OF LATE, we have been on the back of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for all the right reasons, even if it may have come across wrong to some sycophants and praise singers. Today, we too will join a rare refrain of her praise in commending her for something she should have done long ago. But the old adage, Better Late Than Never, could never have been more appropriate than now.
In Praise of President Sirleaf’s Financial Disclosure
THE PRESIDENT, in an address to the nation Tuesday, sought to address mounting innuendos and speculations stemming from a number of corruption reports and allegations dogging her administration of late.
SAID THE PRESIDENT: “In an environment of rumors, conspiracies, lies and suspicions, it is important that those holding high public office disclose their financial status to the public”.
SHE THEN URGED high-level officials, particularly those in public fiduciary positions, to do likewise. “I further call on all presidential aspirants, to consider in their own interest to do the same”.
PRESIDENT SIRLEAF went on to say that the records of her family members, including those based abroad are clear and subject to the stringent laws of those countries, thus addressing any suspicion of family members holding assets that belong to her.
IN PAPERS MADE public Tuesday, the President total worth of her assets is put at US$1,707,279.64.
THE DOCUMENT SAYS that the President earns L$1,645,500 as gross salary per anum and US$72,000 in allowances per anum. The asset declaration form also shows that she earns US$49,933.76 in her personal checking account at IB Bank, EJS Farm account also at IB Bank has a balance of L$379,502.20 , EJS personal Account: L$630,363.31 and a saving account with a balance of US$9,777.72.
REGARDING HER foreign accounts, the filings note that the President has savings with Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina in the tone of US$153,006.00 and a UNFC account with a balance of US$7,300.
IN TREASURY BILLS or investment in securities, President Sirleaf recorded having US$704,314.00 with Vanguard Mutual Funds in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and US$61,003.00 with American Funds, Los Angeles in California.
IN FILINGS FOR real estate, President Sirleaf valued her current residence – a one storey building with a swimming pool and a palavahut at US$164,100. She also owns a bungalow which contains a boys quarters, palavahut and an external kitchen at Corina Park, Congo Town, valued at US$117,300; a compound with two concrete buildings in Congo Town worth US$103,000.00; a vacant family plot on Broad Street worth US$50,000; a US$77,411 residential property in Caldwell, Bushrod Island; a structure on Benson Street valued at US$44, 016; a US$56,800 bungalow on Congo Town back road.
THE PRESIDENT also reports owning a vacant 513 acres of land in Todee District which she valued at US$51,300 and four acres of vacant land in Paynesville worth US$4,000. According to the President, her garden is also worth US$5,000.
THE TIMING of President Sirleaf’s declaration of her assets is key. It comes just as Liberians and international stakeholders are reeling over the preliminary results of an ongoing audit process of the Private Sector Development Initiative at the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, commissioned by the Minister of Finance, revealing some shocking outcome and results which showed that officials at the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning were making loans to themselves in violation of the law.
THE PSDI is a project, that was established in 2014 at the MFDP to provide loans to Liberian-owned small and medium-sized Enterprises (SME’s). The loan was meant to financially-strengthen Liberian businesses. In so doing, the process would create jobs and accelerate the participation of Liberian owned businesses in the economy of Liberia.
THE TIMING OF the release of the President’s financial assets sends an important message to other government ministries and agencies, particularly the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission which has been reluctant to make assets declarations of public officials’ public, despite repeated Freedom of Information(FOI) requests.
UNTIL THE RELEASE of the President’s assets Tuesday, the LACC and the General Auditing Commission (GAC), despite signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in the handling of assets declaration documents submitted by public officials of the Executive Branch of government who are required to declare their assets, have been shying away from making those assets public.
IN DOING SO, the LACC in particular has been shielding the corrupt while making it nearly impossible for the media to help gauge and monitor the wealth accumulated by public officials.
WE HOPE HOWEVER, that the actions of the President are emulated by the other two branches of government, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
WE APPLAUD the President not just for making the state of her finances public, but also for encouraging those serving in her government to do the same.
TOO MANY OFFICIALS have been hiding behind the lack of transparency and accountability and the unwillingness of anti-graft bodies to cooperate in the implementation of the FOI Law; too many have been accumulating wealth for far too long, in so such a time while the majority of folks continue to languish at the bottom of the economic ladder.
PERCEPTION IS A BAD thing. We all saw on April 12, 1980 what happened when former officials of the government of President William R. Tolbert were slain because they were accused of rampant corruption. There were no assets declarations implemented those days and even though many lost their lives, no one really know up to this day, how much they were worth – or how much they had stashed away.
NEARLY A DECADE later, we all saw- and the video is still out there in cyberspace, how Samuel Doe bled to death as his captors tortured him in a futile attempt at telling them where he hid his perceived millions.
THIS IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT that President Sirleaf, as part of her looming legacy, ensure that each and every member of her administration files an asset declaration and make it public as she has done.
THIS WILL NOT ONLY help the media and the public monitor wealth accumulation by officials in government, but it will go a long way in erasing the misconception, innuendos and so-called lies, rumors, and conspiracies that may continue to dog this generation of leaders for a long time to come.