Sinkor, Monrovia: The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, CENTAL, is admonishing the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct a full-scale investigation into allegations of bribery surrounding the ongoing process to remove Speaker Fonati Koffa.
CENTAL’s call comes amidst social media video footage from Gbarpolu County District #2 Representative, Luther Collins, in which the lawmaker revealed that he received USD$15,000 from Representative James Kolleh of Bong County as an initial USD$25,000 bribe to remove Representative J. Fonati Koffa as speaker of the 55th legislature.
Though Representative Kolleh has refuted the allegation, CENTAL insists that the accusation, along with other allegations of budget manipulations, which were revealed by speaker Koffa in a late-night podcast on Spoon TV, is troubling and further validates the institution’s recent yearly Corruption Research Reports that have highlighted budget manipulation and corruption by some members of the legislature.
The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission recently announced that it has initiated an investigation into Representative Collins’ revelation; however, CENTAL, in a press statement, explained that while the public pronouncement by the commission is welcoming, it is prudent for said inquiry to be conducted swiftly and holistically.
CENTAL’s Executive Director, Anderson Miamen, who read the press statement, stated that there have been tons of pervasive corruption allegations against the legislature over the years, which the body and the government have failed to adjudicate, thus leading to the looting of state resources by unscrupulous individuals and officials.
The anti-corruption CSO head wants the Ministry of Justice to collaborate with the LACC to impartially investigate and prosecute past and current lawmakers embroiled in alleged corrupt financial and other dealings, stressing that lawmakers are not above the law, as insinuated in the public.
