Guiding Questions

• What is corruption?
• What are the forms and manifestations
of corruption?
• What are the causes of corruption?
• What are the major consequences of
corruption?
• How can we combat the problems of
corruption?
 Contents
1. Definition of Corruption
2. Forms and Manifestations of
Corruption
3. Causes of Corruption
4. Consequences of Corruption
5. Combating Corruption
 1. Definition of Corruption
• Abuse of public power for private gain
(Merwe, 1997)
• Exercise of official powers against public
interest
• Deviation from the normal duties of a public
role because of private interest i.e., to get
inducement
 2. Forms and Manifestation of Corruption
• Acceptance of bribes
• Kickbacks: part of a person's payment for doing a
job that he gives for getting him the job
• Moonlighting: employed by two employers
simultaneously.
• Greasing: is a form of bribery given to hasten some
work.
• Stashing: Storing asset in a usually secret place for
future use
• Air-Supply: Payment of goods not supplied or
services not rendered
• Earning commissions
 Cont’d…
• Unlawful usage of public assets for private ends
• Acts of extortion: is an act of obtaining money by an official
from a person by force or threats.
• Misplacement or hiding of files, records, titles for purposes of
extortion
• Awarding contracts to incompetent firms
• Preparation fake vouchers in accounts
• Electoral fraud
• Absenteeism
 Cont’d…
• The leakage of vital information to competing or
unauthorized parties
• Partisanship
• Misrepresentation: is an untrue or misleading [statement
of fact made during negotiations by one party to another,
the statement then inducing that other party to enter into a contract

• Tax fraud
• Subverting the law to imprison or free individuals, reduce prison
terms or fines
• Nepotism: favoritism that is granted to relatives in various fields
 Corruption perception Index(CPI)

• CPI ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public

sector is perceived to be (Transparency international (NGO))
• Scale from 0 to 100( I.e., 100 very clean and 0 is highly corrupt)
• The perceived level of public sector corruption in 180 countries
around the world as CPI,2019 shows that
• Denmark(1), Newzland(1), Finland(3), Singapore(4), Sweden(4)
Switzerland(4) are the least corrupted countries
• However, Somalia(180), South Sudan(179), and Syria(178) are
the most corrupted countries
• 2/3 of the countries score below the average
• Ethiopia ranked (96) and scores 37 points. It shows improvement
compared with 2011 results which was 120
 3. Causes of Corruption
• Political
• Economic
• Socio-cultural
• Administrative
 3. Causes of Corruption
Political

• Lack of effective political leadership

• Weak political commitment to control
corruption
• Excessive politicization of civil service
• Prevalence of weak national interest
• Monopoly of state power
• Lack of independent media
 3. Causes of Corruption
Economic

• Poor compensation of the public servants

• Disobedience by public servants
• High incidence of unemployment
• High incidence of poverty
• Low salary scales
• Sense of tenure insecurity
 3. Causes of Corruption
Socio-Cultural
Influence of cultural traditions
Poor awareness of the civil
service and its resources
 3. Causes of Corruption
Administrative
• Lack of code of conduct for public officials
• Poor law enforcement by the police, judges, etc.
• Suspension or undermining of administrative principles such
as public accountability and transparency
• Lack of policy for regular monitoring of assets and liabilities
of a high-rank government officials
• Improper administrative procedures including red tape
• Ineffective mechanisms for administrative control
• Minimal chances of detection of corruption by administrative
apparatus
• weak punishments for criminals
 4. Consequences of Corruption

• Political
• Economic
• Socio-Economic
• Administrative
 4. Consequences of Corruption
Political Impact
• Erodes ethics across the board in the society
• Endangering fragile democratic institutions
• Undermining public confidence in government and
political institutions
• Obstructing free and fair elections
• Paralyzing the controlling role of the legislative
institutions on the executive power
• Constraining the independent judiciary activities
 4. Consequences of Corruption
Economic Impact
• Leading a country to unshakable poverty
• Widening the gap between the haves and have not’s
• Stifling private initiatives and free-market economy
• Crippling the country’s access to grant and aid
opportunities
4. Consequences of Corruption
Socio-Economic Impacts
• poor medical services
• poor schools
• delay in completion of projects
• reduction of government revenue
• etc
 4. Consequences of Corruption
Administrative Impacts
• Administrative inefficiency
• Poor personnel management systems
• Selection and recruitment of family members, friends, and
relatives
• Appointments and promotions violate the principles of merit
• Increment in the number of unqualified personnel in
public organizations
 5. Combating Corruption
• Reforming legislative and institutional
framework
• Declaring property before taking up
office
• Sanctions
• Joint control over the use of external
resources
 5. Combating Corruption
• Encourage investigative journalism
• Open door policy
• Establishing independent bodies
• Decentralization and appropriate delegation of powers
at various levels
 5. Combating Corruption
• Articulating code of conduct
• Strengthening the police and courts machinery
• International communities must condemn stashing
• Ensuring the salaries and compensations of civil
servants to reflect the responsibilities of their posts
• Incorporating ethics in secondary school and
tertiary level curricula
 Cont’d…
• Strengthening free media
• Identifying corruption prone organizations and
introducing strict control and monitoring machinate
• Committed government
• Strong civil society organizations
• Transforming the society’s view