The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Chairperson has called for concerted efforts among all stakeholders in the COVID-19 program to ensure transparency and accountability in the operations and management of the program.
In his opening remarks at a day-long stakeholders’ roundtable on promoting transparency and accountability in the covid-19 response, Cllr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike reminded the participants of the purpose of the establishment of the LACC and noted that the mandate of the LACC also gives it the right to investigate especially during the time of a pandemic.
Cllr. Nwabudike explained that the Roundtable was organized not to pre-guess or pre-judge anyone of corruption, but rather to work with to ensure processes, and implementation modalities are strictly in adherence to rules, policies, laws and prevent any corrupt act that could lead to investigation and prosecution.
“We want to ensure that funds received are used for the intended purposes that will see more lives safe and where citizens especially the vulnerable and poor can access services. We want to ensure that effective response procedures are designed and followed. We want to build public trust by ensuring transparency, accountability, and integrity are visible in your dealings”, the Executive Chairperson concluded.
Policymakers and technicians from the LACC drilled the participants on the Fundamentals of Corruption, Conflict of Interests, Investigation and Prosecution. The Internal Audit Agency also delivered a paper on internal control techniques. The deliberations were focused on mitigating corruption in the COVID-19 period.
The roundtable brought together several institutions at the front of the COVID-19 response including the Ministry of Health, National Public Health Institute, Internal Affairs, WHO, WFP, The Civil Society and the Monrovia City Corporation to engage, discuss and assess accountability and transparency mechanism employed during the ongoing response efforts.
The Roundtable comes in the wake of a visual conference held with Heads of Anti-Corruption intuitions of ECOWAS in collaboration with the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in the West African region.
During the meeting, the West African Anti-Graft Chiefs called for renewed efforts in strengthening transparency, integrity, accountability, and proper management of Cocid-19 and post Covid-19 recovery.