The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Executive Chairperson Alexandra K. Zoe has called for the urgent need to establish an Anti-Corruption Court in Liberia to enhance the efficiency of the Commission’s work. The LACC Chairperson made the statement during her presentation as a panelist at the NAYMOTE-Liberia Summit for Democracy and Political Accountability.
Cllr. Zoe highlighted the challenges of delayed corruption cases due to the current reliance on Criminal Court “C”, which handles both corruption cases and cases involving private citizens.
She said the creation of an Anti-Corruption Court would ensure that corruption cases are handled more swiftly, enabling the LACC to operate more efficiently in its fight against corruption.
“The delay in handling corruption cases is often due to the limited capacity of the current court system. When an Anti-Corruption Court is established, our cases will be dealt with more quickly, and the Commission’s work will run more smoothly,” said Cllr. Zoe.
She elaborated on the Commission’s broad mandate which includes investigating and prosecuting corruption, educating the public about the dangers of corruption, and recovering assets stolen through corrupt practices, and returning them to the government for public use.
Cllr. Zoe spoke about the LACC’s ongoing decentralization efforts, which aim to expand its reach across the country with recent trips to Bong County and Nimba Counties, with plans to visit Bomi County soon.
She said the Commission is opting to digitalize the asset declaration process, allowing individuals to declare their assets remotely from their homes or offices. The Panel discussion, held under the theme,” Improving Public Sector Governance and Accountability: The Role of Integrity Institutions,” brought together key figures including Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan II, General Auditing Commission Auditor General, P. Garswa Jackson, Executive Director of CENTAL, Anderson D. Miamen, and Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, Cllr. Boakai Kanneh, who moderated the session.
Finance Minister Ngafuan, who spoke about the critical role of national integrity institutions, such as the LACC, in promoting good governance and accountability in Liberia’s public sector, said these institutions, alongside others like the General Auditing Commission, work to ensure that public resources are used transparently and effectively.
