PHOTO: Pres. Weah and other officials pose for pic in front of the building
Monrovia, Liberia- At the back of the White Plains Water Treatment Plant sits a three-story building just constructed, which is now the new headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA), less than 25 kilometers from Monrovia.
For many years now, the NSA has been based in the Mamba Point area in central Monrovia.
According to official information from this elite force, NSA, this agency of government “is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence Liberian communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine.”
President Weah toured the new NSA headquarters on Monday, April 5, 2021, the Executive Mansion disclosed on Monday.
In a press release, the Mansion said President Dr. George Manneh Weah, described the newly constructed headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) as “a milestone achievement and an outcome of excellent bilateral cooperation”.
The NSA headquarters was built with funding from United States Government in support of the Liberian security sector. But the cost of the construction has not been disclosed.
President Weah thanked the US government for its support, stating that Liberia looks forward to more US support for the improvement of other sectors in the future.
In its latest human rights report on Liberia, the United States government has given a bleak picture of the human rights situation in Liberia, citing a number issues that marred the state of affairs in this country in the past year, with not much difference from the Americans’ conclusion in 2019.
In the 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Liberia released recently, the US State Department speaks of a high degree of impunity, amid repeated human rights abuses both in the past and present.
“Significant human rights issues included: arbitrary killings by police; cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by police; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention by government officials; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; serious restrictions on freedom of the press, including violence and threats of violence against journalists; official corruption; lack of investigation and accountability for violence against women; the existence or use of laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults; and the worst forms of child labor,” says the US human rights report on Liberia. https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/liberia/
The President indicated that the construction of the NSA Headquarters is consistent with his government’s plan to construct facilities for government institutions in order to ease the pressure of paying huge rental fees to landlords.
President Weah thanked the NSA administration headed by James H. Pearson for their efforts and cooperation in constructing such a state-of-the-art office complex and admonished them to ensure the building is properly maintained so that it serves as impetus for others who may want to assist government undertake similar projects.
The three-storey headquarters complex was negotiated and built during the administration of President Weah in a year time. The new complex was inaugurated on April 2, 2021.