Table of Contents
Introduction
Talking about corruption these days is always important, not only for its significance, but also for its effects on societies. Whether in developed or developing countries corruption is always a current theme.
The opportunism of civil servants in order to satisfy their own interests through misuse of public resources has led to a consequent increase in poverty, crime, lack of investment, administrative inefficiency and low economic growth in several countries. (Fernandes, 2018)
International organizations have been aware of the phenomenon of corruption and consequently increasing control measures. Such control measures are necessary because the cost of corruption to societies has been very high, especially for developing countries.
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Unfortunately, it is concluded that corruption exists everywhere and it presents in various ways such as: petty corruption, major corruption and political corruption.
Last but not least, we will identify some of the measures that are being taken by the main international bodies (UN, Transparency International, United States Institute of Peace, among others) in combating this global evil that is corruption and frost in many countries.
Aim and Objectives.
The present work will not only focus on corruption as a general and common concept from the perspective of some international organizations and experts in the field.
In addition to defining the concept, this paper will focus on the relationship of corruption with developing countries in terms of its effects on it. Finally, we will look more closely at the case of the Republic of Rwanda with regard to the fight against corruption with the implementation of its anti-corruption policies.
With this methodology of analysis the reader will be in a position to understand the concept of corruption, what is the relationship of the concept with developing countries and why it is important to combat corruption through legal means through legislative reforms as well as greater transparency. in the management of the public purse.
What is corruption?
The question about what is the concept of corruption is pertinent since the definition of the concept is not unanimous because its meaning is very broad. Not least, the definition of the concept corruption is crucial for delimiting lawful behaviour’s and actions as opposed to illicit co-practices and criminal actions.
The understanding of corruption, as a concept and its effects, will allow us to assess the anti-corruption measures to be adopted by developing countries in order to achieve rapid and sustainable economic growth.
Since the practice of corruption is ethically and morally reprehensible, governments increasingly need to implement pedagogical and repressive actions with the public administration.
In order to consider that a behavior is corrupt and it is necessary that the following elements exist: deviant conduct and that damages public or private interests; that this conduct is intended to take an economic advantage of the benefit; and that this behavior is by law rejectable.
What are the effects of corruption on developing countries?
The effects of corruption on societies in general are harmful, especially for the least developed countries. This dissertation will address some negative effects as a consequence of corruption. Such negative effects of corruption will be shown to take years to repair, whether materially or personally.
In the specific case of the Republic of Rwanda, acceptance of the existence of corruption and its harmful effects on society by the leadership of the country, allowed the country to make enormous progress in terms of combating corruption.
According to some authors, corruption is intrinsically linked to the violation of Human Rights, that is, corrupt behavior not only violates the law but also damages the rights and guarantees of the community.
Finally, the relevance of this question is due to the economic damage that corruption causes. Furthermore, corruption creates social instability and weakens democratic institutions, thus compromising the rule of law in terms of justice and the excessive bureaucracy of the state apparatus.
What is the secret of Rwanda’s success in fighting corruption? And why was Rwanda the chosen country as a good example of the fight against corruption?
As well as being an African country, Rwanda was chosen for its recent history, as it is now an example not only for African countries but also for the world. Democracies are often thought to be the solution to the eradication of corruption, however, it is found that less democratic countries can achieve lower levels of corruption such as Rwanda.
This dissertation will begin by looking at the Literature about corruption concept. Then it will describe the effects of corruption on developing countries. After it will show the case of Republic of Rwanda, how an authoritarian country got such low level of corruption.
Talking about corruption these days is always important, not only for its significance, but also for its effects on societies. Whether in developed or developing countries corruption is always a current theme.
The opportunism of civil servants in order to satisfy their own interests through misuse of public resources has led to a consequent increase in poverty, crime, lack of investment, administrative inefficiency and low economic growth in several countries.
International organizations have been aware of the phenomenon of corruption and consequently increasing control measures. Such control measures are necessary because the cost of corruption to societies has been very high, especially for developing countries.
Unfortunately it is concluded that corruption exists everywhere and it presents in various ways such as: petty corruption, major corruption and political corruption.
Last but not least, we will identify some of the measures that are being taken by the main international bodies (UN, Transparency International, United States Institute of Peace , among others) in combating this global evil that is corruption and frost in many countries
The concept of corruption.
First we need to define the concept of the word corruption, so that the reader better understands both its etymological origin and what it means today. The word corruption comes from the Latin ‘corrumpere’ which means to destroy, spoil or deteriorate. According to law professor João Neves, Aristotle and Machiavelli considered that corruption is related to the loss of civic virtue through processes of degradation of social life, institutions, governments, states and nations.
Recently, the term corruption has been used in a broad sense, that is, as a synonym of illegality, degradation, petrification and deterioration of a determined political and social organization. More narrowly, it refers to the vile and disgusting conduct of a subject who violates functional duties with a view to satisfying his or her own or others’ interests, most often through illicit economic relations. (Fernandes, 2018)
In a more technical definition of the concept corruption, made by Transparency International, the same is the abuse of power for private or private gain. It ranks for petty corruption, major corruption and political corruption defending the amount of money lost and the sector in which it occurs.
According to analysts, there is no unanimity regarding the definition of the concept of corruption, as well as its quantification or measurement is impossible. The only certainty is that corruption exists at various levels, that is, its classification – small, large and sitemic corruption – depends on the quality of the agent who practices it and the type of crime committed.
In short, what the concept of corruption is about is that it is closely related to practices and behaviors that violate the law, in which its agents derive economic or other benefits and that such behaviors are hidden from the general public.
The concept and characteristics of developing country.
As for the concept developing countries, according to Wikipedia are the least industrially developed countries with low Human Development Index (HDI) compared to developed countries.
Developing countries are usually closely associated with corruption although there are exceptions to dictatorial and authoritarian regimes. They are characterized by poor control over the management of the public purse by the institutions, low economic development leading to low level of industrialization and the primary and third sector’s economic drivers, low average life expectancy due to the lack of an appropriate health system, low per capita income which makes people live in extreme poverty causing malnutrition and hunger, high level of illiteracy of the population. (United States Institute Of Peace, 2010)
Corruption when reaching various levels in the public administration, starting with small corruption – where the police are bribed for not passing a fine -, going through great corruption – where the contractor bribes the public agent to win a public tender-, reaching systemic corruption this is when it reaches the political class. (United States Institute Of Peace, 2010)
From a financial point of view, according to the World Bank, it is estimated that $ 1 trillion has been diverted from the coffers of developing countries.
In countries where corruption is endemic, the most disadvantaged are the fringe of society most affected by the evil of corruption. They are often affected by violence and crime due to the climate of insecurity in their environment because they are often marginalized areas – low social services such as health, education, high unemployment and living in precarious housing.
Due to the existence of weak institutions and consequent lack of oversight over the exercise of public administration, in many developing countries criminals organizations act unpunished by laundering and money laundering. The immediate consequence of this absence from the state is the gap between inequality between rich and poor – some getting richer and some getting poorer. In these countries there is still often corruption in the political class – political corruption – as in Guinea-Bissau where criminal organizations control the State Administration by acting in alliance and acting with impunity.
The high level of corruption in the administrative apparatus and the sense of eminence at any time is found in developing countries where there is a sharp economic decline, where governments often lack legitimacy where public services are deteriorating and arbitrary application of laws – we are in the presence of systemic corruption. The other element that characterizes developing countries is authoritarianism, that is, they are generally limited to democratic plurlism, weak citizen participation in politics and the consequent high level of abstention and lack of legitimacy of the dominant power.
“…authoritarian regimes, which are characterised by the limits on political pluralismo, absence of free and fair eletions, lack of check and balances on executive power, diregard for abuses and infingiments of civil liberties, and the absence of na independente judiciary.(Economist Intelligence Unit 2017)” (Kukutschka, 2018)
The lack of independence and separation of powers of state institutions – such as courts, parliament, prosecutors – and the constant violation of the rights and guarantees of citizens’ freedoms make control over the management of public property weak or even non-existent.
Contrary to what happens in developed or considered democratic countries, where there is a high level of people’s literacy and consequently a greater knowledge of their rights duties, where civil society organizations have a high degree of influence on state action. The courts and the Public Prosecution are legally assured, and where Parliament oversees the proper execution of budgets by the government – a clear check and balance. The deconcentration and decentralization of public services prevent the petty corruption from spreading through the state administration. This can prevent trafficking in political influences – such as the illicit financing of political parties by large donors. By way of example, the political party corruption scandal that plagued Italy in the 1990s.
On the other hand, there are autocratic countries that are characterized by low corruption compared to many of the most democratic and developed countries in the world. Qatar, Rwanda, and Singapore are countries that have been dominated by irreproachable anti-corruption policies.
For Roberto Martinez B. Kukutschka, despite the positive social and economic results of democratic regimes and the existence of counterpowers, they are often not enough to prevent corruption from voters. (Kukutschka, 2018).
There is a unanimous understanding that corruption is bad than grace for societies in general, with its consequences being more evident in those countries where good governance is weak or non-existent. The fight against corruption cannot be held hostage in the will of a single leader or a minority, but must be the consequence of a system where the law prevails, where there is real social participation through debates with civil society in order to monitor the actions of governments to which they are accountable.
The case of the Republic o Rwanda.
Rwanda had to be yet another developing country with every imaginable feature. A country that suffered genocide in the 1990s, where it is estimated that more than a million people died.
A country that has an authoritarian regime led by President Paul Kagame belonging to the Rwanda Patriotic Front party that effectively controls the country. By all means, Rwanda had everything to be a country with a level of human development index, a poor health system with people living below the poverty line. However, none of this is true of what may seem to many to be a miracle with Rwanda being an African country.
As an authoritarian state, however, Rwanda has made remarkable progresso in many fields. The country is at peace and is considered among the most stable on the continent. Its GDP has registered na average anual growth rate of 7.6% from 2000 to 2010 and hit 8.6% in 2011. Extreme poverty is reported to have decreased dramatically. Similarly, a number of socio-economic indicators, including school enrolment, life expectancy, child mortality and prevalence of HIV, have significantly improved, and the Human Development Index has reflected such improvements.
One of the key reasons behind Rwanda’s improvement in the last few years, as well as one of the elements which explains donors’ willingness to provide high aid volumes, is considered to be governance: the government of Rwanda is commended for its capacity to manage resources efficiently a deliver results. Perhaps the most celebrated feature of this concept of governance is the controlo f corruption. Rwanda scores 55 points in Transparency International’s CPI, which makes the country one of the top performers in its region.
Rwanda Anti-Corruption policies.
Since 1994, Rwanda has made many institutional reforms to control corruption and even created a law to prevent and crack down on corruption (Law 23/2003). The government has institutionalized various bodies such as: the office of the Ombudsman, the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA), the Office of the Auditor General, the Anti-Corruption Unit in The Rwanda Revenue Authority and Public Procurement Appeals Commission.
In 2011 the Public Account Committee was created by the government and parliament and in June 2013 the government approved the national anti-corruption policy. Notwithstanding these measures, the court sued politicians and civilians for alleged crimes of corruption. In various economic sectors of Rwandan society, the government began to fight corruption at the highest levels of the country as well as launched awareness-raising and integrity promotion campaigns. Zero tolerance for corruption led the government to expel from the public sector more than 503 officials allegedly for corruption or incompetence in matters related to corruption.
Conclusion
Earlier we had the opportunity to note that corruption is a cancer for today’s societies, both for present and future generations. Action is needed to fight corruption – Rwanda. This Combat does not sympathize with the will of a single leader or a small elite, it is necessary that a strengthening of democracy through the democratic creation of strong, independent institutions and decentralizing and deconcentrating public services. Civil and criminal liability of public servants if they are caught in the mesh of corruption is no less important. Finally, the high level of literacy through constant investment by the population is important for the citizen to engage and actively participate in issues concerning political and social life as a member of civil society that knows his rights and duties.
