Leading Civil Society
Organizations in Liberia [Center for Transparency and Accountability (CENTAL),
Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) and Naymote Partners
for Democratic Development (NAYMOTE)] have called on the President, George
Weah, to take charge and show leadership in the fight against corruption,
reports ITREALMS.
A joint statement made
available to ITREALMS, they
expressed deep concern over emerging national issues that have the propensity
to derail political and economic gains made over the past 13 years.
These concerns range
from the management of the Liberian economy, respect for rule of law and the
constitution, limited political will to robustly fight corruption as well as
the dwindling of civic space for citizen’s participation in the democratic
process, and freedom of press and of expression.
“We have keenly
followed with dismay the deteriorating rate at which the Liberian Economy has
weakened over the past 13 months. For example, the exchange rate between the
Liberian Dollar and the United States Dollar is scarily plummeting, the costs
of basic commodities have doubled over the past 12 months, despite the decision
taken by the government to reduce tariffs on 2,000 commodities in May 2018.
“With the pace at
which things are proceeding, if pragmatic steps are not taken by the government
to salvage the economy, we are afraid that we would be heading down the slope
of hyperinflation. This is making life unbearable for many, especially ordinary
Liberians and rural dwellers, many of whom are without jobs and better
livelihood opportunities.
“Generally, short-term
measures undertaken the CDC-led government, including the '25 million mop of
exercise' have not worked, thus leading to perpetuation of the problems. On the
other hand, the Liberian Legislature seems to be dragging its/her feet in
providing the necessary administrative oversight in helping to resuscitate the
economy and improve the governance landscape.
They also commended
the government for establishing committees to investigate a number of
corruption allegations and scandals, including the national housing authority
corruption saga, the alleged 16 billion missing money and the US25 million mop
up exercise as well as establishment of the Concession Review committee to review
all existing concession from the previous government.
“While we applaud the
government for these steps, we are extremely disappointed in the slow pace at
which these investigations are proceeding,” CSO declared.
*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*
No comments:
Post a Comment