The Elections data center will be used to track information on campaign finance, abuse of incumbency, electoral corruption, and to track hate speech throughout the campaign period. \nIWL has deployed over 30 monitors across the 15 counties in Liberia to collect data during the campaign. The data center will be used to verify and tabulate data collected from field monitors.\nIntegrity Watch Liberia is committed to upholding the principles of transparency and accountability in Liberia's democratic processes. We invite you to join us in this important endeavor by staying updated on our activities and supporting our mission to empower Liberia's citizens through information and data-driven insights. Together, we can contribute to fair and transparent elections in Liberia.

In the lead-up to the crucial 2023 elections in Liberia, it's imperative that we stand united against hate speech. Political parties play a vital role in shaping our nation's future, but hate speech only divides us. Let's prioritize respectful dialogue, focusing on policies and solutions rather than personal attacks. By promoting a culture of tolerance and understanding, we can ensure a peaceful and inclusive election process that truly represents the will of the people. Together, we can build a Liberia that thrives on unity, diversity, and progress, setting an example for the entire world.\n #LiberiaElections2023 #PeacefulElection

In an effort to promote transparency and accountability in the management of public school registration fees, Integrity Watch Liberia has undertaken a monitoring and research investigation. This initiative aims to shed light on how these fees are handled and ensure that they are used for their intended purpose – supporting the education of Liberia's youth.

Integrity watch Liberia conducted a two days training for political parties under the theme "Campaign Financing " held at ICampus Liberia office on Carey Street on july 27 to 28 2023.\nThe training brought together secretary general and financial secretaries/treasures from 24 political parties. The Training was led by the lead facilitator in person of Atty. George N Kings from the Toun-Ya Legal Consultancy, LLC. With support from his Honor Justice Kabineh M. Ja'neh.

Integrity Watch Liberia with funding support from UNDP Liberia Electoral Support Project (LESP), on July 17, 2023, launched the political patties’ campaign finance regulation initiative dubbed “Strengthening Political Accountability Project (SPAP)”.\n\nThe project is premised on the backdrop that in Liberia, campaign finance continues to be a gray area for political actors to disclose money spent throughout the electoral campaign and this has created a serious imbalance in the political competition for almost all elections. Reporting on campaign finance is required by law in Liberia. Nevertheless, getting these reports in time, or at all, from political parties and candidates is a challenge.

Officials of Government here present: - Ministry of Health; Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection; - Ministry of Education; Ministry of Agriculture; - Financial Intelligence Unit; General Auditing Commission and the - Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission Mr. Harold Aidoo & Members of Integrity Watch My Distinguished Stakeholders from CSOs Invited Guests Members of the 4th Estate Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen\nI would firstly like to thank Mr. Harold M. Aidoo, Sr., Executive Director of Integrity Watch Liberia and members of his team for inviting me to serve as Chief Launcher on such an auspicious occasion for the Launch of this unique project that is geared to enhancing fiscal transparency. The project titled: “Promoting Citizens’ Participation in Budget Process”, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a highly welcoming initiative and I am therefore very pleased to serve as Chief Launcher toward this transparency initiative that is so critical right now in Liberia.\nTransparency in the budget process is one of the key pillars of good governance. Globally, the budget processes have scored a lot of successes in terms of greater participation and scrutiny; however, there is no single recipe in order to create a successful initiative to enhance transparency and accountability in the budget process. Nevertheless, there is a consistent set of factors across transparency and accountability initiatives that are classified as successful in various dimensions. These require building horizontal and vertical alliances with stakeholders like Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Youth Groups, Religious Groups, Students Groups, etc. But more so, the need to produce legitimate information, legal empowerment, and support from everyone including the government and our donor/international partners cannot be overemphasized. \nGiven the ongoing momentum to support budget-related transparency and accountability initiatives, it is very cardinal to take stock and determine whether such initiatives are likely to achieve their stated goals. Therefore, initiatives like these seek to promote transparency, accountability, and public participation in the budget process. Again, thanks to the organizer and sponsors of today’s program.\nMay I hasten to inform you that Civil Society Organizations have played a pivotal role in these initiatives. As efforts for greater openness in public budget processes come from “above”, in terms of global best practices – most notably pressures for us are from the IMF, World Bank and other Development Partners; it is also a well-known fact that greater openness in public budget processes advocacy comes also from “below”, with the increasing number of Civil Society “Budget Groups” who too, are passionate for the involvement of citizens in the budget processes. \nCivil society’s interest in publicizing and analyzing government budgets aligns with fiscal transparency norms that are linked to broader developments in economic policies that emphasize fiscal discipline and a renewed focus on reforms that promote good governance. While the international development community’s interest is in improving transparency and accountability in the budget process also stems from concerns about aid effectiveness – or more generally, about the (in)effectiveness of government spending. Globally there are concerns that governments expenditures usually do not produce the necessary desired effect for example in Health, Education, Agriculture, and Gender outcomes. These are key government priorities for which this project’s objective is to increase citizens’ awareness and advocacy.\nThe most well-known civil society actors that promote engagement in public budget processes is the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and its subsidiary, the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT). I am happy to announce to you that Liberia is currently in partnership with these institutions to enhance public participation in the budget process. There is a pilot project currently ongoing called the Fiscal Openness Accelerator (FOA) project that is geared towards fiscal transparency for public participation for better use of public resources. \nIn order to support the local activities necessary to implement this public participation mechanisms I am pleased to inform you that under the Fiscal Openness Accelerator (FOA) Project, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) have recruited an Expert on public participation and a Local Administrator to work closely with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Advisory Group and the GIFT Coordination Team to provide technical assistance, facilitate peer-learning activities, research for and develop the support documentation needed for the implementation of the public participation pilots in fiscal policies, formulate timely and comprehensive reports on activities, amongst many other tasks for the promotion of public participation in the budget process. \nImportantly, on tomorrow, I will meet with these newly recruited Consultants on how we can work to constructively approach this process to ensure public participation. It will be a good thing to have inputs from all of you here today on how transparent and accountable our budget process can be. That’s why the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is working with well-meaning stakeholders both internationally and locally to improve this process. It is one of the reasons why Integrity Watch as a Civil Society Organization is a key partner in these areas to reinforce the drivers of accountability and improve decision making in the budget process. Their aim to strengthen the capacity of Civil Society Organizations to participate in the FY2023 budget formulation process is welcoming and we are excited about initiatives like these that will be proffered in engagements with leadership and partners that share our general objectives. We use this opportunity to assure the Integrity Watch Team and other CSOs of our continued commitment to partner with them in service to our people. Hence, we are happy that the Launch of this project, “Promoting Citizens’ Participation in the Budget Process”, will be part of many efforts toward such improvement in accountability. The Government welcomes this project. Generally, budget support has become a preferred instrument for many foreign aid donors, who may now take a greater interest in transparency to ensure that the funds they put into general government coffers are spent appropriately. And this, we shall work to ensure.\nAdditionally, we can attribute increased interest in open budgets to political momentum around participatory budgeting. Participatory budgeting fits in with a broader range of initiatives that aim to strengthen citizens’ participation in government’s accountability. This notion of inviting citizens to participate in the core activities of the state is at the heart of many of the Transparency and Accountability Initiatives around the World. That’s why under our leadership as Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, we have continuously ensured that Liberia published a citizens’ version of the proposed budget. In the past, the citizens’ budget was only done after the budget was approved by the National Legislature. I will end by stating that the Government of Liberia through the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Hon. Samuel D. Tweah, Jr. is on transparency and accountability in the public arena. Thus, on his behalf, I again assure you of the Government’s reassurance on its commitment to continuously support opportunities for citizens to contribute to decision making processes around the budget issues which affect their livelihood.\nLadies and Gentlemen, it’s therefore the Government’s hope that with the Launch of this Fiscal Transparency Project Titled: “Promoting Citizens’ Participation in the Budget Process” will achieve the full appreciation of the progress, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening fiscal transparency in Liberia as we chart a new course. \nNow and henceforth, as the Chief Launcher of this Project, I hereby declare this Project officially Launched for the betterment of MAMA Liberia - I THANK YOU.

Integrity Watch Liberia officially launched its 2-years fiscal transparency project titled "Promoting Citizens' Participation in the Budget Process" funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), today June 2, 2022, at iCampus' Wologisi Hall in Monrovia.\nThe project was launched by Hon. Tanneh G. Brunson - Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Other notable guests at the launch include Hon. Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr - Minister of Gender, Children & Social Protection, Mr. Moses Kowo - LACC Executive Director, Mr. Groba Williams - Financial Intelligence Unit, scores of Civil Society Organizations, and members of the CSO Budget Platform as well as members of the press.\nThe project seeks to strengthen the capacity of Civil Society Organizations to participate in the National Budget formulation process and to increase citizens' awareness and voice in the national government budget priorities with key focus on Health, Education, Gender, and Agriculture. The underlying value of this intervention is that it reinforces the drivers of accountability and improved decision-making and citizens' participation in the budget process.\nThe project launch ceremony was followed by a 2-day intensive training for CSOs on the PFM legal framework, the budget cycle, and budget analysis.

Integrity Watch Liberia in partnership with LACC, Accountability Lab, and CENTAL with support from UNDP and SIDA officially launched its Corruption Reporting Platform "TALKAY" at Boulevard Palace Hotel in Monrovia on March 25, 2022.\nThis platform, built by Integrity Watch Liberia seeks to support the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to leverage on ICT and innovation as points of reference to create public demand, transparency, and responses regarding the reporting and tackling of incidents of corruption. The national e-platform not only aids in the prevention of corruption by timely reporting but also contributes towards the gathering of data on incidences of corruption across the country thereby expanding the presence of the LACC to tackle corruption in the country. The Corruption Reporting Platform allows citizens across Liberia to report corrupt practices on their mobile phones with supporting evidence (Video, Audio, Pictures, documents, etc.). The platform also allows citizens without smartphones or computers to report corruption via text message to 4419 free of charge. Reports can be submitted anonymously. \nTALKAY was officially launched at Boulevard Palace Hotel in Monrovia by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission's chairperson Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin.\nSpeaking at the launch of TALKAY, Cllr. Martin said "the fight against corruption is a national initiative that does not only depend on the LACC, Integrity Watch, other CSOs, and development partners. The fight against corruption should be a collective fight that requires the participation of the courts, opposition political leaders, the media, and every Liberian in and out of Liberia". The LACC will control the backend of the corruption reporting platform TALKAY and will immediately see reports of corruption sent to the platform. The LACC will then investigate reports and take the necessary actions needed.\nAlso in attendance for the launch of "TALKAY" was the UNDP Liberia Deputy Country Representative Thabani Mabodoko. making a special remark at the launch, the Deputy Country Representative stated the need to support and strengthen transparency and accountability. He stressed the importance of the use of innovation in the fight against corruption. Mr. Mabodoko called on the public to use the platform to report cases of corruption as it provides a convenient means for corrupt practices to be reported.\nFunding for the development of TALKAY has been provided by UNDP with support from SIDA. Visit \nwww.talkay.org\n to send report or download Talkay on Google play store and App Store.reports

Integrity Watch Liberia (IW-L) in partnership with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) held a one-day Beneficial Ownership (BO) training for members of the Bi-Partisan Legislative Caucus and Senators of the National Legislature in Buchana, Grand Bassa county on March 11, 2022 at Hotel Buchanan.\nThe one-day engagement brought together seven Lawmakers, including Senator Numene T. H. Bartekwah- Grand Kru County, Senator Jonathan Sogbie- RiverGee County, Senator Wellington G. V. Smith-Rivercess County, Rep. Francis Doupoe- RiverGee County, Rep. Matthew Zarzar of Sinoe County, Rep. Dorwohn Gleekia – Nimba, Rep. Ivar K. Jones-Margibi County. \nThe engagement facilitated by TJNA team discussed issues on Beneficial Ownership, Transfer Pricing, Tax Incentives, Fiscal Regime, etc. The Legislative engagement aimed to acquaint Lawmakers with the issues above and get views on how to ensure that concession companies are complient with international best practices standard and ensure citizens and the country benefit meaningfully out of the natural resources. The depletion of natural resources in Africa has remained a serious economic deficit to the continent with many African countries including Liberia though heavily endowed with natural resources remain underdeveloped and greatly impoverished\nAt the end of the training, Lawmakers requested IWL help in reviewing and analyzing pass concession agreements and to provide similar training for Chiefs of Office Staff of Lawmakers. The Lawmakers also reaffirmed their commitment to working with IWL to generate consensus on concession agreements before acting. They committed themselves to have a collective voice on concessions that will benefit the country and its citizens.\n

IWL and TJNA officially launched "Stop the Bleeding" campaign under the theme " Optimizing Domestic Resource Mobilization in Liberia. The campaign was launched in the Auditorium of the University of Liberia in Monrovia, March 10, 2022.\nThe launch convened over 100 students drawn mainly from two campus based political parties, the Student Unification Party (SUP) and the Student Integration Party (SIM). It began with a mega musical gig with one of Liberia’s finest DJ Duplexe Rickey Jaeploe serving as MC. The musical gig created a supper euphoric ambiance that set the auditorium “ablaze” as many of the students danced to the HipCo beat as several of the songs played conveyed messages of Pan-Africanism, Corruption, Human Rights and economic emancipation which helped to set the stage and tone for the conversation of the “Stop the Bleeding Campaign Launch”. \nThe campaign was launched with the following objectives: \n· To create awareness on Domestic Resource Mobilization in Liberia\n· To identify different channels through which Liberia lost revenue through concessions\n· To make recommendations that will improve DRM in Liberia\n

Integrity Watch Liberia and Tax Justice Network Africa convened a capacity building workshop on Beneficial Ownership (BO) for more than 20 CSOs at iCampus in Monrovia. The target of the workshop was to enhance the knowledge and capacity for civil society organizations and individual activists covering topics on beneficial ownership transparency. The training explored emerging issues on beneficial ownership including implementing BO legislation, gold standards on BO, impact of global leaks like the pandora papers and how BO affects tax justice at country, regional and global levels. \nThe training also aimed to equip CSOs with information on the fiscal regime and revenue management pillar of the Governance Minerals Framework domestication and to provide a platform to CSOs and other stakeholders to network and share information on how to carry out advocacy work differently for improved citizens’ work in holding the Government, mining companies and parliament to account on BO information and Taxation of the EI sector\n At the end of this session, participants were able to understand various emerging issues that impact on taxation and tax justice, specifically Beneficial Ownership and taxation of the EI sector. \n

Integrity Watch Liberia in partnership with Tax Justice Network Africa held a one-day stakeholders validation workshop on the Africa Mining Vision Liberia report today March 8, 2022, at iCampus in Monrovia.\nThe high-profile workshop brought together several Civil Society Organizations, Government, Development Partners, and the Media.\nThe Africa Mining Vision (AMV) is a policy framework that was created by the African union in 2009 to ensure that Africa utilizes its Mineral Resources strategically for broad-based, inclusive development.

We, NAYMOTE Liberia, Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, Integrity Watch Liberia, IREDD, Accountability Lab Liberia and the National Civil Society Council of Liberia welcome the hosting of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Fifth Legislative Parliamentary Seminar and First Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament for the year 2022 in Liberia.\nAs leaders of civil society organizations in Liberia, we are deeply concerned that 22 years since the inauguration of the First Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament, the parliament has made little impact in the lives of ECOWAS citizens due to its failure to hold member states accountable for corrupt and anti-democratic practices. While it was meant to be a platform for dialogue for ECOWAS citizens and foster integration, it has been hijacked by politicians who have neglected the core challenges facing the people of the ECOWAS region.\nIn Liberia, little is known about the work of the Liberian delegation to the Parliament, and Liberians have no means of holding their delegates accountable for what they do at the regional body. The delegation makes no efforts at engaging with the public on their work at the Parliament — laws and policies adopted and their ramifications for member states and if these laws are domesticated in-country. To date the Liberian delegation over the years have failed to ‘inform and sensitize the population on issues of integration’. This is counterproductive to the common interest of the ECOWAS citizens, whose taxes are used to finance and sustain the Parliament through the financial contributions made by the member states.\nThe increasing wave of political instability and coup d’état in the sub-region, especially in Guinea, Mali and declining trust in democracy due to the failure of governments across the ECOWAS region to meet up to the challenges of unemployment, rising cost of living, insecurity, human rights violations, widespread corruption and poor governance bring into question the role, relevance and impact of the ECOWAS Parliament in advancing democracy and social prosperity in the region.\nWe believe it is high time the ECOWAS Parliament became proactive and robust in engaging with the economic and political challenges of the region and delivering the much-needed inclusive and sustainable reforms needed to advance democracy, regional integration, and prosperity in the region. This includes, but not limited to genuinely taking practical actions against corruption, rape and other sexual and gender-based offences, supporting member states in eliminating trade barriers, reducing and ending unemployment, human trafficking, insecurity, drugs abuse, money laundering and illicit financial flows, and imposing sanctions against leaders who undermine constitutional democracy and abuse human rights in their countries.\nWe demand that the ECOWAS Parliament lays out clear mechanisms that make its processes accessible, responsive, and accountable to the citizens of the 15 member states and ensures that proposed laws and policies benefit from broader consultations with the people of the region, \nbefore being adopted and domesticated. Finally, we strongly encourage the body to engage more with civil society and create greater visibility for its work, at regional and national levels.

IWL convened a one-day Legislative engagement at the Boulevard Palace Hotel in Monrovia on Friday, February 25, 2022.\nThe Legislative engagement accorded members of the 54th Legislature a platform to dialogue and engage with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and Civil Society actors on analysis made by CCSI in a Red Flag Memo issued on the Bao Chico Mineral Development Agreement. \nThe Red Flag Memo issued by CCSI is a high-level review and analysis of the Bao Chico MDA submitted to the legislature by the office of the president in November 2021. These analyses were made upon request from the Bi-partisan Legislative Caucus on Illicit Financial Flow and Tax and with support from the Liberia Economic Policy Dialogue Activity (LEPDA).\nThe Bao Chico MDA is a Class-A Iron Ore mining operation that is expected to take place in Gbarpolu county for 25years when passed into law. \nLegislators at the dialogue showed commitment to channel analysis made in the Memo through both Houses and to present it before the joint Conference Committee currently reviewing the Bao Chico MDA.\nSupport for the Legislative engagement is provided by the Liberia Economic Policy Dialogue Activity (LEPDA), a USAID Project

IWL with support from USAID/LEPDA convene a one-day civil society engagement to discuss a Red Flag Memo on the Bao Chico Concession Agreement currently before the Liberian Senate. The Red Flag Memo issued by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and the International Institute for Environmental Development (IIED). \nThe engagement brought together 30 civil society organizations from across Liberia. The objective of the engagement was to facilitate a dialogue for CSOs to engage with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment on the Red Flag Memo to develop a better understanding of the analysis done by CCSI in other to advocate for reforms in the agreement and to engage policymakers in the Executive and Legislative branches of Government. \nThe event produced concrete action for CSO advocacy engagement with the Senate for reforms. Funding for the engagement was provided by Liberia Economic Policy Dialogue Activity (LEPDA), a USAID Liberia Project.

On October 14th 2021, Integrity Watch Liberia (IW-L) requested support from USAID Liberia Economic Policy Dialogue Activity (LEPDA) on behalf of the Liberia Bi-partisan Legislative Caucus on Illicit Financial Flows and Progressive Tax to review the Concession Agreement between the Government of Liberia and Bao Chico Resource Liberia Ltd. This request was made against the backdrop that the history of Concession Agreements in Liberia is replete with secrecy, weak capacity of the government to negotiate better deal(s), weak regulatory and institutional framework which undermines optimization of the sector’s contribution to broad-based and sustainable socio-economic outcomes for the citizenry.\nThe request was granted and subsequently the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) through the USAID LEPDA support agreed to conduct high-level analysis of the agreement to highlight issues that might warrant the Caucus’s closer inspection, from a public policy and sustainable development perspective. On December 15, 2021 a Momo was issued by the Columbia Center highlighting issues that needed that attention of the Legislature. \nEven though by the time Columbia issued the Memo, the House of Representative had already acted on the Agreement and sent it to the Senate with it recommendations for concurrence.  Integrity Watch Liberia felt that giving the importance of the issues raised in the Momo, there was the need to for the Bi-Partisan Caucus to flag these issues so that the Senate can consider taking remedial actions on many of the issues that were raised in the memo before signing the agreement. A press conference was therefore facilitated by IW-L on January 11, 2021. The press statement read by Hon. Francis S. Dopoh, Chair of the Caucus firstly pointed out that the Memo had come at a time where the House of Representatives had already acted on the Bao Chico Agreement and sent their recommendations to the Liberian Senate, however, giving the importance of the issues raised, the Caucus felt the need to publicly note the issues with a commitment to share the Momo with the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  \nKey among the issues raised in the statement was the fact that the Concession supplants the laws of Liberia in several instances across the agreement with specific reference to: - S. 4.1(c), 5.7(f), 6.3(c), 13.1, 14.1, 14.4, 20.1(b), 21.1(i), 23.10(d), and 25.5(c). Ideally the agreement, the memo noted should sit within the law of Liberia to ensure uniformity and strengthen the rule of law.  \nThe memo also pointed out problematic fiscal provisions in – S. 5.7, 6.4, 14–16. It specifically pointed out that withholding tax rates on dividends and interest are low by international standards. The norm is within a range of 10–20%. The withholding tax rate provided seem to differ greatly with those provided for in the Revenue Code. The withholding tax rate in the agreement the memo recommends should be commensurate with the provisions of the Revenue code. \n\nClick here to download or view the Red Flag Memo\n\n

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office represented by the British Ambassador to Liberia, Amb. Neil Bradley signed a grant agreement with Integrity Watch Liberia, represented by the organizations founder and Executive Director, Harold, Marvin Aidoo, Sr., the project seeks to promote citizens participation in the budget process.\nAnchored on the backdrop that public participation is very cardinal to the budget process as it makes government more accountable and responsive to its citizens. The project was conceived to provide an opportunity for citizens to make inputs in identifying their priorities as well as improve their perception of the performance of the government.  Citizens play a critical role in advocating and helping to make public institutions more transparent, accountable and effective, as well as contributing innovative solutions to complex development challenges (World Bank Group). Hence, the recognition that citizen have both rights and responsibility to contribute to decision making processes that affect their wellbeing is fundamental to public financial management. \nOver the years, Liberia’s performance in successive Open Budget Survey has been declining gradually. Index for 2019, Liberia scored 6/100 in public participation which is lower than what it scored in 2017 (11/100). This indicate that there are no opportunities for citizens to contribute in decision making processes around the budget issues which affect their livelihood. It also means that Government’s responsiveness to its citizens is undermined. This phenomenon has contributed weak demand side and lack of accountability in the utilization of the national budget.\nKey deliverables within the project include, establishment of a CSO Budget Platform that will mobilize the collective voice of citizens and civil society in the national budget formulation process. Similarly, the project will also seek to develop a shadow budget option paper/a comprehensive analysis of the national budget and advocate for key reforms through legislative engagement while at the same raising awareness around the budget and engendering public participation in the national budget formulation process. \n \n

Press Statement on the FY2022 Draft National Budget\nNovember 24, 2021\nIntegrity Watch Liberia (IW-L), Foundation for Community Initiative (FCI), and the \nCSO Budget Platform\n wish to thank the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for the submission of the Draft FY2022 National Budget to the legislature. The Budget Platform is happy to note that Liberia’s National Budget has steadily grown over the past 16-years since the post-war budget of US$80.50 million in 2006. The FY2010/11 saw the budget reach pre-war levels of US$500 million, and now in FY2022, the government has submitted the budget of US$785.5 million as Executive Budget Proposal (EBP) to the Legislature, signaling a budget growth of 25% when compared to FY2020/21 and 16% contribution of domestic revenue to GDP, despite the economic shocks the country has endured over the past six years. Integrity Watch Liberia (IWL) and the CSO Budget Platform shed light on analysis of the Executive Budget Proposals with focus on select budgetary proposals both in recurrent expenditure and capital investments. The ultimate objective is intended to highlight potential risks associated with forecasted revenue, expenditures, and a range of recommended actions to reinforce previous recommendations which were proffered by Civil Society representatives and citizens for consideration in FY2020/21 budget by the Legislature.\nThe National Budget is a fiscal policy instrument through which the Government fulfills its promises to the Citizens. It has the characteristics of being a political, economic, social, and technical instrument. The budget is at the core of the Government’s fiscal policy actions and is central to driving sustainable development, consolidating peace, and anchoring social cohesion. The achievement of these goals requires extensive consultations and consolidating the inputs of all stakeholders, including engendering the participation of the public in selecting the best choices and decision-making.\nWe applaud the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for implementing few of the recommendations made by CSOs in their Shadow Budget Option Paper (SBOP) evident by the Executive Budget Proposals for FY2022, we are equally concerned with a few issues within the current draft budget, and therefore wish to draw the attention of the National Legislature to do a thorough scrutiny of the Draft National Budget currently before it.\nKey concerns: \n1. A US$10 million dollars proposed to implement promises made by the President during his nationwide tour of counties. While this proposed investment expenditure is welcoming, it is however not disaggregated by sector, project, unit cost per project as well as there is no indication of the specific locations where the project will be implemented. This presentation leaves the public to suspect, speculate and wonder what role did the Office of the President or the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs played during the budget preparation process as there was sufficient time to have provided these vital information well in advance. There is also a concern of lack of transparency as disaggregation of this investment expenditure would eventually affect education, health, agriculture, infrastructure and social protection issues. \n2. A US$46 million dollars proposed for the construction of new roads, continuation of ongoing road works, maintenance of existing roads and bridges as well as the repayment and resettlement of property owners affected by the road works. There is no information provided, which are considered “core elements” in any of the budget documentation as to the number of kilometers of roads, the locations of the roads to be affected, expected beneficiaries, and economic returns. This leaves the public to suspect, speculate and wonder where was the Ministry of Public Works or what role did they play during the budget preparation process for which such vital and basic core elements requiring of a project could be missing from the budget documentation?\n3. There is also US$10 million for vaccine administration in the draft budget. We applaud this move given the global health pandemic which we need to prioritize. However, the Ministry of Health (MoH) should have provided summary information as to targeted number of vaccines to be procured, type of vaccines, plans for achieving the global target of herd immunity, etc. What this means in essence is that the government is giving “blank cheque” to the Ministry of Health. How can the government offer US$63 million dollars without any of such core information which grossly undermines transparency and accountability of our national budget. \n4. On Education, there is a total of US$4 million of additional funds to provide basic services but not properly aligned and left with the interpretation by the Ministry of Education. Additionally, there is US$2 million for primary education, US$1 million for classroom furniture, US$1 million for closing the teachers gap, approximately 0.5 million for robust school supervision and monitoring by all 124 school districts, with all these budget lines there are no core information which clearly speaks to the lack of transparency in the budget. \nConsidering these concerns, IWL and the CSO-BP wish to make the following recommendations to the legislature for consideration for FY2022 budget: \n1. IWL and the CSO-BP recommend that the National Legislature ensure the Executive produces a detailed list of disaggregated county tour projects by sector and individual cost estimates before passage of the budget and that such list should form integral part of legislative instrument to the enacted budget.\n2. That the Ministry of Health furnishes the Legislature with a detailed plan of its vaccine administration – i.e. type of vaccines, quantity of vaccines, etc.\n3. Similarly, IWL and the CSO-BP recommend that the Legislature request the Ministry of Education to provide comprehensive disaggregated data of core information of its budget to improve transparency and value for money. \n4. IWL and the CSO-BP recommend sustained investments in education and health and security spending for effective and efficient delivery of basic services to the citizens. Additionally, the adoption and implementation of robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of public spending by the Executive and the institution of strong legislative oversight on the Executive to ensure value for money, and the promotion of transparency and accountability. \n5. IWL and the CSO-BP recommend deliberate and concerted actions by the government to crack down on the production, sales, and distribution of drugs, narcotics, and harmful substances which are impacting the youths. Drastic changes need to be made in legislations, public policy and budgetary allocation to adequately address these public menaces.\nLadies and gentlemen of the press, we wish to remind the government that these are all benchmarks of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), that the government needs to improve. \nWe thank you ladies and gentlemen of the press!

Integrity Watch Liberia and Foundation for Community Initiative along with several Civil Society Organizations officially Launched the " \nCSO Budget Platform\n " today at Boulevard Palace Hotel. \nThe platform aims to promote CSO and citizens participation in the National Budget process and advocate for transparency and accountability in public financial management.

Integrity Watch Liberia, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), and two civil society organizations (CENTAL and Accountability Lab Liberia) with support from UNDP and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), launched an Anti-Corruption Innovation Project on 26 October 2021 at the Ministerial Complex in Monrovia. \nThe project is initiated against the backdrop that Impunity, weak accountability mechanisms and corruption are key obstacles to Liberia’s socio-economic development. Public confidence in national institutions and business confidence for investment and economic stimulation remain low. According to Afro Barometer’s People and Corruption (Africa Survey 2015 Global Corruption Barometer), more than 80% of Liberians surveyed said that corruption has increased a lot or somewhat over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, nearly seven-in-ten Liberians said they had paid a bribe and a large proportion of Liberians think that their public sector institutions are affected by high levels of corruption and on average across each of the public sector groups, half of the Liberians surveyed said that they thought most or all are corrupt. Across the country, poor people are twice as likely as rich people to have paid a bribe, and in urban areas such occurrences are even higher.\nA deficit, therefore, exists with regard to the capacity of State institutions tasked with addressing impunity, promoting integrity in Liberia as well as institutionalizing transparency, integrity and accountability in governance at all levels. Though Liberia is regarded as transitioned from post-conflict to a development context, drivers of corruption still exists such as (a) a culture of unethical and undesirable conduct by some public servants and the private sector especially in relation to procurement processes; (b) weak legislative framework regarding prosecutorial powers of the LACC, the Financial Disclosure and Assets declaration Framework and protection of whistle blowers, and lack of citizen participation and reports mechanisms that feed into the accountability process; and (c) lack of public responsibility and coordinated civic demand. \n

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