The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) says it has placed the entire leadership of the National Elections Commission (NEC) under full-scale corruption investigation for the reported hiring of several pieces of thermometers, costing around US$180,000 (one hundred eighty thousand United States dollars).
The Commission said all the seven Commissioners and other senior executives of the NEC will begin making statements at the LACC beginning today, November 19, 2021.
A statement from the Commission quotes the Executive Chairperson as saying the LACC was deeply concerned about the report, and is determined to have an understanding of all elements of the transaction.
Earlier this week, it was widely reported that the National Elections Commission (NEC) spent a whopping US$180,000 to rent several pieces of thermometers for the conduct of the Tuesday by-elections in the four counties.
In a related development, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission says its on-going institutional corruption risk assessments in various ministries and agencies do not amount to full-scale investigation of these agencies.
The Commission, in a statement, quoted its Executive Chairperson as saying corruption risk assessments are meant to test the capacity of institutions to respond quickly to incidents of fraud in the system and their ability to deal with it promptly.
The LACC Executive Chairperson, Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin, also reminded public officials that these assessments are crucial to their operational independence, and it is an important tool used around the world by anti-graft institutions to fight corruption proactively.
Of late, the Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC) has been working with several agencies of government to examine their capacities through its risk assessment program to resist corruption in the event there are attempts to challenge the system.
The LACC has praised institutions involved for their unflinching collaboration with the Commission in ensuring that their systems are free from signs of corruption.