SSA ruction again

THOUGH its operations are secret, the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) has once again found itself under the spotlight.

The surprise announcement by the Office of the Prime Minister of the recall of Ambassador Brig Gen Anthony Phillips-Spencer from Washington, DC, for the purpose of his appointment as acting head of the SSA raises troubling questions, painting a picture of dysfunction and dissatisfaction at the core of the national security apparatus.

The brief notice issued on Sunday made no mention of Major Roger Best, the individual Phillips-Spencer is understood to have replaced. It did not thank Major Best for his services. Nor was any explanation given for the abrupt change.

Instead, the Office of the Prime Minister said the SSA director had “been sent on administrative leave” pursuant to a recommendation by the National Security Council (NSC), chaired by the PM.

That this course of action was due to unstated, pressing factors was suggested by the media release’s disclosure that the NSC’s recommendation was that “the head of the SSA be replaced immediately and that new leadership and management be installed with dispatch.”

Further, Phillips-Spencer is now tasked, we have been told, with “initiating an extensive review and audit of all personnel, equipment and processes within the SSA.” This comes a few years after precisely such a review was done under the current administration, resulting in the fusing of several entities and the drawing-up of new regulations and legal powers. Clearly, we are at another turning point.

The exact point in time at which the NSC formulated its recommendation is unclear. But the announcement came about 48 hours after the council met at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.

Officials present included: Fitzgerald Hinds, Minister of National Security; Reginald Armour, SC, Attorney General; Colm Imbert, Minister of Finance; and Marvin Gonzales, Minister of Public Utilities.

The leadership overhaul also comes weeks after Dr Rowley met with US military officials at the Pentagon in Washington and with William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), at Langley, Virginia.

Amid a spiralling crime rate, which saw at least seven killed this weekend, there has been tremendous pressure on the Government to change its approach.

For 2024, the SSA has been allocated $20 million more in budget funding, with its allocation rising to $270 million, up from $250 million in 2023 and $247 million in 2022.

But almost $2.1 billion in spending remains unaccounted for, according to claims by Opposition Senator Wade Mark earlier this year.

Since the SSA scandals of the 2010s and 2020s, some of that money has funded expensive litigation brought against the State by former SSA personnel.

National-security caveats notwithstanding, officials must reassure us we are not in store for more of the same. And they should explain why the newest appointment is only acting.