President Sirleaf Comments on GAC’s HIPC Audit Reports and Corruption Charges

FrontPage, News, Press Release

Executive Mamsion, Monrovia

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf commented on Tuesday, April 20, on the recently concluded HIPC audits conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC), refusing to be drawn into criticisms of the Commission’s work by some Government officials implicated in the audits. The President said people have complained about the quality of the audits and of political objectives, but maintained that she will not be drawn into those accusations.

The reports, the Liberian leader said, would be dealt with “on the basis of the information and the analysis and the recommendations contained therein, and then we’re gonna go by the law as we try to deal with it.”

The President described the GAC audits as an important contribution to Government’s work. She noted, however, that there are many audits which must be read. “In those cases where it is clear that somebody has violated the public’s trust, we remove the person from office by suspension, by dismissal, and then send the report to the Justice Ministry, which also has to investigate it to make sure they have enough evidence to go to court.”

The President said there were cases of corruption currently before the courts, but lamented the long delays in their adjudication due to the long judicial process. Individuals indicted, she said, are entitled to bail, and once bail is obtained, the accused person is released, pending court trial to determine innocence or guilt.  That process, the Liberian leader said, is on course. “So we are very pleased with the way in which we’re moving,” the President asserted, adding, “We are on the right track to fight corruption.”

Disclosures, the Liberian leader said, are an important element in the fight against corruption. She recalled that discussions about corruption were hidden in the past. Said President Sirleaf: “Nobody used to talk about it. You couldn’t write about it. If you did, somebody would come down on you. Or if you called some big name…you can call any name today. You can disclose anything you want to. We encourage you; we support you in that.  The only thing we say is please be careful of other people’s rights. When you accuse somebody, have something, so that you don’t infringe on the person’s rights before they have had a chance to defend, which is what our law requires.”

The President cautioned whistleblowers against providing false information because such disclosures create problems for the Government.

The Liberian President again urged all citizens to help in what she termed a society problem that must be confronted by all.

Said the President: “It’s more than a Government problem or an Executive problem. It’s a societal problem which we all have to fight — the private sector, the public sector.  The basis for it – you know as well as I – is so many years of deprivation; so many years of lack of compensation; so many years of indiscipline that has crept into our value system. We’ve got to fight it. And so we’re tackling it at many fronts.” 

Outlining the measures, the President pointed to improvements in compensation to reduce vulnerability; the introduction of systems that have been missing in the country’s institutions for years;  strengthening  the pillars of integrity, such as the GAC, the judicial system, the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission, among others.

The President, pointing to some progress in the fight against corruption, referred journalists and other  interested parties to the recent report of the Extractive Industries Transparency International (EITI), which gave Liberia high marks in transparency in the extractive industries sector.  She urged all interested parties to read the report and see the progress the country is making on that front, despite the challenges which Government continues to face in addressing systemic corruption in the society.

Editor @ April 27, 2010