Monrovia — The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), has accused President Weah of being in charge of excessive increase of corruption in Liberia than ever before.
The Executive Director of CENTAL's, Anderson Miamen, over the weekend, has revealed report titled "Do Not Promote and Nurture Corruption; Hold Officials Accountable and Give Impetus to Anti-Corruption Effort," a report that catalog the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2022, with Liberia stepping further down in score on the Index from 29 in 2021 to 26 in 2022 with an unfortunate 15-point decline since the score of 41 in 2012.
The CENTAL Boss said the new statistics has verified CENTAL 2022 State of Corruption Report (SCORE 2022), which reveals that 90% of Liberians think the Corruption level is high in the country, with declining confidence in the executive branch of government to fight against corruption, from 30% to 26%.
Miamen said: "Reversing this negative trend is possible, but only when Liberians collectively act against corruption by playing their respective roles. More importantly, the President and Government of Liberia must lead by example by taking timely, robust, and impartial actions to implement anti-corruption laws and investigate and prosecute all persons accused of corruption." CENTAL stated.
The CENTAL Boss further expressed deeply concerned about multiple developments and actions of the President, which tend to undermine the government's own fight against corruption as well as the efforts of development partners who are interested in seeing a more accountable and transparent Liberian society where public service is truly about the people and not otherwise.
He named some of President Weah's undermining tendency of the fight against transparency as "Delayed investigation into the Bassirou Kante's Diplomatic Passport Scandal among others.
"We cannot continue to have a culture of endless investigations into critical matters that border on public interest, national security, and the reputation of the State, more broadly. Therefore, we strongly encourage the President's office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to complete and publish the investigative report so that the public has full information on what transpired. This is also important to ensure that those culpable fully account their actions. CENTAL Boss said.
Miamen said: "On the issue of President Weah's Lack of Political Will and Desire to Establish the Ombudsman's Office, CENTAL recalled that, in April 2022, for jurisdictional reasons, the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court at the Temple of Justice or Criminal "C" dismissed the indictment against National Elections Commission Chairperson, Cllr. Davietta Browne Lassanah.
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"Madam Lassanah had been indicted on allegations of insider trading and market manipulation, and conflict of interest. The Court cited the office of Ombudsman as the body with original jurisdiction over the matter. In 2017, the Supreme Court of Liberia in the case Polson-Mappy v. Republic of Liberia, emphasizing the importance of the Office of the Ombudsman also stated that "there is at present no forum of first instance to receive and address complaints of alleged violation of the Code of Conduct Act".
"We are, therefore, appalled that the President of Liberia has not taken due notice of these court decisions as an additional impetus to establish and strengthen the office of the Ombudsman to hear cases relating to public officials' compliance with the Code of Conduct.
"We are disappointed that President Weah continues to show limited commitment and attention to things that will help to strengthen the culture of accountability, transparency, and integrity in Liberia. Liberians need an institution with whom they can file complaints related to the conduct of public officials, in line with requirements of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials."
"We strongly urge the President to do the needful by fulfilling this legal requirement, which is an extremely important redress mechanism intended to deal with election and non-election related issues appertaining to the conducts and dealings of public officials. Further, we urge the President to ensure that the 2022 amendment to the Code of Conduct is printed into handbill.
