HATARI: UFISADI WAONGEZEKA TANZANIA MIAKA MITATU ILIYOPITA

Thursday, 09 December 2010 22:50
digg

By The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. Corruption has increased during the past three years, according to the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer released yesterday to coincide with the International Anti-Corruption Day.
Most worrying, according to the report, bribes to police have almost doubled since 2006, and more people reported paying bribes to the judiciary and for registry and permit services than they did five years ago.

The report prepared by Transparency International (TI) and released in Berlin, Germany, says six out of 10 people around the world reported the increase of corruption incidents. On the other hand, one in four people reported paying bribes last year.

Views on corruption trends are most negative in Europe and North America, where 73 per cent and 67 per cent of people, respectively, think corruption has increased during the past three years.
Despite the results, the survey also found that seven out of 10 people would be willing to report corruption incidents.
“The fall-out of the financial crises continues to affect people’s opinion of corruption, particular in Europe and North America. Institutions everywhere must stand resolute in efforts to restore trust and good governance,” said Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International.
“It is heartening that many people are ready to take a stand against corruption. This willingness must be mobilised,” Labelle noted.

The 2010 Global Corruption Barometer surveyed more than 91,000 people in 86 countries and territories. It focuses on petty bribery, perceptions of public institutions and views of who people trust to combat corruption.
The survey showed that in the past 12 months, one in four people paid a bribe to one of nine institutions and services providers from health to education to tax authorities. The police are named as the most frequent recipients of bribes, according to those surveyed, with 29 per cent of them reporting to the police that they had paid a bribe.

In sub-Sahara African, the report says one in two people reported paying a bribe during the past 12 months. This compares to 36 per cent of people surveyed in the Middle East and North Africa, 32 per cent in the newly independent states, 23 per cent in Latin America, 19 per cent in western Balkans and Turkey, 11 per cent in Asia Pacific and just 5 per cent in the European Union countries and North America.

More than 20 countries reported an increase in petty bribery than in 2006, when the same question was asked by the Barometer. The biggest number of reported bribery payments in 2010 is in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cameroon, India, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Uganda where more than 50 per cent of people surveyed paid a bribe during the last 12 months.
Almost half of all respondents say they paid bribes to avoid problems with the authorities and a quarter of them say it was to speed up processes.

Sadly, few people trust their governments or politicians. Eight out of 10 say political parties are corrupt or extremely corrupt. The civil service and parliament are considered the next most corrupt institutions.
Half the people questioned say their government’s action to stop corruption is ineffective. This reflects little change over time. However, opinion have worsened slightly since 2007 in Asia Pacific, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa – while they have improved in the newly independent states and North America.