94 exiting public officials from 56 Ministries, Agencies and Commissions did not comply as the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) formally ended its exit asset declaration exercise.
The LACC’s exit asset declaration exercise which ends by the publication of its final listing today February 9, 2024 reports 249 exiting public officials from 56 Ministries, Agencies and Commissions who complied and filed asset declarations forms declaring their assets, liabilities etc.
Though the LACC failed to name those who did not comply as well as those who complied, it reported that all exiting officials from 19 institutions did not comply with it’s mandate and that only two outgoing lawmakers filed exit asset declarations.
Tenure officials were not required to comply with the LACC mandate, since they are not exiting government at this time.
Meanwhile, the entry asset declarations are said to be ongoing and public officials entering government are beginning to declare their assets or make financial disclosures.
The LACC said it will begin to publish these listings to the general publish very soon and encourages all those being appointed to come in and declare their assets in keeping with the law.
The asset declaration forms are said to be available and can be downloaded from the LACC’s Website while forms can also be obtained at the LACC’s offices in Monrovia.
On December 12, 2023, the LACC in keeping with its mandate issued a press release mandating all appointed exiting public officials to declare their assets in accordance with Liberia’s asset declaration and verification regime, enshrined in the restated and amended 2022 LACC Act and the Liberia’s National Code of Conduct as amended.
The exit asset declaration exercise affected presidential appointees who were transitioning out of government because due to the recent election.
The LACC published listings of compliant and non-compliant officials following a staggered approach.
That comprised of initial listing of institutions and declarants published on November 28, 2023 and a second listing was published on January 19, 2024.
Meanwhile, the published listings are available on the LACC’s official website.
In a recent 2023 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for sub-Saharan Africa, Liberia scored 25 out of 100 on the CPI, a decline of 16 points.
Liberia has earned a revised rank of 145 out of 180 countries, ranked from least to most corrupt countries.
While initial reactions from this downgrade in rank sparks concerns, it is important to note that from 2022 to 2023 Liberia saw the enactment of several key anti-corruption legislations; including: a revised and amended 2022 LACC Act; a Whistleblower Act; a Witness Protection Act and amended & restated sections 5.2 and 10.2 of the National Code of Conduct; specific legislations set to improve Liberia’s CPI scores overtime.
In his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) held on January 22, 2024, President, Joseph Boakai pledged unwavering support and desire to fight and uproot corruption in Liberia.
According to the LACC, the completion of the exercise is a milestone in Liberia’s vision to create a corruption free society.
