Africa-Press – Liberia. The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), a leading anti-corruption organization, has launched a corruption case tracker (CCT) to document cases under investigation by the Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC).
Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Embassy of Sweden in Liberia, the Tracker was developed by CENTAL under its National Integrity Building and Anti-Corruption Program.
It is an online platform designed to enhance transparency and accountability in the handling of corruption cases, in part through making information about their nature, scope, location, timeline, and other details available and accessible to the public.
The tracker provides real-time access to government budgets, procurement contracts, and financial statements, allowing citizens to track public spending and identify irregularities. It allows citizens to easily report suspected cases of corruption through a user-friendly interface, ensuring that their voices are heard and their concerns addressed.
The tracker utilizes advanced data visualization tools to present complex information in a clear and accessible manner, making it easier for citizens to understand and analyze government activities.
Atty. Gerald D. Yeakula, CENTAL’s Program Manager, explained the essence of the case tracker, adding that “we hope it can be a game-changer in the fight against corruption.”
He said the tool can be to track allegations of corruption, upload them to the platform that allows citizens to have access to and follow up on these cases.
“We have cases uploaded here in case you are doing research. Our cases come from LACC reports as far back as 2009. Some of these cases have some diplomatic links.”
He further clarified that cases uploaded to the platform are not final or at the jurisdiction level, but informing the public the status of the corruption cases, including how many cases are currently before the LACC, and which sector the case is from.
Atty. Bendu Kpoto, CENTAL’s Coordinator of Advocacy, and Legal Advisor, hailed the launch and encouraged the public to make use of the platform, especially researchers.
“We encourage our donor partners and researchers to make use of the tracker. Before the tracker there were not any tools to inform our donor partners of how far corruption or prosecutions are. Even the citizens may use this to hold our government accountable. They will have the empowerment to report corruption without fear of being targeted.”
Anderson Miamen, Executive Director, CENTAL emphasized his organization’s commitment to combating corruption and promoting transparency in Liberia.
“At CENTAL we are keen about corruption and the different cases of accountability. Dealing with the culture of impunity,” he said.
Nikolina Stålhand, Program Officer at the Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, called on the public, including local and international stakeholders, to maximize the usage of the tracker to promote accountability. She formally launched the online platform.
Diverse stakeholders, including representatives, heads of the Public Procurement and Concession Commission, Liberia Extractives Industries Transparency Initiatives, Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, General Auditing Commission, civil society actors, and the media, attended the occasion and made remarks.
CCT expected outcomes include enhancing transparency and fostering increased engagement by providing the public and stakeholders with real-time access to case details and updates, increasing accountability by holding government agencies responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption cases; and strengthening collaboration among citizens, media, civil society, government agencies, and international organizations in addressing corruption in Liberia, including funding, managing, and sustaining the CCT.
CCT will solicit stakeholders’ commitments and inputs that will enhance the quality, usefulness, management, and sustainability of the Corruption Case Tracker.
The launch of the Corruption Tracker represents a significant milestone in CENTAL’s efforts to combat corruption and promote good governance in Liberia.
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