Tip-offs take root as govts ‘ignore’ graft

A traffic police officer fines a commuter bus operator. Police officers have often been accused of being highly corrupt due to the nature of their duties, but new focus is now on senior public officials and business executives who are seen to be strong merchants of corruption.PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

According to the People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015 report, out of 43,143 people across 28 countries in sub Saharan Africa interviewed in the survey, 58 per cent said corruption has increased over the past one year. There is no government which is rated positively on its anti-corruption efforts by a clear majority of its citizens.

Arusha. With an estimated 75 million people reported to be paying a bribe each year, in some cases for them to access even the most basic of social services, there is every reason for policymakers to worry about the new lows of corruption in Africa.

According to the People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015 report, out of 43,143 people across 28 countries in sub Saharan Africa interviewed in the survey, 58 per cent said corruption has increased over the past one year.

There is no government which is rated positively on its anti-corruption efforts by a clear majority of its citizens.

Of the 28 governments, 18 are seen as completely failing to address corruption. In South Africa, more than four-in-five citizens (83 per cent) say they have seen corruption rise steeply in the recent past.

Although the police have often been accused of being highly corrupt due to the nature of their duties, the new turn is now for the senior public officials and business executives in both the public and private sectors who are seen to be strong merchants of graft.

Bribery, though, was seen to affect more than one-in-five Africans with the poor hurting the most. It was found out in the survey that 22 per cent of Africans who came into contact with a public service official or office in the past one year (prior to 2015), said they paid a bribe.

The situation is worst in Liberia where 69 per cent paid a bribe. Across the rest of the region, poor public service users are twice as likely as rich people to have paid a bribe.

Of the six key public services, those who had contact with the police and the courts are the most likely to have paid a bribe.

That is despite the fact that the two institutions are crucial for citizen security and the rule of law. It is said only one in ten of people who paid bribe actually reported it.

Taken root

Although corruption has taken root in the fabric of the African society, the survey concluded that fighting graft was possible, citing countries such as Botswana, Burkina Faso, Lesotho and Senegal, where the levels of corruption are low, and said to be on the wane.

The United Nations has said corruption remain an obstacle to sustained growth, social progress and political development in Africa, impacting on investment climate, poverty reduction, public service delivery and social and economic development.

While there are no latest statistics available, in 2002, the AU estimated that corruption costs its member States up to $150 billion each year and drains about a quarter of their collective GDP, with the figure estimated to be even greater today.

The World Bank also noted that 75 per cent of its agricultural projects in Africa are failures – with some suggesting that eliminating graft could be one of the most promising routes toward sustainable development.

And in 2004, the African Development Bank (AfDB) estimated that 50 per cent of tax revenue and $30 billion in aid for Africa is lost to corruption, and never used to improve social services.

“When public money is stolen for private gain, it means fewer resources to build schools, hospitals, roads and water supply activities,” a senior UN official told a meeting on corruption organised by Governance and Public Administration Division of the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Arusha in 2012.

Given the scenario, the African continent has been keen to establishing strong bodies to spearhead the fight against graft.

One such institution is the African Union Advisory Body on Corruption (AU-ABC), an organisation under the African Union. The Arusha-based body was established a few years ago, but like many other continental and regional organisations, it is facing some challenges, including the lack of financial resources to manage its day-to-day activities.

Recently, there was an appeal for each African state to contribute $250,000 each year to finance the activities of AUABC. Its board is mandated to promoting and encouraging African countries to adopt measures and actions to prevent and fight corruption.

Presenting a report on the performance of the quasi-judicial organ to journalists here in December last year, its chairperson Daniel Batidam said AUABC was short of finances to carry out its mandate.

“We are appealing to state parties to the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) to each contribute $ 250,000 annually to finance the mandate of the Board,” he said.

He argued that it was the obligation of AU member states to contribute the suggested amount in the same way that they have been financing operations of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). AU member states contribute $100,000 annually to APRM.

In addition, the AUABC board chair urged African countries within the AU to submit implementation reports on their fight against corruption to the organisation on a regular basis. He said this would enable his board to gauge the success attained and bottlenecks in the drive.

“We also call upon the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU to include a chapter on corruption in the report of the state of democracy, governance and elections in Africa,” he pointed out.

The Advisory Board on Corruption was established as part of AU’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, which entered into force in August 2006.

Under article 22(5) of the Convention, the Board is mandated to promote and encourage States Parties to adopt measures and actions to meet the Convention objectives and to follow up the application of those measures.

The Convention objectives are to support member countries to develop mechanisms required to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption and related offences in the public and private sectors as well as coordinate and harmonise anti-corruption policies and legislation among the state parties.

Cooperation among states

Other objectives include to promote, facilitate and regulate cooperation among AU member countries to ensure effectiveness of anti-graft measures and actions and to remove obstacles that hampered the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights.

The board intends to build effective partnerships with civil society and the media in combating corruption.

“We are keen to animate the sub-clusters on anti-corruption and accountability and on natural resource management,” Mr Batidam said, adding that they will continue to collaborate with the African Governance Architecture in that drive.

It would also encourage state parties to the Convention that established the Board to ensure that the fight against corruption is undertaken without fear or favour. State parties are being urged to make provision for legal aid so as to facilitate access to justice for the marginalised and indigenous persons.