‘Corruption Is Institutionalized’

MONROVIA – The National Director of the Catholic-owned Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), Cllr. Augustine Toe, has said that there are compelling reasons to conclude that corruption is being institutionalized in the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration and has categorically referred to the government as an institution that is gradually being transformed into ‘a kingdom of come, grab, and go’.

The JPC boss was speaking Wednesday in the conference room at Radio Veritas when he delivered the commission’s 2009 annual situation report on the Government of Liberia.

Toe recalled that when President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated on January 16, 2006 as Liberia’s 23rd President, she promised the Liberian people a fight against corruption, which she declared ‘public enemy number one’.

He added that despite Sirleaf’s promise to the Liberian people, not much has been done by the government to fight corruption.

Sirleaf’s government, Toe said, must muster the political will to deal with reported cases of corruption.

He indicated that all of the findings of the many audits conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) should be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for study; and where the evidence is convincing and available, legal actions should be taken within the confines of the law.

Toe also stressed that where the Ministry of Justice decides not to prosecute anyone for lack of evidence or any other legal reasons, the public should be informed to avoid speculation.

He asserted that the JPC supports the fight against corruption and added that “when the cat begins to eat its own babies in its fight against corruption, there will be a clear message that indeed the Government is serious to fight corruption.”

“Liberians are not interested in the history of corruption; neither are they interested knowing how many audit reports or how many corruption cases are submitted to the MOJ. Liberians are interested in knowing that practical steps are taken to deal decisively with this national menace,” he declared.

When asked whether government has done anything positives, Toe admitted that Sirleaf has taken positive action to rebuild the country’s international image.

The JPC Director advised the President and her government to focus more on the domestic front because “Liberians are experiencing hardship occasioned by unemployment and the high cost of living.”

As a tradition and in keeping with its institutional mandate as the human rights arm of the Catholic Church of Liberia, the JPC at the close of every calendar year gives a summary report on the general state of affairs in the country.

Customarily, the commission’s annual situation report on Liberia looks at all spheres of the country’s national existence as a nation and people, including but not limited to politics, economics, human rights, security, social issues, the military and press freedom.