Each December since 1995 Germany’s Transparency
International has released its annual Corruption Perceptions
Index. The Index scores dozens of countries’ governments on how corrupt
they are. For the last several years Iraq has been one of the worst offenders
on the list.
Transparency International studies reports on corruption and
uses them to give scores from 0-100 to each country in its Index. In 2014 174 countries
were included with 0 being the worst possible score and 100 the best. This year
the countries with the ten lowest scores were Somalia and North Korea each with
an 8, Sudan with 11, Afghanistan with 12, South Sudan with 15, Iraq with 16,
Turkmenistan with 17, and then Uzbekistan, Libya and Eritrea with 18 each. Of
all the nations included in the report, Iraq was 170 putting it the 5th
from the bottom. In 2013 Iraq was 7th worse, but that year there
were 177 countries included. For both years Iraq received the same score of 16
so its dilemma with graft and bribery was actually unchanged. At the same time
in 2012 Iraq did better with an 18.
10 Most Corrupt
Countries On Transparency International Corruption Index 2014 (Country-Score)
1. North Korea – 8
1. Somalia - 8
3. Sudan – 11
4. Afghanistan – 12
5. South Sudan – 15
6. Iraq - 16
7. Turkmenistan – 17
8. Uzbekistan – 18
8. Libya – 18
8. Eritrea – 18
Iraq always does so badly on this topic because corruption
is institutionalized. As Stuart
Bowen former Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction explained to
Musings On Iraq corruption has gone through three phases in the country. First
there was what he called controlled corruption under Saddam during the
1990s-2000s period when the regime regulated smuggling and bribes to get around
the international sanctions. Then after the 2003 invasion there was
uncontrolled corruption when Iraqis, Western officials, and contractors
manipulated the reconstruction of the country for their own benefit in a free
for all in graft and thievery. Then there is the current situation where
corruption is part of the process of governing the country. The ruling parties
believe it is one of their privileges of ruling to steal public funds. For
example in each ministry there is a review committee that approves major
contracts, but this only happens after they receive kickbacks. Previous Iraqi
governments have always talked about ending this endemic corruption, but have
done nothing substantive about it. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in fact, used
corruption charges to get rid of people he disagreed with including Judge
Rahim al-Ogaili the former head of the main anti-graft organization within the
government the Integrity Commission. In September 2011 the judge resigned, and
later revealed that he and his staff were going to be charged with providing
government information to a foreign country the United States, which is an
illegal activity. Before that Maliki always complained about the commission’s
work and tried to block its activities. New Prime Minister Haider Abadi appears
to be the first post-03 leader of Iraq that is actually taking an interest in
solving this problem. An inquiry he ordered for example, found 50,000 ghost soldiers
on the payroll whose commanders were pocketing the money. Two days later he
dismissed 24
officers from the Interior Ministry some for improprieties. The Director
General of Traffic Police for instance, was sent to the Integrity Commission for
investigation. The Interior Minister also said that the director of paying salaries for the Federal
Police was arrested on corruption charges. These few examples show just how
endemic theft is within the government. They are also just an inkling of how
much needs to be done to solve it.
Corruption is a massive problem within Iraq. The country has
huge needs after years of wars and sanctions. Instead of addressing these
issues and using the vast oil resources at its disposal the post-03 generation
of leaders have instead decided to enrich themselves leaving behind hundreds of
failed projects in their wake. Hopefully Premier Abadi is serious about his
attempt because cleaning up the government is long overdue.
SOURCES
AIN, “DG of Traffic Police referred to Integrity
Commission,” 12/3/14
- “Reforming ISF structure behind dismissing officers, says
Abadi,” 12/1/14
BBC, “Iraqi army ‘had 50,000 ghost troops’ on payroll,”
11/30/14
Al Rayy, “Ghaban ordering the arrest of the Director of the
Federal Police salaries because of corruption cases,” 12/1/14
Transparency International “Corruption Perceptions Index
2014: Results,” December 2014
- “Middle East and North Africa: A Region In Turmoil,”
December 2014
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