This is Corruption – Deceit, Bribery & theft of Property
Just one day after I penned an article entitled “What is Wrong with Liberians”, a question seeking answer(s) to our failure/refusal/neglect to prioritize construction of all-weather highways and roads throughout the nation, although we have had and continue to have “what it takes” – the need, commitment, education, training/experience, natural/human resources, foreign aid/capital support – to have criss-crossed our small nation of 43,000 square miles, less than 4 million, sparsely-populated people by all-weather, super-highways and roads throughout its length and breadth, I got a preview of an answer, a shocker.
According to Mr. Abraham Massaley (In Profile Daily, July 2, 2013), the Liberian National Draft Budget submitted June 29, 2013 to the National Legislature for review/approval contains the following allocations:
Office of the Speaker, House of Representative US $766,357.00
Office of the Deputy Speaker 700,302.00
Office of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate 846,653.00
Grand Total $2,313,312.00
In words, Two million, Three Hundred Thirteen Thousand, Three Hundred Twelve dollars allocated to three offices!! The concerns raised by these figures demand explanation; in that, our country that is reeling not only under the burden of socio-economic and political under-development, but also that with an overwhelming majority of its citizens shackled with abject poverty, un-information, illiteracy, disease and an alarming mortality rates, it is next to inhumanity to note that three offices are allocated, almost, a million, US dollars each with no obligation to account. Do not get me wrong, continue reading.
The Continuing Rise of Corruption
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Back in my days (of the 1980s and beyond) as policy advisor to decision-makers, I wrote a Memo to my superiors on “Combating Corruption” in which I observed that, “The effort to combat Liberian corruption in the public sector must be taken seriously; it should and must be based on social, economic and political considerations. Salary/wage and benefit rates/levels in the public (government) sector should and must be not only consistent with prevailing rates/levels in the private sector, but also consistent with the changing levels of the cost of living as well as reflect human need and perception of human value or worth. However, experience shows that this condition has not been the case in our Liberian, public service. Such employment benefits as health/life insurance, retirement, job security, in-service training & education for upward advancement, periodic performance appraisals for merit promotion etc., taken for granted elsewhere, are either non-existent and/or systematically abused for personal gain. Thus, highly-educated and experienced cabinet ministers, state enterprise executives, professional technocrats, medical doctors, state university professors and public school teachers who put in ten-to twelve-hour days of dedicated service do not have job security and other related, employment benefits, including salaries and wages that are not compatible with their training/experience and the social demands of their positions”. I concluded with recommendation that we seek foreign Aid from our “partners-in-progress” (the USA-USAID, EU, UNDP, etc.) to be known as “allowance” to complement low-level, public salary/wages. This has become successful but turned out, apparently, to be something else, as I shall point out later.
Moreover, transparency, accountability and believability demand that those who crafted this budget with these allocations will have to come forward with reasonable, credible explanations/rationalizations for the taxpayer and our foreign donors. If we agree, just for the sake of the argument, that the taxpayer and donors will go along with the three, unexplained and, therefore, questionable “allowances” – general, special and salary – why should and must the taxpayer foot the bill for the cost of personal expenses (high-lighted in red below) such as rent, electricity (generator & fuel), automobile insurance, newspaper purchase, automobile repairs and upkeep, including such dubious allocations as “special services, operation expense, transport equipment, etc.?
The generous, salary/wage allowances made available are intended to enable civil servants to pay their own costs of living, in accordance with generally-accepted and practiced conventions. There is, absolutely, no reason for which such costs should and must be paid by the taxpayer/employer.
A closer look at these budgeted, line-item “allowances” is, indeed, necessary because there are several, unexplained categories of allowances – “general, special and salary” – raising questions about the level of amounts allocated. These are:
Office of the Speaker
General Allowance US$197,654.00
Special Allowance 72,000.00 $269,654.00
Salary Allowance 55,000.00 55,000.00 $324,654.00
Personal, Un-explained Allocations
Rental Expense 24,000.00
Fuel –Vehicles 90,942.00
Fuel – Generator 37,252.00
Repairs 24,000.00
Special Services 28,892.00
Operational Expense 11,271.00
Local Scholarship Give-away 10,000.00
Purchase of Newspaper 4,000.00
Equipment 3,000.00 $233,357.00
Office of the Deputy Speaker
General Allowance 111,557.00
Special Allowance 60,000.00 $171,557.00
Salary Allowance 65,000.00 65,000.00 $236,557.003
Personal, Un-explained Allocations
Rental Expense 24,000.00
Fuel – Vehicles 100,056.00
Fuel – Generator 41,000.00
Repairs 36,000.00
Operational Expense 39,694.00
Special Services 22,000.00
Vehicle Insurance 4,000.00
Local Scholarship Giveaway 3,500.00
News Paper Purchase 2,100.00 $272,350.00
Office of the President Pro Tempore
General Allowance 162,000.00
Special Allowance 72,000.00 $234,000.00
Salary Allowance 175,000.00 $175,000.00 $409,000.00
Personal, Un-explained Allocations
Rent 18,599.00
Fuel for Generator 30,838.00
Special Services 66,000.00
Operation Expense 61,000.00
Transport Equipment 16,000.00
Local Scholarship Giveaway 5,000.00
News Paper Purchase 4,000.00 $201,437.00
The next and final, crucial and closer look is and must be at the budgetary, line-item allocations of, just, these three offices; this is enough to raise an alarm, because these are likely to be a tip of the proverbial “iceberg”. We took the pain to list the allocations as described and questioned by Mr. Massaley, and reported by the In Profile Daily newspaper, and let the people know and decide:
Office of The Speaker
General Allowance US $197,657
Special “ 72,000
Salary “ 55,000
Foreign Travel 139,638
Domestic Travel 12,000
Residential Rent 24,000
Fuel – Vehicles 90,942
Fuel – Residential Generator 37,252
Vehicles Repairs 24,000
Entertainment 15,000
Special Services 28,892
Internet Service & Postage 12,000
Operational Expense 11,271
Local Scholarship Giveaways 10,000
Purchase of Newspapers 4,000
Stationary 11,904
Furniture 6,000
Equipment 3,000
$766,357
Office of the Deputy Speaker
General Allowance 111,557
Special “ 60,000
Salary “ 65,000
Management Expense 446,745
Foreign Travel 98,896
Domestic “ 14,000
Fuel, Vehicles 100,056
Fuel, Generator 41,000
Internet Service/Postage 28,000
Repairs 36,000
Residential Rent 24,000
Operational Expense 39,694
Entertainment 19,000
Special Services 22,000
Vehicle Insurance 4,000
Local Scholarship Giveaway 3,500
Stationary 8,500
Printing 5,000
Newspaper Purchase 2,100
$700,302
Office of President Pro Tempore
Salary Allowance 175,000
General “ 162,000
Special “ 72,000
Foreign Travel 101,000
Domestic “ 72,000
Residential Rent 18,599
Fuel, Vehicles 69,092
Fuel, Generator 30,838
Internet/Postage 18,605
Special Services 66,000
Operational Expense 61,000
Entertainment 12,240
Transport Equipment 16,000
Machinery 14,900
Local Scholarship Giveaway 5,000
Newspaper Purchase 4,000
Stationary 9,000
Printing 3,404
$846,653
Apparently, public/private dishonesty – corruption – has become a thriving, big business, an industry, than ever before, with specialized experts and consultants – MBAs, Economists, Financial Managers – who “earn” or steal six-figured “income”, fashioning our fancy, line-item budgets and financial statements by disguised theft. All of this corruption enterprise is taking place right under the noses of our policymakers. No wonder, the President of the Nation has described corruption as the nation’s “public enemy No.1”.
With the aid and knowledge of computer technology, these budget and finance gurus have captured the nation’s successful salary/wage allowance system and transformed it into a sophisticated, booming, corruption bonanza for the few, well-heeled and connected. For, they and their business friends are wheelers/dealers in high-priced SUVs, electric generators, spare-parts and service, high-rental apartments, mobile cell telephone, etc., all financed from and by “allowances”.
No wonder, also, that the Country Representatives/Agents of our “Partners-in-Progress” (the donors who made all of this salary/wage “allowance” possible) have joined the bandwagon, because it is financially reasonable and beneficial, although their superiors have a declared, anti-corruption policy.
