By: Varney Dukuly
MONROVIA: The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), has called on the bicameral Liberian Legislature to fast-track the passage of Anti-Corruption bills recently submitted to the Legislature by President George Manneh Weah.
President Weah submitted the anti-graft instruments to the Legislature, particularly the House of Representatives for enactment: “Proposed Act Restating an Act to Establish the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, “the proposed Whistle Blower Act of 2021.”
Others include the “proposed Act amending Part X, Section 10 of the Code of Conduct of 2014, to grant full authority to the LACC to compile, verify, maintain, and update a comprehensive asset declaration registry for all Government employees with specific sanctions for non-compliance.
CENTAL, in a petition to the Legislature on Tuesday, cited the lack of support and concrete steps such as political will when it comes to the fight against corruption as primary reasons for the institution’s march on Capitol Hill.
The passage of the bills, CENTAL notes, will not only enhance the fight against corruption but also strengthen other anti-graft institutions such as the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, General Auditing Commission, Internal Audit Agency, Public Procurement and Concessions Commission, Liberia Extractive Industry and Transparency Initiative and many others to work at full capacity.
“We have not seen much in terms of concrete support to public integrity institutions, our laws are not being enforced, so this is why we have come peacefully to petition the Legislature to, among other things, act on the bills that are before you which were submitted by the Executive,” CENTAL Executive Director, Anderson Maimen, emphasized.
Dressed in white clothing and holding anti-corruption placards with various inscriptions, the protesters decried the failure of the Legislature to accept mounting calls from the public for comprehensive and forensic audit of the National Legislature.
“As direct representatives of the people, we are encouraging you to open up yourself for audit because the resources you received here are Liberian tax payers’ money and you need to be accountable for the resources you received over time,” the CENTAL boss asserted.
The petition viewed acts of corruption in Liberia as an ingrained menace that is severely affecting the country’s growth and development.
CENTAL also reminded the Weah’s administration of Liberia’s commitment to other international protocols that frown on corruption and bad governance.
Liberia was recently ‘slapped’ with Report from the United Nations (UN) System, indicating the country’s mismatch in its fight against corruption including the implementation of anti-corruption laws.
Liberia inked the United Nation Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), on September 6, 2005, and subsequently ratified it on May 31, 2007.
The latest Report, among other things, examines the implementation of Chapter II on Preventive Measures and Chapter V on Asset Recovery of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in law and in practice.
According to the latest Report by the highly influential world-body, “Corruption in Liberia is systemic and penetrates the entire society, from the top to the bottom.”
The report added that corruption “remains a major scourge that undermines Liberia’s development, weakens the state, quenches foreign investors, and locks the majority of the population in fierce poverty.”
