IPNews-Monrovia,Liberia-28 February 2018: Impeccable sources within the ranks and file of the Executive Protection Services-EPS, have informed this paper that there are increasing wave of disenchantment, owing mainly to the infusion of unidentified elements of questionable characters into the ranks of the EPS since the ascendancy of George Manneh Weah to the high office.

The officers, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, maintained that there are indeed some individuals have been newly infused into the ranks of the organization.

According to the officers, some of the individuals had been dismissed for a variety of reasons, including absenteeism and general worthlessness, but are being ushered back into the service without proper vetting, which has resulted into series of lapses experienced in the presidential detail.

Some of the lapse which have come to the attention of the public were clearly demonstrated during the recent inauguration and Armed Forces Day ceremonies.

Our sources cited few examples, including irregular recruitment, the case of a female identified as Sonnie Kollie who they alleged was co-opted into the EPS by former late EPS Director Othello Warrick as Assistant Director for Administration, without going through proper vetting and training.

She is alleged to have subsequently deserted her duties almost immediately following the death of former Director Warrick in 2015.

However, according to informed sources, since the latest change in leadership of the organization, Ms. Sonnie Kollie has resurfaced and is now poised to resume the post of Assistant Director for Administration still without going through a formal process of vetting and recruitment.

Moreover, our sources claimed that some individuals who have not been vetted or undergone training, are been issued side arms which they are permitted to carry at all times (24/7).

The sources also added that the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, Finda Bundoo, who has not undergone the standard EPS training, was issued an EPS-marked side-arm with two-weeks’ weapons training.

There is no record to show that she is a member of the EPS, neither would she justify being issued a side-arm.

According to them, Ms. Finda Bundoo once served as an aide to former President Taylor and is not known to have undergone formal VIP protection training.

Under current regulations, only officers who have been trained in the use of arms and are on active assignments are allowed to bear arms which are marked by the Small Arms Commission in keeping with the Act on Small Arms.

Further, according to them, assigning a weapon to an individual untrained to its use is not only a violation of the EPS Standard Operating Procedures, but it is also a violation of the National Firearms Act regulating the use, possession, import or production of small arms.

When the Independent Probe made numerous contacts including visitation at the head office of the Executive Protection Service on Capitol Hill to ascertain from senior officials on growing allegations, the EPS officers assigned at the office of the Director and Deputy Director for Operations declined to comment as they were ordered not to speak with the media on any issues surrounding our inquiries.

Meanwhile sister news outlet, the Daily Observer Newspaper quotes the Executive Protection Force (EPS), human resource director, Patrick Mulbah as denying all claims of disenchantment within the ranks as he out rightly dismissed reports about an alleged absorption of hundreds of ex-fighters, on the recommendation of Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, and other elements of unknown character, also on the alleged recommendation of President George Weah.

However, he stressed that while it is the prerogative of new incoming officials to make such recommendations, it does not translate into the automatic recruitment of said recommended individuals into the EPS.

Mulbah said applicants are subjected to vigorous background checks and they have to first sit a written interview followed by an oral interview and series of background checks and monitoring which last a period of three months at the minimum, but could go on for as long as six months depending on the particular case.

The HR director said these processes are rigorous because they are meant to be foolproof because the EPS or its leadership could be held responsible for any errant behavior on the part of a recruit or regular officer.

Responding to concerns about polarization in the EPS arising from divided loyalties to President Weah on the one hand and Vice President Jewel Howard on the other hand, both of whom are alleged to have submitted long lists of individuals to be absorbed into the ranks of the EPS, Mulbah said such may have been the case during the several transitional periods.

But, it can be recalled in the past where a polarized presidential security force saw gun battles in the Executive Mansion between opposing forces, questioned Mulbah about the risk of a recurrence of such.

However, according to Mulbah, this is no longer the case because under the rubric of the UN supported Security Sector Reform program, EPS applicants are required to undergo a vigorous recruitment and vetting exercise prior to induction into the service.

On the questions of alleged disenchantment in the ranks of the EPS, Mulbah dismissed such reports as unfounded because, according to him, all is well and fine and there was no such thing as disenchantment in the ranks of the force.

But from all indications, the EPS, as a public institution dedicated to the protection of the President and highly ranked officials, stands in danger of being compromised by disenchantment and having its image tattered in the eyes of the public if corrective steps are not taken immediately

According to Section 22 of the Civil Service Policy Manual, Employment of Security or Paramilitary Personnel: “In order to become a security agent or an employee of a paramilitary government agency (such as the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization), the candidate should be a citizen of the Republic of Liberia, be between the ages of 18 and 45 years, have the minimum qualification of a high school diploma and must present the required documents listed below:

• a) Clearance and letter of reference from the Head or Senior Management of all the institutions for which he/she has worked in the past 5 years and
  b) Letter of reference from his/her previous institutions of learning;
• Police clearance (stipulating that he/she has never been convicted of a crime).
• Clearance from illegal drug use, established through drug tests administered by arrangement through the hiring institution.
• A written statement attesting that he/she is not affiliated with any radical international or local organization that is plotting to destabilize the Government of Liberia.
• It should be substantiated (by security check through the hiring institution) that the candidate has not been involved in any mass disturbances or riots in his/her neighborhood or community.
• Having completed the security requirement, the candidate can then be employed using the Merit-Based Employment procedures prescribed for all institutions of Government.