The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) has encouraged the new commissioners at the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to be robust in their fight against corruption, which stands to be one of the biggest hindrances to progress in the country.
On September 6, 2023, the Liberian Senate confirmed the seven nominees to take over the institution, following their nomination by President George Weah on June 8, 2023. Those nominated and subsequently confirmed by the Liberian Senate are Alexandra Kormah Zoe, Chairperson; Ernest R. Hughes, Vice Chairperson; and Randolph E. Tebbs, Commissioner for Monitoring and Investigation.
Others are Miatta Jeh and Samuel F. Dakana, both confirmed as Commissioners for Monitoring and Investigation, while Oretha Snyder Davis and David Wilson were also confirmed as Commissioners for Prosecution.
Addressing a news conference yesterday in Monrovia, CENTAL’s Executive Director, Anderson Miamen, commended the Government of Liberia, its partners, as well as Civil Society Organizations for their roles played throughout the process of getting a new leadership at the LACC.
Miamen said Liberia needs a robust, independent, well-resourced, and public-interest driven LACC more than ever before, which is particularly important as corruption is becoming pervasive in the country, especially in the public sector.
According to him, government’s 26 score out of a possible 100 on the 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International, is a result that shows the scale of the problem at hand, adding, “The lack of actions against public officials sanctioned by the United States Government for alleged significant corruption shows lack of will and major gaps in the Liberian Government’s anti-corruption efforts.”
He maintained that considering the criticality of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) in the fight against corruption in Liberia, CENTAL wants the new corps of officers to tread cautiously and lead by example during the discharge of their duties.
“With the confirmation of these officials, the public expects to see a new, energized, and robust LACC, especially now that it has Direct Prosecutorial Power, which has since been lacking. The country cannot afford to waste any more time in decisively dealing with her worst enemy – corruption. While we acknowledge past efforts, they have not been enough to give Liberians the positive results anticipated, as public officials abuse public resources with so much Impunity,” Miamen said.
The CENTAL Boss alluded that the burden is on the new batch of commissioners to change the negative narratives concerning the commission and give hope to Liberians by making impunity for corruption an issue of the past.
He said the public, development partners, and other stakeholders, will be keenly watching to see if this new LACC will live up to expectations by serving the Liberian people, instead of the appointing authority or so-called big hands in government and other places in society.
“We urge the new leadership to endear itself to the public by robustly, timely, and impartially investigating and prosecuting alleged incidences of corruption, including those involving “big hands” in the government,” he said.
Anderson Miamen lauded the outgoing leadership of LACC, under the authority Edwin Kla Martin, for maintaining what he called stability at the institution, and called on the National Government to provide adequate financial and logistical support to the Commission to operate robustly and independently.
