Quiet corruption draining Africa

THE World Bank has said the failure of public servants to deliver goods or services paid for by governments is widespread across Africa, and is having a disproportionate effect on the poor.

Terming it ‘quiet corruption’, the World Bank report titled Africa Development Indicators 2010 further noted that most studies on corruption focus on an exchange of money – bribes to powerful political designees or kickbacks to public officials. It focused on the way quiet corruption leads to an increasingly negative expectation of service delivery systems, causing families to ignore the system and with long-term consequences for development.Chief Economist for the World Bank’s Africa Region Shanta Devarajan said quiet corruption does not make the headlines the way bribery scandals do, but it is just as corrosive to societies.’Tackling quiet corruption will require a combination of strong and committed leadership, policies and institutions at the sectoral level, and most importantly increased accountability and participation by citizens,’ she noted.Quiet corruption, although smaller in monetary terms, is particularly harmful for the poor, who are more vulnerable and more reliant on government services and public systems to satisfy their most basic needs. One of the most damaging aspects of quiet corruption is that it can have long-term consequences. Some of the examples made included that of a child denied a proper education because of absentee teachers, and thus suffer in adulthood with low cognitive skills and weak health.Also, the absence of drugs and doctors means unwanted deaths from malaria and other diseases; and farmers used to receive diluted fertilizers may choose to stop using them altogether, leaving them in low-productivity agriculture. The report also carried economic indicators, tables and an explanation of why quiet corruption is such a hindrance to achieving long and short-term development goals.While some solutions are offered, the hope is that shining a light on the problem of quiet corruption will begin a wider debate and hasten the push for solutions. It introduced new survey tools such as the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey and Quantitative Service Delivery System, which have enabled researchers to track resources and monitor the attendance of frontline providers. ‘These research and survey results have improved the understanding of a broad range of misconduct and contributed to reshaping the policy debate about corruption,’ the report said. – Nampa