Summary: Spoon TV on Facebook claims that Pres. Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. is the first Liberian President to publicly sign the code of conduct and commission Liberia’s first Ombudsman. We have checked this statement by researching several news articles published about the ombudsman and found that the claim is correct.
On August 7, Spoon TV claimed in a Facebook post that President Joseph N. Boakai is the first Liberian President to publicly sign the Code of Conduct and commission Liberia’s first Ombudsman.
The online TV made the post emphasizing the Boakai administration’s commitment to enhancing transparency, accountability, and good governance.
The Claim
Spoon TV posted on August 7: “President Boakai Becomes First President to Publicly Sign Code of Conduct, Commissions Liberia’s First Ombudsman!!”
Rating Justification
To Fact-Check this claim, we launched an online inquiry and found a March 15, 2017 publication by Bush Chicken reporting that former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf issued Executive Order No. 83 to establish the office of the Ombudsman.
Further search also found an April 4, 2017 publication by the Bush Chicken after former Pres. Sirleaf constituted the Office of Ombudsman to implement the Code of Conduct.
Other credible news outlets including Front Page Africa and the Liberia News Agency reported similar stories in April 2017.
A further search found a 2017 Daily Media Summary report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs titled “Paving Way For Resolution In Liberia’s Code Of Conduct Debacle Ombudsman Named.” The summary cited an In Profile Daily article on the appointment of officers to the office of the Ombudsman.
It is worth mentioning that we did not find any report showing that those appointed to the office of the Ombudsmen were officially commissioned by former President Sirleaf.
Conclusion
Based on the review of all these news articles published by reputable news outlets, we conclude that the claim made by Spoon TV that President Boakai is the first Liberian President to publicly sign the Code of Conduct and commission officials to the Office Ombudsman is correct.
This report is produced with funding from the USAID Media Activity. The funder has No say in the editorial decisions leading to the production of this content
