LONDON, 26 May 2003 — Is corruption and lack of accountability in politics, business, and society on the run? The latest Global Corruption Report 2003 published by Transparency International (TI) seems to believe it is. In fact, TI’s Chairman, Peter Eigen, stresses that “empowered by technology — essential to the prompt and accurate flow of information — the media and the public are increasingly calling businesses and politicians to account.”
TI’s report itemized region-by-region and sector-by-sector abuses through corruption and lack of accountability worldwide. True corruption remains a major issue in many countries and continues to pervade every aspect of economic and political life. In developing countries, the lack of freedom of information legislation, of civil society organizations (very often refused permission by governments to be established or simply banned), and lack of active public participation (largely due to fear of reprisals and other punishment) has tended to retard movement toward accountability, transparency, and efficiency in government and economic life.
In the industrialized countries, even in the US, where a freedom of information culture has been in place for decades, corporate corruption continues. The Enron and WorldCom scandals are just the tip of the iceberg. The relationship between big business and US politics, especially donations to political campaigns, and the inevitable “job for the boys” will long remain a blot on American democracy.
But before anyone gets carried away, the corruption report on the 54 member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) once again is very dismal reading. Research shows that there is a strong correlation between per capita income and quality of governance. The TI report warns that “the strategy of waiting for improvements in governance to come automatically as countries become richer is unlikely to be successful.” Nor is there any chance of better governance improving income which would lead to an improvement in governance.
For the second year running, Bangladesh has been called “The World’s Most Corrupt Country”. The costs of corruption are devastating to a developing economy such as Bangladesh’s.
What is even more disturbing, is that of the 102 countries surveyed in TI’s 2002 Corruption Perception Index, only 18 of the 54 IDB member states are featured. This means that 36 IDB member states — including all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states — are not featured because of the lack of reliable and independent information and statistics, the difficulty in setting up monitoring TI chapters, the lack of political opposition, the lack of freedom of the press and reporting, the lack of budget transparency and the collusion between the public and private sectors in society.
According to the survey, Malaysia is the least corrupt country of the IDB members, followed by Tunisia, Jordan, and Morocco. And yet, corruption in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) states actually declined in 2002 “owing simply to reduced opportunities for ‘commissions’ as a result of economic recession. Global slowdown, reduced investment in emerging markets and a fall in oil prices resulted in declining capital investment, and a slump in construction and arms procurement.” However, with the decline in real income, petty corruption has been on the rise, and corruption among senior state officials and politicians is still considered rampant in the region.
Ironically, efforts to curb corruption and promote good governance were hampered by Western concerns about security such as the war against terrorism and the notion of an “Axis of Evil”. To gain support for such policies, very often a blind eye was turned to the “good governance” conditionality. Transparency in government relies on parliamentary control, which is the foundation of democracy or a system of political accountability, which has to be upheld by public funds. “Corruption”, says TI, “can be prevented through greater transparency in accounting and better control mechanisms, particularly in respect to international aid and disaster relief — and in relations between large corporations and states regarding contracts for the exploitation of natural resources.”
This battle against financial corruption can be best achieved through empowering the judiciary. In developed countries such as France, Germany and Spain, only 1-2 percent of the budget is allocated to the justice system. When an over-loaded and under-resourced justice system is confronted by organized crime, political corruption, and petty corruption, the latter is often guaranteed impunity.
Nevertheless, the report does come with some interesting findings — women for instance are less tolerant of soliciting bribes and that policies that increase women’s role in public life reduce graft. However, the corruption allegations and scandals involving women government leaders — Tansu Ciller in Turkey, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Hasina Wajed in Bangladesh, and organizational leaders such as Edith Cresson at the European Commission, do not imply that corruption would be reduced if individual women are in charge of governments or organizations.
Another major development is the use of e-government — the use of communications technology such as the Internet and mobile phones — to open up government processes and enable greater public access to information, and to allow online tracking of licenses and transactions.
However, as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recently stressed, good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development.