The Killing Of Integrity Institutions By The Weah Administration

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
July 30, 2022

Two weeks ago, President George M Weah threatened to dismiss any government official proven to be unproductive. Was the President finally waking up to what everyone in Liberia and the world has known all along: that he is running a dysfunctional and corrupt administration? Or maybe this was an election-related stunt. But as usual, Mr. Weah never disappoints when it comes to making a major decision. When you don’t know, you don’t. Clearly, you cannot give what you don't have.

As usual, President Weah is weaponizing other branches of the government to do his dirty work. Indeed, rather than dismiss corrupt and ineffective officials, Weah is going after the only institution that seems to be producing results. This institution is the Liberia Anti-corruption Commission headed by Edwin Kla Martin.

Indeed, the legislature has embarked on a scheme to dissolve and restructure the anti-corruption commission and line it with the government’s corrupt image. The legislature has decided to carry out sweeping amendments, forcing the tenured officials to re-apply for their jobs. This is clearly intended to force Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin to resign and apply for his position. Cllr. Martin is currently in hiding and told VOA-NEWS, that his life is in danger. A year ago, auditors died while combing through the government’s expenditures.

The  LACC has exposed corruption in many places and Mr. Weah was faced with a decision. Among others, LACC exposed the fraud committed by the Chair of the National Elections Commission (NEC) who provided contracts to family members at inflated rates; the Minister of Agriculture Ms. Jeanine Cooper  was caught putting her son and his friends on projects where their pay was higher than the project and also diverted contracts to her own firm and without providing the services and finally, they hook LISGIS, the institution that is in charge of electoral and census matters,

Rather than dismiss and arrest the corrupt officials, Weah wants to dismantle the LACC and render it irrelevant just as integrity institutions like the General Auditing Commission (GAC), Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC), and Internal Audit Agency, have now been made dormant.

Assisted by the legislature, President Weah is set to extinguish the only weapon the government has to fight corruption. Not only that – plans are also underway to liquidate the head of the LACC, based on his statement to VOA.  People are calling on the President to veto the LACC bill sent to him.  Under pressure from the public and civil society, Weah may try to save face and veto the bill and then ask his cronies in the House and the Senate to override his veto.

Using murders as a deterrence to those fighting corruption
Being an auditor today in Liberia is not an attractive job.  Within a space of two weeks, four auditors: Emmanuel Barten Nyeswua, Albert Peters, Gifty Lama, and George Fanbutoe, all died under suspicious circumstances, akin only to what we see in bad gangster movies. According to the government's falsehood, one person fell from the second-floor balcony; another was hit by a car at 2 am in front of his house; two died of carbon monoxide in daylight on Broad Street, in the center of Monrovia. The head of Micro Finance at the Central Bank, Matthew J. Innis died mysteriously amid investigations. 

These prevailing heinous crimes have erected obstacles to fighting corruption in the country. Liberians are used to the government killing its own and no one is speaking or sounding the alarms, as if the country has turned numb. Where is the consortium of human rights organizations in Liberia?  Where is Human Rights Watch?  Where is the Liberia Council of Churches or the Muslim Council that has now formed an unholy alliance with the CDC-led Government?  Where are the remains of the opposition political parties in the country? Does Liberia still have civil society organizations? Where are the traditional chiefs?  Have they joined Chief Zanzan Karwa in George Weah's pocket?  Did the Weah Government close their mouths with pickups and motorbikes?

The Perspective takes these issues very seriously and holds the CDC-led Government and their compliant subjects (lawmakers) responsible.  We call on the opposition, the Liberia Council of Churches (if there is still such an organization), the students, market women, etc. to save the life of Edward Kla Martin and the Anti-Corruption Commission.  President Weah and his cronies have killed the GAC, the PPCC, the Internal Audit Agency, etc.  LACC is the last accountability and transparency organization in the country.  If Liberians allow this to happen, by 2023, we will have nothing left called Liberia. Today it is Edwin Kla Martin, tomorrow, it could be the whole nation.  If we don’t act in unison today, tomorrow there will be nothing left called Liberia. “A hint to the wise is quite sufficient.”