Post Conflict Reconstruction: Liberia Remains Fertile for Corruption

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf recently dismissed some members of her administration to signal to the world her position on corruption. Despite the varying responses to President Sirleaf's action - applauded by many and questioned by a few, conditions in Liberia are still favorable for corruption.

Few months ago, Mrs. Sirleaf also dismissed some members of her government. Some of those dismissed by President Sirleaf were John Morlu II, Deputy Minister and Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. S. Benson Barh; Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry, Aaron Mathies and James Attoh, Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Transport, by President Sirleaf. The Liberian leader also endorsed the dismissal of five Finance Ministry employees, including Jesse Mulbah, Sr. Economist/MFU and Stanley T, Beh, Supervisor/ Foreign Travel Section. Others whose dismissal were recently approved by President Sirleaf were the Customs officers previously assigned to the Ganta Collectorate, Joemagaria Teld, Sr. Collector; Joseph Gbollie, Deputy Collector for Operations; and Willie A. Kaibay, Deputy Collector for Administration.

In her campaign promises, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf vowed to fight corruption and to ensure fiscal accountability and transparency within various institutions in Liberia. The recent dismissal of government employees and the transfers of other employees are therefore seen as steps in fulfilling some of her campaign promises.

Like Liberia, several post conflict societies are faced with corruption and other ills that weakens and undermines development. Corruption in itself poses serious challenge to peace, stability and development in any society. Politically, corruption undermines democracy and good governance by flouting, or even subverting formal processes. Corruption also weakens economic development by generating considerable distortions and inefficiency.

Althought the recent dismissal of those she considered corrupt members of her administration is seen as a positive step, President Sirleaf needs to institute measures that will curb and remove some of the conditions that nurture and breed corruption within the Liberian society. The preventive measures against corruption must also be parallelly initiated, simultaneously in various public institutions; they must be accompanied by stern actions against those who flout regulations aimed at curbing corrupt practices.

Professors Dr. James Lebovic and Dr. John Volpe, political scientists and political economist respectively, in a series of separate discussions described conditions that are favorable for corruption as, adverse government structures, Information deficits, Opportunities and incentives, Social conditions, Deficits of law and Imperfect Electoral Processes, among others.

Most of the conditions described by the two, Dr. Lebovic and Dr. Volpe are prevalent in Liberia. For example, the issue of adverse government structure, constitutes concentration of power in decision makers who are not accountable to the people is evidently common practice in Liberia. It is public knowledge that over the years, and even now, most of the decision makers in Liberia have not been answerable, or responsible to the public or their constitutents.

Unlike practices in Ghana and other countries in the region, and other parts of the world where decision makers feel challenge by their constitutents, and where the ethics of responsibility towards the public is regarded as significant, in Liberia; such commitments are either partly practiced or lacking. In most societies where democracy is flourishing, members of the legislature regularly visit their constituents and interact with citizens within their constitutents. By interacting with members of their contituency, elected officials become aware of the needs of the people, and therefore can adequately represent the people and put forth their request.

In Ghana, the United States, Nigeria and other countries, when there is a disaster in a rural part of those countries, the parliamentarian or member of legislature in whose region the incident occurs immediately visits the affected area; that elected official becomes familiar with the situation and then begins advocating for assistance for victims of the disaster. The contrary has been in Liberia.

Poorly paid Officials

Information Deficit was listed by Volpe and Lebovic as one of the many factors that promotes corruption. Information Deficit is clearly one of the numerous widespread problems Liberia faces. Inconsistency in information, information discrepancy, and the scarcity of information are situations that have prevailed in Liberia for many years. From the onset of that country, governments and heads of various institutions calculatingly neglected the exercising of freedom of speech and the press and also discouraged the participation of citizens in decision-making. This lack of government transparencies usually is a result of poor financial and accounting practices, which the government believes is best concealed to avoid scrutiny of its practices. Unlike Liberia, other countries around the world are exhibiting the political will in bridging the information gap within their societies. Many observers attribute the wide information gap in Liberia , largely to the dictatorial rule that Liberia has experienced since its establishment. The Liberian society has been plaqued with limitation on freedom, including freedom of speech and of the press and and other vices that have become embedded in that society- regrettably, becoming an acceptable way of life.

Professor Volpe also elaborated on an additional condition that promotes corruption: Opportunities and Incentives. The Professor of International Economics said, ‘providing opportunities and incentives are essential conditions for curbing corruption in society.” Volpe described elements associated with Opportunities and Incentives as avoiding large investments of public capital, but adopt the policy of investing appropriate capital. He discussed some aspects of Opportunities and Incentives; factors that promote corruption that are also existing in Liberia; that is, poorly paid government officials. He said, '"once government officials are underpaid, they engage in corrupt practices, and once corruption begins to take place within institutions, corruption indirectly becomes institutionalized."

As for the Professor for International Politics, Dr. Lebovic, he added two other conditions that promotes corruption. He said, 'Social Conditions and Deficits of Rule of Law' are two conditions, equally important, that can be used as yard sticks to determine the level of corrupt practices within a society. Lebovic described 'social conditions' as situations that includes the existence of a kind of ‘network' where certain self- interested persons continue to use their connections through this network to preserve their status without merit. A typical example of such networks in Liberia and the criminal network is "Taylor boys." Another network that falls under “social condition’ preserved by the old ruling class in Liberia is "Old School boys,” "The Freemasonry, " or "Members of the Masonic Temple." Another network that is continental is the "African Boys/chief Club." Members of these networks support one another loyally.

Lebovic said in a society where a larger majority of the people are illiterate, and or where there exist a larger ignorant population with little information on making political decision signifies "social conditions." Liberia is obviously a victim of "social condition." Liberia has more than 80% illiteracty rate. Moreover, most of the populace are not only without formal education, but they are also unaware of their their rights to make or participate in decision making processes.

Imperfect Electoral Process

"Discrepancy of law," is one more condition that encourages corruotion, Lebovic said. Discrepancy of law connotes break down of law and weak legal systems. Over the years, Liberia’s rule of law and its legal system have been severly corrupted, due to lack of democracy, ignorant populace, influence of the justice system by the few powerful ruling elites and manipulation of the legal system by the various social networks that continue to prevail in Liberia.

One last, but major condition, the political scientists illustrated as an added factor that influences corruption is "Imperfect electoral processes." A flawed electoral process encompasses costly political campaigns with expenses exceeding sources of political funding and the absence of adequate controls to prevent bribery, Lebovic said. He said, Imperfect electoral process can lead to ballot tampering, intimidation of voters, buying of votes and making poor electoral choices, among others situation. Putting Professor Lebovic's analysis of an imperfect electoral process into context indicates that almost all of the election processes that have taken place in Liberia have been imperfect.

Throughout Liberia's history, Liberia's elections have been marred by irregularities, malpractices, manipulation, violences and other misconducts and unprofessional practices that influenced the results of the electoral processes. A more recent example of an imperfect electoral process in Liberia was the 2005 elections. The first indicator that the 2005 electoral process would be imperfect was the participation of villians as candidates. Most of the villians are publicly known in Liberia and listed gobally as among those who have commited human rights violations abuses and economic crimes in Liberia and the West African sub-region have over the years used their networks and wealth to circumvent the laws, intimidate innocent civilians, and assaulted others they perceived as threats. It was therefore obvious that they would again use their wealth, power and networks to influence votes and the electoral process to become elected.

Another key factor that has also led to imperfect electoral processes in Liberia is the high illiteracy rate of the mass majority of the country's population. The illiterate and ignorant population were uneducated about the the electoral process, they were also unaware of their rights and responsibilities during campaigns and elections. This lack of information continues to hinder not only elections but also the democratic process in Liberia.

The Link: Elections and Corruption

Although elections does not determine democracy, it plays a key role in determining the level of corruption that could exist in a society. Elections can also be used as a yard stick to establish the level of freedom, if any, enjoyed by people, and also ascertain the advancement of people within society. Elections can therefore be seen as an echelon for several democratic tenets in a society. The link between Elections and Corruption is that, elections can be used to determine the conditions of corruption that are being established and fomented in a society; elections can also signal the determination of the people to do away with elements that promote corruption and underdevelopment within society.

As have been seen in many countries, including Liberia, Imperfect electoral processes leads to corruption. Corruption in elections and in legislative bodies reduces accountablility and distorts representation in policy making; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law, and corruption in public administration results in the unfair provision of services.

More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.

Successive Liberian governments have been susceptible to political corruption, including patronage, bribery, exhortion, influencing peddling, fraud, embezzlement and nepotism. The corrupt practices in Liberia particularly, during the administration of Charles Taylor encouraged drug trafficking, money laundering, criminal prosttitution and other criminal enterprise. It is therefore hoped that the government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will institute measures to curb corrupt practices, and promote accountability and transparency, promote freedom of speech and the press; initiate sustainable development programs, so that Liberia can move away from a period of undervelopment to an era, where rule of law is upheld and a majority of its people can participate in decisions making processes.

Copyright © Musue N. Haddad