three key government institutions: the Central Bank of Liberia, National Security Agency (NSA) and Executive Protection Service (EPS).
President Boakai, in a communication to the Auditor General, requested that the audit covers the period between 2018 and 2023, and that the findings be reported in three months.
The audit of the three institutions was said to be the beginning of a holistic audit of government ministries and agencies in keeping with the President’s commitment to fighting corruption as well as ensuring transparency and accountability in the governance of the country.
However, the President’s audit request, especially on the NSA—the national secret house of the country—was heavily criticized, with observers citing missteps in the call for audit of “the agency”.
Apparently analyzing the merits and demerits of the audit and, perhaps, with proper advice, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Sylvester Grigsby, has written the GAC informing them that the President has requested that the commission decommissions the NSA’s audit due to the “sensitivity” of its operations.
In a letter to the Chairman of the Liberian Senate’s Committee on Public Accounts, Audit and Expenditure, Senator Amara Konneh, Auditor General Jackson said, “I extend my compliments and write to inform you that on February 5, 2024, the President of the Republic of Liberia, through the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, requested the General Auditing Commission to conduct audits of the National Security Agency, Executive Protection Service and the Central Bank of Liberia. The request was evaluated and accepted in line with the GAC Act of 2014.
“However, in a subsequent communication referenced MOS-RL/SMG-COS/087/2024, dated March 8, 2024, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs requested the Auditor General to decommission the National Security Agency’s audit due to the ‘sensitivity’ of its operations.
“Please be informed that the request has been granted. This letter is intended to notify the National Legislature about the decommissioning of the NSA audit. However, we will continue to audit the Central Bank of Liberia and the Executive Protection Service as per the initial request.”
Unfortunately, the Hot Pepper’s effort to independently verify the letter proved futile. The paper’s attention was drawn to the date of the letter, February 29, 2024, while at the same time quoting a communication dated March 8, 2024, which is logically impossible.
Whether it was an oversight or the letter was a product of falsehood is yet to be ascertained, but observers are commending the Boakai administration for trekking on the right trajectory.
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an a-political government intelligence institution that is solely tasked with the gathering/collection, analyzing and dissemination of national security information for decision/policy makers, including the President of the Republic of Liberia.
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a merger of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which was responsible for covert and overt security investigations, whilst the Executive Action Bureau (EAB) was responsible for carrying out clandestine activities for the Executives.
In the early 1970s, during the administration of President Tubman, similar function to that of the EAB was carried out by the National Intelligence Service (NISS), but on the highest national level. Conversely, the NISS was dissolved following the death of President Tubman and the subsequent taking over of power by President Williams R. Tolbert, Jr., leaving the EAB at the time as the only clandestine agency.
On May 20, 1974, an act repealing sub-chapter D of Chapter 1, Part 1 and sub-chapter B of Chapter 22, Part II of the Executive Law in Relation to the EAB and the NBI, and creating the NSA was approved.
The NSA was left as the only agency solely responsible for gathering national security intelligence, but having to conduct special investigations, whenever the need arises. Later, on August 30, 1974, the Act creating the National Security Agency (NSA) was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia, Liberia.