By Bill W. Cooper
The Chairperson of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) outlines critical challenges that are still hindering the country’s fight against corruption.
Cllr. Alexandria Zoe emphasized the detrimental impact of the absence of specialized courts and insufficient budgetary support of their efforts from government to curb corruption in the governance of the country.
She made the disclosure Friday, December 8, 2023, at a one-day Anti-Corruption Symposium climaxing the observance of International Anti-Corruption Day at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town.
International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) is celebrated December 9 of each year, aimed to raise awareness against corruption and the role of UNCAC in combating and preventing it across the globe.
IACD is also marked by activities to educate the public on issues of graft, mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and celebrate and reinforce the achievements of humanity in the fight against corruption.
The International Theme for this year’s IACD celebration is “Uniting the World Against Corruption for Peace, Security, and Development,” while the National Theme is “Promoting Integrity for Increased Public Participation in the Fight Against Corruption.”
Delivering her address during the IACD celebration, Cllr. Zoe stressed, “As we climax activities marking the observances of IACD 2023, let me remind you that there are challenges that confront us in the fight against corruption.”
“And these challenges, among other things, include a lack of specialized courts to solely prosecute corruption cases, inadequate budgetary support to anti-graft institutions, and issues of financial autonomy and operational independence,” she maintained.
According to her, while the Commission appreciates the government for the granting of direct prosecutorial power, it is important that the Legislature goes a step further to pass into law the establishment of a Specialized Corruption Court, to relieve the LACC of the burden of getting cases assigned, obtaining indictments as Criminal Court C continues to adjudicate many other cases, including corruption cases.
She also explained that the LACC Act grants financial autonomy to the Commission, which means the LACC should receive quarterly allotments to facilitate its program implementation and operations.
“But unfortunately, this policy provision of the Act is not being adhered to, thus impeding the effective implementation of the program and operations of the Commission. Worse still, the salary of our staff is low and monthly salary payment is often delayed and this is a serious challenge that should claim the immediate attention of the national government.
You will also agree with me that the fiscal budget of any nation reflects its priorities, but sadly, the budget of Liberia, over the years, has not shown that the fight against corruption is a major priority of successive governments,” she noted.
Cllr. Zoe furthered, “Since the establishment of the Commission, its budgetary appropriation has not reached 3 million. Yet, we declared corruption as Public Enemy Number One. If the government of Liberia must succeed in the fight against corruption, we must go beyond declarations to action and match our words with our deeds by giving adequate financial support to LACC and other integrity institutions to enhance the fight against corruption.”
Meanwhile, the Commission has disclosed that plans are underway to digitize the assets declaration program of the LACC, revealing that the vision, when realized, is expected to boost asset declaration compliance among public officials.
According to the LACC Chairperson, the digitized asset declaration infrastructure of the Commission will also enable declarants to declare their assets from the comfort of their homes and offices; it will also, with enhanced technical capacity, increase asset declaration compliance among local government officials, as they will then download the AD from the LACC or Executive Mansion Website and submit them via email to their headquarters in Monrovia.
Furthermore, their declaration will be notarized and they will be issued acknowledgement slips in real time, adding, “The Commission has crafted a decentralization program and is engaging partners for funding support for its decentralization program.”
“The implementation of the said program will establish regional offices in five regions of Liberia, expand our operations to the county level, and heighten educational awareness, as well as investigations and prosecution,” she asserted.
Cllr. Zoe, at the same time, called on all Liberians to promote integrity and increase public participation in the fight against corruption in Liberia, and said, “Let us unite in the fight against corruption for peace, prosperity and development.”
