Reporter's Notebook Comments

• This report epitomizes the Liberian corruption saga in an effective way that gives an outsider and novice to the saga a clear understanding of what is currently happening in the country. However, in my view, a number of elements are needed to complete the mosaic. For starters, corruption involves interaction between and among private and public actors; in the private sector there are several influences that induce bribery or act upon the public sector. This report should give an idea of what is concurrently happening in the private sector, as the government moves on to fight corruption. Some pertinent questions a keen observer would ask: What is the reaction of the private sector to the on-going and pending changes? What is the reaction of the general public to anti-corruption programs? Is corruption perceived by the general public and the private business ventures as a government or public service problem that is concentrated among a few, and is a result of weak systems, poverty, or attitudes? This report focuses more on the public sector, particularly the public service. It should endeavor to reach a balance.
  
  Additionally, even as the report focuses on the public service, it sheds no light on an important strand of the anti-corruption drive that is also necessary to promote good governance and the rule of law. The reporter needs to say a little about the current state of the judiciary, which stands at the ex post end of the anti-corruption theory. Within the reporting period a major case involving embezzlement and misuse of public office was heard and concluded at the temple of justice, and the outcome of the case has an impact and implication on the government's anti-corruption drive as well as on the public's perception of corruption. The ministry of justice had to move in to do something dramatic.
  
  On the issue of GEMAP, the reporter needs to contrast some of its setbacks and challenges, and this can be done by indicating how three of the State-owned Enterprises (SoE's) and the GEMAP came to being publicly criticized during the budget debates. While these enterprises have GEMAP experts, they are not contributing to the current GOL budget, an issue which sparked serious debate and concern in the Lower House of the legislature and among some civil society organizations. This stance was considered a paradox to the intent of the GEMAP: "curbing leakages and ejections from the revenue streams and resources available to the government."
  
  It is important to correct that as of August 31, the legislature ratified the two international conventions on corruption after endorsing the GOL anticorruption strategy paper. There is also the need to include public and Civil Service Association reactions to the GOL downsizing and right-sizing exercise in its attempt to rid the service of "ghosts." The reporter is of the assumption that GOL assertions are absolute, but to balance the report, the other side of the story is needed.
  
  
• Corruption is endemic in Liberia. For generations it has been an integral aspect of people's daily life. This has certainly frustrated people in the international community whorking with Liberia, and it is their experiences during the period of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) that led to the establishment of the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP). This program is uspposed to help the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's new administration curb corruption by improving budgeting, expenditure management and procurement practices, as well overseeing concession granting and reorganizing the tax system.
  
  This may seem a good idea, however, one problem with such an externally-generated program is that is makes the promotion of good governance and the fight against corruption the responsibility of external actors. GEMAP was a popular idea among the political and economic elite in Liberia, even Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf argued against it. In fact one of the very few politicians who endorsed the plan was George Weah. And as shown in the reporter's notebook, as long as anti-corruption as a norm is not sufficiently internalized, people will find ways of bending the rules of such programs. GEMAP is necessary in Liberia, but more attention must be placed on raising awareness about the societal effects of corruption and emphassing the need to install new norms.
  
  It is also important to understand the difference between greed-based corruption and the corruption brought about by low and irregular salaries. The situation for many junior bureaucrats and other public servants is simply that if they are to make a living, they simply cannot afford not being corrupt. Traning is needed, but also an incentive structure that rewards non-corrupt behaviour. This is the time to help Liberia to introduce good governance and anti-corruption schemes, but stakeholders also need to understand that due to the many years of mismangement and civil war in Liberia this will not only take time, but also require both resources and patience.