Anti Corruption Blog Launched.

Corruption is a very big problem in many nations of the world – some would assert that it is becoming more extensive, and more areas of development activity are being affected. Corruption is also becoming, de facto, an attack on governance as more and more of the rules under which nations are governed are breached with impunity. Citizen engagement is very important in fighting corruption, and there are particular advantages in getting NGOs more involved in the fight. NGOs have limitations, but also great potential strengths, and these can be better realized through better project management.

Unfortunately, there are many indications that corruption continues to be not only a serious problem, but also an increasing one. All over the world, including those places where neo-liberal economics and liberal-democratic politics have been institutionalized, there has grown up a “new corruption” that has become a part of these new institutions and is carried out by greedy and rapacious elites.

Corruption also generates economic distortions in the public sector by diverting public investment away from education and into capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal such dealings, thus further distorting investment. Corruption also lowers compliance with construction, environmental and other regulations; reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure, and increases budgetary pressure on government.

Corruption means that money that would otherwise have been available for spending on the public good by government is siphoned off into the pockets of individuals, and money that would otherwise have been available for productive investment is diverted and skewed into schemes that provide the most illicit income for corrupt people. A World Bank Forum.

Corruption harms democracy

Corruption erodes each of these aspects of democracy. With corruption, political parties are financed by interests to whom they are then beholden, whatever their promises to the people. Political parties in turn often try to bribe the electorate to give them their votes, or intimidate them by promising them government goods and services if elected, or that they will be shut out of government services if they back the wrong party. In some cases political parties (particularly parties that are in power) are able to skew the electoral process itself by buying off those who manage it.

This is the time to stop corruption; expose the corrupt and petition our government to prosecute them or isolate corrupt governments.