UNIT THREE UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Unethical Problems in Ethiopia: Corruption

Concerning ethics, any public service focuses on what is the right and proper behavior of all public officials. From any rational bureaucracy, the society expects the public officials to be fair and just while discharging their discretionary powers.

 However, the essential ethical values have been eroded in public services all over the world. The deterioration and decay of public service ethics is mainly reflected in the form of corruption.

But what is corruption? What are its symptoms?

 Corruption is defined as the abuse of public power for private gain or Profit (Merwe (1997)
McCormack (1997) defined C behavior which deviates from the normal duties of a public role because of private interest -regarding (family, close private clique), pecuniary/Financial or status gains, or violating rules to exercise certain types of private influence.

 Thus, the phenomenon of corruption occurs when public officials misuse the public power for gaining private benefit at the expense of public interest.
It is exploitation of public offices by officials for personal benefits to extract inducement from various sources and through various means.

Conceptual frame work

Cause

Economic Administrative Political

Kick backs Greasing Bribes

Manifestation

Corruption

consequences

Administrative Economic Political

Combating mechanisms

Code of ethics Civic education

Forms and types of corruption

Corruption manifests itself in many forms. some of them are:

Acceptance of bribes or gifts Kickbacks: Part of a person's payment for doing a job that he gives for getting him the job. This can be in a form of money or by way of reciprocation.

Forms and types of corruption

Moonlighting: To be employed by two employers simultaneously. Misrepresentation: It is untrue statement of fact that induces a person to enter a contract. Example Bank property evaluation by civil engineers Greasing: this is a form of bribery given to hasten/hurry some work. Stashing : Storing public money usually in a secret place for future use. This is mostly known when government officials put government money in local or foreign banks. Example Swiss Bank

Unlawful usage of public assets for private ends. Over-invoicing and under-invoicing of stores. Preparation of fake vouchers in accountsbusiness people Ghost: Payment of wages to non-existent or workers. But they only exist on the payroll. Acts of extortion to process normal functions such as licenses, permits, letter, etc.

 Subverting the law to imprison or free individuals, reduce prison terms or fines. Earning commissions in exchange for obtaining work, orders or sales for others. Misplacement or hiding of files, records, titles for purposes of extortion. The leakage of vital information to competing or unauthorized parties.

 Converts of public facilities for personal use.

Other wrong doings such as: Excise tax fraud, Import and export tax frauds, Embezzlement, nepotism, absenteeism, partisanship, election and electoral fraud, etc.

Causes of Corruption The causes of corruption are many and varied, but the review of various studies shows that the causes emanate from four broad categories such as: political, economic, socio-cultural, and institutional or administrative weaknesses. The breakdown of these major factors leads to the following specific factors: Lack of effective political leadership; weak political commitment to control corruption

Causes of Corruption
The prevalence of weak national interest; Variation of rules and directives, and disobedience by public servants; Poor law enforcement by the police, judges, etc. Excessive politicization of public services in which the personalism and patronage for political ends are dominating. Pressures and interference in the exercise of discretionary powers can aggravate the temptations of corruption.

The concentration (monopoly) of power in the hands of one party or group; High incidence of unemployment; High incidence of poverty that has attracted many public officials to seek bribes; Low salary scales and poor compensation of the public servants; Large donations by domestic and multinational companies to political parties or to individual politicians;

 Sense of tenure insecurity; Lack of code of ethics or conduct for public officials; Lax enforcement of auditing systems; Lack of policy for regular monitoring of assets and liabilities of a high-rank government officials; Minimal chances of detection of corruption by political or administrative apparatus, as well as weak punishments for criminals

Ineffective mechanisms for administrative control and monitoring of daily performance and behavior of public officials; Improper administrative procedures including red tape; Lack of training in ethical behavior and practice; External influences and interference in public service management; etc.

Corruption Perception Index across countries The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country/territorys score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means that a country is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index.

The 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that public frustration is well founded. No region or country in the world is immune to the damages of corruption, the vast majority of the 183 countries and territories assessed score below five on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean). New Zealand, Denmark and Finland top the list, while North Korea and Somalia are at the bottom. Ethiopia ranked number 120.

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories according to their perceived levels of public sector corruption. It is an aggregate indicator that combines
different sources of information about

corruption, making it possible to compare

countries. The 2011 index draws on

assessments and opinion surveys carried out

by independent and reputable institutions.

These surveys and assessments include questions related to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and the effectiveness of public sector anti-corruption efforts. Perceptions are used because corruption is to a great extent a hidden activity that is difficult to measure. Over time, perceptions have proved to be a reliable estimate of corruption.

What kind of environment does corruption need to thrive/flourish in? Corruption flourishes where temptation/strong feeling to corrupt/ coexists with permissiveness. Where institutional checks on power are missing, where decision making remains obscure/unclear, where civil society is thin on the ground, where great inequalities in the distribution of wealth condemn people to live in poverty, which is where corrupt practices flourish. It cannot be stressed enough that corruption is alive and well even where political, economic, legal and social institutions are well entrenched.

Impact of corruption Corruption has very serious adverse effects for a country. The impact of corruption in developing countries like Ethiopia is enormous. It has a devastating effect on the political, economic and administrative dimensions of a government.

Political consequences
Corruption poses a danger to the fragile democratic institutions and undermines public confidence in government and political institutions; Obstructs free and fair elections; Paralyzes the controlling role of the legislative institutions on the executive power; Constrains the independent judiciary activities; Leads a government to use force so as to gain legitimacy for its activities. In other words, leaders apply force in order to sustain themselves in power at all costs.

Economic effects
The economic costs of corruption have devastating long-term effects on developing nations. States are deprived of undertaking economic changes that lead to development and progress. Corruption leads a country to unshakable poverty and to be threatened with bankruptcy; It widens the gap between the haves and have nots It stifles/suppress private initiatives and free-market economy; It cripples/prevents the countrys access to grant and aid opportunities; It leads to other socioeconomic predicaments/messes such as poor medical services, poor schools, delay in completion of projects, ruining of national assets, reduction of government revenue, reduction of production capacity in industry, agriculture, etc.

Administrative Consequences Corruption could also bring about a shocking effect on the quality of public service administration system. Corruption leads to administrative inefficiency as organizational resources are usually misallocated or misappropriated by corrupt officials. Corruption breeds poor personnel management systems.
In such cases, selection and recruitment mechanisms are aimed at benefiting family members, friends, and relatives. Appointments and promotions are also made on criteria that completely ignore principles of merit and quality of services provided and outputs produced.

It also causes frequent boycotting by quality personnel and increment in the number of unqualified personnel in public
organizations.

Mechanisms of Combating Corruption Unless constructive preventive measures are taken against corruption, it is like a cancer that continues to destroy the moral, social, political and economic fabric of society.

In this respect, a number of researchers have forwarded the following recommendations: The legislative and institutional framework must be reformed to establish or sustain legal systems that outlaw illicit/illegal gains; Senior officials should be required to declare their property before taking up office, and should be prosecuted for any instances of bribery or graft;
Sanction must be applied to the full, and the enforcement system must operate openly; Provide joint control (donor and beneficiary country) over the use of external resources;

 Officials should encourage investigative journalism as a way of exposing unacceptable behavior; There should be an open door policy whereby the members of the public should be given every opportunity to come and put across their complaints. Creating or establishing independent bodies like the Ombudsman and Commission of Inquiry to investigate and arbitrate disputes in relation to corruption cases. Decentralization and appropriate delegation of discretionary and regulatory powers at various levels; A complete overhaul/replacement and simplification of purchase procedures on the basis of modern management practices, follow up or inspection;

 Articulating/communicate code of conduct for public officials; Strengthening the police and courts machinery; International communities, especially developed societies must condemn and resist the robbing of money and stashing it in foreign secret banks by corrupt leaders of the developing nations. Ensuring the salaries and compensations of civil servants as well as political leaders to adequately reflect the responsibilities of their posts and to help them lead their lives properly; Incorporating ethics in secondary school and tertiary level curricula; Identifying corruption prone organizations and introducing strict control and monitoring machinate; Empowering people (the general public) to disclose and condemn any abuse of power by public officials.

National Integrity System (NIS) This analysis is undertaken via a consultative approach, involving the key anti-corruption agents in government, civil society, the business community and other relevant sectors with a view to building momentum, political will and civic pressure for relevant reform initiatives. The NIS consists of the principle institutions and factors that contribute to integrity, transparency and accountability in a society.

A well-functioning NIS provides effective safeguards against corruption as part of the larger struggle against abuse of power, malfeasance/unlaw action, and misappropriation in all its forms. However, when these institutions are characterized by a lack of appropriate regulations and by unaccountable behavior, corruption is likely to thrive/prosper with negative ripple/wave effects for the societal goals of equitable growth, sustainable development and social cohesion. Strengthening the NIS promotes better governance across all aspects of society, and, ultimately, contributes to a more just society overall.

 End of the theory