-Says more equity needed
By Jerromie S. Walters
An anti-corruption monitoring report of the earliest days of President Joseph Boakai’s administration has shown that females constitute 18.5 percent of all appointments made by the Liberian Leader.
The report, by CENTAL catalogs developments in the anti-corruption space spanning the first 130 days of the Boakai administration. With the first ‘100 days plus’ monitoring report published in 2018, it is the second monitoring report produced by CENTAL to gauge the progress of a new administration.
Concisely on “Highs and lows for gender and inclusion”, the report shows that President Boakai appointed the first female Minister of National Defense, Retired Brigadier General Geraldine Janet George. Females also account for 30 percent of the Cabinet, thus meeting the globally accepted gender quota regarding the minimum proportion of women in leadership positions.
“President Boakai made history when he appointed the first female Minister of National Defense, Retired Brigadier General Geraldine Janet George.55 Females also account for 30 percent of the Cabinet, thus meeting globally accepted gender quota regarding the minimum proportion of women in leadership positions.”
However, it says this percentage drops by nearly half when the leadership of MACs in general or the total appointments made by the President are considered. Of those appointed as heads of the 75 MACs to which appointments affecting management were made, females constitute 17.3 percent.
The gender crisis
Liberi has the great distinction of being the first African nation to elect a female president and currently has a female Vice President. However, state institutions remain largely male-dominated, and, globally, a UNDP report shows that the West African nation (Liberia) is ranked 156th of 162 countries on the Gender Inequality Index and 163 out of 185 countries on the list of women in national parliaments.
Also, the average percentage of women in national parliaments is 26% for sub-Saharan Africa and 17% in West Africa, in Liberia, women make up less than 11% of the 103 seats in the National Legislature.
International partners, like UNDP, have grown on these statistics as they believe it represents a crisis of under-representation given that women and girls comprise 50% of the population.
For decades, women obtained the right to vote in Liberia in 1946. A constitutional referendum was held in Liberia on 7 May 1946. The change to the constitution was approved in the Legislature in December 1945 and would grant women the right to vote. It was approved by voters and came into force on 10 December 1946.
Legal Frameworks for Women’s Political Participation in Liberia
Liberia has adopted a range of regional and international legal frameworks on the advancement of women’s political and civic rights at local and national levels, including ratification of the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol; adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; and ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (The Maputo Protocol).
As a member of the African Union, Liberia is also expected to implement the AU’s 50/50 gender parity principle. As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Liberia is also expected to implement the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and Gender and Elections Strategic Framework and Action Plan, which includes adopting progressive electoral law reform, including affirmative action/gender quotas for elections at all levels.
Like his predecessors, CENTAL’s report has shown that President Boakai has failed to meet up with the 30-gender quota set by Liberian women when it comes to their political participation and involvement in national government.
As they did with other Presidents, women have repeatedly rallied President Boakai to meet up with the 30 percent gender quota. Recently, Madam David Yango, the Executive Director of Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) urged President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to prioritize the inclusion of more women in national leadership positions.
The CENTAL report catalogs developments in the anti-corruption space spanning the first 130 days of the Boakai administration. This is the second monitoring report produced by CENTAL to gauge the progress of a new administration. It analyzes actions, inactions, and allegations to lay bare realities that contrast or support aspirations for a vibrant anti-corruption framework. It then recommends actions to address the issues identified.
Other key findings of the report also include: Appointments characterized by delays, controversy, limited transparency, Some appointees have negative integrity records, Appointments characterized by nepotism, Allegations of corruption, and Actions not matching Anti-Corruption Commitments.
It proffered recommendations including a need for more robust, timely, and inclusive actions and efforts in dealing with corruption and other core governance, transparency, and accountability issues.
CENTAL: “While we acknowledge few notable early efforts of the President and his administration, he needs to do far more to match his commitments with deeds. Liberians need to see a well-resourced, robust, and more independent LACC under his watch, giving his bold anti-corruption commitments and promises. Equally, LACC must show tangible impacts for resources at its disposal at the moment, as the public has not seen much from the Commission, so far.”
The antigraph body says the Asset Recovery Team must be dissolved and the resources directed at the LACC to take on the Task. If the President insists on having a task force to deal with the matter, it should be an interagency team with representations from existing government agencies linked to the mandate.
In its opinion, this will save cost and ensure the sustainability of the process as well as public confidence in its work, something that the current task force lacks. “LACC must show more will and commitment in implementing their mandate, ensuring that those accused and sanctioned for corruption are investigated and prosecuted.”
