Corruption In Iraq & World

Russian Designer Creates "uniform for corrupt"

It seems corruption is not a fashion trend also.
vj

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Fashion Protests Diversion of HIV Treatment Funding

(SERGEI SUPINSKY, AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A man dresses up in a "uniform for the corrupt" designed by fashion designer Oleksiy Zalevsky during a symbolic fashion show in front of the Ukraine's Health Protection Ministry in Kiev on September 17. Participants of the show, organized by the popular designer together with Ukrainian Union of HIV- infected People, accused of authorities of stealing some $3.75 million during tender for purchase of medicines for HIV-infected and for AIDS sick people.

Hillary Clinton Accuses Nigerian Government of Enabling "Culture of Corruption"

Hillary is doing a seven-nation African tour and the topic of corruption keeps coming up in news reports about her visits.  Here is one example where she talks strongly about corruption in Nigeria.  The problem is she doesn't finish the sentence by using conditionality and saying US foreign aid will be reduced 20% per year until corruption is halted in Nigeria:
vj

Note:  I have also included an article about an article where Hillary urges Angola to fight corruption, AND a blog article citing several quotes from Hillary about corruption during her Africa tour.

From NPR.org

Clinton, In Nigeria, Talks Tough On Corruption

by Corey Flintoff    -   Dated Aug. 12, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered up a blunt assessment of problems in Africa's most populous nation Wednesday, accusing the government of Nigeria of enabling a culture of corruption.

On the fifth stop of a seven-nation African tour, Clinton met with Nigerian officials and gave a speech in which she urged the country to fight corruption and pursue democratic reforms.

Her message resonated strongly with the former head of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, who now lives in what he describes as "self-exile" in the United States.

"The U.S. government must be honest, not diplomatic," says Ribadu, who is now a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, a Washington, D.C. think tank. "The U.S. must be on the side of the Nigerian people, not on the side of the leaders."

Clinton spoke out on Nigeria's corruption problems after a meeting with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose election in 2007 was widely denounced as fraudulent by international observers.

Clinton said the country's "lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence." She pressed for electoral reforms in time for elections in 2011.

Nigeria's foreign minister told reporters after the meeting that Yar'Adua had acknowledged that "we have some serious challenges there."

Ribadu says corruption is more than a challenge. "It's the biggest problem confronting us," he says. Ribadu points out that Nigeria is the world's sixth largest exporter of oil, but "we've not been able to use the resources that we have, because it goes into private pockets."

He says that Nigeria's main security problems, a long-running insurgency in the oil-rich Niger Delta and a sectarian conflict in the north of the country, can be traced to disaffection among those who feel that they have been prevented from sharing in Nigeria's wealth.

More than 700 people were killed last month in clashes between police and a radical Islamic sect in the northern city of Maiduguri. The sect recruited mainly jobless young men "reacting to corruption that is at the heart of the problem," Ribadu says.

Clinton did not comment directly on the crackdown against the Boko Haram — the name means "Western education is prohibited" — but said that the U.S. has "no doubt that al-Qaida has a presence in North Africa" and that extremists would "seek a foothold wherever they can."

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Clinton Asks Angola to Fight Corruption, Hold Presidential Vote
By Janine Zacharia and Candido Mendes   -  dated August 9, 2009
from Bloomberg news service

Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Angola to investigate human rights abuses, fight corruption and hold free, fair and “timely” presidential elections.

Angola’s prosperity depends on “good governance and strong democratic institutions,” Clinton said after meeting with Angolan Foreign Minister Assuncao Afonso dos Anjos in Luanda, Angola’s capital.

The foreign minister asked for more time for the presidential election, the country’s first since 1992. Angola, which gained independence from Portugal in 1975, held a parliamentary election last year.

The presidential vote, due this year, may be delayed until 2010 as the country works on a new constitution, Agence France- Presse reported July 15.

Clinton said the U.S. plans to expand trade and investment with Angola and is looking at ways to cooperate more closely with the Chinese on economic development in Africa.

China has extended more than $5 billion in credit to Angola, by the State Department’s calculation. In 2008, the U.S. Agency for International Development gave Angola $40 million in assistance.

“I’m not looking at what anyone else can do, I’m looking at what the United States can do,” she said.

Clinton is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Angola since Colin Powell tried to solicit support for the Iraq war in 2002, when Angola held a seat on the United Nations Security Council. No secretary of state has ever spent the night here as Clinton will and no U.S. president has visited Angola since it became independent in 1975.

Clinton came to Angola, which surpassed Nigeria as the largest African producer of crude oil in July, in a nod to the country’s growing prominence in the hydrocarbon sector. Even with its enormous resources, the country of 17 million needs investment in infrastructure, coaxing on transparency and an alternative to Chinese investment, U.S. officials and analysts say.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Luanda, Angola at jzacharia@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 9, 2009 10:57 EDT

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Hillary Clinton Echoes President Obama, Addresses Corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa

August 6, 2009

Author: Rachel Brown

Rachel Brown is a communications intern at the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development. She is an International Relations major at Tufts University.

Kicking off her visit to sub-Saharan Africa in Kenya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her time there to speak pointedly about corruption, the same issue highlighted by President Obama in his trip to Accra earlier this summer. U.S. news coverage emphasized this feature of her visit, with a CNN article, Clinton in Kenya urges a cleanup of corruption, stating: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a ‘tough but lovingly presented’ message to Kenya on Thursday: shun corruption and reform government.”

Clinton drove home the economic consequences of corruption, arguing that: “This is not just about good governance — it’s also about good business.”

An Associated Press article opens with the lines:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Kenya on Wednesday for rampant graft and corruption as she made the case that business and trade across Africa cannot grow without good governance and solid democracy…Clinton said, “True economic progress in Africa will depend on responsible governments that reject corruption, enforce the rule of law and deliver results for their people.”

Clinton also focused on the heavily contested debate over where suspected perpetrators of the violence following the December 2007 elections should be tried and on the government’s failure to implement the reforms agreed upon during the formation of the current coalition government. Commenting on the post-election violence, the role of the U.S. in resolving the dispute, and the current state of justice, she stated:

“…the absence of strong and effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence and a lack of respect for a rule of law,” Clinton said. “These conditions helped fuel the postelection violence and they are continuing to hold Kenya back.”

Clinton also took note of rampant corruption within Kenya’s judiciary system, her visit coming on the heels of a decision to try suspected perpetrators of violence within the court system instead of a special tribunal. She even used a phrase commonly uttered in Kenya, “why hire a lawyer when you can buy a judge,” in reference to judicial corruption.

Kenyan newspapers covered these issues, with an additional focus on Clinton’s message that Kenyans must be responsible for reducing corruption and on the fact that the U.S. would not pose sanctions on Kenya (coverage leading up to Clinton’s visit speculated potential sanctions from the U.S.) An article in one of Kenya’s major newspapers even opened with the line:

“Hillary Clinton’s top assistant on Africa has made clear why the United States is unlikely to take punitive action aimed at forcing reforms in Kenya.”

CNN also noted this point, quoting Clinton saying that: “We will consider consequences aimed at individuals, not aimed at the people of Kenya.” The emphasis Clinton placed on the role of Kenyans to solve corruption ranged from the statements that: “The US cannot solve Kenya’s problems… we cannot dictate to you how to run this government; it is not up to us…The answers to Kenya’s challenges lie with Kenyans,” to concrete steps Kenyans could take to act. Quoting The Daily Nation, a major Kenyan newspaper:

Terming Kenya as a “very political country” where “everybody has a political opinion”, Mrs Clinton asked those in the civil society to join politics and try to change the system from within…The pledge to support Kenya’s relatively vibrant civil society led to a call to all Kenyans to submit their ideas to a special portal on the website of the US Embassy in Nairobi…“Use the website to tell us what you think we can do to help you make your country better,” she said.

Clinton has driven home the message that taking measures against corruption is necessary not only to attract investment, but also to end impunity and other social ills underlying the violence that ensued after the 2007 elections. She has placed the burden of doing so on Kenyans, but has nonetheless firmly stated the U.S. position and a willingness to assist Kenyans in the fight against corruption. In doing so, she has echoed the message that President Obama set forth in Accra, that while Africa faces a history wrought with challenges that plague the continent today, it is up to Africans to take responsibility for Africa. To conclude in the same vein, Obama delivered a video message after Clinton’s speech, in which he proclaimed that: “Only Africans can unlock Africa’s potential.”

Tags: Africa, Clinton, corruption, Governance, Hillary Clinton, Kenya, State Department, US

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

China Detains Australian on Corruption (Bribery) Charges

Ooops, it seems an Australian executive of an Australian ore firm bribed workers at some Chinese State owned Steel firms to get inside information on pricing negotiations.  And, it appears he and three Chinese got caught.    Remember, Australia's Wheat Board was one of the early outfits  where they were found to have paid bribes to get Iraq's Saddam Hussein to accept sub-standard wheat.

When I arrived in Iraq in 2004, an Australian was actually the reigning Coalition Provisional Authority Sr. Advisor to the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry, and then news of the bribe hearings came out and he left, and no Australian replaced him, but an American did (I am not saying that the Australian was involved, but I think Australia was on the hot seat for awhile back then).   You see, Australia sold LOTS of wheat to Iraq for their free food "basket" program where a basket of food, including staples like wheat, were given out to every Iraqi.   Recently, the same Iraqi Ministry managing that program, the Trade Ministry, has been in the press where the Minister resigned and many staff were arrested on corruption charges.

In the US, we have the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits business officials from paying bribes in foreign countries, and US companies still periodically get caught by that law.  I don't know if a similar law exists in Australia.
vj

UK Serious Fraud Office Gets first Foreign Corruption Guilty Plea

About two years ago, the UK signed the UN's Convention on Corruption, which meant that the country's government agreed to help other countries prosecute local residents for corruption cases.  The UK was slow to do anything, thus here is the UK's first actual succesful prosecution of a firm over corruption related to Iraq's Oil for Food Program where many suppliers like the one below paid bribes to business, however in this case, it is for bribes in two other countries many years ago.

A problem is that the UK and London were notorious havens for many corrupt individuals from Iraq and other countries, and the UK authorities were not active in helping the harmed country prosecute the people who escaped to the UK with millions in corruption earnings.
vj

From Times Online

July 9, 2009

Yemen Anti-Corruption Skills Improved by USAID contractor

We just wrote earlier about the concept of "conditionality" increasing.  In respect to anti-corruption, that means that a donor country (i.e. the US, or agency like the World Bank) halts funds to a country receiving foreign aid if they don't meet specific conditions that reduce corruption.

Well, apparently that happened to Yemen in 2006, when the leadership of the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) halted funding to Yemen because they failed to meet anti-corruption progress benchmarks.   So USAID hired the firm ARD, Inc. to develop a program to assist Yemen in getting "back on track" to qualify for the MCC funds.

Below is a description of the results of the program.  What is interesting is that they refer to the "new USAID Anticorruption Assessment methodology" and recommended changes to it.   ARD said the measurement system didn't include info about "non-statte" players like the media.  What is interesting is that the Iraq Commission on Public Integrity was based on the Hong Kong anti-corruption agency, and media and civil society - and public relations is one of the six "pillars" for the group to function.

BRD also recommended the use of "diplomatic leverage" to get the local government to be more accepting of news reporters writing about corruption.  That subject is one fo the indicators used by Transparency International in ranking their corruption perception index.

So, conditionality to ensure reduced corruption seems to be growing!!
vj

Bangladesh Lifestyle and Corruption Issues - Tough Love

So you think your local elections and neighborhood scandals are tough... like the officials who spent too much on mileage to travel to another city?

This is a blog entry on the problems in Bangladesh, and the calling for investigation into murders of various officials and the new Prime Minister's promise to publish a white paper on corruption cases in the last 7 years of the prior government.

There isn't much on corruption, but this, and it does mention an anti-corruption commission:

"In this context it may not be out of place to mention that notorious corrupt elements who sucked national assets and resources and siphoned off huge money abroad are no lesser criminals than war criminals. They must be brought under law also. Compromising with major corrupt persons will tarnish the image of the government.PM has announced her governments’ intention to prepare and publish white paper on major corruption and irregularities of the last 7 years. This has attracted sharp reaction from opposition camp. There must not be any objection if the white paper is supported with relevant authentic documents. If must be used as a ploy to pressurise opposition only. Many elements of ruling mahajote do not have clean track record also. In any case independent judiciary and neutral Anti Corruption Commission must continue endeavour to ensure zero tolerance on corruption and acts of terrorism.Governmen must let them work freely."

vj

Understanding History of Corruption in Mexico - 1995 article

Completely by accident, during an internet search, up popped this delicious article by a History Professor and published in a 1995 Univ of Chicago publication on Corruption in Mexico. 

It gives a good background on how different is the acceptance by Mexicans of corruption vs Americans.  They don't mention either group compared to Chicago residents.  It also reinforces the concept that governments with low pay for staff expect the staff to make up their income through corruption, thus raising direct wages of government workers is a method to reduce the NEED for corruption.
vj
Favorite quote:

"On the whole, Mexicans are more likely to think that there is a difference between a person's private life and his or her public life. They are willing to concede that someone can do a good job as a politician and have a disreputable private life. Americans are much more likely to see the two as being correlated," he said.

In Mexico, corruption consists of an intricate system of exchanges in which support for public officials is given in return for certain privileges. Payments of money to ensure that routine services are rendered are also part of the mix, as are elaborate public ceremonies in which hosts extract favors from their politician guests in return for support.

2007 Corruption in Shanghai, China Delayed many construction projects

Sometimes corruption affects big plans of communities. I was reading a recent article about the new skyscrapers planned in Shanghai, China, and it mentioned that several projects were late due to a large corruption case in 2007.  Shanghai has always been in the news regarding corruption, and the Communist Party was formed in China partly due to the corruption of the reigning Nationalist Party in Shanghai in the early 1900's.   In this case, construction of major skyscrapers in Shanghai, China were delayed from 2007 because the lead architect named Chen Liangyu committed pension fund corruption, which delayed building completion by 2+ years.  According to the Wall St. Journal, "Giant construction projects got funded from public coffers; choice assets moved out of state hands in elaborate transactions; and plum contracts went to the well-connected."

It seems that in the Chinese system, top communist officials like the architect have immense power and run things the way they want.  Well, that caught up with them and many projects were delayed.

"A subway expansion under way has been called into doubt, as has privatization of a water utility. Museum projects, including a Shanghai branch of France's Centre Georges Pompidou, are held up, as is approval for a Saks Inc. store on the classy waterfront district known as the Bund. The city has put on ice a campaign to lure a Walt Disney Co. theme park and a plan for the world's tallest Ferris wheel, officials say. Saks says it has pushed back the planned opening of its store to 2009 from 2008, while Disney says its China strategy is broader than a Shanghai theme park."

The scandal is a reminder of the role corruption long played in Shanghai's history. Though the city was famed early last century as the East's richest banking center, and opulent Art Deco buildings sprang up on the Bund, government-tolerated opium and prostitution rings also earned the city the label Whore of the Orient. Its very name came to stand for trickery, as in getting "shanghaied" into working on a ship. The Communist Party was founded in Shanghai and rose partly on a wave of resentment against the corruption of the ruling Nationalists.

vj

Past Taiwan President Jailed in Corruption Probe

So it seems if you are a former country President, and your wife electronically transfers $20-million out of the country, people think you are corrupt.    Well, that happened to the former Taiwanese President, who apparently was elected on an anti-corruption platform, and maybe he went to the dark side.
vj

Dubai Cracking Down on Corruption with String of Arrests

This is a little article that appeared in a Middle East website, but indicates some countries like Dubai ARE cracking down on Corruption, which is a good thing.  They actually are arresting people.  Dubai is very aware of the negative effect of corruption on their image as a "place to be" and "do business".

What is interesting is that I found this article when searching for articles on USAID's Tatweer Project, which was discussed in the previous post.  This article is about a UAE developer called Tatweer.

Favorite Quote:

A string of executives from companies including Dubai Islamic Bank, Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel and developers Deyaar and Sama Dubai have been arrested recently as part of the anti- corruption drive.

vj