MONROVIA, Liberia – Several servicemen within the elite presidential guard have confided to the Bush Chicken that they are underpaid and lack the benefits afforded to their counterparts in other African countries.

The servicemen, members of the Executive Protective Service (EPS), explained that this current condition poses a security risk to the safety and well-being of the president. One guard told the Bush Chicken that the dissatisfaction over compensation among the presidential guards should not be taken lightly. “You have to make the guys happy; they are the ones protecting the president, the first family and other important government officials. You cannot treat them like ordinary security,” the serviceman told the Bush Chicken on a condition of anonymity. The men were speaking anonymously in order to avoid being dismissed from their jobs.

Another serviceman suggested that dissatisfaction over pay can allow the guards to be manipulated more easily. “To avoid this kind of security breach, you need to boost the prestige of the guards,” he added.

The servicemen claim to make $300 per month in addition to medical benefits for their immediate family members. They also claim that their EPS equivalents across the continent make between $600 and $1000.

Salary data across the continent are hard to verify. Within Liberia, trained private guards can make between $150 and $200 on a monthly basis. The servicemen say that their salary should reflect the importance of their jobs and therefore it should be higher.

They are also calling for housing and transportation benefits. One serviceman noted, “You cannot be serving the president, [and not] have a fitting place to lay your head.” He continued, “Remember, we are not ordinary security guards. We are the president’s protectors, but we walk home after duty, no transportation for us; can you imagine that? You think this is how it should be? We are paid far less than the other elite security guards around West Africa.  When we are doing local travels with the president, we are not given stipend but we hear that the president has huge allowances for both local and foreign travels.”

The Bush Chicken contacted the national security advisor to the president to verify the servicemen’s claims. Dr. Boima Fahnbulleh indicated that he would not discuss the matter because it was against his ethics to discuss security matters with “non-security people.” However, he did not refute any of the guards’ claims.