LACC Ignores Delayed Assets Declarations

Wednesday, 22 August 2012 15:56

Written by ND Staff

Scores of suspended government officials that rushed yesterday to the headquarters of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to make up in declaring their assets after the expiration of the deadline were considered “noncompliant” officials.

Some of the 46 suspended officials who failed to declare their assets on time were seen at the LACC headquarters with files but the commission’s chair said their documents will be considered as “file 13”, meaning not noncompliant.

“We will just put it in file 13. You are still considered as noncompliant within the time frame,” she told those officials declaring assets after the deadline.

She said the fact that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has realized that her officials failed to comply within the timeframe and she suspended them, the LACC cannot go beyond that, but only to declare them as noncompliant of the exercise.

“We consider their failure to comply within the 30 day-day period as noncompliant for the period 2012 to 2014” she told this paper in an exclusive interview yesterday.

She expressed concern that officials of both the Judiciary and the Legislature did not declare assets, and regretted that “the law does not give us power to exercise penalties.”

President Sirleaf mandated her officials to declare their assets under a code of conduct declared in Executive Order #38, and vowed to penalize non-compliant officials.