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BERLIN-based Transparency International (TI) has again branded Bangladesh as the top corrupt nation of the world. This time, Africa's Chad also topped the list of corrupt countries of the world along with Bangladesh.
This was the fifth time in a row that this country had been branded top corrupt nation of the world. Time and again, the government has been warned about the looming consequences of corruption eating into the vitals of the economy. Country's image as a good investment destination has been seriously affected. Recent simultaneous bomb blasts and the rising terrorist activities have hit the country very much. Its image as a moderate Muslim country is no more in place. Corruption, a study revealed, is taking a heavy toll on the economy and at least one percent gross domestic products (GDP) is being wasted on account of it.
Corruption is an impediment to economic development and poverty reduction. It has long been lamented as a moral and legal problem, since it involves illegitimate appropriation of public resources for private gain. However, there is a growing contention which has established that corruption and other forms of poor governance are also associated with lower economic performance.
Country's anti-corruption body has been upgraded to a commission. But the commission is not fully functional as yet. Some activities have of this bady started in the port city of Chittagong, yet with far less success. The commission is yet to make any substantial headway in wiping out corruption from the society. According to the TI ranking, country's police is still the most corrupt force. It was supposed to act as the guardian of the law and security of the country. Unfortunately, the police have not been adequately oriented and trained to work for the welfare of the nation.
Open bribe-takings, toll extortions, alleged snatchings etc are common features of police activities. Corruption in the communications ministry is more rampant than any other ministry. Incidents of alleged irregularities in many deals made the ministry more corrupt. Tax and customs administration is also at the top of agenda. Bribery and thefts in utilities such as power, ports and telecommunications are rampant. The human development services are also subject to poor governance.
Many studies have shown that bad governance, including corruption, reduces economic growth -- countries with poor governance grow more significantly more slowly than countries with honest, accountable governments. Some studies are also showing that poor governance is associated with lower performance in areas such as adult literacy and infant mortality.
Corruption invariably channels public resources to the rich -- the poor lack the funds to bribe or pay for the private provision of services that are supposed to be provided for free as public services. Almost everybody suffers from corruption, but the poor suffer more.
As in most countries, corruption is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh, and it arises from deeply rooted characteristics in the administrative and socio-political systems which have evolved over centuries.
Since independence, country's leaders have often condemned the high incidence of corruption, but even since the return of democracy during the 1990s, neither government has been able to take effective actions to address the systemic issues that allow corruption to flourish. The business community has put up with it and, many would argue, benefited from it. It has unfortunately been the tax payers and ordinary citizens, especially the poor, who have largely had to pay for it.
Most observers believe that the incidence of corruption in Bangladesh is high. According to surveys conducted by bodies such as Transparency International, Business International, Political Risk Services and the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh ranks among the most corrupt nations in the world. While TI's exact ordinal ranking may be open to debate, the point to recognise is that unfortunately Bangladesh falls among the high corruption group of countries.
Some reforms measures might reduce the pressures toward corruption. First, a key element of civil service reform should be to raise public sector salaries, especially for more senior officials, to levels more comparable to the private sector. In order for this to be affordable, the number of public employees will need to be reduced, especially at the lower levels. Better paid officials would be under less economic pressure to supplement their incomes through corruption. Many other measures need to be taken to improve their accountability, but public sector compensation, especially at the higher levels, has eroded so badly that better pay needs to be an element of an anti-corruption strategy in Bangladesh.
Second, the financing of political parties and elections needs to be reformed. In democracies all over the world, corruption scandals are frequently associated with the financing of political parties and election campaigns, and financing the political establishment and process, without compromising the integrity of politicians, is a global challenge. In Bangladesh, the political parties' sources of income and their expenditures should be made transparent. The parties should be required to keep accounts, have them audited and publish them. A third principle is to restrict the scope of the public sector to appropriate roles. If the public sector is not involved in an activity, there can not be any corruption.
There are other options that are intended to curb opportunities for corruption. First, it is essential to reduce bureaucrats' discretion in the performance of their responsibilities. Reforms in many countries seek to limit the discretion of regulators and service providers. They are part of a general strategy of reducing the discretion of public agents by establishing clear and transparent rules that are easy to understand and feasible to comply with. The rules must not only be clear, but also acceptable.
Greater use of information technology (IT) provides opportunities for increasing transparency. Computerising transactions tends to reduce discretion, depersonalize interactions and increase transparency by facilitating automated cross-references and conformity checks.
In Bangladesh, the failure to appoint an Obudsman on the part of the government has denied citizens a channel to report corruption. The citizens need channels to register complaints about specific services in specific locations, easily and without fear of reprisal. These channels need to be designed to be readily accessible to them -- who are often poor rural dwellers. Once such channels have been established, it is important that complaints are followed up visibly.
Contract awards provide opportunities for procurement, and in Bangladesh there are reports of extensive corruption, political influence and pressure from trade unions in the procurement process. Public trust in the process is generally lacking. Donors are particularly sensitive about corruption in foreign funded contracts because they have to convince their tax-payers that aid funds are being used efficiently and effectively. It is very difficult to justify sustaining aid if there is suspicion that a significant proportion of the funds are being siphoned off through corruption.
Reducing corruption is a daunting challenge, because the factors which enable it are deeply embedded in socio-political and administrative systems. However, Bangladesh can take courage and learn from the examples of other countries which have begun to attack corruption. Countries all over the world are focusing increasing attention on issues of governance and corruption and are investing substantial resources in making their governments more accountable, transparent and responsive to the needs of their citizens. Governance and corruption reforms have become a central issue in many recent elections, and because of democratic reforms, new leaders dedicated to fighting corruption and improving public administration are attaining power as never before.
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