East Africa: Unacceptable Burden

East Africa is one of the world's poorest regions. But it also is one of the most corrupt. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania recently ranked among the most corrupt nations from a field of 85 surveyed by corruption watchdogs Transparency International.

International businessmen and visitors put Tanzania on a par with Nigeria as the fourth most corrupt country. Kenya shared 11th spot with Vietnam, while Uganda came in 13th. As a whole, the survey
was a gloomy message for the region. While all three governments pay lip service to the battle against graft, analysts say little has been achieved.

"In Kenya and Tanzania we are just seeing the beginnings of official recognition that this is probably the biggest factor holding back economic growth,'' said Robert Shaw, a director of the Institute
of Economic Affairs in Nairobi. Shaw, who sees Uganda as a separate case with corruption there more confined to the army, says much more hard work is required to root out the scourge. "It is so
entrenched, particularly in Tanzania and Kenya,'' he said.

With per capita income in the region ranging from about $200 a year in Tanzania to around $300 in Kenya, analysts say corruption is placing an unacceptable burden on already impoverished societies.

When at least $100 million disappeared from Kenya's budget in the early 1990s to pay the Goldenberg International company under a gold and diamond export compensation scheme, high-level corruption
was catapulted into the spotlight. Kenya produces little gold and no diamonds. Donors declared themselves fed up with graft. In 1997, with the Goldenberg scandal still unresolved, the International
Monetary Fund suspended aid to Kenya, throwing the economy into recession.

Tanzania and Uganda remain donor favourites. Yet they too have had high-profile corruption scandals. In Tanzania, donors have vigorously attacked the award of a expensive · and, they say, uneconomic
· electricity generating contract to Malaysian contractors IPTL.

In Uganda, parliament in August suspended the privatisation process pending a report on claims it had become riddled with corruption. Military procurement and supply contracts, not transparent for
reasons of "national security'', are also described as a fast-growing problem in Uganda by representatives of Transparency International.

With all the focus on Kenya, many pundits were surprised at Tanzania's ranking in the survey · the first time it has been included. Brian Cooksey, acting chief executive for the local chapter of
Transparency International, says President Benjamin Mkapa has given the issue a high profile since his 1995 election · but so far without results. "The president is committed but it doesn't look as
if anyone under him is committed,'' he said.

"For businessmen investing in Tanzania, there is increasingly a need to pay grease payments to senior officials,'' said Cooksey. "In Tanzania it is clear that corruption and bureaucracy in general
create a negative investment environment · they are extremely discouraging factors.''

The findings of a 1996 presidential commission on corruption have seen little follow-up and some analysts say the judiciary, the civil service and society at large appear to have little appetite for
the anti-corruption fight.

Cooksey says Tanzania's ranking is accurate but adds it might have been affected by the perception that a bribe, even a big one, is not guaranteed to be effective.

Yet for all the corruption in its neighbours, Kenya remains the country singled out for the brunt of donor criticism. The suspension of IMF lending dealt Kenya's economy a bitter blow, but many
Kenyans say harsh medicine was required.

Nevertheless, there are many complaints of double-standards. "I don't think donors are being harsh on Kenya, but let's have a level playing field all round,'' said Shaw. "Let's have a set of
guidelines which apply universally and not selectively.''

Donor pressure led Kenya to set up an anti-corruption authority at the end of last year. Yet the authority is in disarray, with its director's competence already under the scrutiny of an official
tribunal.

Recognition of the problem is not accompanied by the strength of will required to root it out, many locals say. "I get a slight feeling the government is more determined to do something about it,''
said Charles Gardner, Nairobi's resident representative of the Eastern Africa Association, a grouping of mainly British businesses. "They certainly realise it's top of the list in terms of the
domestic agenda,'' he said. "But when it comes to the nitty gritty of people close to power whether they will be willing to grasp that nettle I am doubtful.''

The link between poverty and corruption is not a one-way street. It may be no coincidence that some of the world's poorest, most aid-dependent countries are also among the most corrupt. "In my own
view, aid has contributed immensely to the problem of corruption,'' said Cooksey. "Aid is cheap money, it is easy money, and it is often unaccounted for.'' Donors, Cooksey says, have to take more
responsibility for their role in encouraging graft.

Freitag, 30. Oktober 1998