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The
SSS Director, his deputy and a dead bodyguard
Sunday,
August 13, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
The first time I ever heard of him was
in
2005, when former Police Director, Christian
“Chris” Massaquoi, who held the position during
Gyude Bryant’s interim government allegedly took for
his personal use a government-owned 17kva generator
that did not belong to him.
Director Massaquoi danced around the issue when
it was brought to his attention and showed little or
no respect for the public and the office, and did not give
any explanation as to why he took the generator and
who authorized him to take it. He did not take responsibility for
his alleged action, and was nakedly arrogant like most
Liberian big shots.
SSS Director Chris
Massaquoi Deputy Ashford
Peal The
late E. Williams
Even though what Director Massaquoi was accused
of was wrong, I did not come down hard on him as I
have done in most cases, and wish he would return
the generator to avoid any kind of embarrassment.
I did not have sympathy for the director, but was
in sympathy with members of the Liberian National
Police Force, that group of dedicated, hardworking men
and women who have been abused, neglected, underpaid
and overused over the years by the national
leadership, and have gotten little respect from the
general public.
I advocated an increase in pay for the police and
attributed the problem to low or no pay, the
lack of vehicles, worn-out uniforms, no equipment, low
morale and corruption.
The article was written in February 2005.
A
year later, and after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was
elected and sworn in as president, police pay hasn't
been increased, and other issues have not been
addressed either, as the president went on to appoint
Christian "Chris" Massaquoi, the same guy who was involved in
the generator controversy in the previous government to a new position as Commissioner of Immigration.
After
the July 26 fire that destroyed section of the
Executive Mansion, President Sirleaf reacted quickly
by reshuffling her
cabinet and reappointing Massaquoi to be the new
Director of Special Security Service (SSS), the arm of
government responsible for protecting the President of
Liberia.
Director Massaquoi seems to be a very competent
man who probably knows and understands law enforcement for
which he has been rewarded. Had it not been
for his competence and his dedication to the
profession, previous administrations and the current
one would not have appointed and reappointed him head
of the various law enforcement agencies.
However, what’s lacking in Director
Massaquoi’s resume is a total lack of judgment and
respect for the badge he wears, which are key
requirements needed in law enforcement for the man at
the top to be effective, respected and be taken
seriously by his peers.
The generator issue and the current shooting
incident at his residence exposed the flaws in
Massaquoi, and should have been the focus of the
interview which would have determined whether he's morally and ethically fit to be head of the
Special Security Service.
Director Massaquoi should have been
investigated thoroughly by those that recommended him
for the SSS job, and by the president who has final
authority to approve his hiring.
But as is customary in the Liberian civil
service system, tainted and fired government officials
are rehired and recycled to the next ministry or
agency at the discretion of the old or new government,
without the new employer ever bothering to
investigate the potential employee’s past, which
does not bode well for the integrity of the civil
service system, the national security of the country
and the safety of the president.
When individuals fail to do their job the right
way, there is always a possibility for a crisis like
what happened at the Executive Mansion, or the fatal shoot-out at the director’s house
to happen.
In less than a month into his new job,
Christian “Chris” Massaquoi, the top security in
charge of protecting the President of Liberia
reportedly dodges bullets from the bodyguards of his
deputy, Ashford Peal. The bullet successfully struck
and killed Massaquoi’s bodyguard, Emmanuel “Silver
J” Williams. Talking about high drama? This is one.
The fatal shooting incident did not happen on
the job when Director Massaquoi was trying to protect
the President of Liberia from the bullets of a
would-be assassin, but from an off-duty feud involving
the director, his deputy Ashford Peal (who has since
denied authorizing his bodyguards to shoot), and their
bodyguards, which occurred at the director’s
residence around the same time the political symbol of
the nation, the Executive Mansion
was on fire.
This is not about just another person
shooting another innocent person, or a junior level
security officer using his or her guns inappropriately and without the knowledge of his
superiors to kill another person. In this case, the
senior officers became part of the story.
The involvement of Director Massaquoi and
Deputy Director Peal in this mess has far more reaching
implications and shouldn’t go unpunished. The
shooting issue and the recent fire at the Executive
Mansion tells us a lot about the current government
and the way it operates.
The incidents tend to distract the government from
dealing with other equally important issues like
education, health, jobs and salaries, sanitation, etc,
etc, and paints the
Johnson-Sirleaf administration as incompetent, out of
control and in disarray.
After all, it is about the safety of the
president, the credibility of the agency, the
credibility of the men and women sworn to protect the
president, the reckless endangerment of public safety,
the senseless killing of officer Williams, the reckless abuse of
government properties and the violation of the
security agency’s firearms policy, which are all grounds
for immediate dismissal and prosecution.
The most troubling part about the episode is
that since the tragedy occurred, the Executive
Mansion, for some unknown reasons has not been
forthcoming in explaining whether Deputy Director
Ashford Peal and his accomplices have been apprehended
or are in prison.
The President of Liberia and visiting heads of
state needs protection and they shouldn’t have to
worry about whether the security they get in
Liberia is adequate and professional.
Because of the sensitivity of the job, the
agency that protects the president must be
comprised of highly trained professional men and women
of integrity who are above partisan politics, and cannot allowed
themselves to be involved in reckless adventurism, as
if they are this bunch of illiterate, untrained, trigger-happy
hooligans representing the rebel warlords and not a
democratically elected government.
And when the president cannot trust her
security details and the guys at the top to do their
job, then who else is she to trust to protect her?
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is to be blamed
for this mess. Had she and her staffers
screened and paid adequate attention to the hiring
process and not do things the “Liberian way,”
Emmanuel Williams would be alive today and the
Executive Mansion would not have engulfed in flames.
President Sirleaf and whoever in charge of recruitment
and hiring did not perform their duties well, and let
the nation down by failing to screen potential
employees for those low-level and high-profile jobs.
Just the other day, the Johnson-Sirleaf administration
called themselves putting screening methods and
practices together to prevent similar incident from happening.
Isn't it too little too late?
Director Massaquoi and Deputy Peal failed themselves and their
families. They also failed the Liberian people and the
president they serve.
Both men lost their credibility and must turn in their
badges and resign immediately.
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