Authors: Wonderr K. Freeman & Marc N. Kollie

News of additional sanctions by the United States government (USgov) on Liberian public officials have been greeted with the usual glee (i.e., opposition supporters), and scorn (i.e., by ruling party stalwarts). Liberians have a love-hate affair with corrupt politicians. They love to vote for corrupt politicians in a transactional voting system, and then when they do not get better governance, the love metamorphosed to hate. Such is the predicament of out-going President, George M. Weah, and his CDC officials (2018-2023), as the public yearns for more sanctions and other enforcement actions by the USgov against [visibly] corrupt officials. It seems, if nothing fundamental changes, even more likely, similar circumstances will befall the “rescue train” (Unity Party Coalition) and members in other branches of the government.

As the USgov pursues human rights abusers and state-operated financial crime syndicates across the globe, inspired by the heroics of Sergei Magnitsky[1], Liberian officials are increasing being caught in the US dragnet, the latest being Samuel Tweah [and immediate family] and Jefferson T. Koijee, Finance Minister, and City Mayor (Monrovia), respectively and, of course, Emmanuel J. Nuquay, Senator of Margibi County and Albert T. Chie, Senator of Grand Kru. This brings to nine the total number of recent USgov sanctions on Liberian officials. As a people, we have failed to see the greater implication of these sanctions. We only cheer, because our once hailed “messiahs” failed to deliver the “manna” they had promised. But why sanctions? What’s happening to Liberia? What’s the broader implications? International sanctions portend a far ominous sign for Liberia. In this part-one (i.e., of a two-part series), we challenge Liberians to think deeply about the meaning of US sanctions beyond just the fact that people that we now dislike are at the receiving end of American “justice” or “geopolitics”. There are far-reaching consequences, besides just the obvious goal of change of behavior of sanctioned officials. The are serious implications of doing business with sanctioned officials on other individuals and financial institutions, which continued engagements could give rise to additional USgov actions, including, the blocking of assets acquired by those sanctioned officials, travel restrictions, giving grounds to commence full scaled Department of Justice’s criminal investigations. These are just a few of the many consequences or broader implications for Liberia[2]. Howbeit, the lingering question remains: what can we do as a sovereign nation to safeguard the sanity of our financial institutions and legal system by ensuring that the probable cause raised by the USgov are addressed by our domestic law enforcement and prosecutorial systems? Is there a “will” to enforce our laws? Our thesis is that sanctions, though unfortunate, presents an opportunity to rethink the way we carry out law enforcement and public prosecution in Liberia. In this part 1 (of the series), we tackle the issue of decay of the law enforcement apparatus, and our policy options.  

Development and Prosperity in Liberia Starts with Law Enforcement Reform

Right now, there are glee and expectations in Liberia. Our celebrity president, Mr. George Weah, is taking a bow, and his presidency, if anything, is a ringing reminder, that Liberia will need way more than politics to make a significant impact in the lives of the average citizen. Unfortunately, the voters have chosen long-standing politicians to lead the charge. Notwithstanding this fact, we maintain that while setting the tone at the top is vital to anti-corruption reform, Liberia’s problem is systemic, and nothing less than a “system overhaul” will do. So, in this piece, we take a systemic look at law enforcement, and investigate why it has not worked. We offer a refreshing take and what must be done to get law enforcement to work and probably reclaim some lost international respect. We dive into the law and institutions that make up law enforcement and point out what must change before they garner local and international respect. The criminal justice system of Liberia is divided into three (3) parts: law enforcement/prosecution, courts, and corrections. Detection, prevention, and investigation are the primary functions of the law enforcement part of the system. The premiere institution responsible to law enforcement is the Liberian National Police (LNP) which should often coordinate with other agencies such as Liberian Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), the Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia (FIA/FIU) and National Security Agency (NSA)[3]. For decades, the LNP operated under the Executive Law title 12, chapter 22, sub-chapter D/E (§22.7 & §22.9), to include the Police Training Academy. Section [D] of this law was repealed in 2015, and in its stead, we now have the Liberia National Police Act (2015). For all its revision, the real illness afflicting the LNP– the subjugation of Police leadership to whims and caprices of local and national politicians – remains as is. With so many law enforcement agencies, we have to ask ourselves, where are there no convictions and/or imprisonment for corruption (for example). Why is impunity so rampant, especially amongst public officials? Below is a table that shows the change in the law leading to the creation of the new LNP Act of 2015. It shows the purported change in the law was just superficial, leaving lingering unprofessionalism, political bias, and a dangerous level of lack of motivation and resources to fight crime.

---

The table above depicts what we call change in Liberia: we change the title of Director [of Police] to Inspector General of Police. And then we pop champagne and celebrate the change! But the Inspector General and his deputies (like those at the NSA and other agencies) continue to serve at the “will and pleasure” of the President. The problem is, should our Police boss be just another politician? Well, the problem with this kind of change is that the old problems, biased policing, cronyism, and bootlicking, continue even under a “new” administration. And just as the President chooses his “Inspector General” and core deputies, it now becomes their job, in return, to “please” the President and the ruling party. If Liberia must get past “partisan” policing or biased law enforcement, it must delink politics from law enforcement. Moving Director “Peter” to put Director “Paul” is not going to “cut it”. We need a far more fundamental change at the LNP.

Institutionalizing Professionalism, Merit-Based Recruitment, and Security of Tenure

Institutionalizing a merit system in the law enforcement should start with weeding out all personnel with repeated misconduct and documented malpractices. Recruitment of the law enforcement chiefs and department heads and commanders must be strictly based on an institutionalized merit-based system void of political connections. But of course, that will not happen if the “Inspector General” and deputies’ appointment is the outcome of political patronage, cronyism, nepotism, etc. At this level, it’s not hard to see then, how such malaise can seep down and “contaminate” the entire LNP. And so, we see daily episodes of law enforcement officers implementing “party mandate” or covering up crimes of “ruling-party stalwarts”. But we are not doomed to continue like this. It is within our power to change the law. The real question is: do we desire change? That’s the question!

In revising our law enforcement systems and structure, the key point here is to ensure that the best officers are hired and that they are given the necessary “security of tenure” [de jure & de facto], as well as logistics to do their job. This also means insulating officers of the law entirely from political pressure. One way to do this on a long-lasting basis is to amend the LNP Act of 2015 to allow for:

1. The appointment of a select multi-agency stakeholder recruitment committee to solicit, vet and recruit for all statutory law enforcement positions. This would mean that only those on the vetted shortlist may be appointed by the President.

• “Security of tenure” to include fixed terms for our hired police chiefs and core deputies, subject of course to removal for cause. Such fixed terms should be out of sync with the Presidential term, while allowing for one-off renewals of tenure.  

• Similar [internal] merit-based system of recruitment and tenure, and for promotion of officers to positions of department chiefs and commanders.

Other countries may have different ways of arriving at the same objective – a professional and apolitical police force. Merit-based recruitment processes plus fixed tenure is standard. In the United Kingdom (UK), the Metropolitan Police gets a fixed term of five years. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) director gets a ten-year tenure. So, a newly elected US President, or example, has no choice but to work with the [FBI] Director appointed by his predecessor or initiate a dismissal when there exists a cause. On the state level, many US states elect their police chiefs (i.e., sheriffs), for 4-5 years tenure. Of course, the idea is that an elected police chief has only the voters to please or the city to serve. Irrespective of the method chosen, the effect is the same – a police force not subject to political control. In Liberia, and unfortunately, our Inspector General of Police and core lieutenants serve at the “will and pleasure” of the President and [they] can be removed any day for any reason,including for not totting the “party line”. This is the root cause of the political bias and unprofessionalism afflicting the LNP. Law enforcement is “way too” important to be left at the “will and pleasure” of the President and the ruling party (alone). If this law remains as is, removing Director “Peter” and installing Director “Paul” will never solve the issue of Police bias and unprofessionalism, which was taken to new lows under the out-going CDC regime.

Former IG of LNP (L-R): Chris Massaquoi & Gregory Coleman, and Out-Going IG, Patrick Sudue

Resources and Logistics for Operations

Of course, reforming the police does not start and end with the merit-based recruitment process and security of tenure. One must consider the issue of financial, material, and logistical support. The current police budget (2023) is US$21m, up from $19m in 2022. Out of this US$21m police budget, $16m get gobbled up on basic salaries, leaving only $6m for supplies and logistics. Of course, the Government of Liberia (GOL) is not short on resources. What it is short on is “priorities”. Top on the list of questionable priorities (in the security sector) is the NSA. This is Liberia’s most questionable law enforcement agency. All they ever do is violate the constitution, effect unlawful arrests/imprisonment, harass legal aliens, and launder money for politicians, amongst other shady deals. Instead of collecting and process intelligence, the NSA is too busy serving as conduit for illicit financial flows to corrupt politicians.  And for this reason, the NSA is guaranteed a budget of at least US$10m yearly and $60m or more over 6 years. We posit that most of such money should rather be directed and used to modernize/professionalize the LNP.

The Liberian Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) is another terribly performing law enforcement agency. The seriousness of the drug problem in Liberia is a poignant reminder that money spent on LDEA is an utter waste of resources. All we see LDEA agents doing in our communities is providing cover up and protection to drug dealers for a fee. Between the NSA and the LDEA, there is at least US$72m being dumped down a bottomless pit, which could, instead, go to modernizing the LNP. But this money can only be effectively used, if the Police is meritocratic, professional, accountable, and, above all, utterly apolitical. Only in failed states and banana republics do the Police serve at the “will and pleasure” of the President -with limited or no check and balance. This is an institutional failure that has spanned decades. When will we recognize that all it takes is a change in the law, and then we can have a new day!  

< 

The Liberian National Police Training Academy, a Place of Hope with no Vision

The National Police Training Academy (LNPTA) remains a creature of the same Executive Law, Title 12, Chapter 22, sub-chapter E (§22.9) that created the LNP. It seems the revision of LNP Act of 2015 did not cover the LNPTA/Training Academy. Under Title 12, the LNPTA Act espouses no educational vision or academic mission or training philosophy. It has no independent direction, save to serve as the “will and pleasure” of the “Director” who, in turn, serves at the “will and pleasure” of the President. In hindsight, the idea of reforming policing and then passing a law the omitted the Academy seems like a grievous error. And just like how the LNP is contaminated with the virus of political control, so too is the LNPTA. It is high time we spin-off the LNPTA, and create a fully-independent academic institution, based on contemporary national imperatives and acclaimed global standards. Only a spin-off of this entity will allow it to expand its vision, its curriculum and position the Academy to serve, not only the needs of the LNP, but also the broader security sector.

There are new and evolving criminal threats – e.g., cyber-crimes, human trafficking, money laundering etc. As attorneys, and having engaged with the Police on multiple occasions, we can conclude that current curriculum at the LNPTA is inadequate and ineffective. The LNPTA could benefit from longer training durations, more courses, especially in the areas of newer investigative techniques/tools, police-civilian relations, human rights, amongst other emerging transnational issues. The current structure of the LNP will not allow for reform measures because the decisions at the top are being taken by politicians dedicated to implementing the “party’s mandate”. By revamping the Police Academy to an independent college on police science, forensics and security, and independent board of directors, law enforcements agencies in Liberia will have a well-spring of competent recruits to fill up their ranks. There is no reason why we should not take this route. Much like its parent-entity, the LNP, the current LNPTA is a colossus failure. The question is: do we desire such a reform? Or is it so much easier to maintain the status quo?

Other Note-Worthy Reforms

It is clear that Liberia’s law enforcement is not measuring up on so many levels and therefore needs reforms. No article can be visionary enough to list all underperforming areas. We could rethink institutionalizing transparent and independent complaint/discipline systems, setting up a modern ICT system, monthly and quarterly bulletins and publications on crimes statistics and research, etc. For now, we cannot even say for certain if the LNP is improving in fighting crimes, because there are no consistent publication of crimes statistics, arrests, and convictions, to enable us properly measure progress or retrogression. This is one of the areas where the LNP is so disappointing. Additional reform measures should include rethinking how the LNP does its promotion at the zonal and depots level, fully utilizing a merit-based system and security of tenure. We have tried political patronage, favoritism, and tribalism and all these have done for us is to bequeath us a police force totally unfit for purpose. Another example of even more failures is that despite the advance of computer technology in vehicles, we have vehicle and traffic law that has not been revised in over 50 years. Yes, 50 years! A competent police force would be in the vanguard for such relevant legal reforms. After all, they are the ones in the traffic every day; they know better the limitations of the current vehicle and traffic law. But of course, they won’t. And, they won’t, because they are far more committed to “terrain management” than to institutional reforms.

And the Funding for all these Reforms?

Reforms need funding. Of course, we could go begging international partners to fund our reforms, as we have grown accustomed to over the years. Plus, they get to tell us what reforms we can and cannot make. The sad news is that this strategy did not work in the past and is unlikely to work now. We still have a Police force that stands by and does nothing while ruling party thugs unleash violence on protestors, opposition figures and other civil society activists. A better alternative is for us to reorganize our security sector by upgrading to a highly professional, skilled, effective, and meritocratic LNP, significantly downsizing, or eliminating the money-gobbling NSA and LDEA (or at least incorporating them into the LNP). Just what do we get in return for the US$60m we throw at the NSA every six years? Nothing but constitutional violations, human rights abuses, and illicit financial flows – sabotaging our politics and stunting our economic growth. Similarly, what do we get for the US$10-12m we throw at the LDEA? Our neighborhoods are inundated with drug addicts committing all manner of crimes. Why continue to waste millions of dollars on entities that don’t deliver? We can change today if we want to. There is no shortage of money for reforms; there is surely a shortage of priorities.

Here is a typical example of misplaced priorities (Liberian-style). Between January 2018 to December 2023, following in the footsteps of Unity Party, the CDC government allocated some $2.4m for police training, while simultaneously splurging $48m on NSA for “intelligence and security operations”. Just what (in the world) is “security operations”? Only God in heaven (& NSA agents) know. What kind of country spends $2.4m on police training, but wastes $48m on “security operations”. This kind of money makes it appear as if Liberia is in the crosshairs of North Korea, Russia, Boko Haram, Al Shabab and Al-Qaeda combined. What kind of security threat that Liberia faces for which NSA needs $48m for “intelligence and security operations”. Of course, the simple truth is that the political cartel finds it convenient to send corrupt money to NSA, since, this remains the easiest way to get it out without accounting for it. Imagine $48m in slush funds for corrupt politicians. This is like perpetual Christmas for these corrupt politicians and the accomplices at the NSA!

Recurring US Sanctions are a Bane to the Vision of the Founding Fathers of Liberia

Liberia (like Haiti) was founded on the notion that enslaved black people, like any other race, possess the intelligence and leadership ability to govern themselves and develop their own civilization equal to any other nation or race. Today, the story Liberia (and Haiti) shows a stark contrast to that vision of their founding fathers. Liberia, for example, remains a place where, if the “American don’t speak, we don’t act”, and if the “Asians don’t farm, we can’t eat”.  Yet we profess to be a sovereign nation! In our own country, where we have exercised sovereignty for at least 176 years, we are unable or unwilling to enforce our own laws and have, sadly, resorted to waiting on the USgov to impose sanctions. The unflattering meaning of sanctions is that Liberian state is failing – that it is incapable or unwilling to enforce its [own] laws. This is a bane to everything our founding fathers stood for. For example, the drafter of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, Hilary Teage, speaking in December of 1846, pondered aloud when he urged Liberians to rise and [respond to the perception] of “whether the African race is doomed to “interminable degradation[1]”. The “interminable degradation” that Hilary Teage saw [in 1846], as unbefitting of “intelligent colored men” is still the ongoing reality in Liberia – even after 176 years of “sovereignty”.After 176 years of independence, why is Liberia is still a country where crimes committed on Liberian soil by Liberians must await sanctions from Washington DC, 4700 miles away? Our founding father deserves to rest in peace, but the current “failed-state” status-quo of Liberia leaves them neither rest nor peace.

Conclusion  

Liberia has multiple security agencies, with the dominant one being the LNP. Yet “not a soul” is in jail for corruption. Worst yet, ruling party thugs commit violence with near total impunity. Whatever modicum of action gets taken on corruption comes at the behest of the USgov. Whatever happened to the Liberian law enforcement? They spend their time protecting and covering up for the President and the ruling party.  The LNP remains perennially unprofessional, politically-biased, ill-equipped and ill-motivated to fight crime, as millions of dollars get poured into the bottomless pit at the NSA and LDEA. You can tell Liberia will not have a professional police force anytime soon, when the political cartel allocates [only] $2.4m in six years to police training but allocate a whopping $48m to “security operations”. In total, NSA & LDEA receives $72m in six years, but the LNP is starved of manpower, starved of resources to fight crimes, and starved of training and capacity developments. And, as for the police bosses, they are simply too busy with their primary mission: pleasing the President and the ruling party. This legal and institutional failure of Liberian law enforcement underscores why the USgov and most Liberians seem to prefer targeted sanctions. This way, they don’t have to deal with law enforcement that is either too unprofessional or too politically biased to act. Since our law enforcement agency will not enforce the law against these errant ruling-party officials, and since corrupt politicians never get investigated or prosecuted, targeted sanctions then become the last alternative against impunity. It is a shame and embarrassment that Liberia is essentially a failed state after 176 years of “sovereignty”. Liberia can and must do better. We have shown in this article that resources are not even the issue. The real issue is and has always been political will. Is there is political will to professionalized law enforcement, so that the LNP works for all Liberians and not just the President and ruling party? That’s the question Liberians at home and abroad must answer! Or are we simply doomed to business-as-usual?

Authors

• Wonderr Freeman, Liberian Investment Attorney, Political Economist, Accountant, and Certified Financial Crimes Specialist (CFCS), currently based in Minneapolis, USA. Mr. Freeman professional interests spans the intersection of law and economics – including issues relating to political economy of development, economic justice, international trade/investment law and financial crimes law. He can be reached at [email protected].

• Marc N Kollie, is a Liberian attorney, anti-corruption activist, and financial crimes investigator with 12 years of progressive experience. US Department of State’s 2023 Anti-Corruption Champion Awardee. Mr. Kollie researches questions on criminology, criminal justice, anti-money laundering & new technologies as enablers, ethics, impunity, and human rights.  He can be reached at [email protected]

---

[1] Brandon Mills, 2014. “The United States of Africa”: Liberian Independence and the Contested Meaning of a Black Republic, Journal of the Early Republic, Spring 2014, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Spring 2014), pp. 79-, 107, University of Pennsylvania Press

[1] https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/permanent-global-magnitsky-act-will-ensure-perpetrators-face-consequences/

[2] https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/permanent-global-magnitsky-act-will-ensure-perpetrators-face-consequences/

[3] New Anti-Corruption Commission Act (2022), Part XV Section 15.1- coordination and collaboration with the MoJ, FIA and NSA to investigate corruption.