Africa-Press – Liberia. Whistleblower box installed at the Zone 3 depot in District #10, Congo Town. Credit: Joyclyn Wea/New Narratives
Summary:
The government has placed whistleblower boxes at ministries and police stations to allow citizens to report corruption, part of President Boakai’s wider anti-graft drive.
The initiative follows shortcomings of a previous reporting app, but experts warn that public fear of retaliation and mistrust in institutions may undermine its success.
Civil society groups say the scheme’s credibility will depend on whether complaints lead to visible investigations and real action against corruption
The wooden box bolted to the wall at the Ministry of Education looks ordinary enough. But according to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, the country’s independent corruption watchdog, this simple contraption could be a game-changer in the country’s long fight against entrenched corruption.
Eighteen months into President Joseph Boakai’s administration the Commission has quietly rolled out what officials are calling their most ambitious grassroots anti-corruption initiative yet – physical whistleblower boxes where Liberians can drop anonymous tips about government corruption.
The boxes, launched August 15th, are now stationed at six locations across Greater Monrovia: the Civil Service Agency, the education and commerce ministries, plus three police stations. More are coming, officials say.
The Commission plans to install 50 boxes in total, with 15-18 going to “high-risk” agencies handling contracts and finances. It maintains exclusive control through locks and keys, opening boxes monthly with ministry officials present.
“The fight against corruption is basically a holistic one,” said Alfred D. Karnley, prevention officer at the Anti-Corruption Commission, in an interview. “We decided that since we’ve gone out there to talk to people who are ordinary citizens, it was also important that we get involved with the service providers.”
Corruption has long crippled the country’s development efforts. Liberia ranks 135th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Ten top government officials are on U.S. sanctions lists for alleged graft and many have been fired or charged over the three post war administrations.
President Boakai has made fighting corruption a centerpiece of his administration. Plans are underway for a specialized anti-corruption court by 2026. The whistleblower boxes are just one piece of a broader strategy. Government is aware that corruption is so deeply rooted that getting people to use these boxes may prove difficult.
“One of our challenges is that people are afraid of retaliation,” Karnley admitted. “They are afraid that people will go after them when they come out to speak.”
That fear isn’t imaginary. A 2023 New Narratives investigation found that of twelve government whistleblowers over the past 14 years, four lost their jobs and seven ended up dead under what their families called suspicious circumstances.
The anonymity concern is real. “If somebody has to see John Brown physically placing a piece of paper in a box, somebody could say, let’s see what John Brown said,” according to Harold Aidoo from the nonprofit watchdog group Integrity Watch Liberia.
“All of that happened in the past,” Karnley said. “With the new law, these are things we are trying to mitigate as we go along.”
The new law, passed in 2022, is a whistleblower protection act that the government said would offer better protection. The law states that no employee shall be dismissed, reassigned, denied any right or privilege, or otherwise discriminated against for being a whistleblower. The law also sets requirements for receiving and processing disclosures, protection against liability, and rewards for successful whistleblowing.
Image of the whistleblower box installed at the Liberia National Police headquarters. Credit: Joyclyn Wea/ New Narratives
For civil society advocate Aidoo, the answer is simple: “Action. When people blow a whistle, these allegations need to be investigated. And when they are investigated, and they have found that there’s weight or substantial evidence to substantiate these claims, then action will be taken.”
The Commission’s whistleblower protection boxes followed a failed experience with a cell phone application known as Talkay. The app was supposed to revolutionize corruption reporting. Users could select from categories like “bribery,” “extortion,” and “misuse of government office,” then upload photos and audio files. But, of the roughly 280 reports received over the period of 20 months between 2022 to 2023, 96 percent were “junk” according to Karnley – personal disputes or non-corruption issues that belonged with other agencies. Only a handful were actual corruption cases. When new commissioners joined the board in 2024 after the Weah government left power in 2023, they halted the project.
Image of the Talkay app. Credit: Joyclyn Wea/New Narratives
“When the new board of commissioners came, they reviewed the app, and one of our commissioners, who is an IT specialist, raised some issues,” Karnley said. The app is pending relaunch with improved features, including voice recording capabilities, live one-on-one chat, and case tracking systems, which were lacking during its initial stage. But the commission said it couldn’t wait.
While the app engaged ordinary citizens in communities, Karnley said it missed a crucial target: government employees working in service delivery agencies where corruption occurs. The commission says the boxes provide a physical presence at these ministries and agencies, creating visible reminders of anti-corruption efforts right where they’re most needed. The placement of boxes across multiple locations also allows whistleblowers to report anonymously – employees can drop complaints about their own agency into boxes at other ministries to avoid detection. The boxes serve as a bridge to engage government workers who weren’t reached by community-based campaigns while the improved app is being finalized.
“We thought that we hadn’t done much with the Talkey app in terms of reaching out to sector ministries. That, in my view, has been the limitation,” he said. “We were looking for a way to introduce something within the sector ministries and agencies, specifically those that are responsible and are involved with service delivery.”
Whistleblower boxes (also called complaint boxes, suggestions, or anonymous reporting systems) have been used in many countries: Kenya, India, Ghana, South Africa, and South Korea as part of anti-corruption efforts, though their effectiveness varies significantly based on implementation and context. However, most of these nations have moved away from traditional physical “boxes” toward more secure digital reporting systems and telephone hotlines to better protect whistleblower anonymity and ensure proper follow-up on complaints.
Lawyer Aloysius Toe, a legal expert who has pleaded for whistleblowers for many years, said he supports the initiative but worries about Liberia’s small-town dynamics. In this tight-knit society, he said, “even the least case of confidential information can spread like wildfire the next day.”
But Francis Greaves from the National Civil Society Council shared that pessimism: “The atmosphere in Liberia is too toxic, it lacks trust, it lacks integrity, and it takes a very inclusive process to be able to get the information.”
In a post-conflict nation still building institutional trust, experts say that may be the most ambitious goal of all.
Emmanuel Mulbah, a bike ride in District #10. Credit: Joyclyn Wea/New Narratives
In interviews in Monrovia, citizens welcomed the initiative but expressed concern about the custodians of those boxes and the outcome of the complaints that will eventually be lodged. They were skeptical about the government’s commitment and police control over the boxes.
“The police should not have access to the key,” Emmanuel Mulbah, a bike rider, said. “For me that’s the only way I will be able to drop complaints inside, because, for example, today the police come here and beat me, or steal, and I write and go drop it in the box, they could open it and when they see that it is against them, they will take that paper off because they don’t want the people to see it.”
Some called on the government to step up prosecutions of existing cases first. “Those who have been investigated and indicted for corruption should first be prosecuted before the government can look for new cases,” said Moses Buwee, a student at the University of Liberia and an executive of the African Youth Fellowship.
Moses Gayflor, Motorcyclist in Gaye Town, Old Road. Credit: Joyclyn Wea/New Narratives
“The Boxes are necessary, but when we start to make our comments, will the government pay attention to them, will they respect it, will they read it, will they look at it?” asked Moses Gayflor’s a 30-year-old motorcyclist in Gaye Town, Old Road, where one of the boxes is placed at the depot. “Actions speak louder than words. Every month I go and drop one or two complaints, but can’t see anything going on, for me it’s a waste of time.”
The LACC will open the boxes for the first time later this week in the presence of ministries’ focal persons and partners, and LACC officials will review any submissions to determine whether cases warrant deeper investigation or just basic system reviews to help prevent corruption.
Source: FrontPageAfrica
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