By Kemo Cham
Abuses of power leads to an increase in poverty and deprives people of basic needs, Transparency International warned on Tuesday as it unveils its latest report on bribery which ranks Sierra Leone among the top five corrupt countries in Africa
‘The People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015’ report indicates that Sierra Leone is among the African nations where bribery rates are far higher than the regional average.
The survey in which over 40, 000 people were interviewed, placed South Africa at the top of the list as most corrupt. It is followed by Nigeria and Ghana. Sierra Leone lies at the uncomfortable 4th position.
Transparency warned that corruption was undermining development in sub-Saharan Africa, after the report revealed that an estimated 75 million people gave bribe last year.
In all 28 countries were surveyed, and the police, business executives, government officials and the courts were all perceived as corrupt.
Citing a Word Bank data which showed that the region had a total population of 973 million, it said more than 22 per cent of Africans who came into contact with public service in the past 12 months, paid a bribe.
The police and courts had the highest corruption rates. The police were often paid to "ignore any crime, however horrific and devastating," the TI report notes.
While some people pay bribes to escape punishment for crimes, others were forced to pay to get access to the basic services that they desperately needed, it said.
Nearly 60 per cent of the 43,143 people interviewed said corruption had increased over the past year.
“A majority of Africans perceive corruption to be on the rise and think that their government is failing in its efforts to fight corruption; and many also feel ‘disempowered’ as regards to taking action against corruption,” says the report.
The report said citizens of Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana saw the highest levels of corruption during the period.
The survey noted that during the deadly Ebola outbreak in Liberia and Sierra Leone, corruption may have contributed to the slow government response.
"In both of these countries there are very high bribery rates and the public sector is perceived to be affected by extensive levels of corruption," said the survey.
"Corruption creates and increases poverty and exclusion," Jose Ugaz , the head of Transparency International, was quoted saying in a statement.
But there were positive stories, as people of Botswana, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Lesotho reported low levels of corruption.
Among recommendations proffered by the global anti-corruption watchdog is that governments should strengthen and enforce legislation on corrupt business people and anti-money laundering to curb the high volume of illicit flows from the continent. This could address the negative perception of business if those profiting are held to account, it said.
Governments are also urged to establish right to information and whistle-blower protection legislation to facilitate the role of civil society in making public institutions more transparent, accountable and corruption-free.
The African Union is urged to spearhead an initiative to provide the political will and financing needed to implement the review mechanism established for its anti-corruption convention.
“Unless it’s stopped, corruption slows development and economic growth while weakening people’s trust in government and the accountability of public institutions,” TI said.
(C) Politico 02/12/15
