Tension and disagreements at the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) between Director Abraham Kromah and his deputy for Operations, Al Hassan Fadiga, appear to be far from over as the two senior security officials were embroiled in a verbal clash.
A source hinted that Kromah and Fadiga along with other officers were in a meeting on Monday, April 15, 2024, when Fadiga walked out of the meeting on grounds that he did not want to hear what Kromah was talking about.
During the meeting according to the source, Director Kromah was expressing his dislikes among other things, as to how Fadiga was bent on taking unilateral decisions without his (Kromah) approval.
According to our source, while Fadiga was walking out of the meeting, Kromah reportedly stated that Fadiga was setting a bad example by disrespecting him in the presence of junior officers and should not expect those junior officers to respect him (Fadiga).
Few weeks ago, Kromah was said to have instructed that all LDEA officers should not take orders from deputy director Fadiga until otherwise order.
The reported mandate by Kromah for officers not to take instructions from Fadiga, is said to be causing problem at the LDEA.
However, Director Kromah has finally provided his version of what is transpiring at the Agency.
In his response on Monday, April 15, 2024, Kromah disclosed that his deputy for operations has refused to take instructions from him especially as it relates to the working of the LDEA.
“He is the deputy for operations; he goes about changing officers’ assignments without my knowledge. Fadiga is in the habit of releasing suspects who have been arrested for drugs without my consent,” the LDEA Boss told this paper.
He stated that Fadiga wants to go raid ghettoes and drug suspects without gathering any intelligence or presenting operational plan for his review.
When Kromah was pressed on why there are always disagreements between him and Fadiga, these were his words: “My deputy for operations goes to detention centers releasing drug suspects without telling me. He has repeatedly refused to make report to me. He is in the habit of changing officers’ assignments without informing my office.
He unilaterally shares information with other security institutions of government without telling me. That’s wrong. I am the director of LDEA and I need to know and approve everything that goes on there.”
On the issue of private security guards being brought to do the work at LDEA, this is what Kromah had to say “There is absolutely no private security guards doing the work at LDEA. As a matter of fact, we have professional officers capable of performing their duty. What is happening now is that there are volunteer officers who I inherited at LDEA. They were not brought here by me. This information is untrue and should not be given attention.”
Commenting on the training of officers at LDEA, Kromah refuted that there is an ongoing training, adding “I heard that I hired one Zizag Mazza to train officers of LDEA. I do not even know this guy. I have not seen him before so where is this information coming from?” Kromah asked.
He further disclosed that recruitment at LDEA is yet to start, “The recruitment process will begin as soon as the National budget is passed into law,” Kromah disclosed.
But,is this right for Fadega to do this to his boss.
What president said about the issue, because we need to hear him what he will say, for me the problem is Fadega side so if your can look at it then that’s well be fine.