Former officers accuse SSA director of nepotism

Two months after 35 members of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) were fired, two former members are claiming they have not been paid or given an explanation for their dismissal. They alleged they were fired as part of a larger plot by some SSA members to remove staff in order to hire friends and family.

Asked if they would be satisfied with being reinstated, they said all those who were retrenched are approaching retirement age and would be satisfied with receiving their salaries and benefits.

“We won’t be able to do very much at our age. Right now we just want our money to be able to go home to our families. Its really unfortunate that this has happened to us after we risked our lives for this country, not just in the SSA, but we’ve also held distinguished positions in other arms of the protective service as well,” said one of the ex-workers.

The former officers claimed that in November, they found their lockers broken into and personal items put in garbage bags. Security staff later told them they had been dismissed and had to leave. The formal dismissal letter cited their failing an examination as the reason, but the two said they did not sit any exam.

“We still aren’t sure why we were fired. They said it was because we failed a company examination, but none of us underwent any kind of examination, and even if we did fail, that’s not a reason to fire someone. I know for certain the positions we once operated are still functional so they can’t use the excuse that our posts were made redundant.”

SSA human resources manager Veronica Simon could not be reached for comment.

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