31 May 2016

The public is advised to dismiss the story which appeared on the Sunday Standard newspaper dated May 29 with the title “DISS curious money trail suggests off budget spending” as it is nothing but recycled falsehoods that were earlier published by the newspaper on November 29, 2015. 

This story shows the Sunday Standard has now resorted to recycling false information with the mistaken belief that, if they repeat the lie often enough, it will be taken as the truth. 

It is unfortunate and disappointing that the Editors of the Sunday Standard view readers of the newspaper as a gullible lot that can be easily deceived to influence debate over certain issues and skew public opinion. 

This is a tremendous disservice to unsuspecting readers and it negatively impacts on the quality of discourse that often relies on the newspaper’s stories. 

The Directorate of Intelligence and Security carries out its duties within the provisions of the Intelligence and Security Service Act 2007, with guidance from institutions responsible for providing oversight, which include, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, the Central Intelligence Committee, the Accountant General’s Office, the Auditor General’s Office, and the Intelligence and Security Council. 

These bodies are empowered, by law, to scrutinize, amongst others, the budget and expenditure of the Directorate and to highlight any areas of concern, as they do with all other Government Ministries and independent departments. 

The issues raised in the newspaper would have been easily picked up and addressed following laid down procedure by these oversight bodies, if they were not false. The Directorate of Intelligence and Security has a duty to counter threats to national security as defined under Section 2 of the Intelligence and Security Service Act, 2007. 

The Directorate is a relatively new institution and it has to do more to develop capabilities and stay current with constantly changing and new technologies that our adversaries take advantage of to carry out illegal activities. The consequences of not responding to threats would be dire for the country. 

Members of the public are advised to rest assured that no amount of misinformation, such as that circulated by the Sunday Standard newspaper, will derail the Directorate from performing its functions as outlined in Section 5 of the Intelligence and Security Service Act 2007. BGCIS