Liberia: 'We Can't Prosecute' - Anti-Corruption Chief

Chair of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Corruption (LACC), former Justice Minister Mrs. Frances Johnson-Morris, says the body lacks prosecuting powers.

Speaking to the Voice of America in the US, the former Elections Commission Chair said:

"While we have the primary responsibility to investigate acts of corruption which we have started the responsibility to prosecute lies first and foremost with the Ministry of Justice.

Under the Act, we need to submit our findings and our report to the Ministry of Justice and ask them to prosecute. When and if the ministry fails to prosecute a given matter submitted to it by the commission, it is at that point only that the commission can go and begin to prosecute."

This indicates that the body, expected to help in curbing the alarming rise of corruption, is handicapped, since the Ministry of Justice itself has an anti-corruption task force and is swamped with cases to prosecute.

Under the Act, we need to submit our findings and our report to the Ministry of Justice and ask them to prosecute. When and if the ministry fails to prosecute a given matter submitted to it by the commission, it is at that point only that the commission can go and begin to prosecute."

This indicates that the body, expected to help in curbing the alarming rise of corruption, is handicapped, since the Ministry of Justice itself has an anti-corruption task force and is swamped with cases to prosecute.