Constitutional Neopatrimonialism in Liberia: A Persistent Dysfunctional Institution, the Democratization Dilemma, Economic Failure, and a Policy for Reformation

By Stephen H. Gobewole

Liberia is a dysfunctional country as the result of its patronage practices, which include nepotism, bribery, and election fraud.

Stephen H. Gobewole, who grew up in Liberia, explains how these corrupt practices have created a dysfunctional institution. He traces the history of the country and answers question such as:

• How have corrupt political practices contributed to the country’s poor economy?
• Why has public corruption been allowed to persist for so long?
• What similarities does Liberia share with other sub-Saharan African countries?
• How have elections been manipulated throughout the years?

Other topics include United States involvement in Liberia, why so many Liberian presidents continue to act unethically, and the country’s civil war.

The book provides empirical evidence, including statistical figures and charts, to demonstrate that the corrupt system in Liberia has led to abject poverty, lower living standards, national instability, and underdevelopment.

Moreover, the author shares public policy proposals that would ease problems, including the effective enforcement of anticorruption regulations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Aug 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665726276

Stephen H. Gobewole

Stephen H. Gobewole grew up in Liberia and received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in management from Rhode Island College. He also attended Bryant University, where he earned a financial planning certificate. He received a Ph.D. in public policy with a concentration in public management and leadership from Walden University. He worked in banking for many years, serving as assistant vice president and branch manager at various banks. He is also the author of Liberia’s Political Economy: An Examination of Public Institutional Quality, Continental Impoverishment: The Effect of Extractive Institutions, and a chapter in Insights into Economics and Management Vol. 12.

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Copyright © 2022 Stephen H. Gobewole.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-2629-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2628-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2627-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022912339

Archway Publishing rev. date:  08/12/2022

For Sabah

CONTENTS

Preface

Methodology

Part 1–Dysfunctional Institutions

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Liberian State Formation

Public Administration and Authority

Structure of Government

Figure 1. The Branches of Liberia Government

The Constitution and Declaration of Independence of 1847

Chapter 2 State Institutional Weakness

Chart 1. Quality of Liberia Public Institution in 2016 and 2012

Chapter 3 Patronage Governmental System

Civic Organization vs. Fraternal Order

Conclusion

Part 2–Public Corruption

Chapter 4 Introduction to Evidence of Corruption

Chart 2. Liberia Corruption, Democracy, and Poverty

Chapter 5 Rent-Seeking

Table 1. Liberia Presidents’ Wealth

Chart 3. Comparative Legislators Annual Salaries and States Per Capita Income in 2016

Chapter 6 Nepotism

Table 2. Nepotism in Liberian Regimes Between 1944 and 2016

Table 3. Peaceful Protest and Strike in Liberia Between 2019 and 2020

William V. S. Tubman and William R. Tolbert Administrations

Samuel K. Doe’s Administration

The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Administration

Chapter 7 Bribery

Chart 4. Bribery Level in Liberia in 2016

Chart 5. Corruption Level in Liberian Government

Chart 6. Liberia’s Level of Corruption in 2016

Chart 7. Comprehensive Analysis of Public Corruption

Chapter 8 State Capacity

Chart 8. Annual Taxes Collected by Commercial Banks not Transferred to Government Account

Table 4. Civil Servants’ Organizations Protest for Wage Arrears Between 2019 and 2020

Chart 9. State Capacity Components vs Corruption

Conclusion

Part 3–The Democratization Dilemma

Chapter 9 The Founding of Liberia

Liberia’s Essential Caste System

Introduction to Liberia’s Political System

Ethnicity and Symbol

Indirect Rule

Chapter 10 Electoral Administration

Chapter 11 National Election Commission

Liberia’s Election Institution

Citizens’ Participation

Table 5. Q49C—Trust National Election Commission

Chapter 12 Democracy

Competitive Democratic Forces

Election and Self-Determination

Liberty and Individual Rights

Conclusion

Part 4–Economic Transformation

Chapter 13 Introduction to Organization of the Global Economy

Chapter 14 Government Failure

Governmental Inefficiency

Government Intervention

Chapter 15 Concession Policy

Table 6. Liberia Essential Concession Entities of the 1950s and 1960s

Chapter 16 The Formal Economy

Chart 10. Liberia GDP Per Capita vs Poverty Rate

Chapter 17 The Liberian Labor Market

Chart 11. Liberians Living Standard Indicator

Literacy and Employment

Chart 12. Liberia Literacy vs. Vulnerable Employment Rates

Chart 13. Liberia Export, Import, and Trade Balance

Chapter 18 Bureaucratic Ethics

Organization

Code of Ethics

Conclusion

References

PREFACE

The national struggle against perpetual public corruption in government has continued to dominate Liberian news since the publication of my dissertation in 2015. As I write these words on July 8, 2019, this topic has generated stories in today’s Daily Observer News, FrontPage Africa, and The Economist. The Council of Patriots (a collection of opposition parties) on January 6, 2019, protested to Save the State from the George Weah administration’s widespread corrupt practices in the Liberian government. A petition from the Council of Patriots demanded that President Weah address multiple corrupt activities, including suppression of press freedom and rights, construction and acquisition of scores of luxury private buildings for the president, failure to comprehensively address the issue of Liberia’s missing 16 billion Liberian dollars to date and the 25 million United States dollars yet unaccounted for, and flagrant disregard for international law and national reconciliation and disinterest in addressing war and economic crimes as documented in the TRC report (The Analyst News, 2019). Public corruption increasingly has an adverse effect on Liberian citizens’ standard of living. The issue is a concern for most citizens, as reflected by The Economist:

Under the corrugated-iron roof of the Bong Intellectual Centre, a tea house in Gbarnga in northern Liberia, the air is thick with anger. Dozens of people sit on plastic chairs, discussing politics. They complain that their businesses are failing, corruption is rising and food prices have doubled in recent months. The hungry man is an angry man, says Augustin Jalla, a 55-year old social worker. If something does not change there’s going to be an uprising. (The Economist, 2019, p. 1)

Despite the anger and the pressing need, the effort to minimize public corruption poses a challenge for government officials and policymakers in the country, because they will meet resistance, be politically marginalized, and even face violence if they take serious action. This book describes how Liberian public officials wind up involved in bribery, rent-seeking, and nepotism, which is often contrary to their anti-corruption pronouncements prior to acquiring government positions.

Current events or news, as described in The Economist magazine, reveals Liberian government officials’ misuse of public office:

In 2017 Liberians elected a former football star, George Weah, as president. Mr. Weah promised to help the poor and give corruption the boot. He is doing neither. Scandals have blighted his first 18 months in office and soaring inflation, which peaked at 29% in December, is hurting the poor in a country where more than half the population lives on less than $2 a day.

The minimization of corruption in Liberian government is an issue that requires improvement in the quality of public institutions like rule of law, state authority, and democratic accountability.

The president’s conduct has not helped. He has built about 50 houses in a compound in the capitol. He says he used money he had earned during his days of football stardom. But citizens cannot be sure of this, since he has refused to publicly declare his assets. It raises eyebrows, says Anderson Miamen of Transparency International, a corruption watchdog. (The Economist, 2019, p. 5)

Such obviously corrupt behavior by the chief executive has led to his cabinet officials acting in similar manner. Edwin Genoway Jr. discusses this issue in FrontPage Africa:

A FrontPageAfrica investigation has uncovered corruption at LWSC involving the Managing Director, [Duannah] Kamara. Sources at the sewer entity informed this newspaper that Kamara has flooded the payroll of the institution with individuals who are not working for the entity. It is being reported that his personal cook, one Watta Saah, who does not work with the LWSC, is on the payroll of the institution and is being paid US$147 while his fiancée’s best friend, one Jamesetta Gaye, is allegedly earning US$800 when she hardly goes to work, according to our source. (Genoway, 2019, p. 2)

Liberians find it difficult to understand such corrupt practices being exhibited by leader after leader, especially because they all come to power promising to eliminate corruption in government and establish institutions, such as the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, to do that.

The issue is that leaders, especially presidents, of the Liberian government have demonstrated an inability to behave ethically. They frequently engage in abuse of power (presidential power of appointment), bribery, rent-seeking, and nepotism that leads to embezzlement or mismanagement of public assets. A patronage system enabled by weak public institutions, notably rule of law, democratic accountability, and state authority, fosters Liberia’s constitutional neopatrimonialism. The minimization or eradication of public corruption in the Liberian government should focus on strengthening and improving the quality of its public institutions, not replacement of regimes or political leaders. Even though elections are ostensibly held in accordance with the Constitution, the electoral exercise is unfree and unfair due to weak public institutions that are ineffective in fostering democratic accountability.

The nation’s political history of seventy years provides evidence of replacing one unethical leader with another. In other words, Liberians replaced President Tubman, responsible for embezzling Liberia’s growth years revenue, with President Tolbert, his vice president for twenty years and co-embezzler. Tolbert was replaced by President Doe, whose perpetual corruption finally collapsed the economy. He in turn was replaced by President Taylor, who was partly responsible for 250,000 Liberian deaths in the civil war. His successor, Johnson Sirleaf, the chief fundraiser for Charles Taylor’s rebel war, was replaced by President Weah, a soccer star with no experience in government who has built fifty private homes. All have proven to be corrupt.

For example, in discussing President Johnson Sirleaf’s corrupt behavior, Sequeh (2018, p. 2) stated that In spite of her background as a trouble-maker and regime subverter, the Liberian people forgave her and handed her the presidency in a democratic election in the hope that the corruption, nepotism, and selfish rule she had accused past leaders of practicing would be things of history. But Ellen would prove to be a serious disappointment.

Therefore, it is time for Liberians to take another approach, which is the improvement of their public institutions. James Madison provided a guide in discussing the necessity of controlling the abuses of government officials in The Federalist Papers:

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. (Federalist No. 51, 1788)

This is advice Liberian, African, and all developing-country citizens can use today.

This book fills the gap in current research by showing how corrupt electoral practices impact opposition parties’ rights during multiparty elections and degrade democracy in the Liberian government. The objective is to enhance available knowledge in the discipline of public policy and administration, to foster a foundation for future studies, and to encourage positive social and political change in the Liberian government. A clear understanding of corruption in Liberia’s electoral processes, public institutions, and state capacities will assist legislatures to enact policies that combat the behavior. For example, the effective enforcement of a mandate that requires public officials to adhere to anticorruption regulations will minimize fraudulent practices during elections.

METHODOLOGY

Liberia’s public institutions are meant to uphold rule of law, democratic accountability, and state authority, In their dysfunctional state, they are instead fostering public corruption (bribery, rent-seeking, and nepotism), a democratization dilemma (indirect rule, economic transformation, government failure, concession contracts, and market activities), and constitutional-neopatrimonialism in Liberia.

We here analyze survey and economic data gathered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or The World Bank), Freedom House, Transparency International, and Afrobarometer. This analysis provides critical findings about the perception of public corruption, public institutional quality, democratic governance, government failure, and concession policy in Liberian society. This information is used here to measure correlations among indicators of the bribery level, poverty rate, democracy level, GDP per capita rate, adult literacy rate, vulnerable employment rate, and balance of trade rate to determine trends of public governance, while revealing the current social economic status of Liberians.

In addition, this statistical analysis allows the study to quantify and show the quality of public institutions, effectiveness of public governance, and performance of the economy. High performance in technical employment, innovation, manufacturing, and export will lower the level of public corruption, reduce poverty, and enhance growth. These figures are also used to create charts and tables to assist readers in better understanding the phenomena discussed in the study.

The approach used to collect and compile these reports from the sources mentioned is indicated below to demonstrate the rigorous method applied (essential in academic research) by these international and nongovernmental agencies in arriving at their conclusions. The International Monetary Fund oversees the economies of member countries, lends to countries with balance of payment issues, and offers technical assistance to its member countries to ensure the monetary system’s stability. The organization concluded in its 2016 Article IV consultation with Liberia that Directors stress the importance of improving economic resilience. In this regard, strengthening the business environment could help the economy by supporting private sector development. Improving financial inclusion would be another channel to support economic growth and diversification (p. 3). Legislators should adhere to this recommendation by enacting industrial policy to ignite economic growth.

The mission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is to contribute to the building of a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication, and information (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2018). This is intended to foster universal respect for justice, rule of law, human rights, and fundamental freedoms that are affirmed to peoples of the world (UIS Information Paper, 2013).

UNESCO defines basic literacy as the ability to read and write short simple statements with understanding about everyday life. The organization acquires the adult literacy rate from population censuses and sample surveys based on that definition. Therefore, the current data available for Liberia is from 1984, 1994, 2004, 2007, and 2015, all of which were used in this book. The literacy percentages divide the Liberian (and every) population into one that is literate and one that is illiterate (UIS Information Paper, 2013), a useful figure for determining skills, employment, capability, and advancement in developing countries.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), or The World Bank, is an international financial institution whose responsibilities include assisting development of its member countries, promoting private foreign investment, and supplementing the long-range balance of accounts. This objective is accomplished by providing financial and technical support, low-interest loans, interest-free credit, and grants to developing nations for capital programs. The organization’s primary goal is to end extreme poverty in the world. Amadeo (2019) stated that The World Bank wants no more than 3% of people to live on $1.90 a day or less by 2030. Its second goal is to promote shared prosperity. It wants to improve the incomes of the bottom 40% of the population in each country. Since 1947 the World Bank has funded more than 12,000 projects (p. 1).

Freedom House is a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and territory around the world. Freedom in the World 2016, 2017, and 2018 discuss the perceived degree of democratic freedom in Liberia by assessing its citizens’ current state of political rights and civil liberty on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free) and providing an aggregate percentage score. Stated differently, "until 2003, states where the average for political rights and civil liberties differed from 1.0 to 2.5 (on a scale of 1 mostly free and 7 least free) were considered ‘free’, states with values from 3.0 to 3.5 were considered ‘partly free’, and those with values between 5.5 and 7.0 as ‘not