This article was originally published in February 2020.
Political corruption is so rampant in Africa and Somalia in particularly since the civil war 1991. Resource-rich African countries such as Angola, Algeria, DRC, Libiya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan suffer from the curse of resources which attracts foreign/Western governments and their intelligence agencies which wage hybrid warfare by dumping hugh amounts of corrupt money to the local political and social arena in order to Balkanize, divide and colonize the country.
“Only in Africa will thieves be regrouping to loot again and the youths whose Future is being stolen will be celebrating…” -Professor & Nigerian Nobel prize laureate Wole Soyinka
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Introduction
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, to acquire illicit benefit or abuse power for one’s private gain. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries (1)
Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain. Corruption is most commonplace in kleptocracies, oligarchies, narco-states and mafia states.
Corruption can occur on different scales. Corruption ranges from small favors between a small number of people (petty corruption) (2), to corruption that affects the government on a large scale (grand corruption), and corruption that is so prevalent that it is part of the everyday structure of society, including corruption as one of the symptoms of organized crime. Corruption and crime are endemic sociological occurrences which appear with regular frequency in virtually all countries on a global scale in varying degree and proportion. Individual nations each allocate domestic resources for the control and regulation of corruption and crime. Strategies to counter corruption are (3).
Corruption involves more than high-level officials taking bribes. Low-level officials are addicted to abusing their authority and milking the public with Hugh amounts of bribes of cash, material gifts; and even sexual favors which stains the office and authority they are so entrusted.
Corruption is destructive and contagious in developing world and in particularly resources rich war-torn countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, where Western intelligence agencies and their governments funnel cases full of brand-new American dollars notes to local political leadership in order to curry favor.
Somalia ranks among the world’s most corrupt countries. Insecurity is also a major issue; the ongoing instability greatly restricts business. Corrupt government officials tolerate illegal activities in return for bribes.
Dysfunctional institutions facilitate an environment of lawlessness, and the absence of any form of regulatory framework hinders prospects of economic competitiveness. Business is based on patronage networks, and tight monopolies dominate the market. Somalia’s Provisional Constitution criminalizes several forms of corruption (including abuse of office, embezzlement and bribery); however, implementation is non-existent. The governing elite is continuously involved in allegations of embezzlement of public funds from the already meager Somalian coffers. Finally, bribery is commonplace in all sectors, and procurement contracts frequently involve corruption (4).
Political corruption is the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected government officials for personal gain, by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes. It can also take the form of office holders maintaining themselves in office by purchasing votes by enacting laws which use taxpayers’ money. Evidence suggests that corruption can have political consequences- with citizens being asked for bribes becoming less likely to identify with their country or region (5).
Political corruption is so rampant in Africa and Somalia in particularly since the civil war 1991. Resource-rich African countries such as Angola, Algeria, DRC, Libiya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan suffer from the curse of resources which attracts foreign/Western governments and their intelligence agencies which wage hybrid warfare by dumping hugh amounts of corrupt money to the local political and social arena in order to Balkanize, divide and colonize the country.
Western Corporate empire elites have no respect for any African and Somalia in particularly, nor our culture or future development. They dislike our African and black skin and culture more than anything on earth as Franz Fanon wrote.
Colonial era in Africa has been replaced with “neo-colonialism, neo-imperialism”. It means that Africa is now undergoing a profound economic and socio-cultural exploitation and plundering by the same imperial capitalist powers as well as their proxies from Gulf-Arab countries.
Somalia has experienced death, destruction, poverty at the hands of US/EU powers and their local African and Gulf proxies since 1999.
Western corporate empire in cahoots with local corrupt political and economic elites are looting and pillaging Somalia through privatization and neo-liberal economic models which they are buying up public-owned industries and corporations of Somali Democratic Republic (SDR) built over 30 years of scientific socialism without public participation and oversight. These foreign corporate empire elites have employed local corrupt politicians and Tribal warlords who are only interested in “Getting Rich Quick “ at the public expenses.
These massive corrupt and criminal financial transactions are encouraged and supported through the IMF-World Bank and other financial Institutions such as (Saudi, Qatari & Emirati Banks) financing capital markets . Just as they have done in the former USSR republics of Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, as well as Romania, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, and Former republics of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).
Conclusions
For the first time in Somali history, corrupt and unelected governments and leaders have sold off public agricultural, industrial, military, commercial and real estate without the full consent, approval and votes from the so-called parliament and the Somali public from 1991 -2016. They gave away public (national) properties to foreigners.
Somalia ranks among the world’s most corrupt countries. Insecurity is also a major issue; the ongoing instability greatly restricts business. Corrupt government officials tolerate illegal activities in return for bribes. Dysfunctional institutions facilitate an environment of lawlessness, and the absence of any form of regulatory framework hinders prospects of economic competitiveness. Business is based on patronage networks, and tight monopolies dominate the market. Somalia’s Provisional Constitutioncriminalizes several forms of corruption (including abuse of office, embezzlement and bribery); however, implementation is non-existent. The governing elite is continuously involved in allegations of embezzlement of public funds from the already meager Somali coffers. Finally, bribery is commonplace in all sectors both public and private enterprises and procurement contracts frequently involve corruption.
Somalia has again been ranked the world’s most corrupt country, according to the just released 2019 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International, TI. Somalia was bottom of the standings with 9 / 180 (score/rank).
Other African countries that ranked at the bottom of the list were: South Sudan (12 / 179), Sudan (16 / 173), Equatorial Guinea (16 / 173) and Guinea-Bissau (18 / 168).
The ranking measures perceived public-sector corruption using a scale on which 100 is seen as very clean and zero is very corrupt. More than two-thirds of countries around the world scored below 50% and the average score was pegged at 43%.
This year’s results reveal that a majority of the 180 countries analyzed are showing little to no improvement in tackling corruption.
Somalia’s government has in the past dismissed poor rankings on the CPI terming them as “unreliable and falsehood”, with the country’s Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beyle previously threatening to sue Transparency International.
New Zealand was named the most corrupt free country followed by Denmark and Finland respectively. Somalia has been wracked by vicious tribal civil –war since 1991 and terrorist violence unleashed by al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group since 2010.
The current government led by Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has continued to make gains in seeking international assistance across different sectors to rebuild the country despite repeated deadly attacks especially in the capital Mogadishu (7).
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Dr. Bischara A. Egal is Chief Executive Director of the Horn of Africa Center for Strategic and International Studies (http://www.horncsis.org).
Notes
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Somalia (accessed on Feb. 16)
- Ibid
- Ibid
- https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/somalia/ (accessed on Feb. 16, 2020)
- https://www.academia.edu/6868546/Bribery_and_Identity_Evidence_from_Sudan(accessedfeb.22, 2020)
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/159742 (accessed Feb. 22, 2020)
- https://www.africanews.com/2020/01/24/the-other-insurgency-somalia-ranked-world-s-most-corrupt-nation// (accessed Feb. 25, 2020)
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