What Is In The Dunn Commission Report? O       1             1940 - 11112008f- Two- Soccer Legends

Thursday, February 06, 2009

    By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

For many Liberians at home, The Dunn Commission Report that was just presented to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently is just another piece of paper that will not change their dismal standard of living, but a political cover needed to vindicate the president who is under pressure to change the culture of corruption that has engulfed her administration like a runaway volcano. 

 Not a bad way to come out fighting if you are President Sirleaf, who needs a public relations blitz and an anticipated report from a panel of appointed investigators, contractors and sub-contractors to show she is dead serious about getting to the bottom of this latest controversy involving the web site, Front Page Africa and her many friends including Willis Knuckles, the latter whose e-mail account was allegedly violated by Front Page Africa to perhaps expose political corruption, at a time when political corruption seems to be out of control in her administration.

     From what I’ve read so far, it appears President Sirleaf is serious about fighting corruption – at least by paying lip service to it and at times firing low-level personnel, while top-level personnel in her administration like the Teflon, Harry A. Greaves, whose name is often in the news for allegedly stealing from the public got some to whisper that the president cannot dwell on some well-written fancy report to claim victory, but must show she’s serious about tackling corruption across the board by showing practical results.                                                    

     Committee Chairman Dunn presents report to Pres. Sirleaf

     The Dunn Commission Report is finally before our prying eyes ready for our unofficial evaluation since the investigative press, the legislative branch of government and the opposition political parties in Liberia did not do it. It appears, however, that President Sirleaf is getting a free ride because she’s the nation’s leader, and that the visible role of D. Elwood Dunn, the group’s chairman and a close ally of President Sirleaf whose friendship with the president should have been a valid reason to not appoint him to head such an important investigation is being ignored.

      The appointment of D. Elwood Dunn, an ally of President Sirleaf, to lead such an important investigation is a reason why the report should have been challenged from the beginning, and a valid reason not to appoint him to lead the investigation because Mr. Dunn is not a neutral player in her administration.

     While it is true that the Liberian people are anxious to know what really happened behind closed doors that prompted Front Page Africa to vigorously pursue the e-mail accounts of Willis Knuckles and others as it did with such intensity, there is a need to know whether any law of neutrality was violated; and the interests of the Liberian people compromised during an investigation that costs $250,000, that could have gone towards building a modern sewer system and other needed facilities in the country.

     Also, at a time when public school teachers are not being paid adequately for what they do, and the nation’s historic University of Liberia cannot find modern teaching equipment for its labs; children are not being fed meals at school; armyworms invading a section of the country that could probably affect this year or next year’s harvests, appropriating such an amount to any of the projects listed above would have served the Liberian people well.

     Instead the Liberian people are being bombarded with a report whose outcome was predictable from the beginning, because of its obvious lack of neutrality and the president’s overwhelming influence.

      Let it be clear that this is not meant to question the integrity and honesty of D. Elwood Dunn and his colleagues, whose work and findings should be applauded for chronicling the events that prompted the call for the investigation in the first place. Let it also be said that before any future investigation is undertaken, President Sirleaf and future Liberian presidents should be removed completely from the investigation for the sake of fairness and transparency, shouldn’t appoint friends to lead any probe of their friends and family members in government or out of government but must appoint a respected and neutral party whose presence and good work will gave credibility to the group’s findings.

     What is in the Dunn Commission Report anyway that is worth reading? It is a 32-page document comprised of paragraphs and sub-titles like: “The executive summary, scope of work, evidence collected: five hard drives, forensic images collected on Knuckles’ various computers; summary of parties involved (local and foreign including President Sirleaf), forensic methodology and analysis; explanation of drive free space and fragments, significant findings and investigative details,” with a “James Mintz Group” (JMG), “asked by the Committee to analyze the hard drives belonging to key individuals reportedly linked to the investigation, and to review any data available as a means to authenticate the reported e-mails exchanges published by Front Page Africa.”

      The report supposed to give us hope that better days are coming, and that a report of this kind as transparent its authors want us to believe it is suppose to tell Liberians at home and abroad that President Sirleaf is indeed doing her best to bring openness to her government, by virtue of implementing such “independent” investigation into alleged criminal activities that led to the investigation.

     “We did not find evidence of the published e-mails on any of these five computer hard drives, the report said. ”There is no evidence to suggest that any of the five individuals deleted significant data prior to forensic imaging of their hard drives,” And “this does not definitely mean that these emails does not exist; however they were not identified during the course of this forensic analysis,” the reported also noted.

     However, according to the Dunn Commission Report, a close look at the fine print revealed, “JMG requested additional hard drives from Estrada Bernard and Willis and Hawa Knuckles. Bernard showed willingness to share the hard drive, but explained that it was currently at his residence in New York. Similarly, Hawa and Willis Knuckles expressed a willingness to share the additional hard drive from the damaged computer once it has completed repairs by Hewett Packard in Atlanta, USA. Recovery of these hard drives is completed outside the scope of the Phase 1 of this investigation, and will not be possible in the budget allocation provided by the Committee for Phase 2.”

     The executive summary also revealed “three emails were found on Knuckles’ computer (Target 4) that contain sentences similar to the text contained in emails published by Front Page Africa. The emails identified through the investigation of Target 4’s hard drive had slightly different variations in sentence structure, dates and language (see page 14).”

     “This would suggest potential manipulation of the text as published by FPA. The emails found on Knuckles’ computer that are similar to the ones in FPA have nothing to do with corrupt activity. It is possible that someone accessed Knuckles’ email account and made material changes to the original text in order to make it appear as if there were illegal payment,” the report said.

     I really don’t know the motives of Front Page Africa (FPA), when they decided to pursue Willis D. Knuckles and others the way they did. However, the Dunn Commission Report did not paint a positive picture of the organization whose aggressive, (some will say) “tainted” form of investigative journalism is not winning the public relations battle and friends in the Executive Mansion.

     While I want to admit that I have serious problem with the appointment of D. Elwood Dunn (who is not considered a neutral party), and President Sirleaf’s overwhelming influence and perceived manipulation of the investigation as is the case historically with Liberian presidents, I also find it hard to comprehend why a portion of the report that a key evidence, the hard drive from Knuckles’ damaged computer that is being repaired in Atlanta did not become a part of the final report? If the damaged computer and its hard drive were never a part of the investigation, how did the commission come to a final conclusion to point fingers at one party while acquitting the other?

     Since it is believed the “recovery of these hard drives is completed outside the scope of Phase 1 of this investigation, and will not be possible in the budget allocation provided by the Committee for Phase 2,” then how did the group reached its conclusion when budgetary allocation seemed to have been a problem?

      What this indictment - the manipulating of text has done to Front Page Africa’s image is that the brand name is a tainted commodity or resembles one, and that the report puts the credibility of the group on the line and at the center of the conflict, portrays the group as gotcha journalists, and attracts sympathy for Willis Knuckles who now will be seen as a victim who was picked on, instead of a person who allegedly violated the laws of the Republic of Liberia.