Corruption in Liberia

According to a 2013 report published by the US State Department, low pay levels for the Liberian civil service, minimal job training, and lack of successful prosecutions have exacerbated official corruption and helped foster a culture of impunity.

[4] Deputy Justice Minister Freddie Taylor, Deputy Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) Commissioner Robert Buddy, former solicitor general Micah Wright, and BIN Border Patrol Chief Wilson Garpeh were dismissed for alleged involvement in human trafficking.

[4] Deputy Public Works Minister Victor B. Smith was suspended for allegedly violating the law but was reinstated a week later following an investigation.

President Sirleaf dismissed the chairman and other board members of the Liberia Airports Authority amid corruption allegations.

The police described being given inadequate supplies, living on low salaries, and pressure to pay their superiors to obtain desirable posts and promotions.

[11] An American NGO journalist reported that Liberian police threatened arrest and demanded bribes in order for him to be able to leave the Médecins Sans Frontières compound.

[12] The Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and the Ministry of Justice are responsible for exposing and combating official corruption.

[4] An underfunded and understaffed Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission, created in 2008, is supposedly empowered to prosecute crimes that effectively amount to corruption.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted in 2011 that though there had been a multiplicity of high-level corruption scandals during the previous year, they had resulted in "few investigations and only two convictions.

[4] The Anti-Corruption Commission, HRW complained, is "hampered by insufficient funds [and] personnel" and does not actually have the "authority to independently prosecute cases."

Some transparency advocates, including the head of the LACC, have suggested that the FOIA law needs to be improved to ensure that citizens can access information to verify that government funds were properly spent and accounted for.