“I am a man who believes in professionalism, organization, structure, and clear terms of reference. They made mockery of me…”
PHOTO: John Morlu, Liberia’s former Auditor General
John Morlu, former Auditor General of Liberia and a once strong backer of the new Unity Party government of President Joseph, is growing weary over what he sees as failure of the regime to live up to its promise uphold good governance and not to continue “business as usual”.
In a statement released recently, Mr. Morlu says the government has failed to deliver on its election campaign promises to demonstrate a commitment to ensure accountability and transparency in governance and it is disorganized.
Because of his insistence on putting an end to business as usual in the Boakai-Koung administration which was inaugurated on January 22, 2024, he has been sideline, so he has decided to keep his distance.
“I am a man who believes in professionalism, organization, structure, and clear terms of reference. They made mockery of me… But I firmly believe that the fundamental issue in Liberia is not about the number of kilometers of roads built or the number of chairs in schools. Those are government responsibilities. The core problems that have afflicted every president are governance, accountability, and transparency,” said the former Auditor General who was one of the advisors to Boakai during and immediately after the inauguration.
“You can’t achieve those things without being organized. During the transition, I insisted on structure, process, and organization. From what I observed, accountability was going to be a challenge for this government because they wanted to act quickly without proper organization,” Morlu explained.
Mr. Morlu indicated that his continuous close ties with a regime that is apparently moving into failure is risky for his future.
“I just want them to know that I did not disappear. I assess risk, and if I believe that the risk is too high to my reputation and that my involvement in a particular transaction or activity will not yield tangible results, I retreat. I am very good at retreating, repositioning, and coming back,” Morlu said.
He continued, “I was in retreat, not quitting. I decided to step back, observe, and gather information to speak truthfully and objectively without bias or fear.” Morlu reiterated that he still supports Joe Boakai and remains available to offer his advice for the administration’s success.
The former Auditor General is apparently not wanting to at this time turn his back on President Boakai personally, someone he said fundamentally agrees with him on ensuring accountability and transparency as an individual.
“He and I fundamentally agreed. It was his call to me on January 15, asking for help to fix the country. I wrote him a detailed memo titled ‘Executive Mansion Governance: How to Position the Executive Mansion for Effective Governance.’ I believed it would serve as a blueprint for good governance in Liberia. If it had been implemented, I bet things would be different now,” Mr. Morlu said.
President Boakai has recently been criticized in some quarters for not putting his feet down on some discrepancies in some aspects of governance, with reports that some members of his inner cycle are becoming overbearing.
“I have tried my best in the last six months to engage and support every member of Joe Boakai’s cabinet who has reached out to me. I have also provided recommendations in at least five memos to Joseph Boakai on the way forward,” the former Auditor General added in his latest statement.