By Mohamed Berray
It’s a no-brainer that the prevalence of corruption in Sierra Leone has had far-reaching implications on ordinary citizens. It has compromised citizens’ access to public services and limited the country’s capacity to contain emerging threats.
Sierra Leone ranks 129 out of 180 countries on the 2018 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, scoring higher than the average for Africa and the world in the last three years. Although deemed inaccurate by many governments, these striking statistics and perceptions of corruption at everyday life engagements foster a culture of distrust, with citizens increasingly believing that the Government is unresponsive to their needs.
The Sierra Leone Government led by the SLPP has received some global acclaim for their stance against corruption. The 2019 Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Country Scorecard scores the Government 71% for the control of corruption. This is higher than the 10-year average of 40% from 2008-2018, and is the highest percentage score for anti-corruption in Sierra Leone since the establishment of the MCC. Maada Bio, it seems, is making strides in bettering the rule of law, government effectiveness, natural resource protection, and health expenditures, recording higher tallies than the previous 10-year average in each category.
However, regardless of the records of corruption and the upward national mobility to assuage its effects, there remains discrepancies between the ruling SLPP and the opposition APC in their perceptions of corruption and the legality of constitutional instrument No. 65 of 2018 that established the Commissions of Inquiry. This discrepancy in the perceptions of corruption has been studied extensively.
Public opinion Research has proven that almost everywhere, ruling party supporters tend to perceive less corruption by their government than those in the opposition. One reason for this is that supporters of parties in power are more apt to access information that paints a positive image of their party, but are far less likely to be perceptible to damaging information that paints an adverse image of their party.
This confirmation bias is especially true when readership of local news sources are divided on ideological lines, limiting the acceptance of politically uncongenial facts to the imperviousness of party-dominated news sources. Termed the “home team effect”, partisan perceptual biases pervade subjective judgements and color people’s perceptions of objective facts. In many cases, lack of unbiased media outlets leaves voters with fewer avenues for alternative objective thoughts on which to base their support. Access to ethnically and politically unbiased information can therefore be a predictor of national perceptions of corruption.
Also, according to a report by Global Integrity and Transparency International, the theoretical underpinning of the decision of individuals to engage in anti-corruption advocacy is built on two key premises: First, if the perceived benefit of engaging exceeds the costs of engagement. Individuals make cost/benefit approximations about whether it is worthwhile and sustainable for them to take action against corruption through available mechanisms. In Sierra Leone, where corruption can be beneficial to partisan affiliates, it would be unexpected for these affiliates to act against corruption, raising the cost for them to obtain their livelihoods through dependence of those in power.
Secondly, public mood acts as a proxy for contextual factors that affect the ways in which citizens conceive their empowerment and ability to make a difference in their stands against corruption. This is particularly the case in contexts where corruption is the norm and the cost of speaking and standing up against corruption is high. Denouncing corruption may lead to social disapproval, thus the reluctance to engage.
Both the cost/benefit approximations and the public mood are influenced by the interactions of citizens with others whose perceptions are valued and trusted. In Sierra Leone where access to resources can be a factor of social interdependence, it is easy to see how independent political thought is usurped to community elders who influence voting patterns. Data from the Global Corruption Barometer shows that fear of the consequences of reporting corruption constitutes the greatest obstacle in reporting it. These disturbing trends carry policy implications at the national level and affect the distribution of wealth.
One solution to corruption in Sierra Leone would therefore be for the Government to create conditions for empowerment by increasing the democratic capacity to participate. This capacity could take the form of access to information and awareness campaigns that enhance participant efficacy. A platform for equitable access to unbiased information relaxes partisan loyalties and increases constructive engagement between citizens and the State.
When people vote regardless of partisan bias, politicians reciprocate with a disposition that favors a more equitable distribution of wealth. In fact, politicians tend to invest greater public goods in regions with stiffer competition between parties. To make this possible, voters should be provided unbiased information about candidates, which relaxes their partisan loyalties. The Government could offer to hold community meetings that explain anti-corruption laws and policies, and the entitlements of citizens through established whistleblower opportunities and designed grievance redress mechanisms at the judicial level. This increases social accountability structures and enhances the capacity of citizens and the community to demand greater accountability from public officials.
Lastly, civil society should be encouraged and supported as a formal institution of governance. Civil society provides channels through which social and economic concerns are surfaced or legally contested forcing politicians to propose solutions. These instrumental empowerment mechanisms increase citizenship access to participation processes that influence decision-making and increase interconnectedness between citizens and politicians. According to the then Vice President – now Head – of the World Bank Institute (WBI), Sanjay Pradhan, “young citizens are influential agents of change and innovation when they find a space where they can voice their views, develop leadership capacity and interact creatively”.
This further reduces the gap between bureaucratic reality and participant expectations. Giving the slow pace of economic reforms and meagre opportunities for employment and wage growth in Sierra Leone, it would benefit the country, including opposing regional partisans, if the country is united in the fight against corruption and pave the way for the distribution of wealth to underdeveloped sectors of the economy. This, coupled with good monitoring, could see Sierra Leone as a leader in the democratic development process.
About the author: Mohamed Berray is a member of the faculty at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and has contributed widely to understanding the political and development discourse in Sierra Leone.
(c) 2019 Politico Online
