A Sanction, $100M Cocaine, L$1M Bad Banknotes, etc., are not Good for Liberia

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
November 16, 2022

The Liberian People’s Party (LPP) questions the claim of President George Weah’s administration that Liberia has improved its fight against corruption, and subsequently, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) along with the World Bank might provide money for Liberia.

President Weah’s senior economic adviser, Mr. Samuel Tweah, Minister of Finance, Development and Planning, stated that “…corruption indicator appears to suggest that Liberia continues to make progress on anti-corruption reform, according to www.Frontpageafricaonline.com). He added, “When I look at the scorecard, it is a different narrative. The narrative we are getting from people about Liberia going backward is not being supported by data. The data shows a consistent pattern of improvement,” Minister Tweah averred,” according to the article.

How can President Weah claim to be winning the war on corruption when he has failed to institute and enforce one of the most effective anti-corruption tools, punishment, the seventh of the ten effective tools listed by the World Bank? https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/here-are-10-ways-fight-)
Instead of punishing, (for example, naming and shaming) corrupt officials, President Weah is silent or is financing their campaigns for elected political offices, according to anonymous resources. His silence or indirect support of corrupt officials is, indirectly, encouraging others to steal. In addition, President Weah, himself, has failed to fulfill the moral requirement of integrity, which is to publish his assets, another form of punishment.

MCC might not list punishment as an important anti-corruption tool, or it might have used different measures. However, do the gains earn from President Weah’s fight on corruption outweigh the consequences of its corrupt activities? If yes, Liberia is moving forward.

1. Did President Weah provide documents to MCC to explain why his administration’s anti-corruption tools were ineffective in deterring, preventing and/or identifying corrupt officials before the US government sanctioned them?  
2. Did President Weah submit documents to MCC to explain why Liberia’s anti-corruption tools were ineffective in deterring and preventing the drug kingpins from bringing $100M worth of illegal substances?
3. Did President Weah provide documents to MCC to explain why Liberia’s anti-corruption tools were ineffective in deterring and preventing criminals from bringing L$100M worth of counterfeit banknotes into the country?
4. Did President Weah explain to MCC why his anti-corrupt measures did not discourage any of his lieutenants from corrupt activities?

 (1) Agriculture Minister Jeanie Cooper awarded a contract to a company in which she has beneficial ownership.

(2) The Director-General, Mr. Francis Wreh, and two of his deputies of the  Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), Francis Wreh, violated laws regarding the purchase of tablets for the census; and,

(3) The Deputy Managing Director of Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), for Administration, Moseray Momoh converted public funds to personal use, according to Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).

5. Further, President Weah’s administration has failed to encourage concessionary companies to pay the mandatory funds such as:

(a) Bea Mount, etc. to pay $5M to Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, and Gbarkpolu Counties, and
(b) Mittal Steel should have paid $3M to Nimba, Bong, and Bassa Counties.

(c) Instead of the companies paying the $8M as stipulated within the Concessionary agreements, they paid $296,000, according to page # 80 of the 2020 Annual Report of  Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI).

(https://eiti.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/Liberia%20EITI%2013th%20Report%20-%20FY%202019%20-%202020.pdf)
LPP appeals to President Weah’s administration to not only name and shame corrupt officials but also to name and shame third parties involved in corruption such as publishing the identities and addresses of the parties. The government also should encourage all organizations such as religious institutions and ordinary residents to end doing business with every party. Further, the government should support family members who are willing to join the campaign to name and shame parties involved in undermining Liberia’s development.

Sincerely yours,
J. Yanqui Zaza
National Chairman