On International Anti-Corruption Day, which was celebrated yesterday, the United States Department of Treasury took a major step towards curbing the practice of corruption and sending a strong message to those involved in the bad practice by levying sanction on the Senator of Nimba County, Prince Yormie Johnson, a former warlord and current member of the Liberian Senate, under its Global Magnitsky Act.
The Global Magnitsky Act functions as a deterrent, forcing foreign officials at all levels who would use unlawful violence or corruption to consider repercussions from the US government. The act also provides incentives to foreign governments to improve their own accountability mechanisms. By cooperating with the US on Global Magnitsky investigations, foreign leaders can show that they will not tolerate human rights abusers in their own countries.
According to the US Treasury statement, Senator Johnson was responsible for the murder of former Liberian President Samuel Doe, and Johnson is named in Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Report as having committed atrocities during the country’s first civil war.
“As a Senator, Johnson has been involved in pay-for-play funding with government ministries and organizations for personal enrichment. As part of the scheme, upon receiving funding from the Government of Liberia (GOL), the involved government ministries and organizations launder a portion of the funding for return to the involved participants. The pay-for-play funding scheme involves millions of U.S. dollars. Additionally, Johnson receives an undeserved salary from the GOL as a salaried intelligence ‘source’ yet he does not provide any form of intelligence reporting to the GOL; Johnson is reportedly being paid in order to maintain domestic stability. Johnson has also offered the sale of votes in multiple Liberian elections in exchange for money.
“Johnson is designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official, or a person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery,” the US Treasury statement noted.
On International Anti-Corruption Day, the U.S. Mission in Liberia said it stands in solidarity with all those committed to confronting and ending widespread corruption, including those within the Government of Liberia who stand up against corruption, committed Liberian citizens and organizations seeking to challenge the impunity of corrupt officials, and international organizations supporting anti-corruption efforts.
“Today’s sanctioning of Senator Prince Yormie Johnson is one small part of that effort,” the US Embassy near Monrovia emphasized.
The U.S. Mission in Liberia has long reported on the pervasiveness of corruption within the Government of Liberia, including in the annual Human Rights Report. Organizations such as Transparency International also score Liberia very poorly in terms of corruption. But more than that, Liberian Government officials and citizens themselves regularly report on corrupt government activities that reach across all sectors of governance and society.
According to the US Embassy, “No government is free from corruption, but no government can improve its democracy without simultaneously attacking corruption, and that effort must start at the very top, both in word and in deed.
“On this International Anti-Corruption Day, we call on all three branches of the Government of Liberia to acknowledge that public officials should not receive financial benefit from their positions other than their salary and should take all necessary measures to stand up to the corruption that continues to erode the trust between the government and its people.”