CENTAL Lauds Weah For Assets Declaration

-Calls On Others To Declare Their Assets 

The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) says it is glad to acknowledge receipt of reports of declaration of assets, incomes, and liabilities by President George Manneh Weah, which the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has confirmed.

Although belated, CENTAL lauds President Weah for declaring his assets in compliance with chapter 10 of the 2014 Code of Conduct for Public officials that requires all public officials to declare their assets before taking office. This is one of several steps that demonstrate concrete commitment and political will to set the necessary condition for a successful fight against corruption in Liberia.

Thus, we like to use this medium to call on the Vice President, Speaker, Senators and Representatives, Justices of the Supreme Court and other officials of government to do likewise. It must be noted that continuous violation of the Code of Conduct does not augur well for the reputation of the government and its professed desire to address graft, arguably the biggest impediment to success of the pro-poor agenda.

Meanwhile, CENTAL calls on the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to timely and independently verify and publish all declared assets, incomes and liabilities, including those of the President.

“We maintain that former officials, accused of corrupt acts, especially those of the immediate past regime, must be investigated and if found guilty prosecuted in keeping with relevant Liberian Laws. Former officials, who refused to declare their assets while leaving power/government, should be compelled to do so or prosecuted, in keeping with relevant provisions of the Code of Conduct,” CENTAL said in a statement.

Finally, “we like to admonish President Weah against repeating mistakes of former President Sirleaf, when she, among other things, shielded her officials; ignored recommendations from independent committees established to probe corruption scandals; as well as appointed persons with tainted records in key government positions. Any anti-corruption effort that is not built on a strong prosecution and deterrent regime is bound to fail; this is the weak link in Liberia’s current anti-graft efforts, which must be addressed to decisively tackle corruption and bad governance in the country.”