In 1990, this country went through the throes of an armed and bloody attempted coup d’état at the hands of religious zealots. Thirty-four years later, TT is now witnessing the surreptitious infiltration of the premier intelligence agency in this country – the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).
Behind it all is said to be the leader of a church led by a 67-year-old pastor (apostle Ian Albert Ezekiel Brown). Brown claims to be a spy planted in the agency to uncover wrongdoing. Several SSA members go to the Jerusalem Bride (JB church) at Chin Aleong Street, Malabar in Arima. Membership is restricted to people primarily with military backgrounds. The membership includes top officials from different branches of the protective services like the police and defence force.
SSA’s operations have captivated readers for weeks as information about the infiltration of the top spy agency, whose vision, in its annual report 2021, says it enables the fight to reduce and prevent serious and organised crime in TT. The information leaked about the perceived threat to national security reads like a script from US novelist Tom Clancy, who was known for his technically detailed espionage storylines.
SSA’s mission statement says the agency contributes to the security of the nation and the people by creating and delivering the highest-quality intelligence, operational support, and training products and services to our local and international partners to detect, pre-empt, disrupt, and dismantle current and emerging threats.
SSA’s last annual report, which was laid in Parliament in 2022, states the agency received $163,403,531.86 from the National Security Ministry in 2021 and $320,507.33 in grant funding from the Arms Trade Treaty Secretariat. It added that total expenditures in 2021 decreased by just over 11 per cent from 2020, mainly due to reduced monthly subventions and increases in wire transfer commitments.
The report added: “This is reflected in the expenditure for goods and services, which decreased from $82,475,165.00 in 2020 to $66,339,075.51 in 2021. Personnel expenditure saw a slight increase from $67,789,067.00 in 2020 to $77,865,216.31 in 2021.”
From January to December 2021, the human resource department recruited 78 people, 62 renewals and 16 new staff. The agency also completed the orientation of 28 people and trained managers and supervisors on performance management. The SSA provides assistance and guidance to the police on the detection and prevention of serious crimes, including fraud, conspiracy to murder law enforcement officials, and conspiracies to inspire moral panic. The agency also assists and guides the Immigration Division, the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), the Counter Trafficking Unit as well as the Defence Force and prison officers.
The report said despite the pandemic, in 2021, SSA held four academic and eight technical programmes, which included participants from “all spheres of national security.” They included regular and municipal police, including officers from the Parliament
