Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
MONROVIA, Liberia – The Chairman of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), Cllr. James Verdier has accused the George Weah-led government of undermining the fight against corruption.
In his inaugural speech delivered about a year ago, President Weah expressed the belief that the most effective way to directly impact the poor, and to narrow the gap between the rich and poor, is to ensure that public resources do not end up in the pockets of officials of government, stating at the time that the mandate he received from Liberians to be their president is a mandate to end corruption in public service – “I promise to deliver on this mandate,” Weah said.
He pledged that under his administration, now was the time for officials of government to put the interest of Liberians above their (officials) own selfish interests, adding, “It is time to be honest with our people. Though corruption is a habit amongst our people, we must end it. We must pay civil servants a living wage, so that corruption is not an excuse for taking what is not theirs.”
He continued: “Those who do not refrain from enriching themselves at the expense of the people – the law will take its course. I say today that you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
But in a Radio France International (RFI) report Tuesday, Cllr. Verdier said in spite of President Weah promising to fight corruption, just within a year into the retired footballer’s six-year term, Liberia is retrogressing into the fight against corruption.
The LACC boss avers that the failure of some public officials to declare their assets, as well as the lack of appropriate budgetary allotment to the LACC are few constraints impeding the country’s fight against corruption.
Verdier laments that in the first half of the Weah administration, the experience the LACC has had is terrible, stating that “we’ve not had funding, we’ve struggled to have this administration put its stand behind the fight against corruption and make some bold statements regarding transparency, accountability and ensuring that we can fight corruption.”
Just within a year in power, the Weah-led government continues to come under barrage of criticisms for allegedly indulging in corruption, including the unsolved case of the disappearance of some 16 billion Liberian dollars and US$25 million intended to mop up the excess liquidity of the local currency from the fast dwindling economy.
In July of last year, President Weah announced the infusion of US$25 million dollar in the economy aimed at addressing the fast-galloping speed at which the country’s economy was deteriorating, committing his government that the infusion of US$25 million was to help mop up excess liquidity of the Liberian dollar on the market in a bid to curb the rising foreign exchange rate, which has witnessed the Liberian currency falling 20% against the US dollar, but to date, commercial banks operating in the country have no record of how that money was disbursed or which businesses benefited.
“To lessen the immediate negative impact on our people, it will be an urgent imperative to devise and implement short-term fixes to the current problem — an immediate infusion by the CBL of US$25 million into the economy to mop up the excess liquidity of Liberian dollars,” President Weah said at the time.
Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah claims his ministry gave the money directly to “Money Changers” in the streets without providing a list of proof of who those money changers are.
To date, nobody knows where the money disappeared to, with members of the National Legislature also reportedly having no clue of the whereabouts of the money either.
However, during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) last month, President Weah said as of December 2018, a total of US$17 million was used for the mopping up exercise, and the balance US$8 million is reserved by the CBL as a precautionary intervention fund.
Howbeit, in his SONA, President Weah failed to say anything about his multiple construction projects in various locations of the country, something which has drawn heightened public suspicion, with many Liberians alleging that the president may have acquired the funding for the projects, which done simultaneously within one year of his ascendancy to the presidency, through corrupt means.
Although the president promised in his SONA that the report of the widely reported missing 16 billion Liberian dollars will be released by the end of February, rights campaigner and student activist, Martin K.N. Kollie said government cannot be trusted because it has said three different things about the ‘missing’ money.
“So we don’t trust the government to institute a robust mechanism of dealing with the situation, even if the report is released – because there are instances where the government has not shown any form of political will to fight corruption. Corruption has already won the war against the Weah-led government,” Martin told RFI.
