By Ausgustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The 2019 Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer Report on south Saharan Africa has named Liberia as the second Country with the highest overall bribery rate.
The report covers September 2016 and September 2018 with forty-seven thousands, one hundred and five respondents from across 35 African countries.
In Liberia currently, a US$950,000.00 Sable Mining bribery case is taking place at the Criminal Court in Monrovia involving several past and present officials of government, including Grand Cape Mount County, Cllr. Varney Sherman and former Speaker Alex Tyler for allegedly tampering with the procurement law of the country regarding the Wologisi Mountain.
The results showed that the Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest bribery rate of 80%, followed by Liberia 53%, Sierra Leone 52%, Cameroon 48%, and Uganda 46%, while Mauritius maintains the lowest overall bribery rate of 5%, Botswana 7%, Cape Verde 8%, Namibia 11%, and Lesotho 14%.
In terms of sectorial corruption, 47% of the citizens surveyed believe that the police are the most corrupt public institution, while 39% think that most or all government officials are corrupt, 36% parliamentarians think business executives are also corrupt.
The report has at the same time placed Liberia among the least performing countries in the fight against corruption.
Also 87% of citizens in Gabon think their government is failing to curb corruption, followed by Madagascar 83%, Sudan 81%, and Liberia nearly 60% while 66% of citizens in Sierra Leone think their government is doing well, 61% of citizens in Lesotho and nearly 60% in Ghana think the same.
Meanwhile, the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia has re-emphasized the need for government to deliver on its anti-corruption commitments.
Anderson Miamen speaking Thursday at a press conference said government alleged failure to effectively apply anti-corruption legislations is responsible for the increase in perception and reported incidences of corruption.
According to Anderson, the Liberian government needs to robustly and impartially implement existing anti-corruption laws and policies including the African Union Convention to prevent and combat corruption.
He added that government also needs to increase support to the LACC, GAC, PPCC and other integrity institutions and their reports given consideration as important steps in effort to concretely tackle the menace.
The CENTAL boss also recommended that the whistle blower protection bill currently at the Legislature be passed and specialized to fast track the establishment of anti-corruption court.
Anderson noted that Liberia is a great nation and such greatness can be solidified through collective action to fight corruption and improve the governance systems and processes.