Graft and corruption

Transparency International has dedicated itself to investigate corruption within all countries. Its investigations rely on surveys. It then compiles a report on a Corruption Perception Index (CPI), ranking all countries according to the score obtained, a high score signifies less corruption discovered. In 2001, the number of countries surveyed was 91. By 2005 it went up to 158.

It is observed that developed countries achieve better scores than less developed ones. A plausible reason for which a country lags behind is that its financial resources are diverted to people occupying high positions rather than applied for economic development.

In fact, in his book Foreign Aid, Self-Reliance And Economic Development In West Africa, R. Omotayo Olaniyan was blunt when he wrote: "The several military takeovers in West Africa have been attributed, in the eyes of the coup leaders, to the failures of the civilian regimes to promote economic growth and development... In many of these military regimes, the waste of resources had reached unprecedented levels while corruption had assumed unimaginable proportions. The emergence of several millionaires among the ruling elites is a sign that the interests of these ruling elites are elsewhere".

China, aspiring to become an industrialised country, is preoccupied with corruption. It was reported that its leaders have warned that the party could destroy itself if it were to fail to arrest the rampant graft, which helped bring down many imperial dynasties.

What is really perturbing is that corruption surfaces in developed economies as well despite the fact that their CPI scores are normally high. In fact, throughout the five surveys carried out by Transparency International, on the one hand, there is the US, whose rank has always been between 16th and 18th places, obtaining scores ranging between 7.7-7.5 out of a possible 10, and on the other, there is Italy, whose rank varied between the 29th and 42nd place and whose scores ranged between 4.8 and 5.5.

Presently, the US is raged by the lobbyist Jack Abramoff who was accused of using money gifts amounting to millions of dollars, paying for foreign trips and offering lavish meals to buy political influence. He pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion. Under the guilty plea terms, Mr Abramoff has to cooperate with the probe into the alleged corruption among lawmakers and their staff. Justice Department officials are targeting 20 members of Congress and aides. There is no doubt that the credibility and esteem of Congress suffered as a result.

In Italy there are two cases that are currently under investigation. One relates to Antonio Fazio, the former head of the Italian Central Bank. He had to step down after prosecutors decided to investigate an alleged fraud and insider trading in relation to the acquisition of shares in Banca Antonveneta.

The other, more recent, involves Unipol, whose chairman and his deputy resigned. After four hours of questioning, Ivano Sachetti, the deputy chairman, came out saying to interviewers: "Paying for mediation to who is handling the operation within the exchange is normal, but if the intermediaries are its directors... then it is theft". It should be observed that people working in the exchange are officially paid from the exchange itself for their professional services.

In Malta, there are no corruption allegations. Generally, they surface once every five years when the election is due to be held. Afterwards, everything is forgotten. Yet, for the two years Transparency International has investigated Malta, its ranking was maintained at the 25th place, with a relatively high score between 6.6 and 6.8.