Monrovia – Accountability Lab Liberia (ALL) has launched the 2019 edition of integrity idol that celebrates honest civil servants in post-war countries like Liberia.

Report By Jackson F. Kanneh 00231770195412 / [email protected]

This year integrity idol is the fifth edition of a process that started in 2015.

Since the launched of the campaign some years ago, Accountability Lab Liberia has partnered with local and international organizations in revering honest civil servants at the end of each year through the participation of the public.

Launching the 2019 edition of integrity idol on Friday, March 8, Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy (FOHRD) Liberia Executive Director Danieletta Sleyon challenged Liberians to look at burning issues and cross-check personalities as they go about selecting their 2019 idols.

She called on Accountability Lab Liberia to select people whose lifestyle and story will serve as a motivation for other Liberians to follow.

“I would consider that this noble initiative be considered the real issues, conduct a comprehensive background check and have manifested testimonies of character, lifestyle and decency as part of the process whose noble intention is to reward and motivate individuals that are making incredible progress and transformation to our country,” madam Sleyon noted.

At the same time, she wants Liberians to improve on some of the negative aspects of their life that have kept the country from progressing since the end of the civil conflict.

According to Sleyon, for the country to experience growth, Liberians need to change their way of thinking and approach toward issues of national concern.

“We as Liberians whose sole intention is to change the narrative and rebrand our nation, it becomes of the utmost relevance that we reflect on some of those vices of the past that seem to have crept into our present-day reality as a nation,” she averred.

Speaking also at the launch, ALL Executive Director Lawrence Yealue said integrity idol have to change the dimension on how people grade or judge public servants since it was launched back in 2015. According to him, integrity is about doing something positive in your own way when no one is monitoring.

He said integrity idol create the platform for honest public servants to be heard and appreciated for their honest work toward the promotion of the motherland.

“Since four years back we try to name and fame people who had contributed to the society in their own week way. We try to tell a different story about these great Liberians that have done an amazing thing in silent because that is what integrity is all about, doing thing when no one is listening,” Yealue noted.

Yealue said integrity idol is intended to celebrate every year decent public servants that are in the circle of both the public and the private sector. Appearing also at the launch last year winner Dorbor Jallah called on Liberians from all sector of the country to buttress the effort of ALL by engaging in positive things that promote the good name of the country.

According to the former Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) boss, every fabric of the country is faced with the challenge of corruption. He called on ALL executives to open up the process in selecting idols to other counties so every reputable honest person can have the chance to be heard and fame. Integrity Idol is an annual campaign that moves away from “naming and shaming” corrupt public servants to “naming and faming” honest civil servants. Initially launched in Nepal in 2014, Integrity Idol has since spread to Pakistan, Nigeria, Mali, Liberia, and South Africa.

As it originally appeared on Front Page Africa.