MONROVIA, Oct. 7 -- Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has made a candid admission that her administration failed to defeat corruption in Liberia, acknowledging that despite extensive institutional reforms during her 12-year presidency, the menace remains deeply entrenched and continues to confront the country today.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh

"We did not succeed," Sirleaf said Tuesday while delivering the keynote address at a Governance Commission symposium on good governance in Monrovia. The event marks the inaugural ceremony marking October as Liberia's Month of Good Governance, an initiative declared by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.

The former president said she wished her administration had won the fight against corruption but co...