IPNEWS: On Tuesday, December 6, 2022, United States Ambassador accredited to Liberia, Michael A. McCarthy addressed the Liberian media as well as international media correspondents to give an update on his recent tour of integrity institutions, including the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), General Auditing Commission (GAC), Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI), Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) among others.

While Amb. McCarthy’s press briefing was mainly focused on his visits to integrity institutions in Liberia to get firsthand information of what obtaining there, he gave a strong caveat to would-be violators of the universal election goals of free, fair, transparent and peaceful election; and violent-perpetrating actors that his government will take action against actors who will fall in the mentioned categories.

But firstly, giving an update of what he learned from his tour of the various integrity government institutions, when he met with both the leaders and employees, the Amb. McCarthy decried low support to Liberia’s integrity institutions. “These were not my first meetings with Liberia’s integrity institutions, nor will they be my last,” he said.

“One of my purposes for this recent round of meetings was to assess whether the integrity institutions had seen improvements in accountable governance in the aftermath of the U.S. Treasury Department sanctions announced in August. Based on these recent meetings, I have three main takeaways I would like to share with you today,” he said.  Amb. McCarthy pointed out that Liberia will not prosper without well-functioning integrity institutions.

“Over the past 20 years, the United States and Liberia have worked together to build a prosperous Liberia for the future of all Liberians. After years of war, Liberians came together in 2003 to rebuild the nation’s democratic institutions, as well as safeguards for protecting its democratic governance. Chief among these safeguards were Liberia’s integrity institutions which were built, funded, and staffed with some of Liberia’s best and brightest minds. These institutions were created by law and designed to be shielded from political interference. In combination with a robust civil society environment and a vibrant free media, they give Liberia unique strengths in maintaining its democracy. As Liberia built its post-war foundation on democracy and the rule of law, the international community took notice and multinational businesses returned to Liberia’s shores, and GDP growth accelerated from 2003 to 2011,” he added.

However, he said over the past decade, momentum shifted, and as Liberian leaders gave less political and financial support to the nation’s vital integrity institutions; the economy slowed, corruption increased, and international businesses began to look elsewhere for investment opportunities.

“Liberia’s integrity institutions need more resources. Liberia’s integrity institutions need more resources to fulfill their legal mandates. I found that for the most part, the integrity institutions are staffed by hard-working, dedicated people motivated to make Liberia a better country. Unfortunately, I also saw that many of these essential organizations have much smaller budgets than they enjoyed years ago, and even less purchasing power, thanks to inflation. To make matters worse, most of them never receive the full amount appropriated to them by the legislature. Starved of funds and unsure whether, or when, they will receive their next allotment; they are nowhere near as effective as they should be. In some cases, funding shortfalls are more than fifty percent of the amount granted to them in the national budget. In many cases, these funding gaps lead to major cuts in operational funds, leaving the integrity institutions without fuel for vehicles or laptops for investigations and audits,” Amb McCarthy Indicated.

He said “if the goal is for more efficient, effective governance and genuine oversight of service delivery, I strongly encourage the Legislature to increase the budgets of these institutions. But at the very least, the Legislature should exercise its rightful fiscal oversight authority by ensuring that the amount appropriated to these organizations is the amount they actually receive.”

He also stressed the need for political will if the country’s integrity institutions must succeed.

Continuing, he said “it is one thing to say you support the work of public auditors, but it is another to allow full and complete audits, and to respond to the deficiencies they uncover. It is one thing to say you support corruption investigations, but it is another to allow investigations to be undertaken without political interference. It is one thing to say you want transparency in Liberia’s extractive industries, but it is another to publicly disclose all government extractive industry concession and exploration agreements and revenue, publicly calling out illegal actors. It is one thing to support the Code of Conduct, but it is another to enforce compliance with asset declaration requirements.”

‘No Fixed Date for New Sanction’ – U.S. Ambassador

Prior to US Ambassador entertaining question from journalists who were at the press briefing, Amb. McCarthy had dispelled the notion that his meeting with journalist was to announce a new list of government official placed on targeted sanction by the US government for corruption.

The Ambassador then disclosed that there is no fixed date for the Treasury Department to announce new sanctions for alleged corrupt Liberian officials.

It was widely speculated that the United States Government through its Treasury Department was on December 6, 2022 announcing new sanctions for Liberian officials ahead of this year’s International Day of Corruption slated for December 9, 2022.

But responding to question Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at the United States Embassy in Monrovia, Amb. McCarthy stated emphatically that the Treasury Department does not confine itself to any fixed date for announcing any new sanction.

“So we don’t have any new sanction to announce today and if we are given more names, we will certainly assemble the press and announce new sanctions,” he stated.

Asked if there’s a list of alleged corrupt Liberian officials pending to be sanctioned, Amb. McCarthy said “I really can’t speak for Treasury.”

It can be recalled that the United States Treasury Department in August of this year sanctioned three key officials of the Liberian government including Nathaniel McGill, Minister of State; Bill Twehway, Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA); and Liberia’s Solicitor General Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus for alleged corruption.

The US also sanctioned Nimba County Senator Prince Y. Johnson and Grand Cape Mount Senator Cllr, Varney Sherman for alleged corrupt activities in Liberia.

In an open letter Amb. McCarthy released on International Anti-Corruption Day to be celebrated on December 9, 2022, he wrote and cautioned Liberians: “In the upcoming 2023 elections, however, it will be the turn of the people of Liberia to let their voices be heard on this topic, especially since several of those sanctioned officials may be running for office. Ultimately, it is Liberians and not the U.S. government that are responsible for ensuring good governance in Liberia. Sanctions can help, but the ballot box is a far more important tool for holding officials accountable. If Liberians choose to elect or re-elect sanctioned officials as their leaders, that will send a very clear signal about how they truly feel about the fight against corruption and the future of their country.”- US Ambassador Michael A. McCarthy.

US Gov’t opts for Free, Fair & Transparent ‘2023 Elections

During the question-and-answer period, when asked if there is a list of corrupt Liberian officials pending to be sanctioned, Amb. McCarthy switched the journalists’ attention to the pending 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections in Liberia.

The US Envoy stated that his Government is very concerned that the 2023 elections are free, fair, transparent and peaceful. “We are very concerned about those four things – FREE, FAIR, TRANSPARENT & PEACEFUL – those are our greatest concerns between now and October,” Amb. McCarthy emphasized.

He indicated any action by the United States Government will weigh heavily on what will happen during the 2023 elections. The US Envoy did not state specifically what action his government will take following the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.

However, political pundits believe in keeping with past history, the US usually flexes its muscles as the world number one Super Power and imposes sanctions on people who attempt to rig elections at the detriment of the people. Also, the US government imposes sanction on people to spearhead elections violence in a given election, especially when there are deaths.

The United States Ambassador said his government will take action against actors during the 2023 elections ‘who are not respecting the goal of free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections.’

There have been low level reports of election-related violence in Liberia in recent time, with the latest being an attempt to mob the Campaign Spokesperson of opposition leader Alexander B. Cummings’ Team Cummings Campaign, Amb. Lewis Brown, when he appeared on a local radio station on Monday night on the Capitol By-Pass to speak on a planned ‘Peaceful Political Rally’ scheduled for December 17, 2022 in Paynesville.

According to Amb. Brown, the ‘Peaceful Political Rally’ dubbed ‘We Taya Suffering Rally’ is intended to tell President George Weah and his Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government that the people of Liberia are tired with hardship and sufferings since their ascendancy in 2018.

The youths who went to the Voice of Liberia radio station on Monday night, according to Team Cummings Campaign spokesperson, were thugs sent by Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee. He noted that the alleged action of Koijee, through thugs, to scare and intimidate him and all those behind the ‘Peace Political Rally’, will not prevent them holding their peacefully rally on December 17, 2022.

Apparently, the Monday night violent incident at Voice of Liberia radio station may have triggered the US Ambassador accredited to Monrovia, Michael McCarthy to given such a stern warning that his Government will take action against people who go against the goals of free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections in Liberia.

AFL Chief of Staff Warns ahead of Elections ‘2023

In a related development, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) popularly known as “The Force for Good” has warned ahead of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections regarding people who may want to disrupt the process to use the court system to resolve matters that will arise from the process if not satisfied.

In a post on the official Facebook Page of the Ministry of National Defense, the AFL Chief of Staff, rig/Gen. Prince C. Johnson, III states:

“A caveat for whosoever may feel or is disenchanted as we approach the 2023 elections to use the court system as was seen in the 2017 Presidential and 2020 midterm Senatorial elections. If you decide to take the law into your own hands (disregarding the rule of law), regardless of your current or past status or affiliation, and if the LNP can’t control your actions and/or is overwhelmed, we will execute our constitutional duties. We will not allow anyone or a group of people to obstruct our hard-earned Peace and Democracy. We will support the LNP and relevant agencies to protect key installations where necessary.” Maj/Gen Prince Charles Johnson III, COS/AFL.

Meanwhile, bookmakers are watching keenly as political activities unfold ahead of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections, where the governing CDC is expected to be battled at the polls by the opposition bloc in their quest to ‘make the CDC a six-year one term government’ under the leadership of President George Weah.

The caveat by US Ambassador Michael McCarthy that his government will take action against people against the goals of free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections, as well as AFL Chief of Staff warning to would-be perpetrators of election violence should be able to serve as deterrent as Liberians gear up for the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.