Holding Liberian Public Officials Accountable: Asset Declarations

By S. Karweaye

Barely 8 days after they assumed office, the 55th National Legislature faced a burden to declare or not to declare their assets and personal interests per the provisions of the 1986 Constitution. Provisions on the declaration of assets by all public officers in Liberia are entrenched in the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, which is contained in Chapter 11, Article 90 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia, and Section 10.1 of Liberia’s 2014 Code of Conduct, as amended.

Public officials affected by the Code include the President,  Vice President, the Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and members of the legislature, among others. The code was introduced to the Constitution in 1986, mainly to prevent corruption, and abuse of public office, and to ensure transparency among public officers. 

For the  Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary branches of government, one major reason many Liberians are interested in their assets declaration is these three separate branches of government hold substantial power over the allocation of resources in the country and the citizens who hired them, and who in effect pay their salaries through their tax contributions want their asset declaration open to public scrutiny to ensure they do not abuse their power for personal gain (corruption).  As such, it is believed that by declaring their assets correctly, they will put to rest many insinuations that give verve to policies the government may adopt to fight corruption.

The asset declaration process, guided by the New LACC Act of 2022, provides a comprehensive list of properties, financial holdings, investments, and other relevant financial interests to be submitted to  LACC, the agency responsible for executing Liberia’s Asset Declaration and Verification Regime.  Although the public declaration law didn’t compel a public officer to declare his or her assets publicly, the spirit and the intent of the law on asset declaration were created to make room for public scrutiny of assets declared by public officials and ensure transparency, accountability, and ethical behavior within the government.

Recall in 2018, President George Weah did the uncommon on July 25, 2018, by providing sketchy details of his assets and liabilities. However, it was in response to growing pressure on him to adhere to Section 10.1 of the National Code of Conduct which mandates every public official to declare assets and liabilities before taking office. The presidency released the details of the president’s asset declarations to the General Auditing Commission after a month’s delay,  but his declaration was never made known to the public. 

Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, declared her assets and liabilities on August 6, 2018, to the LACC a week after President Weah’s assets declaration wasn’t made known to the public.  However, on  February 26, 2019, Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, who presided over the senate, expressed serious concern about the failure of Senators to declare their assets, urging them to do so immediately, but her concerns were ignored.

In January 2024, the 55th National Legislature was sworn in, and one of the first things the House of Representatives did was vote in favor of declaring and disclosing their assets to the public. The decision mandated members of the House of Representatives to submit their asset declaration forms to Chief Clerk Mildred Sayon by February 1.  Like the legislature, President Joseph Boakai and his Vice president are yet to publicly declare their assets and liabilities even though they have already taken office.

The LACC and civil society have been calling on the newly sworn  55th legislature to declare the assets and liabilities something they didn’t do before taking office despite the law explicitly mandating all public officials to declare their assets before taking office. Is the House of Representatives decision shielded in hypocrisy? Do the House of Representatives need to vote on a resolution to force its members to declare their assets and liabilities or should have already done so before taking the oath of office as mandated by Section 10.1 of the National Code of Conduct and Section 4.1(9) of 2022 amended and restated in the New LACC Act of 2022. 

Across the world,  most countries expect their top leaders to publish information about their assets. When they don’t, this can lead to both public unrest and political instability as evidenced in Nigeria and Argentina but in Liberia, the news sparked no public outcry. 

Tiawan Saye Gongloe, a human rights activist, and former presidential candidate has strongly advocated for asset declaration and lifestyle audit.  Gongloe in his ten-point agenda told the Liberian people that a well-defined asset declaration system is a strong tool to fight public sector corruption and abuse of power.  I tend to agree with Gongole because published information on a  public official’s assets and liability allows civil society and the Liberian public, in general, to hold them accountable. If public officials are seen to live beyond their means, an assets declaration can be a starting point for investigation. 

Against this background,  this is the best opportunity for public officials within the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary branches to win more sympathy and confidence of Liberians, if they would declare their assets and liabilities and make their assets declaration public.  The need for any elected or appointed public officers to declare their assets and liabilities is not just for their good,  but for the good of the general society. We don’t want a situation whereby political actors will go into public offices and enrich themselves and their cronies.

The previous administration headed by George Weah failed to set a standard as far as the public declaration of assets by public officials was concerned as evidenced in the failures of public officials in the three branches of government to file assets declarations before and after exiting office as required by law.   

Despite the existence of a legal framework for asset declaration for public office holders, the level of compliance is unknown, as data on asset declaration for office holders is not available to the public. The lack of public data on the assets of potential public officials provides an avenue for opacity and a lack of accountability, thereby fuelling political corruption. This is why we must prioritize accountability issues in government processes, and fiscal transparency as advocated by Gongloe and others.

A well-defined asset declaration system is a strong tool to fight public sector corruption and abuse of power.  The House of Representatives must go beyond just passing resolutions mandating its members to declare their assets to revising the relevant legislation to make provision for the publication of the declaration of assets made by public officials to be accessible to the general public. This will ultimately trigger public officials to declare the assets and liabilities and to do so truthfully. There is also the need to criminalize and provide rigorous sentences for the failure to declare assets and liabilities per se, and /or the making of false or partial declarations, willfully. Making provision for sanction for non-compliance will ensure not only that declarations are made at the required time, but also that all declarants are brutally frank with the declarations they make. 

 It must be pointed out that countries like Tanzania and Kenya have criminalized and have provided punishment regimes for false or misleading declarations and persons found guilty are liable for fine and/or punishment. It could be in the public interest for Liberia to tread the path of these countries by criminalizing misleading or false declarations of assets and liabilities.  I rest my pen.