LIBERIA – Fighting corruption is a hell of an issue in Liberia. And shortly after the Liberia’s Anti-Corruption Commission exposed a few government officials for corruption, his agony has begun; telling the media he fears for his life. Smart News Liberia security editor reports.
A senior Weah government official has said he’s being accused of being one of those who want to harm Kla Martin. Even though he denied the allegation, he pointed out that he can never be part of any scheme to destroy his junior brother, referring to Martin.
The LACC boss is said to be in hiding, this is according to top sources. And when Smart News contacted him by phone this morning for comment, he would not speak, he would not respond to our text messages.
It appears, the scheme to take down the LACC team first showed its head at the recently concluded cabinet retreat in Ganta City; where Edwin Kla Martin was grilled for almost an hours on his activities, when others officials were given just five minutes to speak.
The LACC Boss has abhorred the decision to dissolve the commissioners of the institution in a so-called amended act.
He told a local newspaper interview that the legislature decision was ‘unjust’.
That was a rare critical rebuke according to the paper, after President Weah requested in 2021 that the legislature adopt a minor adjustment to the 2008 LACC Act to give the commission direct power to prosecute.
However, the legislature chose to abolish the statute rather than amend it — even though the move granted the re-established LACC direct and immediate Prosecutorial Power, which it presently has, but with restrictions.
Martin said in the in the interview: “We are taken aback by the conduct of the Legislature to do a restatement of the law which, in itself, is to dissolve, abrogate and negate the relevant and the adequate effectiveness of the 2008 Act.
“I will challenge the new law in court. You cannot dissolve a tenured position to create another. Their action is not only a violation of the law but it provides a signal for a witch-hunt.”
The paper quoted the LACC boss as stating that the new bill, if signed into law by the President, would never be in the best interests of the country, but only of a small group of people who do not want to see corruption cease or be reduced in Liberia.
He noted that the sole flaw in the LACC Act of 2008 is the absence of prosecutorial authority for the Commission to move to court without the Ministry of Justice’s three-month (90-day) review clause on cases presented by LACC.
“For the Legislature to dissolve the clause that gave us tenure position of five years to say ‘upon the appointment of the new commissioners thorough vetting, the old Commissioners are no more in service,’ leads us to ask the question: why only the LACC’s tenure clause should be tampered with at this time? We will want to know and the court is the right place to deal with this illegal attempt.”
And appears Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin has fallen out with his best friends, said one political observer he claimed Cllr. Martin was actually appointed by the Weah team to do a cover-up at the LACC.
The political observer says because Cllr. Martin has allegedly chosen ‘good over evil’, he has become a target of his former friends.
He stated that it is now in court of President Weah to assure Liberians that the LACC boss is safe and would be protected from his alleged hunters.
Martin has disclosed that his security is at stake as he plans to challenge the legislation in court if the President signs it since it runs contrary to the tendency of good governance.
“I am no longer feeling safe in this country. I have only one police officer assigned to me and he comes to work at 8 am and leaves for home at 5 pm. Beyond that time, I am vulnerable and it’s only self-precaution and God’s grace that are keeping me going,” he said.
Martin added that unlike him, his colleagues in the sub-region have twenty-four-hour daily security personnel assigned to them at the expense of their respective governments.
