Four pro-Democracy organizations in Liberian are calling on the George Weah government to urgently address the growing insecurity in the country and do more to protect the fundamental rights of the people, in a joint statement issued in Monrovia today, Thursday, October 8, 2020.
The four groups, CENTAL, IREDD, NAYMOTE and Accountability Lab say this situation, including last week’s mysterious deaths of two LRA employees, is creating “panic across the country”.
The groups are also demanding full public disclosure of the multimillion US dollars contract between the Liberian government and the UN World Food Program (WFP) for the COVID-19 household food distribution stimulus package, which is yet to make significant progress.
For details see below the joint statement released by the four organizations:
Monrovia, Thursday, October 8, 2020
JOIINT CSO PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Four of Liberia’s leading civil society organizations working on democracy, governance, accountability, and the promotion of rule of law: the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL); Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD), Naymote Partners for Democratic Development (NAYMOTE-Liberia), and Accountability Lab Liberia are deeply troubled by the increasing wave of insecurity and panic across the country, occasioned by several mysterious deaths, yet to be speedily and comprehensively investigated with full credibility.
Particularly, our attention has been drawn to the unexplained deaths of public servants at Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), Mr. Albert K. Peters, Assistant Commissioner for Internal Audit, and Madam Gifty Asmah-Lama, Manager, Taxpayers Services Division.
Both individually were found dead in a car on Broad Street on Friday Morning, October 2, 2020. The alleged accidental death of Mr. George F. Fahnboto on Saturday, October 3, 2020, another senior staff of the Liberia Revenue Authority, has equally claimed our attention.
All of these are happening months after Mr. Matthew Innis, a senior staff at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) was killed in a purported hit and run incident on Sunday, March 1, 2020 without any conclusive outcome since an investigation was launched by the Liberia National Police.
Such mysterious deaths are instilling fear in citizens and have the propensity to undermine investors’ confidence in the country. Also, they tend to undermine democratic gains made over the years through collective efforts by Liberians and development partners. Hence, we call on the Government of Liberia, especially President George M. Weah to take serious action by initiating timely, credible, and comprehensive investigations into these matters, with timely reports to the public about their outcomes.
We are equally terrified by reports of key political actors reportedly being tailed daily by unknown men and reported assassins to eliminate key political actors. We fear that the country is gradually slipping into anarchy and therefore call on the government and international community particularly the Embassy of the United States of America, the European Union and other international partners to intervene. In an already struggling economy like ours, the deaths of strategically placed public officials, especially individuals somehow linked to efforts aimed at protecting and safeguarding public resources and assets, do not augur well for peace and security of the country as well as stakeholders’ confidence in its governance process.
We strongly encourage the Government to do more to protect the fundamental human rights of all citizens and residents of Liberia, especially their rights to life and free movement. Importantly, also, we call on the US Government and other partners to closely follow these investigations and support government, in whatever means possible, to timely conclude them ensuring that the outcomes are published and fully implemented. Impunity for economic, financial and other crimes committed have been a long standing issue in Liberia. And we believe that the Country cannot continue on this path whereby innocent lives are lost under mysterious circumstances and with little or no accountability.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the Press, Fellow Liberians, more importantly, also our attention has been drawn to the appointment of Prof. Wilson K. Tarpeh as Executive Director designate of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and his upcoming confirmation by the Liberian Senate without full accountability of the COVID 19 Household Food Support Program (COHFSP) as head of the Steering Committee. Unfortunately, after over five (5) months, the over 30 Million United States Dollars allocated for the Stimulus Package and Household Food Support Program is yet to be properly utilized and accounted for, as the Contract between the World Food Program (WFP) and the Government of Liberia that contains details of the food distribution exercise and other pertinent information is still a top secret, a sad and disappointing reality. It must be noted that emergency is one of the periods during which unscrupulous individuals and groups collude to misdirect public resources and assets.
And from all indications, the limited transparency and accountability associated with the Household Food Support Program/Stimulus Package leaves more questions than answers in terms of the Liberian Government and WFP’s proper handling of the process.
We strongly believe that nominating former Minister Tarpeh without fully accounting for the Stimulus Package and Household Food Support Program, as head of the Committee, undermines the principles of good governance and public accountability, thereby sending a very bad message to the public and our partners about Government’s commitment to fight against corruption and ensure that public resources and assets are properly managed and accounted for at all times. Simply put, we call President Weah to withdraw the nomination of Professor Tarpeh until he fully and properly accounts for the Stimulus Package and Household Food Support Program. Furthermore, we are calling for a timely and comprehensive audit to be conducted by the General Audit Commission so as to validate any account from the Professor.
Equally, we call on the Government of Liberia and WFP to release the contract and all associated documents for the Stimulus Package to the public, as there should be nothing secret about the process, especially so, that the money in question has been borrowed to be repaid by Liberians through their taxes and other resources. We call on the Office of the United Nations Secretary General to institute a full audit of the WFP handling of the Covid-19 food support program in Liberia. Anything short of this will be a complete disservice to the Liberian people and a blatant disregard to public trust and accountability and undermines every principle of the United Nations. We recommit to remaining independently and constructively engaged with the governance process, supporting well-meaning efforts of the government and other stakeholders to entrench the culture of accountability and transparency in society, fulfil the fundamental human rights of all citizens and residents of the country as well as ensure the provision of quality and adequate basic social services to the population.
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Signed: W. Lawrence Yealue, II Country Representative, Accountability Lab Liberia
. Anderson Miamen Executive Director, CENTAL
Harold Marvin Aidoo, Sr. IREDD Executive Director
Eddie D. Jarwolo Executive Director, NAYMOTE