Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) has buttressed President George Weah’s call to the Legislature to grant the Commission a specialized court power to address the delays in cases at the Criminal Court “C” in Monrovia.
The Chairperson of the Commission, Edwin Clark Martin, said such court will enable the Commission to operate in the stipulated timeframe in the conduct of investigations against alleged corruption.
He said the Commission is faced with serious problems as it relates to the speedy hearing of cases of corruption from the LACC and as the result; the cases overwhelm the Criminal Court “C.”
Martin made these comments midweek when he appeared on state radio explaining government’s eagerness to fight corruption and he therefore assured that the LACC is willing to collaborate in ensuring that corruption is mitigated, especially when granted a dedicated court.
“If we have a specialized court, we will be able to conduct all of our cases within the timeframe. The delay in prosecution is because the court is overwhelmed,” Martin said.
He added; “There is only one court and so we are hoping that the government ensures the establishment of a specialized court for corruption which will actually buttress its own initiative to combat the act.”
Martin however disclosed that when he took office, there were 75 audit reports at the Commission and that most of them came from the General Auditing Commission (GAC).
He told the nation that upon taking over at the LACC, he immediately called on the program manager to ensure that the stockpile of cases are investigated and added, “As we speak to you today, we have done about 48 of those cases.”
“Some of them are now under investigation while some of them are being passed to the prosecution program to do the evaluation; look at all the laws and the crimes that have been committed,” Martin said.
He narrated that the LACC is willing to work with the public, but stated it will not dwell on hearsay on grounds that the institution wants hard core evidence that will enable sufficient proof in battling any corruption case.
“On the issue of prosecution, since I took over, we were able to come with indictments and those cases are now pending before court,” he noted.
Martin then thanked the Finance Ministry in particular and the government in general for giving the institution some greater budgetary allotment to bring the LACC to a top notch institution.
“From the past, if you look at the commission, you will notice that the building itself was purely dilapidated and unpainted but today, you can see a commission that is clean and shining outwardly and looks like an office that is fully ready to fight corruption,” he said.
The LACC head asserted as well that upon taking office in July of 2021, the institution was faced with serious vehicle issues, disclosing that all of the vehicles were not movable.
“I met 10 vehicles that were parked for more than five years; they were not in movable conditions. They could not move, but now they are all in functional condition,” he said.
