Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
Anti-Corruption Commission director general Paulus Noa has questioned the formula used to determine Namibia’s ranking on the latest corruption perception index. Namibia fell two places in Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perception Index, much to the chagrin of the head of the country’s anti-graft agency.
“It appears TI has its peculiar way of ranking countries, particularly sub-Saharan countries. Their perception on corruption does not solely focus on factual corruption data and how corruption is being dealt with by respective countries. Their focus seems to be largely on economic, human rights and other basic rights,” Noa told New Era.
“Countries seemed to be perceived corrupt just because of global economic decline and social challenges they experience, especially in Africa.
Their sources of data are global economic bodies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Economic Forum (WEF). This is telling.
“Interestingly, TI does not measure money-laundering or foreign bribery. Ironically, illicit financial flows, money-laundering and foreign bribery are mostly perpetrated by companies and individuals from Western countries perceived by TI to be either clean or least corrupt,” he added.
“Namibian authorities have been doing their level best in fighting corruption in all sectors. Our Government, through established anti-corruption institutions, has demonstrated commitment to the fight against corruption. Unless TI convinces Namibians that a number of anti-corruption activities embarked on in Namibia are not yet reflected in their data sources, the ranking is not a true reflection of Namibia’s performance”, Noa charged.
On a score of 100, Namibia has lost two points from 51 in 2020 to 49 in 2021. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
However, political commentators said yesterday that Namibia is moving in the “wrong direction” in combating corruption and its failure to deal with longstanding and current cases.
Political commentator and director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Graham Hopwood said the new rankings clearly indicate that Namibia as a country is going in the wrong direction on corruption.
In general, he said, the CPI indicates that most countries in the world are either stagnating or deteriorating when it comes to tackling corruption. Hopwood cited a failure to deal with longstanding and current cases such as the collapse of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Bank, the August 26 Holdings scandal, and the Areva/Uramin case, among others, as factors that are relevant and likely to
have contributed to the drop.
“Failure to implement the Whistle-blower Protection Act, delays in passing the Access to Information law, and public doubts about the independence and effectiveness of key agencies like the ACC and the office of the Prosecutor General, could also have played a role”, he added.
He said the growing sense that impunity is becoming a key issue in Namibia - the sense that there are a class of people considered ‘untouchable’ because of their political connections and the lack of an effective assets declaration system for members of parliament and senior government officials - could be another factor.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah said he is not surprised by the drop because it can largely be attributed to the ongoing Fishrot case.
“The nature of this corruption case and the shocking information it generated through the various bail hearings last year hit the nail on the coffin as far as the public’s perception regarding Government’s political will to address corruption,” he stated.
He said what would, however,
be interesting is how the government will respond to the drop.
“Will Government dismiss or accept the report, is the question of the day? Last year, Government used the TCPI report to boast that Namibia is not corrupt,” Kamwanyah added.
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) leader and member of parliament Mike Kavekotora said he has no doubt in his assessment that the drop from bad to worse is a true reflection of the state of corruption in the country.
“I am on record, and have
warned the government, that corruption is about to be institutionalised in our country. The denial stage for President Hage Geingob and his administration should be over if he is to rescue this country”.
“This would need a very strong political will and a total paradigm shift. I think Hage [Geingob] as a lame duck who does not need to be re-elected must accumulate some guts and just do it. He owes it to generations to come,” stressed Kavekotora.
Noa said Namibians must continue fighting corruption, notwithstanding TI’s perception.
“We are not doing it to please TI, but because it is good for the present and future wellbeing of our economy and all Namibian people,” he reasoned.