Corruption declining, but 1/4 still must pay bribes – By Joseph Hanlon

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Corruption declining, but 1/4 still must pay bribes – By Joseph Hanlon

10:02 CAT | 16 Jul 2019

One in four Mozambicans dealing with police, schools, health posts and the police had to pay a bribe last year, according to the Afrobarometer corruption survey released Friday. Compared to 2015, demand for bribes has reduced somewhat, but it still high.

The survey also makes clear that ordinary people believe that government and society is general is highly corrupted. Half the population thinks and ordinary person can pay a bribe to avoid taxes or going to court or to register land improperly; two-thirds of respondents say a rich person can successfully bribe.

One-third of people think “most or all” people in a range of institutions are corrupt, and another half think at least some are. Suspect institutions include the Presidency, judges, parliament, and local government, as well as business and non-government organisations. These perceptions have not changed since the previous Afrobarometer survey in 2015. Interestingly, despite the $2 bn secret debt, the Presidency remains more trusted than other institutions, although the respondents who said all or most of people in the Presidency are corrupt went up from 26% to 30%.

Afrobarometre calculates Mozambique’s overall bribery rate – users of public services who have paid a bribe in the last year – at 35%. Corruption in Mozambique is high by African standards and is by far the worst in southern Africa; it compares to Botswana (7%), South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia (all 18%), Zimbabwe (25%) and Malawi (28%). At the other end of the scale are Nigeria (44%), Kenya (45%), Uganda (46%) and Liberia (53%)

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