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Liberia: CDC, LP Renew Call for Independent Bribery Probe
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The Analyst (Monrovia)
18 November 2007
Posted to the web 18 November 2007
With the United States Ambassador Donald Booth reigniting calls for an independent probe into the bribery allegations that led to the resignation of former House Speaker, Edwin Snowe, two political parties have joined calls for the constitution of an independent commission to investigate the bribery scandal at the lower House.
The Liberty Party and the Congress for Democratic Change say setting up an independent probe by Liberia's President to investigate the alleged bribery scandal at the lower House will in a sense demonstrate the political will to restore credibility to that august body.
The National Chairman of the Liberty Party, Israel Akinsanya said, "This allegation must be investigated and if there's any wrongdoing, those that did the wrong must be brought to book because we need credibility. This thing has made the House of Representatives look bad.
There are times an accusation sometimes carry more weight then even the guilty verdict," he said. He noted that he has problem with the Justice Ministry not looking into the allegation since the issue is criminal in nature.
"I think an independent commission set up by the House of Representatives or the President can appoint an independent commission to look at this case. I call on the President to set-up a commission with a short mandate to look into this bribery allegation.
There are trust-worthy individuals who can constitute this commission. It only depends on how it's composed," the Liberty Party National Chairman said.
For his part, CDC's Secretary-General, Lenn Eugene Nagbe said.
"There has to be an independent investigation void of the House's mechanism because you cannot be the player, referee, match commissioner at the same time. The independent commission will give credence, support and confidence to the investigation," Mr. Nagbe said.
The former Speaker, Edwin Snowe insists he would not succumb to an in-house probe of a bribery allegation he levied against some of his colleagues in January, but welcomed the call by United States Ambassador Donald Booth for an independent probe.
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Former Speaker Snowe accused some of his colleagues of receiving US$5,000 each as bribe from an unknown source to remove him as House Speaker.
He has dismissed claims by current House Speaker Alex Tyler that no evidence was available to conduct a probe. Instead, he said that he had an abundant of evidence which he has already submitted to the entire membership of the House of Representatives, the US Embassy, the media and other groups which an independent panel could use in its investigation.
River Gee Representative Elijah Sieh, one of the ringleaders in the campaign to remove Mr. Snowe as Speaker, said that he backed calls for the bribery allegation to be investigated and asked Snowe to cooperate with investigators by providing proper evidence to prosecute the case.
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