MONROVIA, LIBERIA-The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) now has a new head.

Mr. Jeffrey Yates was hired as Head of LEITI’s Secretariat and Daniel Topason as Deputy Head of Secretariat.

LEITI’s Multi-Stakeholder Steering Group made the disclosure recently, following a rigorous recruitment exercise that lasted for almost a year.

Mr. Yates joined the LEITI in 2016, as Head of Finance and served the Secretariat as Officer-in-Charge.

Prior to his recruitment, he served the General Auditing Commission (GAC) and served in numerous capacities, and was later hired as Professional Ethics and Anti-Fraud Consultant under the World Bank, and assigned at the Liberian Revenue Authority (LRA) Formation Office.

Mr. Yates holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nairobi in Kenya, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Forensic Investigation Professional (CFIP).

For his part, Mr. Topason joins the LEITI with a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors, having served the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) as Executive Director for nine years.

Mr. Topason holds Master of Science (MSc) degree in Regional Science and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Economics from the University of Liberia.

Meanwhile, the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Group (MSG)’s Chairperson, Mike Doyen, is commending all stakeholders and expressed the Government of Liberia continuous commitment to the implementation of the LEITI process in Liberia.

In a statement of appointment on behalf of the MSG, Mr. Doyen assured LEITI new Boss and his Deputy of the MSG’s commitment and support to their leadership and admonished them to be innovative to move the entity forward.

In response, the new Boss of LEITI and his Deputy thanked the MSG for its preferment and promised to diligently perform their duties to justify the confidence reposed in them.

LEITI is a part of the Global Standard of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative aimed at promoting revenue transparency in the extractive sectors in resource-rich countries.