Promoting Citizens Access to Information (LR0053)

To fully operationalize a publicly available online portal documenting the legal ownership of businesses. The goal is to prevent conflict of interest and provide public and transparent information for citizens.
9. What problem does the commitment aim to address?
The commitment will address the lack of adequate information on the investment of public funds in offshore business accounts.
10. What are the causes of the problem?
Politically exposed public officials are involved in awarding contracts to themselves; thereby, committing conflict of interest which is unwanted within our governance landscape.
The commitment will address the lack of adequate information on the investment of public funds in offshore business accounts. To fully operationalize a publicly available online portal documenting the legal ownership of businesses. The goal is to prevent conflict of interest and provide public and transparent information for citizens.
10. What solution are you proposing?
What portion of the problem will it solve, if not the whole problem? The commitment will establish an effective online public register showing legal ownership of inland and overseas companies. It will increase transparency, accountability and limit the ability to use overseas businesses as safe heavens and prevent awarding procurement contracts to inland businesses whose owners are Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
11. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? What outputs would we like to produce?
The commitment relates to the values of the OGP by increasing transparency of information, enabling citizens to monitor the use of public funds and promote holistic accountability.

13. How will the commitment promote transparency?
Empowering citizens with knowledge aligns with the principles and values of the OGP, which emphasizes openness and inform accountability and citizen participation in procurement governance. Closing the feedback loop mechanism is a key component of the procurement process in Liberia.
14. How will the commitment help foster accountability?
It is important to prevent politically exposed persons from ownership of businesses to awarding themselves contracts. And this portal will create an accountability mechanism for citizens to report to the LBR. There is a whistleblowing protection to further strengthen accountability.
15. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? Closing the feedback loop mechanism will be created to continuously incorporate citizens voices in public procurement administration. Citizens, however, are consulted and engaged for their inclusion throughout the fiscal year.

Commitment Planning
Milestones
Fully operationalize the online registry platform of beneficial owners/shareholders
Strengthen data management support staff; weekly update of LBR’s website and backups.
Validate and create a public repository of all beneficial ownership or shareholders and lawfully registered businesses.
Expected Outputs
# of individuals engaging the platform
# of staff trained # of weekly update of the website
# of repository created
# of engagement on the repository created
# of businesses registered on the portal