Monrovia- May 18, 2022: As Liberia joins the world over to celebrate the Open Government Week, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Secretariat has acknowledged with profound gratitude the support of the Government of Liberia to celebrate the Open Government Week.

According to a press release issued by the OGP Secretariat, this year’s celebration seeks to celebrate all the doers, thinkers, creators, and reformers who have successfully opened governments.

The Secretariat calls on all three branches of the Government to demonstrate transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to their citizens by ensuring the full implementation of their respective commitments to the 4th OGP National Action Plan (NAP).

The fourth OGP National Plan that was launched on February 10, 2021, according to the release was rated by the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) as the most transformative NAP that Liberia has co-created and that if fully implemented will bring government closer to its citizens, improve service delivery, promote openness and transparency thereby reducing public distrust in government activities

The OGP also called on all public servants to see it fit to subscribe to the OGP principles and values in the execution of their mandates, as it will produce more doers, thinkers, creators, and reformers in the governance structure.

The Secretariat said it believes that a full Cabinet endorsement of the NAP led by President H. E. George M. Weah will show strong evidence of the Government’s willingness and seriousness to fully implement the OGP action plan, and cause officials responsible for implementation to become more passionate.

The Secretariat is therefore, asking all ministries, agencies and commissions that have commitments within the current NAP to accelerate their delivery on their specific commitments, as the failure to do so will be counterproductive for Liberia for the fourth successive time. This the group said will undermine inclusive growth and challenge calls for global support to our national development agenda.

In the same vein, the Secretariat is calling on the National Legislature to ensure the passage of the Whistle Blower bill and the Witness Protection bill which are two deliverables in the NAP.

OGP maintained the passage of these two legal instruments will strengthen the fight against corruption which has become a national epidemic weakening national growth and development.

The Secretariat is calling the Legislature to also demonstrate high degree of leadership by installing the use of the automated electronic voting equipment in agreement with the statement of President Weah’s December 10, 2021, Summit for Democracy.

The Secretariat said it takes keen note of the President’s statement that “over the next year, we intend to introduce legislative transparency by making all votes public so that constituents can hold their lawmakers accountable for their actions, which is a fundamental element of any healthy democracy”, which is also one of the deliverables in the NAP.

“The Secretariat notes that legislative openness by use of the voting equipment will afford legislators constituents to understand their voting habits and know their voting history, this will induce issue-based elections replacing the current challenge in which Legislators have to spend money to impress voters,” the release maintained.

Furthermore, we call on the Judiciary to deliver on its commitments within the OGP NAP. It is troublingly embarrassing that the Chief Justice and other members of the Judiciary will attest to corruption within that branch of government.

The OGP Secretariat said it is calling on the Judiciary to train more magistrates at the James A. A. Pierre Judicial Institute, consistent with one of their deliverables in the OGP NAP.

The Secretariat also said it is deeply concerned about the level of progress made by the Judiciary on one of its commitments in the OGP NAP to create a web-based platform where it can post all bonds collected and their time of return after the case.

“We cannot over emphasize the significance of the Government subscribing to OGP principles and practice as doing so will move government from an opaque to a more open and responsive government where citizens will see themselves as part of the governance structure and minimized their suspicions,” the release continued.

The OGP Secretariat has no doubt that Liberia’s delivery on the OGP commitments would move the country to effectively achieving her national agenda, the PAPD and will advance the practice of democracy which will possibly attract more donor support form bi-lateral and multi-lateral partners in different sectors of the country.

The Secretariat is called on the Government to increase her efforts in the implementation of the current OGP NAP as the country is racing against time with said implementation.

The Secretariat believes that the country’s failure to adequately implement the NAP will dent its efforts to open government, increase citizens’ participation, counter corruption, and accelerate sustainable growth and development.

The OGP Secretariat also congratulates Civil Society as co-creator of the NAP for forging a strong partnership with government to increase citizens’ participation and re-enforce the fight for openness, transparency, and accountability.

The Secretariat has revealed that in the next few days it will embark on a robust evaluation of progress made by every entity that have commitments in the National Action Plan, adding the success of the NAP depends on the level of implementation by these entities, require the corporation and attention of the leadership of these entities as it continues to engage them.

In conclusion, the OGP Secretariat said it will use the occasion marking the celebration of the Open Government Week to call on national government to demonstrate greater political will in championing OGP in Liberia, identifying allies in civil society, and supporting democratic reformers within government.

The Secretariat also emphasized that there is a need to shed light on these dark recesses that lead to corrupt practices and encourage that the Government must overcome resistance from those who do not want us to advance in these policies of Open Government.