The skepticism characterizing the role of the Special Presidential Task Force

The Special Presidential Task Force set up by President Ellen Johnson-Sirlea to probe a Global Witness Report linking some top public officials to corruption now have an added responsibility.

Other than the court action being pursued against those already indicted including Speaker J. Alex Tyler and Senator H. Varney G. Sherman at Criminal Court ‘C’ at the Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill, the Task Force – headed by the Minister of State without Portfolio, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, is also concentrating on a review of all audit reports produced by the General Auditing Commission or GAC.

Cllr. Koffa has publicly disclosed that more people will be prosecuted as the Task Force gets set to review audit reports from the GAC, boasting that it was time for the Ministry of State to take its usually supporting role because it has become active prosecution of persons already indicted and more people would have been indicted by this week.

“The President has been concerned about the mounting GAC Reports simply because the Ministry of Justice is actively involved in prosecution, while the LACC is focused on investigating matters it receives on a daily basis,” he said, adding that old reports from the GAC already investigated or prosecuted will be looked considered for compliance screening measure.

While these efforts and actions against corruption in Liberia may be welcoming in many quarters of the Liberian society, uncertainty may also characterize the efforts and outcomes of the tasks assigned to the ‘Koffa Task Force’.

Even though Liberians really anticipate good results from these probes, what good will come from these actions if the results are also suffocated at certain point. Being cognizant of other previous audit reports produced by the GAC and recommendations of the Legislature to the President of Liberia, following public hearings, Liberians have all rights to be skeptical about whatever that may be coming out of the current mandate of the Special Presidential Task Force. 

A very clear example is the audit report produced by the GAC on the 2014 Ebola Funds wherein such report received condemnations from not only those booked, but the President of Liberia. Since then, there’s been very little heard about the implementation of the recommendations.

In view of the foregoing, it is even difficult to believe whether something would be realized from the ongoing probes led by the ‘Fonati Koffa Task Force’.This is why Cllr. Koffa and others must not be too “excited” over what they do at the moment because, at the end of the day, the “center will not hold” – unless, this time, we are proven wrong.