Interestingly, this is not the first time in Liberian
history for corrupt officials to be arrested and publicly ridiculed for
stealing money. Some cabinet officials in the Samuel Doe administration
were publicly flogged after being caught red-handed. Corrupt practices in
the Liberian society is so entrenched that virtually any government that
prides itself on eradicating corruption tends to fall prey to the same
endemic circle. Judging from experience, Liberian leaders have not been
able to measure up to the elimination of corruption. For instance, Charles
Taylor�s inaugural speech was primed with �eradicating corruption� at its
highest level. According to Samuel Doe and his enlisted collaborators that
butchered the sitting president in 1980, the primary reason for regime
change was �entrenched corruption� that alienated the indigenous people
from getting fair share of the country�s wealth. Even Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
the new female president, asserted the elimination of corruption in her
inaugural speech as a priority. With much anticipation on these
utterances, corruption is still on the lips of ordinary Liberians as the
main factor responsible for the collapse of
Liberia �s political, economic and social structures. As a reality
Liberians have seen unabated correlation of corruption of past and present
governments on all levels. Can corruption be curtailed or not?
What can be done to get rid of Corruption?
Unfortunately, corruption will remain a factor until
substantial changes of our political culture and economic structures have
been achieved. There is no single cultural factor that inclines a society
towards corruption, but economic factors play a big part. Most clearly,
poverty and bribery go together.
Liberia may be corrupt in many ways of interpretation because the
country is poor and some individuals that are guarantors of public trust
are not morally inclined to do away with many forms of corruption,
especially bribery. Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank Chief�s ideology about
corruption is that corruption drags down a country�s development. While
the World Bank Chief�s assertion may not sound entirely true, there are
other factors that may also stifle development. In the Liberian case,
bribery is a long-standing tradition which forms part of virtually all
previous governments, including the present administration. Serial
offenders know how to dress-up the exchange of bribery in method that they
have designed without detection. Bribe-takers and bribe-payers have
developed a scheme in which it is difficult for prosecutors to bring legal
evidence to the fore. Although to totally eradicate corruption is hard,
however, the new
Liberia government has put in place some mechanisms to curb
corruption but it is not enough. The Liberian president recently admitted
that corruption still exists. How then can corruption be reduced?
The Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration must
understand that civil servants are executors of corrupt politicians� will.
Specific anti-corruption measures, such as depoliticizing the civil
service system, are necessary. The strong need to improve the quality of
officials through better training, pay and conditions, making sure that
decision-making should be transparent with better account auditing. This
is possible with the availability of resources and vitally the existence
of political will to make administrative processes more accountable. In
order to promote transparency, decision-making on important matters of
national interest should not be made by an individual; rather appointed
committees with the power to make decisions and the making of more rules
with use of less discretion is necessary. Although increasing the salaries
of officials and giving better rewards to those who report corruption may
seem like a great start, however, such measure may not be necessary to
curb corruption. Bribes may still take place among highly paid officials
and high rewards might itself be further incentive for criminals to frame
innocent officials. Another method of suppressing corruption is through
the criminal justice system.
By catching and punishing illegal behavior,
Liberia currently finds itself in a situation where the criminal
justice system is plagued with lapses of needy logistics to prosecute
culprits. For example, the legal process was largely futile for ex-NASSCORP
officials who were accused of stealing plenty of money from public
coffers. Admittance of jury bribery took precedence over the verdict that
vindicated the ex-NASSCORP officials. Even with recent arrests and release
of ex-officials of the Gyude Bryant administration without understanding
how the legal process will later proceed, creates a murky professional
outlook of our criminal justice system. Moreover, the prison system is
ill-equipped for offenders to pay their dues as evidenced by recent escape
of some hardcore criminals. The new administration is doing its best to
reform public sector management as well as economic policies and the legal
system, but the reality of growth may show up in figures later on if the
administration continues to redesign and periodically reevaluate
regulatory structures and procedures, which will help reduce opportunities
for corruption. The so-called Good Governance Committee, which is headed
by Amos Sawyer, is a convenient weapon to spot and evaluate institutional
deficiencies. Overall, the promotion of education, strong competition
among entrepreneurs, and the will to develop civil society and make
accountability of public institutions a priority, will promote stability
and growth.
Corruption Cannot Stop Growth
It may be argued by economists that corruption slows
the development of a country; a corrupt country nevertheless is capable of
rapid growth. Corruption practices in America and Western
Europe are nothing like pervasive as in other parts of the world.
It is arguable that bribery is an integral part of law making. In the US ,
lobbyists are well accepted to make generous contribution to the campaign
of congressmen. They exchange brown envelopes in the hallways. According
to
Brent Wilkes, a lobbyist who forms part in the bribery
case of a Californian congressman told the
New
York Times that a check must never be handed over
at the same time as lobbying is
going on. It is better to wait and do it in a hallway later.
Armstrong Williams, an American columnist and TV host,
was paid $240,000 by the US Department of Education to comment regularly
on George Bush�s �No Child Left Behind� education policy. Maggi Gallagher,
another American columnist, was paid to promote the Bush administration�s
�Healthy Marriage� program. The two named American journalists clearly
violated ethics of journalism, however, they still have large audience of
readers and listeners who believe their tthoughts on national policy
issues.
Several countries in Asia have grown rapidly at a time
when cronyism was common, including
Indonesia and
South Korea in their time. Look at China today with its explosive
growth. Ordinary Chinese still complain of corruption, though the
government executes egregious offenders. The rapid growth of
Liberia will depend on those that have the political will,
patriotism, and the guts to make a change. Simply put, any hope that
complete eradication of corruption in
Liberia will promote rapid growth and development is just a fallacy
and big excuse. 
About The Author
Alex Redd works as a Counselor for Carson City School District in Nevada,
USA. He can be reached at alredd23@yahoo.com
