Published: August 31, 2026
MONROVIA — Public officials will be required to declare their assets a second time next year, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission said, opening a fresh compliance round for an administration that has already filed more than 3,000 declarations.
By Blamo N. Toe
LACC Executive Chairperson Cllr. Alexandra Zoe announced the redeclaration requirement at the commission’s 18th anniversary program in Sinkor, Monrovia, held under the theme “LACC at 18: Reflecting on the Journey and Renewing the Commitment.” She said the declarations filed under President Joseph Nyuma Boakai are the highest number recorded in the commission’s history.
Zoe also said the commission investigated and concluded 81 corruption cases between 2013 and 2023. She urged Liberians to treat the fight against corruption as a shared national responsibility rather than work reserved for the commission, saying the country has reached a point where stronger efforts are needed to confront graft and rebuild public confidence in the institutions meant to enforce accountability.
Delivering the keynote address, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Samuel A. Stevquoah tied Liberia’s development prospects to whether public money reaches its intended purpose, and said confidence in government falls when public office is treated as a route to personal enrichment.
“When citizens comes to believe that some people are too powerful to be held accountable, faith in democracy itself begins to weaken,” Stevquoah said.
He said the Boakai administration treats the rule of law, accountability and responsible management of public resources as central principles of good governance.
The anniversary was the first the LACC has held since it was established in August 2008, Vice Executive Chairperson Arthur W.B. Fumbah said.
“LACC is 18 years today and this occasion is the first time the LACC is celebrating an anniversary and we have to assure the Liberian people that LACC is ready to lead Liberia into a corruption-free society,” Fumbah said.
Fumbah said the milestone was meant to take stock of the commission’s successes and failures, recognize the work of its predecessors and signal that the current leadership can do the job. He recalled that corruption was described at the time of the commission’s creation as “Public Enemy #1” and a “vampire,” and praised the officials who set the body up.
He said prevention deserves more weight than it has received, alongside detection and prosecution.
“In this first celebration of a LACC anniversary, we have come to say thanks and learn from our predecessors,” Fumbah said. “As we continue to enhance detection and prosecution from the past, it is very important to prevent this vampire from growing as we all do with the grass around our houses.”
UNDP Resident Representative Aliou Mamadou Dia said Liberia cannot build the future it wants on corruption, exclusion or inequality, and that trust and accountability have to carry the development agenda instead.
The program drew government officials, development partners and other stakeholders.
Zoe did not give a date for the redeclaration exercise, name the categories of officials it will cover or say what will happen to those who do not comply.
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