Private sector must tackle graft

A united and determined Namibian private sector could play a pivotal role in tackling systemic corruption if they are willing to expose and address corrupt practices within their own ranks and push harder for public and private accountability and the enforcement and crafting of anti-corruption tools.

In a new Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) paper examining the role of the private sector in tackling corruption in Namibia, author Johan Coetzee states that for the private sector to “be credible, respectable and to have leverage on government, it must get its own house in order to voluntary regulate unethical and immoral behaviour of its members”.

The paper highlights that in Namibia, corruption can often be traced to the public sector, which creates the platform for corruption and members of the private sector who make use of the platform for their own benefit.

“Public officials initiate bribes for personal gain and companies pay bribes for survival and financial gain,” the paper states.

In addition to a zero-tolerance stance by the government, private companies should focus on principles and work ethics, and need to “explore avenues to pressurise government to increase efficiency in the public service, to reduce red tape and streamline cross-border trade cooperation and integration,” the paper notes.

The paper further states that, based on average rankings on international corruption indexes over nearly two decades, “it can be deduced that there is a tolerance of corruption in Namibia that has become part of the culture of engrained corruption that has also 'infected' law-enforcement agencies and the private sector”.

The most common forms of corruption in the private sector include bribes, facilitation of payments, conflicts of interest, gifts, hospitality and paying of expenses, the paper summarises.



Devastating impact

While corruption occurs across the globe, it is more destructive in developing countries because it mostly affects the most vulnerable in society, including the very poor, uneducated and disabled.

Further, corruption hampers private and public service delivery, causes environmental damage and affects investment and development.

The paper highlights that monopolies and cartels are conducive to promoting corruption.

“Monopolies and programmes that create public scarcity should be abolished,” the paper states, and if they cannot be abolished in a small economy such as Namibia, stiffer competition has to be encouraged.

Coetzee argues that Namibian cartels harm the economy in various forms, through raising prices that cause overcharging and reduced profits for suppliers.



Hot spots

The IPPR paper identifies a number of institutions that are known hotbeds of corruption.

These include tax and customs offices, budgeting and accounting offices, procurement, tendering, social benefit programmes, and administrative and regulatory control units that issue quotas or licences, including the fishing, transport, import and export, mining and prospecting sectors.

Public-private partnerships are identified as a model that enables the collaboration of politicians and public servants to “perpetuate large-scale corruption in the form of large capital-intensive projects that offer lucrative opportunities for corruption”.

Namibia's “bloated and inefficient public service”, lacks accountability, creates fertile ground for bribery and other corrupt practices, the paper notes.



The way forward

Coetzee writes that the public sector has neither the political backing nor the capacity to tackle corruption within its own sector.

But, by incentivising individuals to refrain from corruption through its associations, the private sector “can put pressure on government to reform the public sector”.

Suggested leverage points to push for better public sector governance and improved tackling of corruption by the state include the private sector withholding funding and donations to political parties, forming anti-corruption networks and integrity pacts to integrate associations and interest groups with similar operations to tackle corruption.

Moreover, the private sector could assist the Anti-Corruption Commission in joining relevant subcommittees to advise on awareness and prevention campaigns.

Coetzee emphasises that the private sector has the “ability and expertise to tackle corruption”, but professional associations, industry and business forums should urgently begin to educate and regulate their members, manage conduct and behaviour and penalise unethical and immoral acts.

The paper further recommends that the private sector should collaborate to influence the government in terms of advising on legislation, policies and regulations and monitor the implementation of these instruments.

“A united private sector can put pressure on government to reform 'hot spots' and strategic or key institutions to reduce corruption,” it added.

JANA-MARI SMITH