The various attempts at political level for effective fight against corruption in Benin since independence until now have resulted in failures. The latest has been Boni Yayi's attempt to make the fight against corruption one of his main priorities in government. However, this does not prevent most Beninese from still being persuaded that corruption is a growing evil against which they feel powerless. But against this, what to do? Indulge in despair?
The history of corruption in Benin
Huguette Akplogan-Dossa, in an article published on the Internet entitled, “Historical Overview of Corruption in Benin”, notes that corruption emerged as a critical issue just few years after independence. She writes: “Less than five years after independence, the Government of President Ahomadegbé had taken the first steps to fight corruption by sharply criticizing, on March 14, 1964, during a public conference, the bribery committed by State officials.” She continues with an excerpt from Mathieu Kérékou's Keynote Speech on November 30, 1972 “I earn 15 francs a month, it is my pay, it is enough. I just want you to know that there has been in this country three men, three politicians who needlessly earned 25 francs a month. Now, and from October 26, 1972, those sixty five francs remain in the National Treasury. That is the truth, and it is a revolution.” Then, she also speaks of several initiatives of the regime against corruption before pointing out that all this has done nothing to curb corruption which has worsened. “Among the causes that have caused the downfall of the revolutionary regime, is the corruption that has led to widespread bankruptcy of the state.” She went on to mention the audit commissioned by the Government of Boni Yayi to conclude that Benin is not yet ready for the fight against corruption.
Corruption is an evil that has thick skin
You can read in a study issued in March 2008 that “[...] for 93 percent of persons interviewed, corruption remains a troubling problem in Benin. Moreover, 79 percent of these persons are concerned about its trends. According to the study report, the problems found to be serious by households, companies, and government officials are, among other things, the cost of living, unemployment, inflation, and corruption in the public and private sectors. These persons have an unfavorable opinion of how essential public services work, including customs, justice, traffic and judicial police, taxes and fees, electricity services, and procurement.”
What is my proposal?
People's right to information must be effective: access to credible information on government activities may help discourage mismanagement, embezzlement and misappropriation of public resources. Indeed, citizens will be able to monitor how an authority or government administers public resources if they have access to information on the activities of that authority or government. This obligation for governments to make the information on their activities publicly available would force them into resisting the temptation of corruption because citizens may at any time hold them accountable of their wrongdoings.
How can this be done? The Decree 2007-532 of November 2, 2007 on the prerogatives, organization and functioning of the National Archives makes government departments responsible for managing their current records. Indeed, the archives result from the functioning of any organization and it is through them that information about government
activities and public authorities in general can be made accessible to citizens. However, this law does not make compulsory the access of these documents to the public.
I will go further to say that despite the provisions of this Act, records in most of our government departments are not taken care of. Sometimes even if there is an administrative organ (or a department or unit) responsible for managing these archives, budgetary resources are not available to it to retrieve, organize, store and make them accessible to the public. Information is an important aspect of the fight against corruption which is often overlooked. Several cases of embezzlement brought before the Courts of justice could never get an outcome simply because the evidence, traces, to put it another way the records giving tesimony to these acts are no longer available. They were often neglected or simply destroyed by those responsible for wrongdoings. “Case study research conducted by the International Records Management Trust (IRMT) in Africa has revealed serious decay of record keeping systems. The case studies have underscored that weak records management systems not only impede the ability of governments in being accountable but are sources of growing levels of white collar corruption in Africa.”
For me, the future of the fight against corruption depends on the fight for good public records management and availability to citizens.
The history of corruption in Benin
Huguette Akplogan-Dossa, in an article published on the Internet entitled, “Historical Overview of Corruption in Benin”, notes that corruption emerged as a critical issue just few years after independence. She writes: “Less than five years after independence, the Government of President Ahomadegbé had taken the first steps to fight corruption by sharply criticizing, on March 14, 1964, during a public conference, the bribery committed by State officials.” She continues with an excerpt from Mathieu Kérékou's Keynote Speech on November 30, 1972 “I earn 15 francs a month, it is my pay, it is enough. I just want you to know that there has been in this country three men, three politicians who needlessly earned 25 francs a month. Now, and from October 26, 1972, those sixty five francs remain in the National Treasury. That is the truth, and it is a revolution.” Then, she also speaks of several initiatives of the regime against corruption before pointing out that all this has done nothing to curb corruption which has worsened. “Among the causes that have caused the downfall of the revolutionary regime, is the corruption that has led to widespread bankruptcy of the state.” She went on to mention the audit commissioned by the Government of Boni Yayi to conclude that Benin is not yet ready for the fight against corruption.
Corruption is an evil that has thick skin
You can read in a study issued in March 2008 that “[...] for 93 percent of persons interviewed, corruption remains a troubling problem in Benin. Moreover, 79 percent of these persons are concerned about its trends. According to the study report, the problems found to be serious by households, companies, and government officials are, among other things, the cost of living, unemployment, inflation, and corruption in the public and private sectors. These persons have an unfavorable opinion of how essential public services work, including customs, justice, traffic and judicial police, taxes and fees, electricity services, and procurement.”
What is my proposal?
People's right to information must be effective: access to credible information on government activities may help discourage mismanagement, embezzlement and misappropriation of public resources. Indeed, citizens will be able to monitor how an authority or government administers public resources if they have access to information on the activities of that authority or government. This obligation for governments to make the information on their activities publicly available would force them into resisting the temptation of corruption because citizens may at any time hold them accountable of their wrongdoings.
How can this be done? The Decree 2007-532 of November 2, 2007 on the prerogatives, organization and functioning of the National Archives makes government departments responsible for managing their current records. Indeed, the archives result from the functioning of any organization and it is through them that information about government
activities and public authorities in general can be made accessible to citizens. However, this law does not make compulsory the access of these documents to the public.
I will go further to say that despite the provisions of this Act, records in most of our government departments are not taken care of. Sometimes even if there is an administrative organ (or a department or unit) responsible for managing these archives, budgetary resources are not available to it to retrieve, organize, store and make them accessible to the public. Information is an important aspect of the fight against corruption which is often overlooked. Several cases of embezzlement brought before the Courts of justice could never get an outcome simply because the evidence, traces, to put it another way the records giving tesimony to these acts are no longer available. They were often neglected or simply destroyed by those responsible for wrongdoings. “Case study research conducted by the International Records Management Trust (IRMT) in Africa has revealed serious decay of record keeping systems. The case studies have underscored that weak records management systems not only impede the ability of governments in being accountable but are sources of growing levels of white collar corruption in Africa.”
For me, the future of the fight against corruption depends on the fight for good public records management and availability to citizens.
Alfred Cossi CHODATON
Sources :
