Monrovia — Sinoe County Senator Crayton Duncan has admitted that Liberian public officials, including members of the Legislature, are corrupt--but claims the country's international partners are far more corrupt and responsible for the majority of poverty and suffering among Liberians.
Speaking Wednesday, September 3, at the Center for the Exchange of Intellectual Opinions (CEIO) in Monrovia, Sen. Duncan argued that Liberian officials contribute only 20% to the nation's hardships, while international partners account for the remaining 80%.
"We are corrupt, but the corruption that makes you suffer is about 20%," he said. "Eighty percent of your suffering comes from the so-called ones we call international partners. Why we are fighting one another, they are stealing from us."
The lawmaker, however, stopped short of naming any specific international partner he accused of exploiting Liberia.
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According to him, Liberia's continued dependence on foreign partners has left the country stagnant, while those partners "pretend to love us" but instead "exploit our survival." He dismissed as "fallacy" the belief that external actors will improve the living conditions of Liberians.
Sen. Duncan also accused multinational companies of exploiting Liberia's resources while leaders, including past and present administrations, remain complicit. He criticized the Boakai, Weah, and Sirleaf governments for what he described as their unwillingness to address the real causes of Liberia's suffering despite knowing them.
The senator further expressed frustration that Liberian laws, influenced by Western partners, prevent public officials from investing in businesses or owning shares in companies. He argued that this restriction forces lawmakers to rely solely on their salaries, which he described as inadequate given the demands from their constituents.
"Some of us who may have the ability to invest in our country are stopped by Westerners who call it conflict of interest," Duncan said. "They say the US$7,000 I make is too plenty, but in less than a week, it's gone. We all become poor the same way."
Sen. Duncan insisted that Liberia's poverty persists because Western partners deliberately keep Liberians economically weak.
"We are happy to be poor because they don't want any Liberian to have money in their own country," he added.
