The National Orator of Liberia's 166thIndependence Anniversary, Cllr. Varney Nambi-Gboto Sherman, has warned that all of the achievements of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf led government will not be recognized if her government fails the fight against corruption after the completion of her second term.

Official celebration of this year's Independence Anniversary was jointly hosted by Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Bomi Counties. In her first inaugural address in 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf declared corruption as public enemy number-one and vowed to deal with the menace drastically.

But critics of the President had persistently asserted that her government failed the fight against corruption-which they described as one of the key factors responsible for Liberia's quagmire. Cllr. Sherman, who is also the Chairman of the ruling Unity Party (UP), recalled that abject poverty, economic and social deprivation and beggary were some of the reasons that caused the 14-year- civil war.

According to him, these same situations still persist under the current regime of President Johnson-Sirleaf. Hear Cllr. Sherman: "Poverty, social and economic deprivation and treachery are fertile ground for unrest; it is poverty, social economic deprivation and beggary that unscrupulous people take advantage of when they employ violence as the instrument to make a difference in the lives of our people. This must be tackled."

However, he observed that enormous improvements have been made. He named some of the improvement as the debt wavier, infrastructure development, restoration of Liberian image and credibility to the international community among others.

But the UP chairman maintained: "All of these achievement and accomplishment are not enough unless corruption and other negative social vices are tackled."

The prominent Liberian lawyer furthered that silence from war does not mean total peace. "Now is the time that we begin to think about small projects such as the installation of pipe borne water and solar lights in all the villages of this country. These are projects that directly impact the lives of the greater majority of our people. We suggest that these projects be implemented as one of means of eliminating poverty here," he stated.

He then urged President Johnson-Sirleaf to remain resolute and strong in her personal conviction and action to stamp out corruption from Liberia.

"You must not be deterred by the indifference of others or by a failure for example to get one or two legislations passed that will enhance the work of fighting against corruption," Cllr. Sherman pointed out.

While he does not think that Liberia needs special court to prosecute corruption, he recommended that some existing criminal courts be designated by law to handle corruption cases.

The 166th Independence Day Orator believes that prosecutorial power for the Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC) will expedite the management of corruption matter.

"Madam President, be tough, tough and tough about corruption which have overshadowed all of our achievement since the guns were silenced in 2003. I therefore recommend Madam President, we should conduct a study on how something can be done to reduce the incidence of corruption or stamp it out completely," he among other things added.