The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
May 26, 2019
Updated May 27, 2019

Liberia is a West African nation in which there is no drought of corruption since its inception as a nation.  During the Tolbert administration in the 1970s, the Liberian president identified three enemies to combat: ignorance, disease, and poverty.  But until his death, none of those enemies suffered and wound.  Tolbert also established the Anti-Corruption Bureau; however, the bureau did not administer any blow to the corruption it was established to fight.  In fact, Liberians trivialized the fight by calling the bureau a “corruption bureau” since itself was very corrupt.

Then came President Doe who overthrew Tolbert in a coup d’état  because of  “rampant corruption.” Liberians were jubilating: singing “Congua woman born rogue, countrywoman born soldier”.  But before the song ended, the Doe Government became an embodiment of rampant corruption and dictatorship.  Doe replaced nepotism from the Tolbert regime with tribalism, and this coupled with corruption and dictatorship led to the downfall of the Doe regime. Doe’s government mismanaged millions forcing the US Congress to send its General Accountability Office (GAO) to audit his government, an audit which left Doe wanting to pay back nearly $500 million in mismanaged US aid, thus began the gradual pullback of US support to the Doe’s government.

Taylor launched the civil war to get rid of Doe for “corruption, financial malfeasance”, and with the help of Prince Johnson, Doe was brutally murdered by Prince Johnson.  Taylor was elected in 1997; with Liberians again singing: “you killed my ma, you killed my pa, [but] I will vote for you”.  Taylor pillaged the resources of the nation with impunity and corruption was at an all-time high in the nation.

After Taylor, Liberia put together a government of warring factors. They too feasted with impunity on the national resources of the country, forcing the international to sign a binding agreement to enforce the resources of the nation from further pillaging, thus giving birth to the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP). Among other things, GEMAP to reduce corruption and fundamentally improve governance:

“To ensure that all Liberian revenues will be available for the benefit of all Liberian people, to ensure that the Liberian Government will have the appropriate fiscal instruments to capture the revenue required for the development of the country, and to strengthen Liberian institutions so that they can take responsibility for reversing decades of deficiencies in economic and financial management, the NTGL and its partners have concluded that immediate remedial action is needed.”  

Many Liberians declared the interim government as very corrupt
The end of the civil war, the end of the interim government,  and the departure of Charles Taylor from Liberian created some euphoria among Liberians and within the international community.  That euphoria was reinforced by the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005, making her Africa’s first female president.  On her inauguration day, Sirleaf declared public enemy number one, receiving wide applause from international partners and Liberians, moving quickly to arrest and imprison the head of the Interim Government, Charles  Gyude Bryant and a host of former officials who  have administration felt were wanting for corruption, but not long after she would appoint some of these same officials she arrested for corruption, such as Sam Wulu, as ministers in Government.

Ellen Sirleaf was one of those who bankrolled the Taylor war effort but resurfaced as the ‘redeemer.’ She was referred to as “iron lady” during the 2005 campaign signaling that she was a no-nonsense lady who would practice fiscal probity, fight corruption head-on, and rebuild the nation.  But as soon as she was sworn in, she and her inner circle campaigned for the abolition of the “iron lady” title.  She preferred to be called “mama Ellen.”  The logic was that with the iron lady nickname, the expectation would be high. 

Accountability would be expected to be at the top of her agenda, but the newly elected president had her eyes on corruption.  So, she did not want any of that. During the inaugural ball, she and “Mr. Corruption” got engaged. Her administration became the most corrupt government the Liberian nation has ever seen.  Nepotism in her government was more than what Liberia experienced during the Tolbert administration.  The most corrupt government officials were either her family members or members of her inner circle.  She got married to “Mr. Corruption” during the president second term.

To her credit, however, she did not manipulate the constitution to enable her to run for a third, as it is done elsewhere on the African Continent.  But what she did was to sponsor a candidate that she had over and over said was incapable to run the country.  Money was printed illegally to provide the illegal wherewithal to support the Weah candidacy.  But this was not without any string:  Weah promised Madam Sirleaf that he was going to protect her and her family.  Not only that, Weah went further to say that he was going to continue and promote  Madam Sirleaf’s legacy, which is corruption and corruption with impunity.  So he got Sirleaf support, dashing the hope and aspiration of her vice president of 12 years.

Weah assumed power on January 21, 2018, and also promised to end corruption:
“I further believe that the overwhelming mandate I received from the Liberian people is a mandate to end corruption in public service. I promise to deliver on this mandate. As officials of Government, it is time to put the interest of our people above our own selfish interests. It is time, to be honest with our people. Though corruption is a habit amongst our people, we must end it. We must pay civil servants a living wage so that corruption is not an excuse for taking what is not theirs. Those who do not refrain from enriching themselves at the expense of the people – the law will take its course. I say today that you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

About 47 Mansions Constructed By President Weah Just A Few Days After He Became President of Liberia - Courtesy of FPA

But here is Mr. Weah’s reality:
Mansions Built by the President
Weah was elected President of the nation and during the inauguration, he reminded Liberians of his pledge to protect Madam Sirleaf, her family and keep her legacy on.  But before the inaugural program was over, President Weah started building 47 homes/mansion and that is in line with his pledge to keep the Ellen corruption legacy alive. His officials followed suit: they started building mansions in and around Monrovia.  Minister of State, Nathaniel Mcgill said he paid $200K for his home barely a week in office and claimed he borrowed the money from the Liberian Bank for Development and Reconstruction (LBDI), a bank that seems to finance only government officials as others in the Sirleaf’s government also claimed they borrowed huge sums from LBDI when they were accused of corruption, albeit such borrowings with no tangible collateral or paperwork to support the borrowing. In one of our Editorials, we asked as to where the moral outrage of the Liberian people was.  And now we see. So, the June 7 Protest Must Go On.

The Missing 16 Billion Liberians dollars
Then came information about the missing 16 billion Liberian dollars.  The university students, as well as the poor Liberian people, were outraged.  There came a protest, but Forky Klon Weah and his handlers had a gimmick:  they decided that President Weah declare free college education in the absence of any budgetary allotment to silence the students. The university students went into a hiatus due to the free education gimmick but could not continue because of the unaccounted for 25 million United States dollars. Today, we all know that this was a gimmick.  So, the June 7 Protest Must Go On.

The 25 Million US Dollars
President Weah called the USAID to assist with an audit of both the 16 billion Liberian dollars and the 25 million United States dollar.  The audit was done, but presumably, at the promptings of Madam Sirleaf, Weah, USAID and the American Embassy in Monrovia, the KROLL audit was redacted as if to say it was a CIA classified report. So, this reinforces the need for the Protest To Go On.

Passing on the corruption legacy

The GAC Audit
When the “CIA type report” backfired, President Weah decided for GAC to conduct an audit of the US25 million dollars.  The request to GAC was made through Justice Minister Musa Dean. There was an MOU signed, though the contents of the MOU are not mentioned in the resulting audit report.  Everyone in Monrovia knows that someone took public money somewhere between the Central Bank and the money exchange bureaus. Everyone remembers President Dr., Dr., CIC  Forky Klon Weah giving directives, through Musa Dean, to the GAC to carry out an investigation. Kroll and the Weah appointed Presidential Investigation Unit (PIT) called for a forensic audit.

Instead of a forensic audit, GAC and the Minister of Justice decided to do an “agreed upon procedure audit,” as in audit parlance such procedures are mainly laid down by the requesting party and GAC agreeing to them. This means GAC did as they were told to do by the Minister of Justice, leaving some Liberians to even question why would Kroll, PIT and the President asked for a forensic audit/investigations but GAC and the Minister of Justice chose to do instead a procedural audit, with GAC saying in its own report that it would have reached a different decision if it was not an agreed-upon procedure audit.

The President may or may not act on the GAC Audit report, which we understand was carried out following the dictate of the auditee (meaning the Government through Justice Minister  Musa Dean). Since the days of John Morlu, we have become wary of the auditing commission’s capacity to fulfill its functions independently. The Perspective is now more skeptical because of the discrepancies in communications about the timeline of this audit. It was reported that GAC asked for more time when it was the auditees that asked for time to respond to the audit management letter. We, therefore, have reasons to believe that the GAC report was tampered with. 

Donors’ Money
Liberia is heavily dependent on foreign aid.  The United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF, and Nine prominent Ambassadors (including the mighty United States) have written in an unprecedented to the Weah’s government to complain against irregular withdrawals from their donor-funded accounts.

Instead of giving real justifications for such abroad day financial misbehavior, the Minister of Information contends that this is normal practice, blaming it on a ‘dig hole, cover hole,” suggesting that the Weah’s government is engaged in a Ponzi scheme with donor funds. These donors have threatened disengagement with this government and we are afraid because of this government corrupt practices, our major donors might pull out or significantly reduce their support to Liberia, and in such a case, ordinary Liberians who are already dying in poverty and despair will die more in greater numbers.

Additionally, such irregular financial practices against donor funds have further tainted the image of Liberia as a corruption dent, scaring away investors. Liberians need to show that the nation comes first and we do not, as a civilized people, condone or tolerate these kinds of irregular financial practices. The June 7 Protest Must Go On!

Separation of Power
There is no separation of power in the country.  At President Weah’s promptings Associate, Justice Kabinah Ja’neh was impeached illegally.  Though The Perspective did not support the appointment of Justice Ja’neh, we feel that once he was in the position any attempt to remove him must be legal.  Weah also appointed and commissioned the Liberian Ambassador to the United States of America, bypassing the constitutionally laid down process of Senate confirmation. So currently, there is no separation of power in the country. Weah is now the president, speaker of the house, president pro tempore of the Senate, and chief justice.  We know that this can only happen in a banana republic.  So, the June 7 Protest Must go on.

Violations of the Code of Conduct
Interim President Dr. Amos Sawyer worked with President Sirleaf and together were able to pass the Code of Conduct Act. Of course, President Sirleaf Administration contravened the same Code of Conduct law when it allowed political appointees to leave their jobs and go on to campaign in 2017, and after they lost, they, selectively, came back to work, and though they did not resign two years earlier as stipulated by the law. President Sirleaf broke the law and as expected; the Weah administration is breaking the law likewise.  Sirleaf and Weah have effectively made Liberia a lawless country. It took Weah one year to declare his assets after being in office. He has refused to make his asset declaration public, all in contravention of the code of conduct. So, the June 7 Protest Must Go On.

The date, June 7, 2019, is almost cast in stones. Unless something drastic happens, the march must take place. President Dr., Dr. George Forky Klon Weah is open to it and welcomes it. Some Liberians and some international partners are ambivalent because of the senseless 15-year civil war. But, this time around, Liberians are determined to show their moral outrage due to the prevailing corruption from top to bottom in the country and to show their maturity by making the process peaceful.  It does not make a bit of sense to stop the protest that is aimed at curtailing corruption with impunity. So, the Protest To Go On.

The Exchange Rate
Everyone also knows that the prices of commodities have gone through the sky. A year ago, people bought US$1.00 scratch card for LD$140 and now it is up to LD$180. It is a fact that gas stations sometimes refuse to sell gasoline whenever another hike of the dollar is around the corner.  This makes the so-called mop-up exercise a scam.  According to the GAC report, the Liberian dollars they got from the money exchangers was put back on the market, which does not make any sense.  Another observation by the GAC is that the Government of Liberia has not paid back the 25 million dollars. June 7 Save The State Protest.

The Fishing Licenses
The president sold over 300 fishing licenses to fishermen of Senegal because the Senegalese have depleted the fish in its territorial water, causing the new president of the country to ban fishing.  Senegalese fishermen are fishing in Liberia territorial water and taking their catches to Senegal.  The fish are then dried and exported.  This also justifies the staging of June 7 Save The State Protest.

What can be done to save the state?
The president should fire Minister Tweah, Bank Governor Patray, Minister McGill, Charles Bright, crooked Emmanuel Shaw, Mayor Kojee for inexperience,  etc. and have them audited. The entire economic management must be dismissed and replaced with competent and professionals with integrity.

Weah needs to give an account of how he earned the millions of dollars he used to build his mansions.  It is ridiculous to just replace Patray with Minister Tarpeh as speculated in social media. 

As he promised, the President and his administration should prosecute successfully all those who caught in corruption and other forms of financial malfeasance. The president should also allocate money in the next fiscal budget to provide free education, build more schools, train more teachers/professors and equip the schools.  The fishing licenses given to Senegalese fishermen must be revoked. This will take energy out of the protest, but will President Forky Klon Weah take these steps? We doubt it.The donor funds must be paid back immediately, as well as put back in the Liberian international reserves the $25 million immediately.