Public Accountability
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Corruption has existed in all societies and will continue to be around and whilst the total elimination of corruption will never be possible, meaningful measures can be taken to limit its reach and contain the harm it causes. We have also to recognize that corruption has different meanings in different societies. One person's bribe is another person's gift. A politician, political leader or public official who helps friends, family members or supporters may seem praiseworthy in some societies and corrupt in others. Culture and history are explanations but not excuses. The fundamental changes in the way government does business ought to be at the centre of the reform agenda. The goal should be to reduce the underlying incentive to pay and receive bribes. If the incentives remain unchecked political corruption will be around us for a long time. Corruption is not confined to developing countries. Corruption is sometimes homegrown but, too often, is linked to international business corporations that are seen to have bribed political leaders and public officials or to have funded political parties in a way that threatens the proper working of the democratic process. Democracy can help limit corruption if it gives people alternative avenues of complaint and gives incumbents an incentive to be honest. Corruption scandals are frequently associated with the financing of political campaigns. Elections must be financed and financial pressures give politicians an incentive to accept payoffs thus defeating the purpose of competitive elections in a multi-party democracy. The problem that has emerged in modern political
parties is that they have lost ideological focus and instead, are dominated
by 'business - politicians'. Our political systems must find a way to finance
political campaigns without encouraging the sale of politicians to the
electorate. The government have to draw a clear line between 'takrima'
or hospitality and bribery, otherwise elections will continue to be based
on quid pro quo deals by some politicians as witnessed in the past elections,
particularly Parliamentary elections. Another important area that has to be looked at
very closely, is managing conflicts of interests. Potential conflicts
of interests exits whenever a politician or a member of his or her family
or staff has an interest in a firm that does business with the government
or that can benefit from state policy. The standard of behaviour expected of the politicians
and public servants in public life is to put public interests first rather
than personal interests. When scrutinizing bills in parliament the
public interest context must be borne in mind first. Disclosure of interests
by politicians and making them public, permits citizens to vote against
corrupt politicians. It gives citizens an alternative choice to make. Public accountability is necessary for the control of corruption. Limits on the power of politicians and political institutions combined with independent monitoring and enforcement can be potent anti-corruption strategies. These limits include the separation of powers between the Legislature, Executive and Judicial branches of government. Increased openness and accountability of the agent
- the government - to its principal - the citizens, will have an impact
on minimizing corruption. Free flow of information to the general
public of what the government is doing is vitally important. The
role of an independent media to inform the public on what the government
is doing is equally important. Corruption can be minimized only if there is a strong
political will and coalition building of all stakeholders to combat corruption. Edward Hoseah, |