BY SOLOMON DIBABA
Political corruptions in public enterprises mostly emanates from seeking enrichment at the expense of public development organizations. This has been witnessed in Ethiopia for more than 30 years and current problems in political corruption is partially inherited from the nonchalance of previous regimes to enforce all levels and types of accountability in public service.
In his recent deliberations at the HPR and in this previous discussions with government officials Prime Minister Abiy identified a quadruple alliance in the political market place between thieves and rent seekers in the government, elements in the opposition party, and some media outlets which have been actively conspiring to derail the reform program and ultimately destroy the political system.
Cronyism is a form of political corruption which is the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs when appointing “cronies” to positions of authority regardless of their qualifications. This is the most dangerous form of political corruption.
In Ethiopia for more than three decades both at the federal and regional levels, thousands of middle and higher level officials and public servants were identified to be employed to critical public offices by presenting fake and counterfeit credentials which were duly recorded in their files. These incompetent public servants were also recruited not by their merits or qualifications but by their affiliation to a specific level of membership in anyone of the ethnic based political parties.
Nepotism is a form of political corruption in which favoritism on the basis of job placement based on kinship or friendship and acquaintance. There are two types of nepotism including reciprocal and entitlement nepotism. There is a marked difference between Nepotism implies favoring only relatives in all positions, cronyism is favoring only companions and friends in every position.
Parochialism is a form of political corruption which implies having the restricted outlook often characteristic of geographic isolation: insular, limited, local, narrow, narrow-minded, provincial, small-town sentiment in recruitment for jobs or appointments.
Political patronage as a form of political corruption is the appointment or hiring of a person to a government post on the basis of partisan loyalty. Elected officials at the national, state, and local levels of government use such appointments to reward the people who help them win and maintain office.
Graft and corruption in politics include bribery, extortion, and nepotism, and are characterized by the subordination of public interest to private aims and violations of the norms of duty and welfare accompanied by secrecy, betrayal, deception and callous disregard for any consequences suffered by the public.
Embezzlement as one form of political corruption is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type of financial fraud. For example, a lawyer might embezzle funds from the trust accounts of their clients; a financial advisor might embezzle the funds of investors; and a husband or a wife might embezzle funds from a bank account jointly held with the spouse or peer.
Embezzlement is usually a premeditated crime, performed methodically, with precautions that conceal the criminal conversion of the property, which occurs without the knowledge or consent of the victim. Often it involves the trusted individual embezzling only a small proportion of the total of the funds or resources they receive or control, in an attempt to minimize the risk of the detection of the misallocation of the funds or resources. .
Here it is important to note that all the forms of political corruption supplement each other and are internally connected. It is also important to understand that all the above mentioned forms of political corruption visibly exist in Ethiopia.
As the author has previously indicated in his previous contribution, ethnocentric territorial distorted world outlook, sporadic ethnic conflicts, the drought that prevailed in the country, mischievous activities in addressing relief and rehabilitation programs in the country, the war in the northern part of the country, poverty, unemployment have all contributed to the proliferation of political corruption in Ethiopia.
In addition, wrong understanding of democracy detached from responsibility and accountability, misconception of self-determination and the entire federal order have helped to buttress the proliferation of political corruption in Ethiopia far beyond expectations. Having raised basic issues on political corruption and its various manifestations, the writer on this opinion page would like to forward some recommendations.
The enforcement of total public accountability on public service sector and introduction of IT technology based control on public property will help to reduce political corruption. Meritocracy, and achievement based promotion, Total transparency must prevail in all recruitment activities across the country.
On the other hand the criteria for appointments and promotion must be evidence based and should not be done on the basis of political affiliation. Party politics need not be mixed with state professional duties which require professional excellence and ethical discipline and full commitment.
Public full participation in monitoring and evaluation public development programs must be instituted. In this respect public committees entrusted with follow up on budget utilization and work performance can be established right from the village level up to regional and federal public institutions.
Local administrative councils need to carry out their duties in a professional and legal manner with the highest level of ethical, moral accountability required of them. Care needs to be taken in cases of conflict of interest between public duties and individual desires of each public servant across the country.
Besides, political parties need to control and monitor, evaluate the performance of their members in public duties and take all the necessary measures in case of breach of the law and government regulations.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 8 APRIL 2023
