By: Laymah Kollie
Professor Wilson Tarpeh, a former official in the
administration of ex-President George Weah, has attributed the government’s
failure to audit and prosecute officials from the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf era to
the time-consuming and energy-draining nature of the auditing process.
Speaking on The Daily Show on Cape FM with host Smith Toby,
Prof. Tarpeh said a comprehensive internal assessment during the early days of
the Weah administration revealed that auditing a single public official could
take between 13 to 18 months a process he described as inefficient and
distracting.
Prof. Tarpeh, who served as Executive Director of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Weah, said the administration
instead decided to prioritize the implementation of its Pro-Poor Agenda for
Prosperity and Development (PAPD).
“We realized that so much time and energy is spent on
auditing, and by the time cases reach the courts, they often fade or are
dismissed altogether,” Tarpeh explained. “That was one reason the Weah
government didn’t audit. Some of the charges from the past were dismissed; some
just embarrassed people without yielding any results in court.”
Referencing history, Tarpeh recalled several public
officials investigated during the Sirleaf administration such as Edwin Melvin
Snowe, Lusinee Kamara, and former interim President Gyude Bryant whose cases
either stalled or ended without prosecution.
He emphasized that the Weah government chose a more
results-oriented approach.
“That’s why significant progress was made on the Pro-Poor
Agenda. We saved time, we saved energy, and the investments were directed
toward actual development projects,” he said.
Prof. Tarpeh also noted that audit reports only have legal
consequences when they uncover criminal offenses.
“When audit reports don’t amount to a criminal act, they
rarely lead to any real action,” he stated.
He concluded by addressing the public’s perception of
corruption, suggesting that it often differs significantly from how corruption
is actually manifested and dealt with within government institutions.
