The National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL) has lauded President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s firm administrative decision to suspend all three top officials of the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) for continued infightings. NCSCL, which is the umbrella organization for all civil society organizations in the country, is also calling on the Liberian leader to, with immediate effect dismiss the three officials and have them replaced without delay as the fight against drugs is pivotal to the country’s growth and development process. In recent times, the LDEA has been engrained with infighting amid claims and counter-claims among the top three officials, with Mr. Kromah on one side and his two deputies on another side. The fracas exacerbated Monday, June 3, 2024 when a violent altercation erupted between Mr. Kromah and Fadiga, leading to the prompt intervention of Gregory Coleman, the Inspector General of the Liberia National Police, before the situation was brought under control. Predicated upon this, President Boakai, who is heading a Liberian government delegation at the Korea-Africa Summit, took a stern administrative decision by immediately suspending the trio heading the LDEA – Director General Mr. Abraham S. Kromah, Deputy Director General for Administration, Mr. Gbawou Kowou, and the Deputy Director General for Operations, Mr. Hassan Fadiga without pay pending investigation. On the heels of this, the CSO Council on Wednesday, June 5, 2024 issued a statement welcoming the President’s action, while at the same time calling for speedy and impartial investigation as well as the immediate dismissals of Kromah and his deputies. The CSO Council pointed out the LDEA, being a government’s institution established to fight against drugs, which happens to be one of the biggest wars globally, is expected to portray all attributes of integrity and that anything short of this is a matter of concern. NCSCL maintains ongoing misunderstanding at the Agency has the propensity to dampen all efforts directed towards the fight against drugs, and as such, Kromah and entire team must be removed to be replaced with Liberians who have the zest and integrity to serve their country. “The National Civil Society Council wants to use this time to welcome President Joseph Nyuma Boakai for his prompt intervention and decisive step to suspend those officials fighting among themselves at the LDEA. The Council sees the Liberian leader’s decision as a mark of good and responsible leadership, and so we want to thank him for that,” stated the Council in the statement signed by Chairperson Loretta Alethea Pope-Kai. “Now that those officials suspended, the Council hereby calls on the President to, with no delay have them dismissed and replaced because the fight against drugs and illicit substances remains the biggest battle that the country faces. And as promised, the government must launch a speedy investigation into the matters unfolding at the entity, because some of these might be detrimental to the country. For us, we see matters at the LDEA as something that threatens the security of our state, and as such, urgency must be attached in addressing it. Something must be responsible for these in-house fighting and this is why this investigation is necessary and urgent. This is worrisome and must be brought to an end.”
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