Monrovia — President Joseph Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Koung did something uncommon last week by making public sketchy details of their asset declarations, although it was in response to growing pressure on them to fulfill a major campaign promise.
The offices of the president and vice president released the details of the duo's asset declarations in statements barely six months into their regime.
Although the act creating the Code of Conduct does not compel any public officials to disclose their assets, President Joseph Boakai and his Vice President have faced pressure from civil society and the public to do so. By making their assets public, the officials aim to boost transparency and encourage other public officials to follow suit. However, their asset disclosures have garnered mixed reactions, with some welcoming their move while others questioning the validity of their assets, insinuating that they have under-declared.
Some who hailed Mr. Boakai and his deputy for the gesture recalled that then President George Weah didn't make public his declaration of assets no matter the level of criticism.
Mr. Boakai's public declaration, even with the initial reluctance, was a forward leap in transparency and accountability, his supporters said.
But others who judged Mr. Boakai and his deputy by their campaign vow to make public declaration of their assets, were disappointed that it took pressure from the public for them to fulfill their promise.
Mr. Boakai, a former vice president under Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for 12 years, ran an anti-corruption-based campaign which earned him his electoral victory over Mr. Weah and his Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC) in 2023.
He had promised to fight corruption and end the lack of transparency that dogged the country since its independence in 1847.
For Jesse B. Cole, a human rights activist, without the access of Liberians to the details of the assets declared by public officers, the anti-corruption war cannot produce the desired result.
"The law only says public officers should declare their assets; it is not mandatory for them to make them public. That is why it is difficult for Liberians to access what they declare," said Mr. Cole.
According to him and many other public accountability campaigners, with public declarations of assets, members of the public have the opportunity to track the expansion or contraction in the assets of a public officer or help the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission to uncover assets not declared.
For Mr. Boakai, his total assets value is put at $1,171,919.60, including cash on hand: $5,750, cash in bank: $61,295.96, real properties: $766,391.07, personal properties: $212,400, and other assets $126,082.57 and a total net worth of $970,419.60.
Mr. Boakai's declared assets - if accurate - would make him quite wealthy by the standards of ordinary Liberians.
Just or under declaration
Mr. Boakai has been active in public service for more than 40 years, spanning years back when he served the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), a lucrative agency of government as well as the Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC), another entity that received massive support for the revamping of the agriculture sector of Liberia.
In addition to serving in top positions at these entities, Mr. Boakai went on to become Vice President of the Republic of Liberia for twelve unbroken years in a Government that was declared very corrupt by its own former Auditor General, John S. Morlu, II.
During the twelve years, there was huge donor support including a pledge of over 500 million by international partners to the rebuilding process of Liberia.
Visibly, the donor support to Liberia was so glaring that nearly all sectors of the country received huge international donations and other forms of support. The declaration by the President that his net worth in terms of dollars and cents is $1.17 million has received mixed reactions, with many arguing that the President had under declared what he had acquired over the years in an attempt to defend his public utterances that he had served the public with sincerity and honesty.
President Boakai had always expressed that he has never been engaged in acts of corruption, championing the claims of "transparent" and a "clean man", which is leading to the conclusion by members of the public that in order to prove his assertions, the President is under declaring that he has acquired over the years in a quest to avoid further public scrutiny of his declared assets.
On the other hand, many also believe that the assets declared by the Presiding is high and does not go in line with his claim that he had served the public with sincerity and honesty.
In a country like Liberia, to be worth nearly One million United States Dollars is not something ordinary because on record, government salary is very meager and no sincere public official has been able to acquire wealth of $970,000.
During these years, Boakai is not known for having any established business in the country or engaging in other major sources of income in addition to his Government of Liberia salary. In the context of finance and economics wages have never been known to be a positive factor in making people acquire wealth and this makes it even doubtful how President Boakai had been able to acquire and maintain assets of nearly $1 million, which means he is a millionaire in a poor country such as Liberia.
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With this mixed reaction regarding the assets declared by the President, something that is very lacking is the verification of assets declared by public officials and this now leads to a new phenomenon where there should be provisions in the law for the verification of assets declared by public officials so as to ensure what is declared is authentic.
For Koung, his declared assets are worth more than 7 million. The former co-chair of the lucrative Ways, Means, and Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, he is one person who comes with heavy burden to the high office as he stands accused of engaging in shady business deals over the years.
When Koung was elected representative of District One in Nimba County, he served as a key member of the Ways, Means and Finance Committee of the House of Representatives. During his term, Koung, along with a few lawmakers, stood accused of manipulating the national budget to amass wealth. Some say Koung, like Boakai, might be under-declaring what he has acquired over the years. They are insinuating the Vice President might likely hide many of his assets in Nimba County.
