Corruption News
I had not planned to post today, but the juxtaposition of two articles on corruption around the world grabbed my attention. First the bad news, an article in the International Herald Tribune about the role of middlemen in obtaining corrupt decisions in Indonesia’s criminal justice system. Not unexpected, but appalling nonetheless. Indonesia is a country I love and enjoy – and it has such potential – but potential is all it is unless practices like this are stopped. No wonder the average Indonesian has no trust in the rule of law.
The encouraging news was a report in the South China Morning Post (subscription required) about a training course at the University of Hong Kong for anti-corruption officials from around the world. The course teaches them about Hong Kong’s anti-corruption methods, but also features lectures from Singapore and Australian officials. There were 36 “students” from a dozen countries, including twelve Nigerian officials. I was encouraged to see that Nigeria is making progress on anti-corruption drives, as are Malawi and Tanzania, but the news from the Philippines is dire.
There is much more to these stories, but I’m on my way to the airport.
The map below is drawn from the 2009 Index of Perception of Corruption by Transparency International. I am not sure who put it in graphic form, but it is available here. Nice work.
2009 Index of Perception of Corruption by Transparency International
