Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) oftentimes says “men occasionally
stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry
off as if nothing ever happened.” Clearly, this has been the case with
the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Administration since coming to power over
three years ago. Let me just cite a few examples here. In 2006,
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf tried to bribe the press by giving
US$500.00 to some journalists and media institutions.
Ellen and her Government as well as her uncritical supporters described the $500.00 as the President’s goodwill Christmas gift to journalists. They argued that the gift had no string attached to it and that Ellen had no vested interest in providing the gift! But the truth, which the Unity Party led government and its supporters stumbled over and may continue to contest even while it is incontestable, is Ellen cleverly tried to foster patronage politics. Patronage politics, by the way, is one manifestation of corruption. The second example involved the attempted bribing of the human rights advocates by Harry Greaves during the LPRC – Nigerian oil hullabaloo. The third example involved the National Investment Commission (NIC) and the Buchanan Renewable Energies (BRE) contract. In total disregard to the Liberia investment code, the NIC, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice went ahead to conclude the contract with BRE. When the NIC was confronted by the Legislature, its chairman, Mr. Richard Tolbert, Jr. admitted that the legalization of BRE was “an earnest error”. Was it actually an error? Or, was Mr. Tolbert saying in effect that he as chairman of the NIC was unaware of the investment code that specifies how a contract like that of the BRE should be signed? I am not sure he’s unaware and I will beg to differ with those who will argue in his defense. The truth in this scenario is that Mr. Tolbert was really earnest in his confession. Signing the BRE contract in total disregard to the Liberia Investment Code was indeed an ‘earnest error’. This was the hard truth!
The latest and last example I want to cite is the on-going 2009 – 2010 national budget hearing. The Finance Minister has admitted that calculations of the budget are wrong, and has attributed those miscalculations and inclusions to what he considers as “transitional difficulties” and lack of “effective head” for the budget office. He has meanwhile quickened to describe those miscalculations as “earnest errors”. Similar to the NIC Chairman’s description of the BRE contract, huh? Do we see the tendency of history repeating itself here? I do not know about you, but for me, I do see the historical tendency.
Exposing the Truth of “Earnest Errors”
The use of the phrase ‘earnest errors’ is not new; it has been used before over a century ago. Rev. John Cumming (1807 – 1881), popularly considered the most influential minister of the National Scottish Church in Covent Garden in the United Kingdom, described this phrase in his book “The Last Warning Cry”. Citing a Roman Catholic priest, Rev. Cumming says, “Earnest error is more than a match for careless, sleepy, apathetic truth.” The Reverend goes further to talk about ‘patrons of earnest errors’ as those the Prophet Isaiah pronounced woes to when he preached to the Kingdom of Judah and prophesied that severe judgment and punishment awaited them if they continue their sins of idolatry, hypocrisy, materialism, and oppression of the poor. These ‘patrons of earnest errors’ include those who confused truth and error, who call good evil and evil good, who put light for darkness and darkness for light, who put sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet, and who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. (See Isaiah 5:8-23.)
To further understand what the phrase “earnest error” actually means, it is important to parse the phrase. First, let us take ‘earnest’. What does it mean? Denotationally, earnest as an adjective means resulting from or showing intense conviction. Error, on the other hand, means deviation from the right course or standard, deviation from the truth, violation of duty, something made wrong or left wrong. When used together, the phrase ‘earnest error’ suggests conviction, consciousness and determination. I contend that those who make ‘earnest errors’ are conscious about their errors.
Now back to the Finance Minister’s description of the inclusion of the more than 500K and other unjustified allotments in the National Budget. Is the Finance Minister right in his descriptions of these inclusions as “miscalculations” and “earnest errors”? The answer to this question depends largely on one’s view of and/or support for the regime. Supporters and loyalists may apathetically and sympathetically argue that the Finance Minister is right that the “earnest errors” are “human errors”. Others may critically argue otherwise, probably pointing out a number of issues to include the following: When was the budget prepared? Who viewed the budget before the final draft? Is it actually true that the budget office lacks an effective head? Did the budget bureau lack an “effective head” in 2007 when similar “earnest errors” in the 2007/2008 budget were made? What if these “earnest errors” were not unearthed?
I should hasten to admit that I am not a budget expert. I am not even an accountant, nor am I an economist. As a trained social work and community development planning professional, I write and speak from experience. Budget preparations, including especially national budgets, involve a meticulous process. It is not a day, a week, or a month event. I stand to be corrected by the financial and budget experts. But I do know that such important policy document as the budget of a country is not prepared over night, for which such a huge “earnest error” should go unnoticed by the Minister of Finance, who is supposed to be chief financier of the Republic of Liberia. From experience, I know that before budgets are released and/or published, they are viewed for allotment validations. Is the Finance Minister suggesting that the draft budget was not reviewed even by him before it was submitted to the Legislature and posted on the Ministry’s website? Is he also suggesting that he as a minister is ineffective? It should be noted very clearly that the budget office is part of the Finance Ministry; it is not a bureau anymore standing and running by a director as before. It is an integral part of the Ministry of Finance. And the head of that Finance Ministry is the Minister. So, it does not appeal to me at all to argue that the budget contains “earnest errors” because of the lack of an effective head. May be all other “earnest errors” in the Ellen Government are being made because the government itself lacks an effective head.
I see the ‘lack-of-an-effective-head’ argument as a cover up and a face-saving attempt to ward off public anger and condemnation. We should remember, as I indicated in my last article, that corruption is a complex, secret activity. It can be likened to activities of the devil. No one easily openly accepts to be associated with the devil and with corruption. Isn’t it a fact that even the Devil wants to be adored? No matter how the Minister of Finance and his government may describe the miscalculations and unjustified allotments in the budget, the fact remains that these miscalculations are indeed “earnest errors”, which were consciously made for reasons best known to the Minister and his Government. Nothing the Minister and his government can do to destroy the fact. The truth shall always remain the truth.
Comments (4)
1. 21-06-2009 19:03
This article was well written. These consistant earnest errors are excuses used by leaders to explot the country and it citizens. How will we develop when there is no accountability for the funds being generated by the govt. With grants, donors, and maritime funds, etc, excuses are being made. We know development will not come overnight, but If the country's interest is put first, then we should not begin to notice changes. If govt. is asking total involvement, she may also lower customs duties on importers and change those old heads with new ones.
2. 22-06-2009 14:30
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Editor, Which error isconsidered as an earnest error?Is a because go- vernment ascertained thewhere- aboutsofcertain funds?Orisit becausethatdoesnot savethemone inhisorheraccount?Thereisnoear nestinthisworld.Robberwouldsay
The question is, what about all the other mistakes, before this one?? I think the finance minister make a mistake, with this mistake..Otherwise, we would not have seen it, to talk about it. Mistake? Please!!
4. 24-06-2009 08:45
*1/2 lies are whole truths*
This government was build on a big blasted lie...!!!
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Exposing the truth of “earnest errors”
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