“Corruption, including comprehensive audit of the past administration and prosecution of those who abused public assets and resources, including officials that presided over Bankruptcy of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL). Also, delay in completing investigation into grave matters such as the $25 million mop-up exercise, when substantial work had already been carried out by the Presidential Investigative Team, do not speak to pragmatism and robustness of the government in dealing with corruption.”
In a statement Friday, CENTAL expressed deep concerns about authenticated communications circulating on social media, published in newspapers, and as well as statements from development partners and public integrity institutions pointing to deception, alleged corruption and abuse of public trust and resources by government officials. “These include, but are not limited to a communication from key Embassies and Missions in Liberia cautioning government against misuse of donors’ funds and recent statement from the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission highlighting discrepancies in assets, incomes and liabilities declared by some public officials, in compliance with the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.”
In addition to the missing 16 billion Liberian Dollars saga, National Housing Authority Corruption scandal and other occurrences of the past, CENTAL stated that these recent developments place further dent on the country’s image and the government’s fight against corruption, which has been underwhelming since President Weah assumed power in 2018.
“CENTAL believes that not much has happened to decisively deal with Corruption, including comprehensive audit of the past administration and prosecution of those who abused public assets and resources, including officials that presided over Bankruptcy of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL). Also, delay in completing investigation into grave matters such as the $25 million mop-up exercise, when substantial work had already been carried out by the Presidential Investigative Team, do not speak to pragmatism and robustness of the government in dealing with corruption.”
CENTAL strongly encourages President Weah to be practical and impartial in dealing with corruption, making good on earlier promise made to clean his government of corruption.
The transparency group is meanwhile recommending the following actions: Timely and impartial implementation of outcomes of ongoing investigation into the $25 million mop-up exercise, expected to be completed within two weeks; That President Weah and the CDC-led Government timely act on grave concerns being raised by donors/development partners, as not doing so may limit donors’ confidence in the government and have serious implications for future funding and support to Liberia; That the Legislature be more proactive in playing its various roles, extremely important to enhancing our governance process and addressing the current harsh economic realities Liberians face; That the LACC, GAC, PPCC and other public integrity institutions be given the necessary resources and space to operate, in keeping with their mandates; and That the media, civil society and other stakeholders remain constructively engaged with the government in demanding accountability and quality service delivery