By New Dawn

Copyright thenewdawnliberia

Senator Momo T. Cyrus kicks against interference by the executive and others in confirmation hearings.

By Lincoln G. Peters

Monrovia, Liberia; September 18, 2025 – The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Defense, Intelligence, Security and Veteran Affairs, Lofa County Senator, Momo T. Cyrus, has vowed to resist external and internal interference from the Executive and colleagues in the confirmation of whosoever to be nominated to head the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, following series of complains from the Interim Management Team.

Speaking in an interview with legislative reporters on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, following a day-long meeting with the LDEA team, Senator Cyrus said that the committee has agreed that drugs have become a national emergency and need to be addressed urgently.

According to him, in the past, if not directly, the Committee has indirectly seen and encountered interference from the Executive and some colleagues, placing phone calls and messages to consider some nominees that come for a confirmation hearing, but said that with issues at the LDEA, he will not accept it any longer.

“As a committee, we have seen some level of interference from the Executive and other colleagues in considering certain nominees. I want to assure them that it will not happen again with the issues at LDEA and any other security institution. In our second and third years, and beyond as Chair, we will be more vigilant and have robust oversight. Indeed, we are experiencing some interference from the Executive and colleagues.”

Asked what approach is being employed by the committee to avoid interference, he said, “We will do this on standard, and we will not accept them anymore. We want to assure the public that as Chair of the Committee and with my strong membership, the issues of drugs will be addressed. We intend to raise the LDEA budget to US$10 million. So, we will work with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that they have US$10 million for the operational budget, and we will go after them to ensure that the money is properly spent.”

According to him, they were informed that some of the volunteers or Action Agents of the LDEA had been given preference over those actually employed, and the leader of the LDEA had been disunited at the Institution because they all had sides working separately and internally with the Action Agent, which he said was bringing confusion and misunderstanding.

Accordingly, he reemphasized that this time around, those who will be nominated to take over the Agency must be professional people and they will make sure that those confirmations will speak to honesty, credentials, and rightful formality and technical skills and abilities to manage the LDEA.

“However, I made this very clear to them that those who will be nominated by the President and come before the Senate for a confirmation hearing, this time around, the committee has decided, and I want to be resolute that we will be very keen on people who will be nominated to manage the LDEA. It will not be business as usual, where people come and we receive calls from people asking us for favors for the nominees because of party line or some connections”, Senator Cyrus added.

He revealed that the meeting held with the Management Team was intended to gather information on progress, challenges, and the support needed, including both long-term and short-term reforms to prevent a similar situation.

He noted that the Team shared a comprehensive discussion with the committee, complaining of overstaffing, logistical, and headquarters challenges.

“They told us that they are overstaffed. They have a group known as the Action Agents, who number over one thousand and have been working for over ten years without being paid or employed. We view the volunteers’ Action Agent as a threat because someone is working for ten years without taking a salary; the question is, how have they been surviving? So, we think these are some of the reasons why the drugs have been circulating. So, we told them clearly that this needs to be taken care of, and they have agreed.”

The LDEA has faced a series of operational and leadership hurdles since the inception of this administration, which has seen President Boakai change five leaderships, beginning with Col. Abraham Kromah and ending with Anthony Sore. Editing by Jonathan Browne