Monday, August 2, 2010

Rethinking Liberia's Public Service

By: Joe Teh

Public service in any country offers great opportunity for leaders to give back to the people self-less stewardship. It’s a vocation of calling, not just for anyone who is not prepared to serve. For those who harbor the voracious get-rich-quick mentality as their primary motivation for entering public service, they’re undoubtedly in the wrong place, because the key is “service”, not “riches”.
The continued misuse of public office and the abuse of power thereof; graft and total lack of interest for the development of Liberia as ostensibly espoused by many public officials in the country tell us that those we choose to lead us careless about us.
Despite the military coup of 1980 and the bloody Charles Taylor’s war of the 1990s, many Liberian public service officials have ignored the tragedies caused by an inefficient government. They have refused to change their attitude about working in government.
No news comes out of Liberia these days without mentioning accountability issues, incidents of human rights violations where public officials abrogate the law unto themselves. In fact, some key cabinet members are even predicting more theft of public funds in the days and years ahead.
These are the same reasons which brought about the military coup in 1980. Charles Taylor and company used these reasons too, to unleash a devastating reign of terror on Liberia for 14 wasted years. Still there’s no improvement.
Consider these recent examples: Deputy House Speaker Tokpa Mulbah, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of assault. The deputy speaker (CDC-Bong County), ordered the torture of a uniformed police officer for stopping the deputy speaker’s vehicle which had no registration plate on it.
Margibi County Representative Ballah Zayzay, faces allegations of fraud, breach of ethics and conflict of interest. He used his office to win a bid for his private company which took $50,000 of government money and never delivered on the terms of the contract.
Now, former Information Minister, Lawrence Bropleh, dismissed and likely to face prosecution on allegation of theft of more than a quarter million dollars of public funds, wants to seek legislative seat in the 2011 elections.
What a shame. Is this any good example of public service in a country still trying to recover from the ravages of war? Nope. The beneficiaries of public service in Liberia are not the masses who are still waiting to be employed to improve their quality of live, neither the children who are craving for education so they can learn and live beyond what they have experienced with their parents. The beneficiaries of the national wealth are the senior government officials who have access to power and sources of revenue.
And just as audit reports reflecting an Olympic style competition for the pillaging of public funds in Liberia are distressing, not one person has been tried and convicted to be punished. Yet, officials found by audit reports to be liable for missing money from development funds go about their businesses freely and probably plotting to steal more.
The presumption here is that once a public servant, you are also a public master, who assumes private ownership of public money intended for the public good. And once you are satisfied, the public is also satisfied. Wrong.
However, I must acknowledge that there are few political leaders, or cabinet ministers, at least a couple of them that I know in Liberia, with courage to make a positive difference. They offer us hope in spite of the gloom and doom and apathetic picture presented by the official misconduct of their colleagues, that they are potentially the alternatives for change we can live with.
As Liberia is about to start actual reconstruction, rethinking public service is not simply an ethical issue. It is a discipline and moral imperative that require every Liberian to show commitment to the credo: Liberia first. Accomplishing the task of an efficient and disciplined public service involves reforming our individual characters and lifting the national system requirements for public service to the next level.
First, there must be a clear documented policy of conflict of interest. Potential candidates for public office must know what constitute conflict of interest, violation of which could lead to a defined penalty under the law. Second, there must be a written public service code of ethics that specifies public expectations of government officials.
Although the constitution broadly alludes to these requirements, the specifics were left with government, most especially the Legislature to define. Various mechanisms for enforcement and punishment for breach must be detailed in prescription in keeping with the relevant provisions of the law.
Liberia cannot continue to remain the same old way as we have known it. Our current generation of public servants must show a positive example of the kind of legacy we want to leave for our children and posterity. If we must make public policies that will reflect the aspiration of our future, then transformation of our thinking from greediness to integrity is a nonnegotiable prerequisite.


About the author: Joe Teh is a Liberian journalist residing in Springfield, Massachusetts. A familiar fixture in Liberian journalism for the past 25 years or so, Mr. Teh is formerly news editor of the New Democrat Newspaper and later Star Radio in Monrovia prior to immigrating to the U.S.

1 comment:

  1. "Is this any good example of public service in a country still trying to recover from the ravages of war?" --It may not be the best thing for the country but it was a necessary experience to test a country's ignorance, so as for us that emigrated to see what change or fixing is needed, and for us to give our responses in an effort to educate our people.-Tucker Gaye

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