LIBERIA - Liberian president fires entire ministry

[Guest guest]

Liberian president fires

entire ministry

Thursday,

February 2, 2006; Posted: 9:27 a.m. EST (14:27 GMT)

 

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) --

Liberia's newly installed President Ellen

Johnson-Sirleaf, living up to her reputation as an " Iron Lady " , has

dismissed all Finance Ministry employees in a bid to curb the rampant

corruption crippling her country.

Facing a Herculean task of rebuilding a nation shattered by

14-years of civil war, Africa's first elected female

leader said her victory in November's presidential runoff gave her a mandate to clean up Liberia's finances.

" All employees are sacked from their positions until a

screening exercise that is expected to commence at the ministry is completed,

and those qualified will remain, " Johnson-Sirleaf said during a surprise visit

to the ministry on Wednesday.

" Those who are part of financial malpractices and

scandals must give way for those who are prepared to do the will of the

Liberian people, " she told employees.

Endemic corruption was a key cause of Liberia's civil war, which killed 250,000 people and devastated Africa's oldest republic, founded by freed American slaves in 1847.

Johnson-Sirleaf, a 67-year-old Harvard-trained economist,

pledged at her inauguration last month before assembled African and other world

leaders to make the war on corruption a top priority. Newspapers across the

continent hailed the move.

She named former World Bank official Antoinette Sayeh as

finance minister, with a brief to root out graft and build bridges with

international donors, who have made further aid reliant on weeding out

corruption.

With a debt of more than $3 billion, the West African nation

is reliant on aid from the United Nations, the World Bank, the United States and Europe.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/02/liberia.reut/index.html

 

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