Corruption
in Africa: a Cancer That Won't Go Away
The sad truth...
Jan 25, 2009
'Corruption
is one of the most formidable challenges to good governance,
development and poverty reduction in Africa says 2008
Transparency International Report.
It has
been said that corruption in Africa is like an advanced cancer
or tumour that cannot be treated. Like cancer, corruption
has tragically devastated African societies and made millions
of people very poor. From South Africa to Egypt the tentacles
of corruption reaches every where. Corruption has no boundaries.
From the offices of presidents and prime ministers to the
smallest administration unit of government corruption is everywhere.
According to the Africa Union (AU) around $148 billion are
stolen from the continent by its leaders and civil servants
every year. The recent Forbes list of most corrupt nations
had 9 out of the first 16 countries coming from Africa.
In Africa,
very few government officials and civil servants perform services
for free. You cannot get your birth certificate or passport
unless you grease the palm of officials. You cannot get good
education for your kid unless you pay a bribe. You cannot
obtain electricity meter for your house unless you pay a bribe.
You cannot get your goods out from the harbour unless you
pay kickback. Anything involving signing of documents involves
paying inducements. In Africa you can hardly find someone
who has not paid bribe before either willingly or unwillingly.
To receive attention when you are sick you need to grease
the palm of hospital officials.
In Ghana,
officials illegally charge 15 and 150 Ghana cedis for a birth
certificate and a passport respectively. Again in Ghana Police
officers openly ask bus and taxi drivers to pay bribe before
they are allowed to cross mounted road blocks. Customs officials
adopt all manner of tactics in order to collect money from
importers and exporters before their goods are allowed to
leave the ports.
Most projects in Africa are carried out by corrupt contractors
who collude and connive with public officials to inflate project
cost in order to enrich themselves. As a result every project
carried out cost three times the usual cost and it is always
the tax payers who bear the brunt of it. Due to corruption,
project inspectors fail to do their job and allow substandard
work to be done at the expense of the people and the nation.
In Africa, it is totally useless to bid for contracts because
contracts are awarded to the contractors who are able to pay
the biggest bribe. In most countries there are no announcements
for tenders rather contracts are awarded to companies who
secretly pay large sums of commission to government officials.
For example on 17th September 2002 a Canadian Engineering
company called Acres International was convicted by a High
Court in Lesotho for paying $260,000 bribe to secure an $8
billion dam contract in the tiny Southern African nation of
Lesotho.
Achair Partners a Swiss company and Progresso an Italian company
have been accused of bribing Somali Transition Government
officials in order to secure contracts to deposit highly toxic
industrial waste in the waters of Somalia.
In 2002
Halliburton a US company was accused of establishing $180m
flush fund with the intent of using it to bribe Nigeria officials
in order to secure a $10 billion Liquefied Gas Plant contract
in the Nigeria. In response to the accusation the company
fired Mr. Albert Jack Stanley. Mr. Stanley a former executive
of Halliburton (KBR) has pleaded guilty for orchestrating
the $180m flush fund. Even though Halliburton denied any knowledge
of such a fund a report by the company later named a British
called Jeffrey Tesler as the middleman behind the bribery.
Such corrupt practices by western companies seeking contracts
in Africa are not uncommon.
In Africa
contracts are awarded to party faithfuls who in turn make
handsome financial contributions to the party in power. Because
of corruption and nepotism anyone can become a contractor
in Africa. In Africa, state coffers or the treasury are the
personal property of the president/prime minister, his family,
his cronies and his political party. In most African countries
there is no separation or difference between state and ruling
party resources.
Corruption
is so endemic in African societies that, political parties
have been pledging to combat it with deadly force but when
they are elected nothing seem to change. When former president
of Ghana John Kuffour took office he said there will
be zero tolerance for corruption in his government but
his party recently lost power amid accusation that he was
unable to tame his corrupt officials.
Despite
years of exports of oil, gold, diamond, bauxite, tin, coltan,
uranium, manganese timber and several other valuable minerals
the continent continue to be ranked as the poorest on earth
because most of the revenue from these exports do not get
to the people but find its way into the bank accounts of corrupt
government officials, civil servants and their allies.
Since
oil was first discovered in Nigeria about 50 years ago, over
$400 billion have been realised from its sale but today the
whole population continue to live in abject poverty and the
country has nothing to show or account for the billions of
dollars she has received for years. Those who have benefited
from the oil are corrupt politicians, civil servants, a shadow
economy, armed bandits, army generals and the big oil corporations
such as Shell, Mobil, BP and their American counterparts.
As a result able men and women are battling dangerous seas
just to enter Europe and try their luck. Others have resulted
to 419 a popular scam used to trick people into given out
their money and valuables. In fact Nigeria has consistently
featured in the top 1% of the most corrupt nation on the planet.
Between
2005 and 2007 several state governors and their immediate
families were arrested by Scotland yard in London on corruption
and money laundering charges.
Among
them are James Ibori of oil rich Delta State and his wife
Theresa who had their $35m asset frozen by the English court.
Mr. Ibori earns about a thousand dollars a month but during
his eight years as a state governor he managed to acquire
wealth to the tune of $35m and was a key financial contributor
to the campaign of the current president of Nigeria. He owns
a private jet and a lavish London home.
Another
corrupt governor is Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of oil-rich
state of Bayelsa who was also arrested in London for money
laundering charges. Mr. Alamieyeseigha broke his bail conditions
and evaded capture in Britain by dressing up as a woman. When
Police conducted a search in his London home they discovered
one million pounds worth of cash in his home.
Another
governor who was arrested in England was Joshua Dariye of
Plateau State. He was arrested in a London hotel for stealing
money meant for development of his state.
But these
thieves have no rank compared to the heavyweights like Abacha,
Mobutu, Eyadema, Lansana Conte, Obiang Nguema, Omar Bongo,
Mubarak and Arap Moi.
In the
1990s economic hardship, abject poverty and destruction of
the environment forced the people of Ogoniland in Nigeria
to demand a say in which Shell operates but the military regime
led by Gen. Sani Abacha arrested the environmentalists led
by Ken Sorowiwa and executed them. You may wonder why Abacha
killed his country men instead of protecting and providing
for their needs. According to available data Nigeria government
Lawyers within the period that Abacha became Head of State
i.e. between 1993 and 1998 he stole $4 billion of Nigerias
oil money and stashed it in several secret bank accounts in
Switzerland, Britain, Luxemburg, Jersey Island and Liechtenstein.
In April, 2002 these countries agreed to return $1 billion
of the stolen money to the people of Nigeria. So far about
$2 billion have been returned to the government of Nigeria
and the rest of the money is still sitting in bank accounts
in Western countries notably Switzerland and Britain.
A visit
to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria shows that majority of
the people especially the youth are unemployed. Years of oil
spills have made the soil unfit for any agricultural activity.
Their streams and wells are polluted and the people have no
access to basic necessities of life because their leaders
have enriched themselves with the money.
Every
effort to get the Nigeria government to develop the oil rich
areas fell on death ears until the unemployed youth took up
arms against the federal government and oil companies. They
kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded ransom before their
victims were released. They disrupted the oil production forcing
the oil companies to move several miles offshore for their
own safety but they were not safe either. Eventually, the
companies had to reduce their output by 25% in 2007-8. These
disruptions affected supply of oil in the world market forcing
the price to skyrocket to $140 a barrel in the summer of 2008.
If Abacha
could steal $4 billion within 5 years then you can tell how
much the leaders who have ruled for decades have stolen. For
example Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now.
Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial
Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya of Cameroon 26 years,
Yoweri Museveni of Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir of Sudan
19 years, Iddriss Derby of Chad 17 years, Yahya Jammeh of
Gambia 14 years.
I think
you have now got the picture and understand why the African
Union says $148 billion leave the continent every year.
The late
Lansana Conte ruled Guinea for 24 years from 1984 to 2008.
Sometimes having a leader maintaining stability in a country
could translate into economic prosperity but this is not the
case for Guinea. Even though Guinea is the worlds biggest
exporter of bauxite, there is little very the country can
show for it. Apart from bauxite, Guinea also have large deposits
of gold diamond, iron, nickel and uranium yet poverty is so
severe that the country was ranked among the top 1% of most
corrupt countries in Africa. In fact according to a report
by UN, Guinea ranks 160th out of 177 in the UNs Development
scale.
According
to available documents 70% of revenue from of all mineral
exports every year finds its way in the bank accounts of Lansana
Conte and his cronies. Today the people lack portable water
and electricity. Roads, rail lines, telecommunication, schools,
hospitals are in severe deplorable conditions while money
meant for their repair and maintenance sit in Europe and America
being protected by banking secrecy laws. According to Aljazeera
a credible and popular news broadcaster, corruption is so
woven in Guinean society that school girls need not study
as their promotion to next class is always assured by their
male teachers who solicit sex from them. According to the
students, those who refuse to sleep with their teachers are
made to repeat a year in class. Female teachers on the other
hand demand money to be paid in exchange for higher marks.
Why wont
the people be poor when their livelihoods have been taken
away from them? Why?
On Friday
31, 2007 the Guardian newspaper in Britain reported a corruption
scandal perpetrated by former president of Kenya Daniel Arap
Moi and his family. According to the Guardian a 110 page report
prepared by international risk consultancy firm Kroll exposed
Arap Moi and his family and accused them of banking £1
billion in 28 countries including Britain. The report went
further to say that the family used Shell Oil Company, secret
trusts, front men and his entourage to siphon the money away.
Apart
from the money, the Moi family also bought several multimillion
pound properties in London, New York, South Africa including
10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing
hundreds of millions of pounds. It is on record that Mr. Mois
sons Philip and Gideon are wealth £384m and £550m
respectively. While majority of Kenyans live in rural areas,
and live in mud/thatched houses with bamboo/raffia leaves
as roofing sheet the Moi family live in a £4m home in
Surrey and £2m flat in Knightsbridge. Arap Mois
24 year rule was largely corrupt and contributed to endemic
poverty seen in Kenya today.
How do
you expect the continent to develop when monies meant for
her development are stolen by her leaders and kept by countries
who praise themselves as civilised, cultured, loving and democratic?
In South
Africa, Jacob Zuma is still battling it out with the court
for his part in the multi-billion arms deal in South Africa
in 2001. He was forced to resign as Deputy President of South
Africa a clear embarrassment to the ANC government of former
president Mbeki.
In 2006
former president of Malawi Bakili Muluzi was arrested for
pocketing $12m donated to his poor country by foreign governments.
Again former Zambia president Frederick Chiluba was arrested
together with two business men Aaron Chungu and Faustin Kabwe
and charged with 11 counts of stealing money meant for the
Zambias development.
In Equatorial
Guinea where oil export has earned the country billions of
dollars, the 600,000 people living in the country continue
to live in poverty while Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his cronies
continue to siphon the oil revenue with no accountability.
Gabon
and Angola both Oil exporting countries are no different.
In fact, the governments in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea can
best be described as Kleptocracy that is government by thieves.
In countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, The Gambia,
Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Tunisia a Kleptocracy class of people
have replaced anything democracy. In these countries very
few people continue to remain in power and the people have
no say in the way their country is govern or run. For example
Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now. Omar
Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial
Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt 27 years and the list is unending.
How do
you expect a person to rule for 30 years without being corrupt?
What is
clear is that these unelected leaders continue to amass wealth
at the expense of their poor countries and continue to mismanage
whatever remains of their corrupt activities. Because most
of the leaders are former military officers or former rebels
with no grasp of economics and management, they are unable
to formulate any good economic policies that will transform
and grow their economies hence poverty has become a part of
the people but their leaders know not what poverty is.
In DR
Congo it is estimated that gold and diamond deposits alone
could fetch the country 23 trillion dollars not to mention
the abundance of timber and other several minerals that are
found in large quantities such as columbo-tantalite (coltan)
and cassiterite (tin ore) yet years of corruption, mismanagement,
conflicts and foreign involvement have made this resource
rich nation one of the poorest in the world.
It is
often said that western nations cannot maintain their current
level of lifestyle without Congo and most corporations in
the west can easily go bust without Congo. The question is
if Congo is the blood line of the west and the west is rich
because of Congo then why is Congo so poor?
And where
are the billions of dollars from the sale of these minerals?
The answer lies in the history of the nation which is endemic
corruption, colonialism, armed conflicts and foreign involvements.
Mobutu in his 32 year reign is believed to have taken several
billions of dollars from the treasury and deposited it in
his numerous Swiss bank accounts. When President Kabila requested
the Swiss for the money to be returned he was told Mobutu
had just $7.6m. President Kabila frustrated and disappointment
with the Swiss announcement said he had expected the Swiss
to announce something like $1 billion or more.
But unconfirmed
report indicate that the Swiss decided not to give the billions
of dollars to the Congo government for fear that it would
be stolen again by Kabila and his regime who are also deadly
corrupt. Mobutu have several villas and mansions in France
and Switzerland bought with money stolen from the Congo people.
In 2001, items auctioned in his luxurious home in Switzerland
fetched $100,000. The billions of dollars taken away from
the country have made Congo one of the poorest in Africa.
In Congo today there are no schools, hospitals, roads, telecommunication,
rail, electricity and potable water. The only means of transport
is through River Congo.
Everyday
in Walikale about 16 aircraft fly out of the city with loads
of minerals bound for Rwanda. These stolen minerals further
find their way in the western mineral markets in London and
Switzerland. The proceeds are shared by the Generals, politicians,
western companies the businessmen in Rwanda, the warlords
in Congo who use part of their share to acquire weapons that
are used to terrorise the people and prolong the war. Watch
the video below about Congo.
Conclusion
Western
governments are quick to preach good governance to Africa
but they fail to preach the same message to their banks who
act as save havens for these corrupt leaders. The western
governments have forgotten that the existence of bank secrecy
laws in Switzerland, Jersey Island, Britain, Liechtenstein,
Luxemburg, Austria have encouraged these corrupt leaders to
bank away monies meant for their countries development.
The name
of Switzerland, Britain, France, Jersey Island, Liechtenstein
and Luxemburg came up several times throughout this study
of corruption in Africa as I try to establish where most of
the stolen monies go. Even though these countries like to
portray themselves as civilised and cultured with hearts of
angels, they have failed to recognise that keeping monies
that were dishonestly obtained from the poor people on earth
taint whatever reputation they might have. In the case of
Switzerland and her allies who keep these stolen monies it
is so pathetic that they know they are receiving stolen monies
yet due to greed they have done nothing to stop it.
The next
time you are looking for stolen money from your country ask
the Swiss government and the Swiss banks they always have
a clue about it where about.
Africa
is poor today because of colluding and connivance of Swiss
and other western banks and the kleptocrats who rule Africa.
Corruption is rife on the continent because those who steal
the money never lack a place to hide them.
Fighting
corruption should not be left to the poor countries alone.
Western
media who always portray Africa as underdeveloped and backward
must expose the banks in their countries who serve as save
havens. The media should put pressure on politicians in Europe
and America to reform the banking secrecy laws and make it
punishable offence to receive monies from these corrupt leaders.
Again the western media must campaign vigorously for all looted
monies to be returned to their rightful owners in Africa.
The western media must team up with civil organisations to
expose western companies who pay bribes to secure contracts
in Africa like Acres International, Halliburton, Trafigura,
Achair Partners and Progresso.
Western
countries have a duty to stop their nations being used as
save havens for stolen monies from the African continent.
Western countries should reform their banking laws. They should
return all looted money put there by corrupt African leaders
to the African people. There must be an international coalition
dedicated to tracking all stolen monies on the face of the
earth with Africa given to priority.
Africans
should establish well funded independent Corruption watchdogs
to investigate, prosecute and severely punish corrupt officials
who engage in corrupt practices. The Africans must demand
transparency and accountability in government. Laws must be
enacted in Africa to protect whistle blowers who take the
risk to expose corrupt practices.
It is by uniting to fight corruption that Africa can ever
dream of parting with poverty.
Lord Aikins Adusei
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