Gbarnga, Bong County — The Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP), in partnership with the Liberia Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce (AREPT), has concluded an anti-corruption awareness campaign focused on the recovery of stolen public assets in Gbarnga.
The campaign, held at the Gbarnga Women's Center, brought together community residents, civil society organizations, and individuals living with disabilities. The initiative aimed to educate citizens on how to identify and report public assets allegedly acquired illegally by current and former public officials.
In an interview with reporters, AREPT Public Relations Officer Joseph Daniels said the awareness event is part of a broader initiative targeting four counties: Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado and Bong.
"We're here to inform the public about the work we do, how we retrieve stolen properties, and how they can support the fight against corruption," Daniels said.
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He emphasized that citizen participation is crucial to enhancing transparency and accountability in governance.
"Most of the cases we are investigating were reported by citizens, which shows how instrumental the public can be in this fight," he said.
Daniels disclosed that AREPT is currently investigating 27 cases, the majority of which originated in Montserrado County. He noted that 17 of those cases are expected to be forwarded to court for prosecution, and that the taskforce is preparing to reclaim approximately 30 government properties that were allegedly stolen.
He urged Liberians to support the taskforce's mission to recover state-owned assets wrongfully obtained by public officials.
Daniels also called on the national legislature to repeal Section 4.2 of Liberia's Penal Law, which prohibits the confiscation of public assets acquired more than five years prior.
"There should be no law that protects corrupt officials after five years," Daniels said. "This provision acts as a barrier, shielding individuals linked to corruption and hampering our ability to recover government assets."
Several participants described the awareness session as eye-opening and commended AREPT for the outreach. They pledged their support to the taskforce's asset recovery efforts and vowed to remain active in promoting accountability and transparency across the country.
