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Corruption:
A De Facto Way of Life in Liberia
Tuesday,
December 23, 2008
By Moses D. Sandy
Liberia,
the West African country, which is roughly the size of the State of Tennessee,
is more than 161 years old. Liberia is one of Africa’s oldest independent
nations. The tiny West African state gained its sovereignty on July 26, 1847;
and has a population of 3.3 million people with a literacy rate of approximately
58 %.
Liberia,
despite its longevity, is one of the world’s least developed and impoverished
nations. Eighty percent of Liberians live below the poverty line; and the
unemployment rate in the country is put at
85
%. The country’s under
development is attributable to a multiplicity of factors with corruption being
the foremost. Edwin et al
(2006), defined corruption as the misuse of power for private gains. Simply put,
corruption is bribery, extortion, nepotism, and dishonesty.
Shady deals in Liberia are endemic, or in the words of President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf “systemic.” In
other words, corruption in the country is a norm. “It is something that has
been with us for many years. It comes from tolerance and impunity in successive
governments that have allowed this thing to go the way it is,” maintained
President Sirleaf in a recent interview with the New Democrat Newspaper.
The history of systemic corruption in Liberia dates back as far as the
First Republic (the era of the elite Americo-Liberians).
Now,
the situation is horrendous. The
publication of news reports, which link public officials and private citizens to
embezzlements, or bogus transactions in the country, is regular.
Currently, according to Information Minister, Lawrence Bropleh, the
Justice Ministry is probing 60 corruption related cases. Some of the alleged
perpetrators, Minister Bropleh reported “are officials of the Johnson
Sirleaf’s administration.” Transparency International (TI), a global civil
society organization leading the fight against corruption, in its 2008
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), according to “the degree to which
corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians,”
ranked Liberia 138 with the weighted average of 2.4 on the scale 10(highly
transparent) and 0 (highly corrupt) from amongst 180 countries surveyed. Based
on the finding, Liberia is one of the world’s most corrupt nations.
Causation
Precipitating
factors for dishonesty in Liberia are colossal, but some of the foremost causes
are: The lack of accountability and transparency, lack of merit system, which
encourages nepotism and political patronage, and underpayment (salaries of
public servants not commensurate with qualifications, and costs of living).
Other key factors are, the irregular payment of public servants, greed, and
culture of impunity; when alleged perpetrators are not prosecuted, and where
cases are not investigated to the end. Because of an overwhelmed and under
funded judicial system coupled with, the lack of “political will” on the
part of national leaders, most corrupt cases in Liberia are never heard or
adjudicated to the end. Every
Liberian leader including President Johnson Sirleaf has fallen prey to the
culture of impunity that permeates the country.
The
New Democrat News Paper (2008), in an editorial captioned, A Friendly but
Ominous Warning regarding the current wave of corruption in the Johnson Sirleaf
administration and the apparent lack of political will to bring to book alleged
perpetrators, argued “Fighting corruption or pure theft in government is
easier declared than done. All Presidents before President Sirleaf made the
plague an enemy, only to end up endorsing it one way or another. As the
President has admitted, the plague is systemic, one linked to a cabal. It is
almost a helpless battle not worth declaring.”
For example, in the year 2005, the defunct National Transitional
Government of Liberia (NTGL) charged and suspended the Commissioner of
Immigration and Naturalization, Sam Massaquio, then Director of Police, and the
Director of Price Analysis at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Charles
Bennie, at the time Commissioner of Customs and Excise Tax at the Finance
Ministry for dubious deals in government respectively, but while the charges
against the accused are pending, President Johnson Sirleaf at the birth of her
administration reappointed them to high profile positions in government.
Systemic
Problem
The
prevalence of fraudulent deals in Liberia can be likened to the creature,
Octopus with its tentacles touching every sector of the society. Bribery or the
abuse of public thrust is not unique to a particular administration, profession,
or group. There is corruption “all over the place.” At the level of
government, the plague is a force to reckon with. Since the ascendency of President Johnson Sirleaf to power
three years ago, corruption is one of the chronic illnesses that continue to
haunt the credibility of her government internally and externally.
Even though the President, at the dawn of her administration pledged to
literally take on the fight of corruption as “Public Enemy No. 1”, but the
current wave of dubious transactions involving some officials of her government
is alarming. For instance, the government is now conducting an independent probe
into the Knuckles – Gate E-mail scandals. Mr. Knuckles, a former Minister of
State for Presidential Affairs and a closed ally of President Johnson Sirleaf,
is reported to have exploited his relationship with the President by engaging in
deceitful business transactions in her name. Mr. Knuckles in one of the reported
E-mail scams allegedly solicited US $ 1 million for or on behalf of the
President as a guarantee for the awarding of the Liberia Marine Time Funds
contract to the Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR).
Recently,
the wife of the now incarcerated, Charles Taylor, Mrs. Jewel Howard Taylor
bad-mouthed the Johnson Sirleaf’s administration for paying lip service to the
fight of corruption in Liberia. Mrs. Taylor, now a Senior Senator of Bong County
decried what she referred to as the uncontrollable theft of public funds by
public officials. The Senator noted, “There’s alarming misuse of funds at
several government institutions that have been audited by the General Auditing
Commission (GAC), including the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation
(NASSCORP), and the National Housing Authority (NHA). What is disheartening is
the inaction and seeming lack of political will on the part of the President to
take robust and appropriate action in these premises to show proof of
government’s professed commitment to making corruption Public Enemy Number
One.”
Prior
to the ushering in of the Johnson Sirleaf’s administration, leaders of
successive elected and transitional governments including the Late Samuel K. Doe
and Gyude Bryant were criticized at home and abroad for allegedly sanctioning
corruption in the public sector. For instance, the Analyst Newspaper (2006), in
a news article claimed, “During the interim leadership of Gyude Bryant,
corruption stood between Liberia and internal assistance.” The paper quoting
the General Auditing Commission (GAC), reported the Bryant’s administration
spent US $ 11 million to purchase public service vehicles, but 132 of the 552
vehicles bought could not be accounted for.
In
the private sector, fraud is also a familiar plague. Reports about monies being
swindled are normal in the media. The New Democrat Newspaper (2008), in a news
story headlined, ECOBANK Teller “Steals” US $500, 000 claimed a senior
employee of the bank, Alice Roberts is being investigated in Monrovia for an
alleged theft of US $ 500,000 from the bank’s vault.
Early this year, FrontPageAFrica (FPA, 2008), a US -based Liberian owned
online media outlet reported some local officials of Grand Bassa County
including the County’s Superintendent were allegedly on the payroll of the
Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC).
The
media and the church in most countries are considered the conscience of society.
But in Liberia, these institutions are not immune to corruption. In the media,
reports about money changing hands between journalists and newsmakers, in return
for favorable coverage are frequent. FPA (2008), reported the Press Union of
Liberia (PUL), an umbrella organization of media institutions in Liberia
chastised five of its members including journalist, Bockarie Musa of the Liberia
Broadcasting System (LBS), for reportedly admitting to the taking of bribes from
one of the parties linked to the Margibi County land dispute, which claimed the
lives of 14 Liberians. The journalists, the PUL alleged were paid to travel to
the County to conduct a probe into the incident; and upon their return to
Monrovia, they made slanted comments in the media about the incident. The Union
reported, the journalists’ comments had the potential of pre-empting the
outcome of the on going court proceeding into the matter. The journalists were
fined $2,000 (Liberian dollars) for violating the PUL’s Code of Ethics.
In
November of this year, Star Radio Liberia, a nonprofit-funded broadcast
institution based in Monrovia, in a news story headlined: PUL’s
President-elect, Project Committee Disagree, quoted the newly elected President
of the Union, Peter Quaqua as putting a freeze on the awarding of the contract
for the construction of the Union’s proposed headquarters to the reported
winner of the bid. Mr. Quaqua
ordered a hold on the awarding of the contract because of what he referred to as
a shady bidding process undertaken by the PUL Special Project Committee. “I am
ashamed of the bogus manner in which the Committee has been conducting itself
since President Sirleaf donated the US $100,000 for the project,” he said. But
the head of the Project Committee, Alphonso Toweh in a reaction to Mr.
Quaqua’s stance, vowed not to heed the directive. Mr. Toweh instead called on
the President-elect to give account of the Union’s 50 bags of cement he
allegedly used on the construction of his private home. “CEMENCO donated 100
bags of cement to the PUL; and he used 50 of the 100 bags. Mr. Quaqua must also
give account of how the US $ 1,750.00 check COMIUM-Liberia donated to the Union
was utilized, “Toweh further alleged.
At
the level of the church, media reports about dishonesty amongst church leaders
in the country are not strange. For example, the Liberian Journal (2008),
another US-based Liberian owned online media institution, reported about power
struggle amongst leaders of the Liberia Annual Conference Lay Organization (LACLO),
of the African Methodist Episcopal Church because of alleged corrupt deals by
the Church’s Bishop, David R. Daniels. According to the report, LACLO claimed,
at the Church’s Annual Conference held early this year in Grand Bassa County,
delegates were to be elected to represent the church at the AME General
Conference, which was held in the US last July, “But the Bishop undermined the
transparency of the election process by ensuring that the process was either
disrupted, or those he considers his enemies were cheated; thus, creating the
condition for him to select people of his liking as delegates for the
conference.”
The
University of Liberia is the microcosm of the Liberian society. Like most
institutions of learning in Liberia, Liberians hold the University of Liberia in
high esteem because it is the breeding ground for the country’s national
leaders. Despite the enormous power the University and other learning
institutions in the country wield, the publication of reports about students,
teachers, professors, and school administrators being caught in the corruption
web are not unusual. For example, FPA (2008), in a news report captioned,
“University of Liberia Sinks in Corruption, $ 12 Million Unaccounted For”,
reported several financial donations including US $ 4.4 million from the
Government of Italy were unaccounted for in the University’s recast
expenditure budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
Liberia’s
corruption woes are also felt at the family level. Reports about internal
rivalries amongst family members, as a result of deceit and mischievous acts are
routinely published in the press. “Families are at loggerhead everyday because
somebody always wants to cheat the others of food, clothes, monies, and other
material possessions,” maintained a local politician, who spoke to the author
of this article on the condition of anonymity. Currently, according to FPA
(2008), a US Permanent Resident, Lorenzo Barr, 37, is standing trial in Monrovia
for allegedly duping a local corporation, Lorenza Inc. of nearly US $ 25,000.
The corporation, the FPA report maintained, is owned by Mr. Barr, his wife,
Montserrado County District Number One, Rep. Alominza Ennos Barr, and another
share holder.
Early
this year, FPA (2008), quoted former First Lady, Mrs. Nancy B. Doe as accusing
the Minister of Transport, Jackson E. Doe of receiving US $ 165, 000 from her in
1990 as a precondition for the Minister to release documents and other materials
possessions belonging to the late President Doe to her. “I was in London when
my husband died and Jackson E. Doe went to his deputy butler, Randal Gao along
with some relatives. They entered his bedroom and took away the suitcase
containing all his important documents,” Mrs. Doe alleged. Minister Doe is a
cousin to the late President Doe.
Costs
of Corruption
The
implications associated with Liberia’s systemic corruption are enormous: In
the public sector, corruption has become an impediment to national development
by reducing the quality of government services in several areas of importance
including education and health. The
affliction accounts for the unnecessary increase in the budgetary pressure on
the government; and is a trigger for the miscarriage of justice in the country,
because it undermines democratic values such as trust, transparency, and
tolerance. Over the years, the disease has undermined the legitimacy of
successive governments and created conditions for political instabilities in
Liberia. Presently, it is hurting the credibility of the Johnson Sirleaf’s
government and its functionaries. Because of the dent, most donor countries
including the United States have begun to rethink the continuity of
international assistance to the country.
The
New Democrat Newspaper (2008), in an editorial, “A Friendly but Ominous
Warning”, quoted the US Ambassador accredited to Liberia, Linda Thomas
Greenfield as declaring “We can’t help Liberia, if Liberians are not helping
themselves; if they are not putting forth the kind of plan that we can see. The
willingness of self help must come from Liberians.” Preceding Ambassador
Greenfield’s pronouncement, President George W. Bush, Jr. during his last tour
of some African countries including Liberia and Tanzania stated, ”I’ll just
put it bluntly- America does not want to spend money on people, who steal the
money from the people. We like dealing with honest people, and compassionate
people,” (New Democrat Newspaper, 2008).
At
the level of the private sector, inflations, and the distortion of the narrow
business playing field, which give undue influence to the highest bidder have
become by-products of corruption. These practices have deterred investments and
reduced economic development. A case in point is, the Knuckles – Gate E-mail
scandals in which the former State for Presidential Affairs Minister is reported
to have solicited US $ 1 million for or on behalf of President Johnson Sirleaf
as a guarantee for the awarding of the Liberia Marine Time Funds contract to the
Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR).
In the media, corruption, or
bribery has become a stumbling block to balanced objective reporting. It has
ruined the integrity of the nation’s press corps.
For example, in 2006, President Johnson Sirleaf, in an outburst about how
money was allegedly changing hands in the Liberian media and the consequences it
had on news contents, claimed “Some media practitioners are check book
journalists,” (Frontpageafrica, 2006). Prior
to the President’s allegation, few months following the October, 2005 general
and presidential elections in Liberia, the Carter Center and the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) amid reports that some presidential hopefuls
allegedly paid journalists to write favorable stories about them during the
election, cautioned the press to be “mindful of the way they conducted
themselves so that they are not taken for granted.”
Corruption at the level of the
church, educational institutions, and families, has had negative consequences on
quality education, unity in the church, and family cohesion. Many churches and
learning institutions have gone into liquidation, while families have
disintegrated.
Interventions
Historically,
the battle for the extermination of dishonest deals in Liberia, especially in
the public sector, is as old as the nation itself; dating back as far as the
1900’s. Every political leadership, whether elected or interim is credited for
instituting corrective measures aimed at curtailing the problem. In the
1970’s, the administration of the late President William R. Tolbert
established the Anti Corruption Bureau with the mandate to curb dishonesty or
fiscal mismanagement in government. The late President Tolbert also terminated
the services of corrupt public officials. Paradoxically, on April 12, 1980, the
deceased President Samuel K. Doe, then a Master Sergeant in the Liberian Army,
along with a group of soldiers in a rebellion toppled the Tolbert regime on
charges of rampant corruption.
The
soldiers assassinated President Tolbert and publically executed 13 of his former
officials for reportedly endorsing corruption. The military regime went on
record for taking robust and primitive measures in fighting corruption. The late
President Doe fired corrupt government officials and sanctioned the public
flogging of some civil servants that were accused of financial malpractices at
the Ministry of Finance in the 1980’s. However, after several years of
inexperienced political leadership, the late Doe and his cronies succumbed to
the disease; corruption or fiscal mismanagement in the government festered.
On
December 24, 1989, as efforts aimed at making Liberia a corrupt free nation,
former President Charles Taylor, then leader of the rebel movement, National
Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), launched the so-called Liberian revolution.
The crisis led to the dethroning of the Doe administration and the brutal
elimination of the President, hundreds of Liberians, and foreigners on reported
corruption charges. After several
years of political instability, in 1997, Mr. Taylor was elected president of
Liberia. At the dawn of his administration, ex-President Taylor again promised
to literally clip the wings of corruption, but he failed miserably. His
administration became one of the most corrupt governments in the history of
Liberia. He gained notoriety globally for administering the political affairs of
Liberia like a fiefdom. Taylor’s
Liberia was a rogue state where there existed no system of accountability. The
former President was noted for making unilateral decisions in terms of who gets
what, when, and why.
In
2003, following the demise of the Taylor’s administration, former Interim
Chairman, Gyude Bryant of the erstwhile NTGL took over the political leadership
of Liberia. At the dawn of his administration, the now indicted Chairman Bryant
pronounced zero tolerance for the plague. He vowed to take corruption head on,
but after few years of governance, the NTGL became the most corrupt transitional
administrations Liberia has ever produced. Because of the unbridled corruption
that prevailed in the government, a consortium of regional and international
stakeholders, in 2005, fashioned the Governance Economic Management Assistance
Programme (GEMAP). GEMAP was a
complimentary effort by the international community and the Bryant
administration to reduce fraud, improve fiscal management, and build capacity
while promoting peace and stability. Despite the enactment of the policy,
rampant corruption in the NTGL remained unchecked.
On
January 26, 2006, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf mounted the political podium as
Africa’s first female president; at the inception of her administration the
President, like her predecessors vowed to fight corruption with rigidity.
The President pledged to weed out corruption by holding public officials
and member of her inner circle accountable for their deals in government.
As part of the government’s commitment to accountability and
transparency in the public sector, the administration, through the National
Legislature in 2006 ratified the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN)
Conventions against corruption. The Conventions empower the media and civil
society to hold political leaders of member countries accountable for the
management of public resources.
In
furtherance of the President’s war on corruption, in September of this year,
the Government through a legislative enactment established the Anti-Corruption
Commission with the mandate to clamp down on corruption in the public sector. In
spite of the ratification of the AU and UN Anti-Corruption Conventions, and the
creation of the Anti-Corruption Commission, dishonesty in Liberia, especially at
the level of government seems to have reached its zenith. President Johnson
Sirleaf, who seems baffled and overwhelmed with the current wave of fraud in her
administration and the slow pace at which corrupt cases are being adjudicated,
in a recent interview with the New Democrat Newspaper called for the
establishment of a “special fast track court for the trial of government
officials accused of stealing state funds.”
Conclusion
From
all indications, it seems systemic corruption in Liberia is a norm, or an
acceptable way of life. And it has become an embodiment of the nation. Despite
all of the well-intentioned corrective measures promulgated over the years by
successive administrations, corruption still thrives in the public and private
sectors. It is well entrenched in the nation’s social and political fabrics.
Any attempt to up root the plague would require robust actions including an
unwavering “political will” on the part of national leaders, and the
collective support of all Liberians. The role of the media and civil society in
such endeavor cannot be over emphasized.
Past
governments failed miserably in containing the disease, because of the lack of
political will. The Johnson Sirleaf’s administration may also fall short in
remedying the problem unless the government demonstrates its commitment to the
anti-corruption campaign by robustly enforcing anti-corruption laws through the
speedy trial and conviction of alleged perpetrators. Even though corruption is a
universal problem and Liberia, like most nations is not an ideal world with
political will and an efficient judicial system. However, the menace regardless
of its chronic nature could be minimized or eradicated.
Recommendations
In
order to do this, I wish to recommend the following remedies, which are
consistent with the World Bank’s approved strategies for good governance,
fiscal management, and transparency in the public sector:
1.
Government must reform its system of accountability by ensuring fiscal
discipline, transparency, and accountability in the public and private sectors;
2.
Government must enhance the work of the judiciary in the dispensation of
transparent justice through adequate funding, recruiting, and retaining of
lawyers, and judges;
3.
Government must ensure that the culture of impunity, which now permeates
the country is curtailed by making sure that individuals accused of fraud, or
acts that are inimical to national development are prosecuted speedily through
the legal system regardless of their stature, or social and political
connections;
4.
The media and civil society must collaborate with the government in
exposing dishonesty in the public and private sectors, and must ensure that
corrupt individuals are given their days in court to either exonerate themselves
or face conviction;
5.
Government must reform the salary structures of public servants by
ensuring that salaries are current and commensurate with qualifications, and
costs of living in the country; and
6.
Government must reintroduce the merit system, where opportunities for
employments, pay raises, promotions, and demotions within the public and private
sectors are based on qualifications, but not political patronage, or social
connections.
Moses D.
Sandy is a career social worker. He holds a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from
Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Mr. Sandy lives in
Delaware with his family. Prior to resettling in the US in 2000, he worked in
the Liberian media for several years. He last served as Editor-in-Chief of the
News and Public Affairs Department, Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS). He can be
reached at: mdogbasandy@aol.com
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