Introduction

Corruption has been an emerging issue in Africa within the context of the government administration systems. Corruption in Africa involves the unprofessional conduct of ability those who hold power and people in authority misuse the power by looking for personal increase, which they are assigned. Segregation and poverty increase do with corruption, because of politics that are living a bountiful life, many of the Africans are lacking from their basic needs such as education, housing, food, right to use clean water and hygiene. Wong & Gomes (2014) describe corruption govern Africa in two parts, the historical and social-economic. Corruption is  a challenge to African democratic operation. Historical and social-economic desired to govern effectively by a larger framework of judicial, social, political, and economic checks and balances. When these systems are strictly weakened by corrupt practices, it becomes harder to carry out and implement laws and policies that ensure accountability and transparency (Bamidele, 2013).

According to Wong (2012), there are two basic forms of corruption. (1)Grand corruption, which uses lust and greed for power by those who previously have much wealth and power, and thus, large sums of money are typically caught up in triggering grand corruption. (2)Petty corruption has climbed mostly from economic need amongst business officials and middle ranking government. (Wong, 2012) Africa has been the most corrupt continent in the world due to the corruption that has attacked the entire African system. In order for Africa to survive from corruption, the wide- spread of corruption will handled so. In recent years, corruption has been a hot topic due to (1) cycles of high-level corruption cases in developed countries and (2) due to a growing understanding of the expenses of corruption throughout the world and (3) due to the changes politically and economically many countries are undergoing. The government’s ability to cut poverty is to end corruption in African countries, which minimizes and creates development. However, successfully addressing corruption in African countries has become a very important development. Corruption occurs in many areas such as, the political, economic, and administrative levels. Corruption has a worse impact on countries where the judiciary and the legislature are fragile, where regulation of law and loyalty to official rules are not thoroughly observed. Corruption is a governance problem. Ways to decrease corruption and improving governance is by allowing public participation in making decisions, improved lawmaking responsibility and precision, and strengthened public area and greater observance of the rule of law. The greatest weapon against corruption is liberation and open rivalry, whether political, bureaucratic, or economic. Corruption is known as a worldwide experience, which has addressed logically and repeatedly.

In Africa, action needs to take place to get rid of corruption in governmental powers. In order to reduce poverty and improve the well-being of African countries, they have to become more incorporated into the universal financial system and draw greater levels of distant and domestic investment to carry out the development rate necessary. Though, Africa has corruption, it is possible to limit corruption and to reduce the effects it has on African nations and societies. In Africa the economic and political power and the head of state has been systematically abused for personal gain in one state after another, resulting in massive personal fortunes (Yeh, 2011).

The purpose of this of this study is to compare corruption of the government administration system in two countries: Liberia and Botswana Africa. In this comparative analysis, I will discuss how has corruption developed over time. For the most part, corruption in these two countries is assessed according to my findings.

In Africa, the issues of corruption remain major and challenging to deal with even though some international organizations and developed countries like the United States continues to raise awareness about corruption in Africa. From country to country, corruption remains a vital issue that is causing the unequal distribution of wealth. Civil society organizations, international organizations and each citizen continue to fight corruption from every direction so that the scarce resources available can be used for their intended purpose. If you take a look at the different problems and issues of corruption and compare Botswana and Liberia, you will notice that Botswana is improving and providing more services and resources for its citizens and has formulated policies to fight corruption as it compares to Liberia as one of the oldest countries in Africa. Based on the above information, my research will focus and compare both countries administrative system on the level of corruption.

Literature Review

Defining Corruption

To initiate the comparative analysis of corruption in Liberia and Botswana, Africa, it is imperative to define what it is. Several definitions of corruption are common. Here are a few definitions to review and the distinction between them. According to Mulbah (2014), the definition of corruption is problematic in a political system that is based on reciprocal clienteles’ which is not optional at any level of political power.

World Bank defines corruption as:

… The abuse of public office for private gain. The term corruption covers a large amount of individual actions. To identify with its effect on an economy or a political system, it helps to unbundle the term by identifying specific types of activities or transactions that might fall within it. In considering its strategy, the Bank sought a usable definition of corruption and then developed taxonomy of the different forms corruption could take consistent with that definition (World Bank, 2013c). Corruption can be categorized in many various ways to help with understanding of how corruption affects cost-effective performance. Commonly used terms discussing Africa are bribery, fraud, embezzlement, nepotism, and favoritism. Bribery is one example of corruption that offers value for some action in return. Fraud is when someone uses truth situation to deceive for profit. Embezzlement is when that in authority steals government resources. Nepotism is someone in power shows favoritism towards friends or family members. In African countries, favoritism is generally practiced, but when money isn’t involved, it’s not considered as bribery. Favor may be established in connection to political support or prior arrangement to a position. Corruption not only covers just financial gain, but also political and legal gain that often includes limited entrance to African decision makers and African political and legal authorities (Bamidele, 2013).

Next, there will be a brief summary of when and how corruption in Liberia started in the government system and what the distinct characteristics are. We will do a similar review of Botswana government systems as well.

 

Liberia Government

            Liberia government system functions the same as the United States (U.S.) Constitution and the president is elected. There are three independent branches of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The president, who is head of state, head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces, uses executive power. There are 30 members of the Senate and 64 members of the House of representative, which is part of the Legislative power.Popular votes, elect members of both houses.  However, members of the House are elected for six-year term and Senate is elected for nine-year terms. The People’s Supreme Court is the body of the judiciary, headed by the chief justice and comprised of associate justices. The president appoints all justices.

Corruption in Liberia

Corruption in Liberia has long attracted international attention. Liberia’s history has featured cycles of foreign interventions targeting corruption and mismanagement. There are several research studies that focused on the impact of corruption on the government in Liberia.(Reno, 2008) Liberia is known for its natural resources (gold, diamonds, iron, etc.) and its nation’s richness. Liberia was one of the world’s fastest growing economies to one of the poorest due to corruption in the government system. Workers that work hard doesn’t get the benefits of their labor why the rich are getting richer while working less which causes discouragement for the hard workers. In order for Liberia to rise, the political system has to be strong and committed and hardworking to fight against corruption. Corruption is an essential part of the Liberian political system and socioeconomic. Liberia was weighed down by impressive, greedy, nepotistic corruption with high stakes in which extended from top to bottom. Corruption in Liberia is a systemic issue.

According to Bland (2014), the government system is examined by corruption and their strength and weakness and the constraints and incentives they generate that make them vulnerable to corruption. Corruption in Liberia and worldwide are perpetrated by individuals at all levels of government, including elected and appointed officials and civil servants. Corruption in Liberia is tolerated by the government and it is the way of life for public servants, making most to believe that it is acceptable social behavior (Reno, 2008). These public servants use their office or power to commit specific kinds of crimes or corruption(Gobewole, 2015).

Botswana Government

            Sharma (2005a) explains that Botswana stands on four pillars in local government: (1) Councils (City Councils, Town Councils and District Councils); (2) District Administration, headed by District Commissioners; (3) Land Boards, created after independence for allocation of tribal land; and (4) tribal administration, headed by Chiefs as traditional leaders. City and Town Councils in urban areas and District Councils in rural areas as agencies of transference gain their authority, hypothetically, from statutes and perform functions owed by statutes. District Commissioner main function is to organize rural development activities at the district level. The tribal land is held by the Land Boards hold the tribal in trust and distribute it to citizens for residential, agricultural or commercial purposes. The role of the Chiefs is chairmen of Kgotla is communication for consultation on the formulation and implementation of local level development plans between the government and the community and public policies.

Corruptions in Botswana

The least corrupt country in Africa is Botswana. Botswana is a landlocked country.  Politically, Botswana is a model for other countries to follow. As noted, Botswana takes its political development and positioning from the colonial era. From all indications, Botswana presents a unique case of a remodeling or rebranding of the traditional African chieftaincy system, run by functional modern democratic institutions. It is important as a result that the government reconstructs the government administrative system to assemble together current demands and come up with a plan to reduce rising levels of poverty and to provide jobs for the people. The government can achieve this by encouraging employable skills training to reduce unemployment levels.

According to McFerson (2009), Botswana is ranked as ‘free’ and is known for the second highest potential ranking in terms of political rights and civil liberties. Also Botswana is ranked fourth in Africa for regulatory effectiveness. Corruption in Botswana is very low compared to other well managed developed countries. It has a Transparency International score of 5.8 and ranked 36 in world integrity. Botswana and Mauritius are the only countries in Africa that had which has had good governance indicators, significant political freedom, and regular democratic elections since its independence. Botswana is rated highest of all other indicators of governance, with well-built mechanisms, high levels of simplicity, good participation, and extensive observance of the rule of law, with a specialized and self-governing judiciary. Botswana is known as an Africa country that operates within the political structure of democracy has promoted local government as   of decentralization and public involvement for local rank governance and service delivery (Sharma, 2010).

Botswana has a well-built legislative administration to fight corruption. Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC) is the key corruption investigation body. DCEC is an energetic and effective organization. In order to keep corruption down, the DCEC has come upon an education campaign to help raise public awareness about how much corruption cost and working with Government departments to reform their accountability procedures. The punishment by law for corruption is a 10 year prison term, a fine of P500, 000 (U.S. $66,667) or both. High rank officials have been prosecuted, such as, the government who obtain 16-20 convictions per year corruption- related crimes.

 

Data Collection and Measurement

For this comparative analysis, researchers provide a review of the GEMAP assessment in the context of the donor policy intervention framework through which it was conceived and implemented in Liberia. The time series data used that covered the following years: 2006 (the year the GEMAP was implemented), through 2009 (the last available date). In addition, E-government in Botswana can help with the future success of economists and policy maker’s development of public sector organizations.

GEMAP

            The first woman democratic president elected in Liberia was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005. She had an opportunity to implement GEMAP under a new administration (Clark, 2008).  She vowed to uphold the Government of Liberia’s commitment to GEMAP and to combat corruption at all levels. The Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP) was implemented by the Liberian government to control corruption, mitigate financial mismanagement, improve the capacity for better economic management, elevate the performance of key institutions, and thereby consolidate the peace and rebuild the state (Hope, 2010). GEMAP covers six opponents: (1) capacity building, (2) financial management and accountability; (3 supporting key institutions (4) improving budgeting and expenditure management; (5) establishing effective processes to control corruption; (5) supporting key institutions.

E-Government

According to Nkwe (2012), E-Governance is an improvement of good governance and strengthening the democratic process and to help with access to information such as, expressing yourself freely, greater fairness, good organization, productivity, growth, and social enclosure. The success of e-government can have and outstanding impact on improving citizens’ quality of life as a result of effective multi-stakeholder partnerships.    

The scope of e-government covers three areas which include: government-to-government (G to G) sharing data and conducting electronic exchanges between various governmental agencies, government-to-citizens (G to C) facilitates citizen interaction with government, and government to business (G to B) includes both the procurement of goods and services by the government as well as the sale of surplus government goods to the public online (Monga, 2008).

Results

            Breaking the cycle of corruption can have political costs as individuals in and out of government find their patronage and revenues reduced. At the same time, the work of the GEMAP monitors must be closely observed, as there is no real guarantee that monitors will automatically be less prone to corruption than their government counterparts will. GEMAP does provide a unique opportunity to dramatically strengthen Liberian state capacity to deliver necessary services to the entire country. With GEMAP’s full implementation, the Johnson-Sirleaf administration has the ability to establish significant credibility among the population, which will weaken the appeal of detractors while laying the groundwork for more capable, sustainable public administration. There where and significant increase in government revenues through GEMAP.

 

Discussion

            Based on the foregoing discussion, the GEMAP largely succeeded in meeting most of

its objectives in Liberia. Its primary short-coming was in the area of capacity-

building and that is a task that is now being taken forward by the GOL and aided

also by some residual GEMAP and other donor assistance.

In the case of Botswana, there has been a reburst strategies put in place to minimize corruption. E- government as a major factor to enhance good governance. It also helps innovation for ehanancing good governance and has facilitate access to information, freedom of speech, greater equity, efficiency, productivity growth and social inclusion according to (Nkwe 2012). Despite challeges, E-government strategies  help Botswana to progress interms of good governace as compare to Liberia. Civil society advocacy also promoted transparency and accountaibility in the government adminstative system.

Conclusion and Recommendations

            The purpose of this paper was to compare Liberia and Botswana corrupt government administrative system.To have a successful fight against corruption in Liberia, all the sectors of the Liberian society and foreign governments must get fully involved. To help minimize corruption, the government must create just policies and moderatelyput into effect the implementation of those policies without favor and the citizens must provide unconditional support to the government and take responsibility for the development of their country. Corruption is never really over,  because of the depths of public against personal interest. For this reason, the bestapproach to diminish the appeal of corruption is to set apart involving personal andpublic interest, to build a nation of public service and to reward it evenhandedly.

Punishmentof corrupt public officials through fair and open judicial proceedings, and top officials’ putting inplace systems of accounting and accountability that do not exempt themselves from scrutiny anddue process, can lead citizens to realize that corruption can be fought, even if it cannot becompletely eliminated. The trust that a combination of transparency and prosecution cancreate between citizens and government reinforces the latter’s ability to deal with most kinds ofspoilers. That combination of trust and institutional capacity, in turn, helps guarantee the peace (Boucher, Durch,  Midyette, Rose, & Terry, 2007).

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