Corruption label clings to Namibia

Jo-Maré Duddy – Namibia is part of the unenviable global clique of countries the world perceives to have serious problems with corruption.

Namibia received a total score of 49 out of possible 100 on Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). A score below 50 banishes a country to the global watchdog’s orange category, an indicator that it has “serious corruption problems”.

Since 2001, Namibia has not been able to achieve a score higher than 57 out of a possible 100 – 100 meaning that a country is free of corruption.

Namibia scored a peak of 57 in 2002. It fell to 40-plus from 2003 to 2014, recording a low of 41 in 2004 and 2006. In 2015 it recovered back to 50s territory. Namibia scored 51 in CPI 2020, down from 52 in 2019 and 53 in 2018.

Namibia was ranked 58th out of 180 countries worldwide on the CPI 2021.

The country’s performance on the CPI is used by heavyweights Trading Economics and TheGlobalEconomy.com on their webpages for the country. The websites don’t refer to Namibia’s global ranking on the CPI, but use the country’s score.

‘WRONG DIRECTION’

“The new rankings clearly indicate we are going in the wrong direction on corruption,” Graham Hopwood, the executive director of the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), commented on the latest CPI.

TI does not pinpoint the causes for Namibia’s decline, but Hopwood believes several factors are relevant and likely to have been influential. These, according to him, include the failure to implement the Whistleblower Protection Act, as well as delays in passing the Access to Information law.

Failure to deal with longstanding and current cases like the collapse of the SME Bank, the August 26 scandal and the Areva/Uramin case probably also counted against Namibia, Hopwood said. As did public doubts about the independence and effectiveness of key agencies like the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Another factor, according to him is “the lack of an effective assets and declaration systems for members of parliament and senior officials”.

Hopwood added: “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.”

There needs to be a concerted effort from government, private sector and civil society to reverse this downward trend, he said.

“At the moment, I don't see that government has the political will to turn things around. It may be down to other stakeholders in society to step up and really start applying pressure for change.

“Taking on and defeating corruption is like a battle for the soul of the nation. If we don't stand up now we may lose the just and prosperous Namibia we all want to create,” Hopwood warned.

‘NO SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS’

This year, the global?average?remains unchanged for the tenth year?in a row, at just 43 out of a possible 100 points, TI said.

“Despite multiple commitments, 131 countries have made no significant progress against corruption in the last decade. Two-thirds of countries score below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever,” TI added.

The 2021 CPI results show that countries with well-protected civil and political liberties generally control corruption better, TI said. “The fundamental freedoms of association and expression are crucial in the fight for a world free of corruption.”

According to TI, “the global Covid-19 pandemic has also been used in many countries as an excuse to curtail basic freedoms and side-step important checks and balances”.

Denmark, with a score of 88, topped the CPI 2021, while South Sudan (11) was at the bottom.