Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has dismissed several government officials in a bid to fight corruption, press reports said on Monday.
Those dismissed include the deputy minister of finance, finance ministry officials, the deputy minister of commerce, the chairperson of the civil aviation authority and government functionaries at the national port authority, a presidential statement said late on Sunday.
Deputy Commerce Minister Aaron Mathias, an official in former president Charles Taylor’s government, was sacked for allegedly ”selling government documents and pocketing the money”, according to the reports.
The dismissals are for ”alleged improprieties”, the statement said. In her inaugural speech last January, Johnson-Sirleaf had pledged to ”make corruption the number-one enemy” of her government.
Unlike previous dismissals in relation to corruption, Johnson-Sirleaf has directed the justice ministry to conclude several reports to prosecute people who have ”committed grave abuse of public trust”. — Sapa-dpa