The Centre for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTRAL) has warned that the country’s development and progress could be stalled in the October elections if political candidates are not properly scrutinised.

Development Dairies reports that the organisation called on all Liberians eligible to vote to properly examine the various candidates to avoid electing corrupt and bad leaders.

‘As the election date gets nearer, we would again like to remind the various political parties and candidates about their responsibility to uphold the Farmington Declaration, which was signed on April 4, 2023, demanding peaceful, free, fair, and credible elections’, said CENTRAL’s Executive Director, Anderson Miamen.

‘Voting for corrupt and bad leaders will mean stalling the development and progress of the country. So, be careful whom you vote for, as you will have to live with the consequences of your October 10, 2023, decisions and choices for the next six to nine years’.

Miamen, who further lauded the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission for its recent stability, called on the agency to ensure all public officeholders found guilty of corruption and the abuse of public funds and resources are brought to book.

‘Liberia needs a robust, independent, well-resourced, and public-interest driven LACC more than ever before. This is particularly important as Corruption is becoming pervasive in Liberia, especially in the public sector’, Miamen added.

‘The government’s 26 score out of a possible 100 on the 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International shows the scale of the problem at hand’.

Elections to determine the country’s president and members of parliament are scheduled to hold on 10 October, 2023.

Photo source: Brittany Danisch