New Democrat (Monrovia)
2 July 2009
The Director of Police was a woman. Her Deputy was a woman. For the first time, the police were led by women. It was a novelty with some romanticism following the election of a woman president.
All that was yesterday. In the sweeping changes within the security sector, one of those affected was the Inspector Genera, Mrs. Beatrice Munah Sieh-Brown, a long-time police officer named to lead the country's post-war police force.
Recruited from the US where she was teaching after leaving the country, according to Internet sources, Mrs. Brown inherited a shattered police force that over the years had been stuffed with ex-fighters accused of terrible crimes. On the agenda was to alter the force and give it a new face. This meant bringing in retired US police chief under the umbrella of the UN. A recruitment drive was launched to attract educated and competent individuals after scrapping the old police amidst protests. The challenge now was giving birth to the new, which has been a debilitating one as crime rose with the police incapable of meeting the challenge, partly as a result of under-funding and corruption.
With Mrs. Brown gone, the President announced the dismissal of her Deputy, Mrs. Asatu Bah-Kanneh, this week, creating a male-dominated police force once again.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf named Mr. Samuel F. Dakana as Deputy Director/Deputy Inspector General of Police, replacing Mrs. Asatu Bah-Kanneh. National Police.
An Executive Mansion release issue Wednesday said Mr. Dakana's nomination is pending confirmation by the Liberian Senate.
Other nominees include; Counsellor George Wiles Jr., Resident Circuit Judge, 7th Judicial Court in Grand Gedeh County and Mr. Koryour Zulu, District Commissioner, Konobo District, Grand Gedeh County.
The President also nominated Mr. Arthur Z. Kahn, District Commissioner, Gboa Administrative District, Grand Gedeh County; Mr. J. Cheyee Banto, District Commissioner, Gbo/Plo District, Grand Gedeh County and Mr. Alfred M. Tarlue, City Mayor, Zleh City, Grand Gedeh County.
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