Earlier today, the Liberia CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition in partnership with the Center for Fiscal Transparency & Integrity Watch- Nigeria Launched the Transparency & Integrity Index 2023 Methodology Handbook for Liberia.
This methodology handbook seeks to provide a detailed explanation of the variables and the scoring criteria for the evaluation and assessment of openness and transparency of public institutions. The Transparency and Integrity Index (TII) was adopted to promote transparency, monitor public sector expenditure, and strengthen the integrity mechanisms of public institutions in Liberia.
According to LCACC National Coordinator, James Koryor, the assessment of various Government Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs) and other government institutions will be conducted around the following six (6) thematic areas: Website Integrity, Fiscal Transparency, Open Procurement, Anti-Corruption, Citizens Engagement/ Responsiveness, Human Resources and Inclusion.
The LCACC Boss furthered that the pioneer edition of the TII in Liberia, the 2023 assessment will focus on eleven (11) sectors including: Public Administration Sector, Municipal Government Sector, Transparency and Accountability Sector, Security and the Rule of Law Sector, Health Sector, Social Development Services Sector, Education Sector, Energy and Environment Sector, Agriculture Sector, Infrastructure and Basic Services Sector, and Industry and Commerce Sector.
Koryor also stated that the assessment will be conducted from June- August 2023 and Public presentation of the findings: The public presentation of the findings will be held on the 28th September 2023, commemorating the United Nations Day for Universal Access to Information.
Making opening statements and special remarks at the event included the National Vice President of the Federation of Liberian Youth, Jeremiah Wilson, Press Union of Liberia Program Officer, James L. Davids , IREDD Executive Director, Matthias Yeanay, Governance Commission, Policy Analyst, Netugba Wesseh, the National Risk & Outreach Manager at the Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia, Cooper Leamah, II.
Others key institutions included the Independent Information Commission represented by its Executive Director, Mr. Emmanuel Howe, CSO budget Platform Coordinator, Mr. Narvin Ireland, CENTAL Senior Program Officer, Atty. Isaac Nyantte, Jr. the Executive Director of Accountability Lab, Blair Glencorse and the Vice Chaairman of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Cllr. Kanio Bai Gbala.
Also making special remarks was the Executive Director for the Center for Fiscal Transparency & Integrity Watch; Mr. Umar Yakubu lamented on the significance of the partnership and committed his institution continuous support towards promoting transparency and integrity in the public sector in Africa.
For his part Mr. Lawrence Yealue, Country Representative of Accountability Lab commended LCACC and CeFTIW for the initiative and pleadge his institution support to seeing the TII been successful in Liberia as he Launch the Transparency and integrity Index Methodology Handbook stating that it’s a great leap in promoting open Governance in Liberia.
