Bribery and Corruption in National
and International Perspective, Revisited
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B |
ribery in my
opinion is the persuasion of another to act improperly, circumvent the laws or,
procedures in ones or anther’s favour by an offer or given an inducement.
Corruption on the other hand is a moral deterioration by the given or
acceptance of a bribe or the indulgence in such an improper act. Bribery and
corruption originated from the western word. It was spread to the rest of the
world through colonialism and international trade.
Where they
could not colonise a country by force, they offered bribes to appease the
tribal chiefs and other key people in the country to get what they wanted. This
led various countries to unconscious colonial occupation. The indigenous people
took up the habit after the colonialist left. This indirect method of bribery
is still used today by some of the advanced countries to obtain what they need
from other countries.
Bribery and
corruption can be of different kinds and for different motives. It can be the
openly given of money, materials or free services. It can be in the form of
debt forgiveness, trade concession or contract awards. There is also the subtle
but effective electoral bribery, a promise to or execution of a policy just
before an election. This is usually done by the Government of the day, in every
country of the world. It works in some countries while it does not work in
others. Enlightened electorate, however, always vote on the basis of a
Government’s record or the potential of an opposition party to perform. But
this form of electoral bribery is not usually taken seriously since money and
other material resources do not normally change hands.
The most common
corruption today is the bribery of legislators by the head of state and heads
of other tiers of Government for different motives. This is especially
prevalent in a presidential system of Government where there is normally a
separation of power. Here a large amount of money is always involved. Another
form of corruption is the open distribution of money, foodstuff, clothes,
cattle, rams or goats etc. by the Government of the day and election candidates
before an election. This form of electoral bribery is prevalent in the less
advanced countries where the electorate are either predominantly illiterates,
unenlightened or poor.
The external
angle in the corruption of the elected is where foreign Governments bribe the
head of state as well as the key or relevant legislators. This is one of the
ways many advanced countries penetrate the less advanced countries who are
generally and financially vulnerable. It is done either to influence their
policies or to get favour. Where this manner of bribery fails they often look
for those that can foment any kind of instability for the Government or even
overthrow the Government. After which they organise or install a puppet
Government they can remote control. This is one of the mysteries behind the
persistent instability in many less advanced countries.
Who is today
responsible for bribery and corruption? Is it the western world that introduced
it to the world? Is it the person who takes or the person who gives in order to
realise his/her desire? In the absence of any sense of morality, the person who
seeks at any cost whether by acquiesce to the demand to pay bribe or
voluntarily gives without been asked is equally responsible with the person who
demands for bribe before he/she grants.
In a highly
competitive environment, the person who seeks often tempts or persuades those
in position of power to accept bribes. This is particularly evident among the
multi-national companies, foreign businessmen, contractors and Governments who
scramble for businesses in other countries. As they are desperate for more and
more businesses and because of the fierce competition among them, they
pressurise, tempt and bribe their ways through. The less advanced countries,
especially those with undemocratic Governments, are usually the fertile grounds
for this kind of international malpractices. Here, all the foreign businessmen,
contractors, multi-national companies and Governments are all equally guilty of
bribery and corruption to obtain illegal and unethical competitive advantage they
cannot do in their own countries.
Today,
there is the view held by the advanced countries that the less advanced
countries are wrapped in web of bribery and corruption. Here, the advanced
countries seem to be the untainted societies.
Without been bias, bribery and corruption as they are proclaimed today
are not isolated to a particular class of countries. They exist in every
country. The differences in each country are the method, significance,
commonality, triviality and the type of people involved. In many advanced
countries, you do not just give nor demand for bribe ordinarily or openly. But
in many less advanced countries this is not the case. This is where the issue
of bribery and corruption becomes political and appears to be a one side issue
either for propaganda or as a tool for blackmail on the less advanced
countries.
Bribery
and corruption may be openly evident in the less advanced countries generally
because of the level of education and law abidance. By level of education here
I mean the level of awareness, rights and entitlement in society. Those in
positions of power are generally more educated than those who seek. Those who
often infringe the laws and those who are always desperate generally believe
that the only quick way out to obtain what they want is to bribe, even if they
are not asked. But when matters are between the educated, the question of
bribery hardly arises as they often talk their ways through while those in
positions of power at the same time are often careful not to be trapped in
bribery offences. In this circumstance those in position of power always
discharge their duties with diligence and honesty.
This
has not in any form exonerated the educated from allegations of bribery and
corruption. But the incidence is much less than those between the people in
positions of power and the less educated who have not the confidence to
challenge for their rights even when they are not willing to give bribes on
demand. For example, how many lawyers, when they are dealing with each other or
people in positions of power, elite versus elite, bribe their way out or
tolerate the demand? Again, if those that seek were generally law abiding, they
would have no reasons to bribe or to tolerate the demand for bribery by those
in position of power. Anyone who is law abiding will not be vulnerable to the
demand for bribes.
Today,
financial malpractices, misappropriation or embezzlement of public fund is
being misinterpreted as bribery and corruption in many countries. While bribery
and corruption are crimes of immorality, financial malpractices,
misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds are criminal cases of theft
both of which are punishable in law. For example, if;
·
a contract is
awarded at an inflated price, far and above the normal price,
·
a certain
amount of money is set aside for a particular job and the money is taken by one
or a group of individuals without the job been done,
·
a significant
amount of the revenue of a public concern end up in the pockets of a group of
individuals, these are outright criminal cases of embezzlement of public funds.
But
if public officers or the elected misuse or waste the public funds allocated to
them for their benefits, this is a criminal case of misappropriation. These should not be construed generally as
bribery and corruption or used as tools for blackmail. They should be treated
as criminal cases of theft due to weak leadership and management. They are not
unique to the less advanced countries.
Whatever
the propaganda from the advanced countries, it should be let known that all is
not that well in their societies as far as bribery and corruption are
concerned. For examples, anyone can remember the:
·
issue of
bribery that attended the award of the 2002 Winter Olympic to the Salt Lake
City of the United States of America.
·
classic case
of election rigging and the attended miscarriage of justice in the November
2000 presidential election in the United States of America.
·
open bribery
and corruption to galvanise international coalition to fight unjust wars
against weak countries. More recently are the bribery and corruption that
attended the execution of the ‘crusade’ against international terrorism and the
one sided war against Afghanistan following the incident of 11th
September 2001 in the United States of America, all by the USA.
These
are not withstanding the inter Government and multi-national companies’ bribery
to win contracts awards, the official fixing of sports for monetary gains with
the connivance of the world sport bodies and the corruption that pervade the
bodies’ administration. Do the less advanced countries that today get the open
international condemnation for bribery and corruption perpetuate these? Yet, it
is these advanced countries that today claim to occupy high moral grounds and
impose themselves on the less advanced countries on matter of honest practices.
In as much as
advanced countries tend to be very much law abiding in their own countries,
because of their adequate systems of control, the effectiveness of their
internal law enforcement, they are prepared to circumvent the same laws when
they are dealing with the less advanced countries since they cannot equally be
enforced. In all of these, where is Transparency International who claims to
monitor global bribery and corruption? Is its searchlight only functioning when
it comes to the less advanced countries? What is the role of the United
Nations? What measures are being taken
by these bodies to address the type of organised, connected and high level
bribery and corruption being practised by the advanced countries, especially
the United States of America, her cronies and the multi-national companies?
Which of the
advanced countries of the world today is actually an open society when it comes
to bribery, corruption and other financial malpractices? With these, in their
societies, they always maintain dignified silence except where the lid is taken
off the matters by their media before the intervention of the authorities.
However, they always deal with the matters clinically when they manifest in
order to maintain confidence in their systems and society. The less advanced
countries in most cases always leave the issues unattended. They exacerbate the
issues by the way they are handled by their authorities on one hand and the way
the media report the issues on the other hand and thereby drum themselves into
international irrelevance.
From here the
advanced countries often pick up the issues and used them for propaganda and
blackmail as if the less advanced countries are the only ones in the world that
are pervaded by the malpractices. The less advanced countries needless submit
to neither the propaganda nor blackmail from the advanced countries on these
issues, which they use generally to divert attention from their own countries’
problems. The blackmail is often carried out mostly by those advanced countries
who are unsuccessful in contract biding or simply been ignored generally for
political reasons and also by those of them who tried but are unable to have
the country neither under their control nor in their desire to orchestrate
rebellion or insurgency to destabilise the country. The less advanced countries
must not accept the ways they are being vilified or being made to believe that
their countries are the only ones infested by bribery and corruption.
Bribery,
corruption, misappropriation, embezzlement and misuse of public funds
especially by the elected though are unlawful are still much evident in all the
countries of the world, without exception, but in different disguises and
degrees. There is no country that can deny this whatever the blackmail,
propaganda or rhetoric. The demand for or the voluntary given of bribes is a
forceful, waste and an immoral deprival of an individual of his/her resources. The existence of abnormal level of bribery and corruption
can have a ripple and domino effects in society. They often:
·
lead to gross election rigging, the
election of the wrong candidates and emergence of ineffective Government.
·
create crisis of confidence in a
country and erode the esteem of society.
·
lead to
neglect, the neglect of duties, lack of
maintenance, replacement and eventually decay, miscarriage of justice, inefficiency, poor performance and poor
productivity as preference is given to the wrong people.
·
create economic and political
instability as evident in most less advanced countries today.
However,
the extent of the demand for and given of bribes in society depend on the level
of education, systems of control, law abidance, law enforcement, awareness of
rights, entitlement and civilisation. How much has each country:
·
identified
the major and minor areas where bribes may be demanded and given?
·
identified
the likely people that may be involved in bribery and corruption, trivial and
otherwise?
·
educated
their people on the need to be law abiding, not to yield to the demand nor give
bribes, on what to do or how to incriminate those that demand or give bribes?
How many allegations of bribery and corruption are made in the private sector
versus private sector in their dealings?
·
evaluated
the adequacy of her systems of control, law enforcement agency and the
enforcement.
But
a diligent Government with a brave and an honest leadership should be able to
reduce bribery and corruption to ineffective level in its country no matter
those who are involved. There is no need to merely sing the chorus of neither
intention to act nor enacting window dressing laws.
Whatever
the case, bribery, corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement of public
funds can be eradicated or least minimised by any Government. Some of the ways
to prevent, reduce or stop these completely are,
·
payment
of a living wage or salary in society.
·
prompt
payment of wages and salaries by all the employers.
·
availability
of affordable credits and loans facilities to the ordinary individuals in
society.
·
non-election
rigging, election of the right people and capable leadership.
·
use
of the right personnel, management, adequate systems of control and
accountability.
·
honest
and adequate law enforcement agency and law enforcement.
·
policing
of those who police, policing those who make the laws and those who interpret
the laws and foremost by general education.
As
in the advanced countries, most of these remove bribery and corruption from the
high and mighty, commonality, triviality and the ordinary in society to
ineffective level.
It
may not be easy to eradicate bribery and corruption in society especially where
those that are highly involved in the practice are in position of power such,
as the head of state, his/her political party hierarchy, legislators and
Governors. The most effective remedies are to mount pressure on them, prevent
them from rigging elections in order not to come back and retain power to do
the same wrong things. They should always be voted out of elected positions in
society.
The people in
society, multi-national companies and foreign Governments should have an
unwritten code of conduct such as not to give brides even on demand whatever
may be the competition to get businesses. If those who seek businesses are law
abiding, refuse to give bribes, the people who are in position of power and
duty bound would have no alternative but to carry out their duties honestly.
The people in each society should organise themselves in various forms at least
to follow up the elected and Government of the day. They should not wait for
things to go wrong before they start to shout and apportion blame. That is
deterring before it happens. This is the front line role for the news media in
each country.
In the matters
of bribery and corruption in particular, the news media of the less advanced
countries should be brave and those of the advanced countries should be
sincerer in their reports. They should not lend themselves to be used as
platform for propaganda and blackmail by their Governments. While every country takes steps to put her house in order,
the western countries in particular that exported bribery and corruption in the
first place, must cleanse themselves of the malpractices which is today
organised, disguise, connected but out of triviality and the ordinary in their
societies. It is not enough for them to continue to look for scapegoats among
the leaderships of the less advanced countries, especially among the countries
that do not submit to their hegemony. After all, where do the ill-gotten gains
from the less advanced countries end up?
The
United Nations needs to take the initiative in the eradication of international
bribery, multi-national companies bribery, Government international bribery,
the tendency to fight unjust wars, destabilise those elected Government and
leaderships who refused to play the role of puppets to some advanced countries.
The Transparency International should not be bias in its searchlight on bribery
and corruption to the exclusion of the advanced countries.
The article was first written in
2001 and recently revisited on