IN 2023, A British diplomat addressing a group of youth leaders at an anti-corruption forum in Monrovia stated that corruption is not only endemic in Liberia or Africa but is practiced worldwide, including in her own country. However, she emphasized that one of the main reasons that corruption is so pervasive in Liberia is the failure to effectively enforce laws designed to combat it.
UNLIKE LIBERIA AND most African countries, the systems in the United Kingdom and many Western nations are strong, she noted. She recounted how a prime minister in the UK lost his job for breaching a COVID-19 protocol instituted by his own administration.
THE DIPLOMAT IS right. Liberia’s weak systems have contributed to the widespread corruption that has plagued the nation for decades. This weakness has had devastating consequences for Liberia as a country and for its people.
CORRUPTION WAS ONE of the key factors that fueled the 14-year civil war, which claimed the lives of over 250,000 Liberians, displaced millions, and destroyed the fabric of the nation. Even after 20 years of uninterrupted peace, Liberia has not fully recovered from the effects of that war.
MANY OF TODAY’S Liberian politicians, who are mostly in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, are well aware of the negative implications of corruption. Yet, they have not done enough to combat it. In fact, they are living evidence that corruption remains the main hurdle to Liberia’s progress. Numerous officials, including Presidents, have publicly confessed that corruption is “public enemy number one,” a “cancer,” and a “vampire.”
THESE ASSERTIONS ARE backed by evidence. According to the latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, Liberia scored 25 on a scale from 0 (“highly corrupt”) to 100 (“very clean”). When ranked by score, Liberia placed 145th out of 180 countries, with the first-ranked country perceived as having the most honest public sector.
WHILE THIS INDEX reflects perceptions, findings from audits conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) show that corruption is widespread across almost all government institutions audited.
THIS IS WHY we, at FrontPage Africa, are making a clarion call to President Boakai: stop toying with the fight against corruption and adopt a holistic approach.
BEING HOLISTIC MEANS auditing all government entities that receive and spend taxpayers’ money, leaving no one out. It is not enough to order audits of only a few spending entities and then, when the GAC is about to implement the order, instruct it to exclude the National Security Agency (NSA).
THIS COMES AMID growing concerns that the NSA has been used to funnel money, with FrontPage Africa uncovering evidence of checks worth more than US$3 million disbursed by a single individual within five weeks. The purpose of these disbursements remains unknown and may never be revealed. This is why we are calling on President Boakai to reorder the audit of the NSA.
ANOTHER AREA OF concern is the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA). A copy of leaked check seen by FrontPage Africa shows that the current management issued a check for US$25,000 to Commissioner James Gbarwea, who left the LTA under suspension and subsequently resigned.
THE DISBURSEMENT FOR Gbarwea is highly questionable, and we urge President Boakai to “arrest” the situation at the LTA and seek a clear explanation.
It makes no sense for the LTA to be issuing hefty settlements to board members who are suspended or have resigned.
THE INCIDENTS AT the LTA and NSA are compelling reasons to audit all government agencies, not just a select few. Moreover, it’s not enough to simply audit; there must be decisive action on the GAC’s recommendations to hold individuals accused of corruption accountable. Corruption is eating away the fabric of this nation, and tackling it head-on requires a holistic and impartial approach.
An administration that discovers corrupt people only in opposition parties, seldom in the ranks of its own political affiliates, is hypocritical. Such an administration may declare at the top of its lungs that it’s warring against corruption, but such protestation amounts to little more than lip service.
If Boakai were serious about combating corruption, he should have, from the outset, defined the nature, scope and approach of his war on the scourge.
Liberians had become familiar with the pitfalls of former President George Weah’s anti-corruption program — its selectivity, the paucity of results, the entrenchment of corruption within the government that presumes — announces itself — to be at war against the monster of corruption.
