By Kruah Thompson
Friday, February 14, 2025/ The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Chairperson, Cllr. Alexandra Zoe has announced that the commission is considering recommending penalties or punitive measures against suspended officials who fail to declare their assets as mandated by the Code of Conduct.
On February 12, 2025, President Joseph Boakai suspended 457 government officials for failing to declare their assets within the mandated timeframe.
This action was in line with Article 2, Section 10.2(h) of the amended 2014 Code of Conduct and followed a directive issued on November 27, 2024, which granted a ten-day grace period for compliance.
The suspended officials include high-ranking individuals such as Liberia’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh; Ambassador-at-Large Sheikh Al Moustapha Kouyateh; and Christopher Hayes Onanuga, Ambassador-at-Large for Tourism.
The suspensions are set for one month without pay or until the officials submit the required asset declarations.
Making the disclosure Thursday at MICAT’s regular press briefing, Cllr. Zoe indicated that if the officials remain non-compliant after the one-month suspension, they will recommend dismissal as President Boakai’s next option.
According to her, as per the Constitution, the LACC does not have the authority to impose penalties but can recommend punishment to the president.
However, she added that because the non-compliant officials have already been suspended, they cannot undergo another punishment. “Under the law, there’s something called double jeopardy; you don’t punish somebody twice for the same crime.”
When quizzed on what action has been taken, given that the Speaker’s name is on the non-compliance list, she responded by saying that she knows there is a non-compliance list for the House of Representatives. They will take steps to engage the current leadership of the House of Representatives and make efforts to get the asset declaration staff to assist in completing their declarations.
She used the opportunity to say that elected officials, as representatives of the people, should not need to send staff from their offices to force people to declare their assets.
She pledged to work with the leadership to ensure they fully declare their assets, including their staff.
On the other hand, she added that dozens of suspended government officials have already started rushing to their headquarters to declare their assets.
According to her, many of them claimed they did not know whether their positions required them to declare their assets,
Additionally, she regretted that the decision affected people from the interior but promised to work on addressing the issue.
“After the suspension, if nobody comes to declare their assets, we will recommend dismissal,” she stated.
Meanwhile, she added that the process is intended to ensure that public officials declare what they come to the government with and, when they leave, that the people can know what they leave the government with. “This is a legal requirement aimed at fostering transparency and accountability in public service.”
