With the resignation of the embattled chairperson, Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike, on Saturday February 26, Cllr. Kanio Bai Gbala will immediately assume the chairmanship in keeping the LACC’s Act until a formal appointment is made by President George Weah.
Cllr. Kanio Bai Gbala is believed to be one of Liberia’s revered young men and a professor of law who has served in highly technical roles in the public and private sectors, including the United Nations system.
And so it was no surprise when most pundits applauded the President for appointing Cllr. Gbala, a transitional justice and rule of law expert, as vice chairperson of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) on October 18, 2019.
Apparently, this possibility does not sit well with some of his colleagues simply because of the vibrancy, respectability and professionalism of Cllr. Gbala evidenced by the charges being levied against him by some of his detractors who have already begun slinging trumped up charges in opposition to his ascendency at that premier anti-graft institution.
The LACC’s Executive Director, Mohammed Fahnbulleh, at a press conference on February 15 levied series of allegations of corruption against Cllr. Gbala which he claimed occurred in January 2020 but chose to bring to the public in February, 2021.
But, Cllr. Gbala has dismissed all allegations as utter ‘nonsense’ and provided detailed rebuttals against each trumped up allegation.
However, it is alleged those same elements behind Gbala that are similar to those who have succeeded in railroading Cllr. Nwabudike out of the LACC and are bent on rubbishing the CDC-led government’s sincere efforts at creating a new image of fighting corruption in Liberia.
Meanwhile, evaluation reports available showed that Cllr. Gbala upon his ascendency will bring a no-nonsense approach to the corruption fight coupled by the fact that he voted not to renew Atty. Fahnbulleh’s contract due to what he termed as the ED’s incompetence, lack of neutrality and unprofessionalism, yet the actors have now moved to take Cllr. Gbala out so that he does not assume the LACC’s chairmanship.
Atty. Fahnbulleh has been accused of partnering with former LACC commissioners to illegally siphon monies from staff salaries, which is now a serious legal embarrassment for the LACC as on February 16, a writ was issued that entity by the Commercial Court.
“For a long time now, the LACC has been a haven for fraud and malpractices by its commissioners, dating back to the period when eight of its former employees’ salary refunds were squandered with the full knowledge and participation of Liberia latest whistleblower, Atty. FahnFahnbulleh.
Though the court has ruled in the matter since December 2018, Atty Fahnbulleh who has chosen to exposed all the ills having served the Commission since its establishment has failed to report all of the acts presumed to be acts of corruption instead has chosen to take a fight with an individual who is to be his boss and might likely tender his contract because according to himself it is only the chairperson who is clothed with the constitutional right to review his contract.
Many persons are now beginning to laud Atty. Fahnbulleh’s whistleblower role but are concerned as to why he had shown less care for justice and integrity for the last three years while still serving as Executive Director of LACC?
The former employees who stormed the premises of the LACC on February 16, a day after his press conference are also wondering why has Atty Fahnbulleh not ensured their refunds that were squandered by his former boss, mentor and benefactor nor spoken about it as that too is an act of corruption.