By Lewis S. Teh
Amid the U.S. sanctions against Liberian officials for corruption allegations here, the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, or CENTAL says corruption report has revealed that about 90% of Liberians think issues of corruption still remain a daunting challenge in the country.
“For reasons including lack of prosecution and adherence to the culture of transparency and accountability in Liberia, about 90% of citizens interviewed hold the view that corruption is high while just one percent thinks otherwise.” CENTAL notes.
During official launch of its state of corruption report here Wednesday, December 13, 2023 following a survey conducted across nine of Liberia’s 15 counties early this year, the Center reveals that about 90% of those interviewed think that corruption is still high in Liberia.
CENTAL with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency or SIDA says the objective of the report is to present data on corruption in Liberia and to galvanize public and stakeholders’ support for anti-corruption campaign in thecountry.
Program manager Gerald D. Yeakula explains that the report mainly focused on public sector corruption, where a lot of people were interviewed.
This report is intended to look at how corruption plays out in the country and how it can be tracked.
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He names Grand Bassa, Gbaporlu, Grand Cape Mount, Nimba, Montserrado, Margibi, Bong, River Cess and Bomi counties where he says about 728 persons were asked among them 60% males and 40% females.
Mr. Yeakula defines corruption as abuse of entrusted power for personal gain, adding that over the past three years, the state of corruption report, which is an activity of the National Integrity Building and Anti-corruption Program (NIMBA) under the auspices of SIDA reflects people’s views and experiences of corruption in Liberia as well as gauges public reaction about the fight against corruption.
The CENTAL program manager notes that about 67% of those surveyed hold the views that government’s commitment to fighting corruption is low, adding that the number represents five percent increase in the number of respondents rating government commitment as low as the previous report.
“Although local and international actors are continuing to step up efforts against corruption, the report found the lack of prosecution of several individuals accused of corruption and other crimes remain the chief reason for the high level of corruption.”
He recommends that government should strengthen institutions and policies intended to fight corruption.
“Promote the independence of integrity institutions.”
In remarks, the program officer for democracy and human rights at the Swedish Embassy in Monrovia, Nikolina Stalhand extols CENTAL for this milestone, adding “we would like to know exactly what has happened over the years and where we are going.”
She says Sweden remains a committed partner to a corruption free Liberia and that a lot needs to be done to get rid of corruption, including awareness and other efforts to curtail the act.
Madam Stalhand says combination of all players including civil society, relevant authorities need to work alongside CENTAL to curtail corruption in Liberia.
She stresses a need for more actions, including political will, saying the act of impunity needs to be addressed.
Performing the official launch of the third state of corruption report, the head of Secretariat at the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative or LEITI, and Chairperson of the Steering Committee National Integrity Forum, Mr. Jeffery Yates extols CENTAL for the report.
“From the look of the report, we are doing a little bit better in the public sector and I notice there’s a slack decline from the civil society in the fight against corruption”, Mr. Yates adds.
He says civil society should set particular standards because people look up to them, while encouraging Civil Society Organizations to reach out to integrity institutions prior to lending attack against them.
“I’m making this call to individuals who are in the constant habit of attacking integrity institutions to always reach out to integrity institutions before attacking”
Let’s take this report very serious whenever I read about individuals being sanctioned, it scares me; we need to be cognizant as Liberians and public officials.”
The Vice Executive Chairperson at the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Ernest Hughes, thanked CENTAL, saying “I’m proud of CENTAL for this launch, and the dedication they bring to the fight against corruption but I hope this will be a call for action.”
Mr. Huges underscores that it is important to make sure that Liberia is seen as a serious country in the fight against corruption.
He says though the LACC has prosecutorial powers but there’s a need to be more careful in dealing with it.
“I’m only asking the public to manage its expectations about the LACC prosecuting people; we need to look at every evidence, jury tempering, among others are things that need to be carefully looked at before prosecuting people”, he cautions.
The CENTAL third state of corruption report launch brought together scores of government officials from line ministries and agencies, development partners, and civil society organizations, among others. Editing by Jonathan Browne
