The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICAT) says government officials and others will not receive bribes unless the ordinary citizens give it to them.

Minister Lewis G. Brown said the report shows that ordinary people are the highest givers of bribes, while the police stand as the highest receivers of bribes in Liberia.

Speaking over the weekend, Minister Brown said out of the 1,000 respondents, 750, constituting 75% admitted paying bribes over the last twelve months for services in Liberia.

"If we were to arrest now, we need to look for those 750 and lock them up first as part of the prosecution of corrupted people... this is not the way to fight corruption; all of us need to stop playing lip service to the fight against corruption," Brown said.

He said every Liberian should not see the fight against corruption as President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's and her government officials' battle, but rather a war that requires the involvement of everyone because, according to him, "no one takes bribe without it being offered".

He said many of the bribery transactions occurred in places where the President and other officials don't see which needs to be resisted and tackled by everyone.

"Our society cannot be better if we think it is ok to offer bribes at the lowest levels, because those lower levels grow up to the highest levels... this report says you are equally guilty of offering bribes," Brown added.

Liberia was named second to Sierra Leone in the Transparency International Bribe Payers index recently released.

The report indicated that 77% admitted paying bribes to education, 77% to judiciary, and 77% to police, 40% to medical and health services, 62% to tax revenue, among others.