2009 Assessment

This peer-reviewed country report includes:

Integrity Indicators Scorecard: Scores, scoring criteria, commentary, references, and peer review perspectives for more than 300 Integrity Indicators.

Reporter's Notebook: An on-the-ground look at corruption and integrity from a leading local journalist.

Corruption Timeline: Ten years of political context to today's corruption and integrity issues.

While there has been a recent emergence of good governance civil society organizations in Liberia, their input into government policymaking has been "disorganized [and] reactive, not proactive." Watchdog groups have tried to fill the gap left by the politically compromised election monitoring agency by publishing detailed election reports and pursuing electoral violations in court. Many of the country's political financing regulations remain unenforced absent an effective oversight body. Elected officials and civil servants are required to file asset disclosure forms but those in power have actively resisted auditing and public access to those records. With only a vague public right to government information guaranteed in the constitution, citizens generally cannot access government records. Many government agencies are viewed as open to political influence, including the tax agency, the newly established anti-corruption agency, the state-owned enterprises oversight committee, and the regional courts, whose rulings are not enforced without the approval of senior officials. In addition, transparency in government contracting is low and there is no legal framework in place to guide the privatization process.