Naming and Shaming: Liberia Gets Serious About Corruption
NEED TO KNOW
Naming and Shaming: Liberia Gets Serious About Corruption
LIBERIA
Eight years ago, Liberia’s long-serving then-president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, admitted that her administration had not done nearly enough to fight corruption, calling it “public enemy number one.”
In office since 2006 as the country’s first elected leader following 14 years of back-to-back civil wars, the Nobel laureate said in her final state of the nation address that she had underestimated the problem.
“It is not because of the lack of political will to do so,” she said, “but because of the intractability of dependency and dishonesty cultivated from years of deprivation and poor governance.”
Now the country’s president, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., who took office last year, is getting serious about taking on the culture of corruption, and shaking up the country in the process.
Founded as a colony in 1822 by former American slaves, Liberia became Africa’s first republic 25 years later. Since then, it has struggled to create a prosperous society, suffering from coups, corruption, civil wars, a lack of development, and dire poverty despite its vast untapped mineral wealth.
More than half of Liberia’s five million people live on less than $2.15 a day.
In 2023, soccer star George Weah won the election on a pledge to combat corruption. A rags-to-riches story personified, he took office in the country’s first peaceful transfer of power in seven decades and promised to end the endemic corruption that was crippling the country and had dogged Sirleaf’s administration following her appointment of her children and relatives to top posts.
He failed, too.
In his first year in office, a corruption scandal erupted within his administration involving the disappearance of $100 million in newly printed central bank notes. Two years later, the United States imposed sanctions on three Liberian government officials, including Weah’s chief of staff, for public corruption. In 2024, five more officials, including his former finance minister, national security advisor, acting justice minister, and two top intelligence officials were under investigation on corruption charges.
Weah, who was accused of spending lavishly, did little to promote clean governance, which has stymied the investments the country desperately needs.
“There were no tangible actions on promises around accountability and anti-corruption,” said Naymote Partners for Democratic Development, a Liberian group that promotes good governance and political accountability.
By the end of his term, his supporters turned into protesters on the streets, complaining of dire economic conditions and warning of an uprising in a country still recovering from war and the Ebola pandemic of 2014 to 2016. He lost the 2023 election to a man he defeated six years earlier.
When Boakai took office last year, he promised to prioritize defeating corruption.
Last summer, Boakai, a former vice president in the Sirleaf administration, shocked the country by releasing the details of his assets, hoping to set an example for other public officials. Then, he told voters that he would reduce his salary by 40 percent, saying he hoped to set a precedent for “responsible governance” and demonstrate “solidarity” with Liberians.
In mid-February, he stunned voters again by suspending 457 officials without pay for failing to declare their assets to the anti-corruption agency as required by law. The officials included the top management of the Liberian Electricity Corporation, the Liberian Broadcasting System, the minister of health, the minister of education, and others from all sectors and departments of the state.
“Public officials are reminded that asset declaration is not only a legal obligation but also a fundamental measure to promote transparency and restore public trust in governmental institution,” he said.
Many hailed the move, saying it was about time. Others said it didn’t go far enough.
“The failure to declare assets wasn’t a simple oversight – it was an intentional act of defiance,” Mulbah Morlu, chairman of the Solidarity and Trust for a New Day civil society group, told Front Page Africa, a Liberian newspaper, adding that the suspension period was too lenient. “Even if they comply now, it’s too little, too late.”
Still, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) published the list of all officials who failed to report their assets. The president also suspended the head of Liberia’s National Oil Company in early February on suspicion of corruption. He had already suspended the governor of the central bank and the head of the refugee and resettlement agencies. Other officials are also under investigation or on trial. He set up an asset recovery task force to recover stolen state assets and property acquired through corruption, including those stashed abroad.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is under scrutiny for a bribery scandal involving legislators being offered money to remove the speaker, the Liberian Observer reported.
Recently, the country gained two points on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, meaning it had improved year-on-year. It still ranks low – 135th out of 180 countries. But officials said it was a start while admitting there is a long way to go.
The country’s performance remains “hugely disappointing,” said Anderson Miamen, the executive director of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia. “Even though we acknowledge the two-point increase under the first year of the Boakai-Koung-led government, we caution against complacency, as immunity for corruption remains high.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Bosnians Warn of Splintering Peace
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Bosnian officials on Thursday filed a legal challenge against new laws passed by the Serb-controlled statelet Republika Srpska that bars Bosnian federal judges and police from operating in the region, escalating tensions in the ethnically divided country, the Associated Press reported.
Officials filed the complaint at the country’s constitutional court, saying the legislation violates the country’s constitution and the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian war.
The move comes a week after Bosnian Serb lawmakers passed the controversial laws that would bar the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), as well as federal prosecutors and courts, from operating in the Serb-majority territory.
On Wednesday, Republika Srpska’s leader, Milorad Dodik signed them into law. They are expected to take effect Friday, according to Bloomberg.
Observers noted that the move directly challenges the authority of Bosnia’s central government and has raised concerns about potential confrontations between Serb security forces and Bosnian federal authorities.
Some officials described the measures as an attempted coup that could erode Bosnia’s fragile unity and escalate into a national political and security crisis.
Dodik – who has led Republika Srpska for much of the past two decades – was sentenced last month to one year in prison and a six-year ban from public office for refusing to comply with rulings by Christian Schmidt, the top international envoy overseeing the Dayton accords.
The Bosnian Serb leader has dismissed the verdict as politically motivated and has vowed to appeal while continuing his push for greater autonomy.
His latest move follows years of threats from Republika Srpska to split from Bosnia and align more closely with neighboring Serbia.
The United States and the European Union have repeatedly warned against Republika Srpska’s separatist moves, with the Biden administration imposing sanctions on Dodik and his close allies.
Fresh Turmoil Hits Mozambique Ahead of Deal
MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambican police clashed with supporters of opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane in the capital of Maputo this week, the latest demonstrations in the southern African country following disputed elections in October, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday, authorities used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse Mondlane and hundreds of his supporters as they marched in the capital.
Civil society groups said at least 14 people, including two children, were injured during the unrest, Agence France-Presse noted.
Wednesday’s march took place hours before President Daniel Chapo and other political parties were set to sign an agreement aimed at ending months of protests over last year’s contested election that saw Chapo and his long-ruling Frelimo party win again.
Mondlane – who came second in the presidential polls – has accused Frelimo of vote rigging, while other opposition parties and Western observers have complained that the election was not free and fair.
According to civil society groups, more than 350 people have died in the protests.
Frelimo has rejected accusations of electoral fraud. Even so, Mondlane claimed that he was not included in talks ahead of the post-election deal, which included a review of the country’s electoral laws.
He told his supporters that he would continue the protests, saying the agreement between the government and other parties was done “without the people.”
After Five Centuries, Danish Post Says No More Letters
DENMARK
The era of Danish postal workers defiantly not letting “snow nor rain nor heat” stop their deliveries may be ending as the country’s postal service has decided it will deliver its last letter at the end of this year, the Guardian reported.
The Danish postal service, PostNord, said it would remove 1,500 of the beloved red mailboxes and cut 1,500 jobs in Denmark due to the country’s “increasing digitalization.”
The postal service has been delivering letters since 1624. However, letter circulation has dropped by more than 90 percent since the start of the new millennium – Denmark is one of the world’s most digitalized countries, the BBC explained.
PostNord will now focus on packages.
Last year, Denmark opened up the letter market to competition from private firms, and now customers must pay sales tax to send mail. As a result, critics blame the service’s cutbacks on that move, which led to higher postage costs.
Despite the changes, the government says it will still be possible to send and receive letters in Denmark. DAO, the distributor that won the postal delivery contract, said it is ready to strengthen its services.
The elderly will be the most affected by this decision, as many still rely on physical letters for important communications, the news outlet said.
The postal company also operates in Sweden, which holds a 60 percent stake, while Denmark owns 40 percent. Letter distribution in Sweden will not be affected.
Digitalization has led to other postal services struggling, with Deutsche Post in Germany announcing thousands of job cuts on Thursday.
DISCOVERIES
The Altruism of Mice
Years ago, a Disney-animated short showed Minnie Mouse administering first aid to Pluto the dog, and Figaro the cat of the film Pinocchio.
Recent research now shows that real mice may have a built-in instinct to revive their unconscious peers.
Three separate studies published in the journal Science have suggested that mice engage in rudimentary “first aid” when they encounter an unresponsive companion and will attempt to resuscitate them.
In the first study, lead author Li Zhang and his team found that mice encountering an unconscious cage mate engaged in a structured response.
“They start with sniffing, and then grooming, and then with a very intensive or physical interaction,” Li explained to New Scientist. “They really open the mouth of this animal and pull out its tongue.”
That last unusual maneuver actually helped clear the airways and sped up recovery from anesthesia: In about half of all cases, the unconscious mouse recovered faster than those left alone.
Also, the mice were far more likely to attempt these resuscitation-like behaviors on familiar companions than on strangers.
In another study, scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, examined what was happening inside the mice’s brains during these revival attempts.
In their paper, they wrote that a specific region, the medial amygdala, became highly active when a mouse encountered an unconscious peer. This response was distinct from the brain activity observed when mice interacted with stressed but conscious companions, suggesting that the rescue behavior isn’t just general social engagement, but something more specific.
Meanwhile, a third study tested whether mice were responding to any sign of distress or if their actions were more targeted.
This time, researchers placed small objects in the mouths, genitals, and rectums of anesthetized mice. In 80 percent of cases, their cage mates removed the mouth obstruction but ignored objects placed elsewhere.
The findings further reinforce the idea that the creatures were instinctively focused on keeping their peer’s airway clear.
Further analysis showed that oxytocin, a hormone associated with social bonding, spiked in mice performing these revival attempts.
“To me, this looks very much like a behavior that’s driven by what I would call the altruistic impulse,” neuroscientist James Burkett, who was not involved in any of the paper, told NPR.
Still, not everyone is convinced of that explanation. Some believe curiosity could be playing a role.
Even so, the studies underscored how emergency-like responses might be more deeply ingrained in the mammalian brain than previously thought.
“Animals are engaging in the emotions and behaviors of others around them in a way that’s much richer than we previously realized,” Burkett said.