Sierra Leone, one of the world’s poorest nations, has endured a pattern of corruption remarkable in its depth and extent. The current military government led by Captain Valentine Strasser, however, is mounting significant anticorruption efforts; these include major commissions of inquiry, anticorruption decrees, and efforts to tighten political and social discipline. Some of these measures, such as efforts to censor the press, raise important questions as to the proper limits of anticorruption policies, and it is also true that the long-term temptations of corruption remain in place. For the current administration to be successful in controlling corruption, it must establish innovative institutional strategies, departing from the old ways of doing things to complement the moralizing campaign and ‘quick-fix’ measures currently in place. Bibliogr., note, ref., sum.
