Senior officials sacked following corruption probe

In the first high-profile sackings since President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf came to power and vowed to crack down on corruption, three senior government officials and five other mid-level employees have been fired. They were let go for what Sirleaf called “acts of impropriety.” She ordered government prosecutors to begin legal proceedings against them. Those fired included Benson Barh, deputy minister and chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health, Aaron Mathies, assistant minister for commerce, and James Attoh, chairman at the Civil Aviation Authority. The five other mid-level civil servants were employed at the Ministry of Finance. “The President once again reiterates her pledge to the Liberian people that she will fight corruption in government and will separate [herself] from officials who abuse the public,” a statement from the president’s office said on Sunday. Sirleaf, often referred to in Monrovia as the “Iron Lady,” was elected as Africa’s first female president in November 2005, vowing to rid Liberia of the graft that had triggered 14 years of civil war and forced the population to rely on international aid for survival. Last week, Liberia’s Anti-Corruption Task Force claimed to have uncovered alleged fraud worth nearly US $1 million at the Ministry of Finance under the former power-sharing transitional government. The task force is an independent group of economists and security investigators that was formed during Liberia’s transitional period. Concerns about corruption in government prompted Liberia's international partners and donors in September to draw up an anti-graft plan known as the Governance Economic Management Assistance Programme (GEMAP). Sirleaf has thrown her support behind GEMAP under which international supervisors will monitor key ministries and lucrative concerns such as the port, airport, customs office and forestry commission, as well all state expenditure, for the next three years. ak/cs/nr