The Board Chairman of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), Cllr. Negbalee Warner, says tackling the menace of corruption in Liberia requires more robust and concerted efforts of every citizen as well as actors in the private and public sectors.
Cllr. Warner said there is a need to foster partnership and stronger collaborations in the fight against corruption as it remains a battle that cannot be easily won by a single institution or sector of the country.
Cllr. Warner is also the Dean of the Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia (UL). He made the statement recently in Monrovia at a program marking the observance of the 2020 International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD).
Held under the theme, “Reducing Corruption in the Private Sector as a Drive to Enhancing Economic Development and Good Governance”, the program was organized by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) in collaboration with the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), with support from the Government and people of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA).
“In order to tackle the menace of corruption, we at CENTAL have embarked on building partnership. We need collaboration and partnership in fighting corruption because it will take more than an institution or sector to fight. This can’t be a government alone thing; it is the responsibility of every one of us in here and out there to fight corruption,” Cllr Warner said.
Representing the Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Samuel Tweah, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning, Tanneh G. Brunson, said in an environment like Liberia where unethical practices are prevalent, the private sector of the country needs to resort to collective action in order to change the status quo by getting regulators to intervene or set standards.
Brunson stated that it was important for the sector to put in place institutional systems and incentives to prevent corruption from occurring.
The Deputy Finance and Development Planning Minister indicated that the need for preventive measures that call for credible deterrence relying on accountability and enforcement mechanisms sufficiently strong enough to send a message to potential wrongdoers of the possible risk associated with their misconducts was necessary.
“We must however recognize that the local political and social context influences both the level of corruption and the reform approaches likely to meet with success or failure,” Brunson said.
This year’s IACD provided a platform to state actors and the business community to dialogue on the mechanisms and approaches that heighten transparency and accountability for a conducive business environment and sustainable economic growth and development in Liberia.
Speaking earlier, the Chairperson of LACC, Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike, called on the private sector to join the battle against corruption, because according to him, the private sector is in most cases the main facilitator of corruption.
“We must intensify effort to reduce corruption. This year’s theme is about the private sector, because corruption goes beyond government, but in all sectors of the country,” Cllr. Nwabudike stated.
The day-long dialogue forum, which took place on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, brought together experts and actors from both public and private sectors to present on various topics, including Liberia’s business climate in the context of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) and international anti-corruption standards; diagnosis of the critical elements to improve the business climate and fight corruption; business as an active player in preventing corruption, among others.