By Precious D. Freeman
The World Bank County Manager for Liberia, Khwima Nthara, is encouraging Liberians to redouble their efforts in fighting corruption.
He revealed that there should be care about development and about the poor because corruption is a major challenge to development.
The World Bank official stated corruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and the most vulnerable because it increases costs and reduce access to services, including health, education and justice.
“For example, corruption in the procurement of drugs and medical equipment drives up costs and can lead to sub-standard or harmful products,” he indicated.”
According to him, the rich can afford to get treated at up-scaled hospitals and pharmacies, while the poor has no choice but to buy the cheapest drugs available.
“He added, “If these are counterfeit drugs because a corrupt government official look the other way in exchange for a bribe, you can only imagine what impact it will have on the poor, therefore, if we care about development, about the poor, then we must redouble our efforts to fight corruption.”
Dr. Nthara made the remarks over the weekend at the souvenir program marking the observance of 2020 International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD), on the National Theme: “Promoting Integrity and Accountability for increased Citizens’ Participation in the Fight against Corruption”, and on the International Theme: Uniting the World Against Corruption.
Serving as the guest speaker, World Bank County Manager for Liberia added that the fight against corruption needs to be multi-faceted because corruption itself is complex, and with technological advancements, it has become even more sophisticated.
“If the leadership cannot show commitment and lead by example, it becomes difficult for the rest of the citizens and the rank and file institutions to be committed to fighting corruption,” he said.
He maintained that in the case of Liberia, he would like to commend the leadership across all the three branches of Government for the recent reforms in the fight against corruptions.
According to him, the amendment of the Anti-Corruption law that gives the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission prosecutorial powers sends a clear signal that the Government is serious about corruption.
“But this must now be complemented by ensuring that the LACC and the Judiciary are well resources to do their job, this means ensuring that they have enough and qualified people and that they have adequate budgetary resources for their operations,” he said.
He emphasized that the World Bank Group considers corruption a major challenge to its twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the poorest 40 percent of people in developing countries.
Nthara added that one of the reasons why it is a major challenge to development is because it does not occur like a flood, hurricane, or earthquake whose form we can see with our eyes and whose damage can be seen within a geographical location and at a particular point in time.
“It is a major enemy because it is unusually invisible; it is a silent killer, and yet has such devastating impact on an economy, and on people’s livelihoods,” Nthara stated.
“In monetary terms, the total cost of corruption globally is estimated at $3.6 trillion annually, in contrast, the total cost of natural disaster in 2021 was $258 billion, it is huge, but so much less compared to the cost of corruption,” he explained further.