The CBL Act Amendment: The First Major Anti-Political Corruption Act in Liberia..... says John Morlu In May 2011, the Germany Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Dirk Niebel, on a visit to Liberia, cried out loud about the high level of “political corruption” in Liberia, mainly the abuse of public office to advance personal political and financial agendas, against the interest of the state. The amendment of the CBL Act of 1999, regardless of what motives we attach to it, is the first attempt to rein political corruption in Liberia. All those who claimed to be anti-corruption and anti-abuse of public office should support the Legislature on this issue. In 2014, I decided that enough of the writings on Liberian affairs, as so many good ideas just fall on deaf ears. It seems rather obvious that the desire to maintain a corrupt system far outweighs the pronounced commitments to ensure that laws and regulations are enforced and better systems and controls are put into place to control corruption, the “number one public enemy” In America, where many of us boast of being educated we say “politics stops at the water’s edge.” In contrast, in Liberia, politics is an all-day affair. In the infamous RIA recordings, we hear a Liberian Senator say “everything in Liberia that politics.” Former NOCAL boss Chris Neyor said it best: “Today, on the airwaves and in the print media, around the beer bars and in intellectual clubs, the stories or the underlying story is 2017. There are even some who have not yet made it through the 2014 midterm Senatorial elections and are already counting their lot for the 2017 Presidential election. Sadly for Liberia,…some of those elected and appointed in government starting to maneuver for the 2017 Presidential election to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. As a result, the President’s development agenda to move the country forward including the Vision 2030 national transformation plan is being hijacked by officials both legislative and executives who are putting their selfish desire for a political office years away instead of working for the common good of all.”All of these have affected ordinary Liberians with skyrocketing inflation and a backbreaking unemployment rate, especially amongst youth population. I am not a lawyer. I am just a commoner with solid education and above average understanding and experience with the American System of Governments, including Federal, State and Local Governments. I also studied American Government from the University of Virginia, receiving Bachelors from its Woodrow Wilson School of Government. I have also had the opportunity to live and work in various democracy systems in Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and transition economies of the foreign Soviet Union. Currently I am spending considerable time navigating my way in the Caribbean and Latin America. All of these developing countries have borrowed various versions of the American system, which they have not taken the time to study and understand. I was invited for dinner last year at the home of a prominent U.S. Embassy official in Haiti. In our discussion, I asked him whether Haitians and their leadership know anything about Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. Hamilton, Jay and Madison borrowed largely from Britain, France, Rome and Greek to present a comprehensive argument (in 85 Federalist Papers) for the Constitutional Republican form of Government to be adopted in America. These Americans studied other people systems to build the American system we have today. But the developing countries including Liberia are carbon copying America but without the contextual understanding of the very complex system that Hamilton, Jay and Madison advanced in the Federalist Papers. How many Liberians have read Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty, Give Me Death” Speech, the American Declaration of Independence, the Article of Confederation, the 85 Federalist Papers and American Constitution and the Bills of Rights. Or the history behind each of the Constitutional Amendments to the United States Constitution. Anyway, my American host in Haiti reminded me that “an American Ambassador does not go into a country to change it but to tell the people in that country what America is all about…the American principles of Government.” So those who are waiting for the U.S. Ambassador to change the corrupt practices in Liberia will surely wait for a long time. I say all of this to indicate that my position on the debate on the amendment of the CBL Act 1999 is broader in perspective than the narrow Constitutional cherry picking that is being used to castigate the Legislature. I know some will say Liberia is not America but these same people boast of US education to get jobs in Liberia. I make no apologies for always talking about America! The CBL is modeled after America, too. It is therefore befitting to use America as a reasonable yardstick. Interestingly the arguments against the amendments have been less coordinated and scattered, as though these defenders of the status quo are in a desperate mood to grab onto anything to convince the President not to take the final step by signing the Amendments into law. It would be a big surprise if the President does not sign it, because I know that she and I had numerous discussions on how to end political corruption by changing the Condition of Service of some of the key institutions in Liberia, just as it is done in America, Zambia etc. But again, whether she signs it or not is not my issue. At least, we are having a debate on “political corruption” because of the amendments of the CBL Act. This is a good thing for Liberia’s democracy and its institutional arrangements. read more on: frontpageafricaonline/index.php/op-ed/commentaries-features/813-the-cbl-act-amendment-the-first-major-anti-political-corruption-act-in-liberia
Posted on: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:35:42 +0000
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