NSA Planning to Undermine July 17 Protest

NSA Headquarters & Logo

As momentum builds for the July 17 protest, concerns are escalating within the National Security Agency (NSA) over the scale and influence of the mobilization. According to credible sources, the agency is actively developing plans to undermine the protest, with Marc A. Amblard reportedly leading the operation. While key organizer Morlu remains a target, the immediate strategy is to target influential community mobilizers, particularly in slum areas such as West Point and New Kru Town, through surveillance, tailing, and preemptive arrests.

Targeted Arrests and Intimidation: Security forces may identify and detain key organizers—often those designated as mobilizers in vulnerable communities—before the protest occurs. This tactic is designed to disrupt planning and instill fear among would-be participants.

Legal System Manipulation: The state may use minor or obscure charges to arrest key protest actors, tying them up in lengthy legal proceedings and discouraging further dissent. This practice is deeply rooted in the country’s political and judicial sphere, where the legal system is often leveraged as a tool of political control rather than impartial justice.

The targeting of slum communities such as West Point and New Kru Town is not without precedent. The NSA’s reported plan to undermine the July 17 protest by targeting key mobilizers in these areas fits a pattern of state suppression. The NSA’s focus on surveillance and suppression, rather than on crime prevention, community policing, or countering genuine security threats, has fueled public skepticism about the agency’s true mission.

The NSA’s budget has ballooned under the current administration largely to suppress dissent. In 2024, the agency was allocated US$9.4 million but overspent by $1.5 million. For 2025, the budget allocates a staggering $14.98 million to the Agency. This represents a 119% jump in the NSA’s special operations intelligence line and is part of a broader surge in intelligence-related spending across security agencies in the country.

Despite these massive allocations, the NSA and other intelligence agencies have been plagued by off-budget expenditures. In 2024, the government as a whole spent $13.3 million off-budget, in direct violation of transparency laws. Much of this spending is categorized under “covert operations” and “unexplained miscellaneous” expenses, with no accountability.

The rationale for such high intelligence spending is highly questionable. Liberia remains in the “No Impact Zone” of the 2024 Global Terrorism Index, scoring zero for terrorist threat, and has an extremely low threat level overall. Despite the surge in intelligence funding, Liberia’s security environment has not improved. According to the Gallup 2024 Global Law and Order Index, Liberia is the most unsafe country in Africa for the second consecutive year, with a score of 50, well below regional peers. The country’s security threats index, which measures risks from crime, instability, and public trust in security institutions, stood at 6.5 in 2024.

Public perceptions reflect this reality: only 30% of Liberians feel safe walking at night, and nearly half report theft or assault in the past year. Corruption and neglect within law enforcement are cited as key drivers of this insecurity, with many citizens claiming that police and security agencies are more focused on political repression than public protection.

As the protest date approaches, the NSA’s alleged strategy is to disrupt. But there are eyes closely watching.

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