The SDGs are intended to be universal, in the sense of global applicability. Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is officially titled: 'Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for ...sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels'. This article provides an analysis of the importance of SDG 16 to achieving all of the SDGs, the progress on implementation of SDG 16 to date, the principal challenges that countries are encountering in the implementation of SDG 16, and proposes a set of policy solutions to overcome those challenges. It argues that progress on SDG 16 is critical to progress on the other SDGs and, therefore, it is imperative that countries vigorously attempt to overcome those challenges to meet the targets indicated for each goal. It draws on country experience as well as on the author's own field experience.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess African performance for substantially reducing all forms of corruption and bribery on the continent by 2030, through the indicators for achieving Target ...16.5 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the available and accessible relevant data from credible sources, this work quantifies, outlines and analyses the relationship between corruption/bribery and sustainable development as it applies primarily to sub-Saharan Africa; assesses the trends in the region through the official indicators for achieving Target 16.5 of the SDGs; and recommends other indicators for assessing ethical behaviour in African political, administrative and business leadership and institutions for achieving sustainable development and improved ethical performance towards significant reductions in all manifestations of bribery and corruption on the continent by 2030.
Findings
Corruption and bribery are found to affect all SDG-related sectors, undermining development outcomes and severely compromising efforts to achieve the SDGs in Africa. Consequently, prioritising corruption reduction including from money laundering, bribery and other illegal activities is a necessary requirement for achieving sustainable development, good governance, building effective and inclusive institutions as required by SDG 16, and funding the achievement of the SDGs.
Originality/value
The main value of the paper is the insights it provides through the very comprehensive compilation of statistical information that quantifies, and with analysis, the corruption/bribery avenues and the resultant deleterious effects on sustainable development in Africa.
Purpose
This study aims to re-examine the corruption and sustainable development nexus in Africa and offer a contemporary analytical review and analysis of that relationship in the region.
...Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the available and accessible relevant data from credible sources, this work quantifies, outlines and analyses the nexus between corruption and sustainable development, as it applies primarily to sub-Saharan Africa. It uses the relevant disaggregated data and also complements that with the results of reliable empirical studies to further cross-reference and demonstrate the corruption and sustainable development nexus.
Findings
It is shown that corruption in Africa continues to be negatively associated with sustainable development objectives and that, in turn, will continue to affect the continent’s progress in achieving sustainable development. Undoubtedly, corruption is very damaging to economies across all nations and regions. However, in Africa, this impact on sustainable development has been particularly severe and ongoing. Consequently, the views expressed several decades ago of corruption being able to grease the wheels and potentially contribute to economic development is not valid and, in fact, has been severally discredited over the years.
Originality/value
The main value of the paper is the insights it provides, and with cross-reference to the empirical literature and time series data, on the corruption and sustainable development nexus in Africa.
The corruption activities of the Kenya police are conducted primarily through syndicates run by superior officers. Police corruption crime has emerged as a serious “crime problem” in Kenya, perhaps ...not surprisingly given its reputation as being one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In countries where police corruption is persistent, such as Kenya, it represents a systemic failure of governance where the principal institutions responsible for ensuring police accountability, the observance of ethics and integrity standards, and enforcing the rule of law are compromised and themselves infested with corrupt individuals and syndicates. This work discusses and analyzes the trends and magnitude of police corruption crime in Kenya drawing on available data and providing detailed analysis to show a coherent picture of the police corruption problem and its environmental/situational determinants in the country within the current policing institutional framework.
Mention Nigeria to most people in the world and the retort is likely to be some reference to how corrupt the country is. Institutions, rules, and norms of behaviour have adapted toward the ultimate ...goal of predatory gain. When corruption becomes institutionalised in a society, it infiltrates the value-system, and it becomes a norm, part and parcel of culture. Nonetheless, one complicating and seemingly contradictory factor in this notion of the culture of corruption is that the majority of people in Nigeria do not internalise corruption as something morally acceptable. On the contrary, even if they have to take part in corrupt practices to get by or even to survive, they usually consider the practices as morally wrong. This work identifies, discusses, and analyses the weakness of institutions and the use and abuse of cultural norms as the primary reasons for endemic corruption in Nigeria.
This work discusses and evaluates Zambia's Integrity Committees Program, which is being implemented by the country's Anti-Corruption Commission, as a framework for corruption control. The Integrity ...Committees Program in Zambia has garnered considerable support and adoption from employees in both the public and private sectors and also has support from the highest levels of government. Notwithstanding some of the challenges it has encountered, its implementation can be generally regarded as successful, and offers lessons of experience for African and other developing countries implementing similar programs or intending to do so. Based on an analysis of credible governance data, national surveys, policy documents, and available relevant literature, the work traces the measured perceptions, extent, and nature of corruption in Zambia and the introduction and impact of the Integrity Committees Program as a response mechanism to reduce and control that corruption. The work indicates that although there has been an improvement in the corruption environment in Zambia, corruption is still a problem in the country. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that much has changed in the country in terms of its corruption reputation since the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s when even donors froze funding due to corruption concerns.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and analytically review the trends of financial crimes as channels of corruption that impact the development process and economic progress in Africa.
...Design/methodology/approach
This paper outlines the trends in financial crimes by compiling statistics derived from a scan of the publicly available survey and other published data related.
Findings
The financial crimes of embezzlement and theft, bribes and kickbacks, money laundering and illicit financial flows and state capture are all channels of corruption that are prevalent in Africa with significant negative effects on the continent’s socio-economic development progress. The magnitude of these crimes has been trending upward with the resultant effect that corruption continues to have significant negative impacts on Africa’s current and future development prospects. To develop policies to minimise these negative effects, it is necessary to quantify and continuously monitor the magnitude of these various corruption channels.
Originality/value
The main value of the study is the insights it provides on the nature and extent of the trends in financial crimes as channels of corruption in Africa, and the resultant negative impact on socio-economic development in the region.
Kenya is a country of geopolitical and economic importance in East Africa. It shares borders with unstable states such as Somalia and Sudan while being a hub for trade, communication, finance, and ...transportation across the region. Although relatively stable since its independence in 1963, the country still faces poverty, inequality, and corruption. In addition, the contested election of 2007 led to severe ethnic strife that tested its political stability, leading to a new constitution in 2010. This unique survey by a leading expert on the region provides a critical analysis of the socio-economic development in Kenya from a political economy perspective. It highlights Kenya's transition from being a centralized state to having a clear separation of powers and analyzes key issues such as economic growth, urbanization, corruption, and reform. The book identifies Kenya's key socio-development problems and offers solutions to improve both governance and economic performance, making it an essential resource to researchers, academics, and policy makers working on development issues and African politics.
This book analyzes the outstanding development problems confronting Africa today, and the policies necessary for improving Africa's governance, economic performance, and the very possible achievement ...of the Millennium Development Goals.
Civilian oversight has emerged as the preferred approach for policing the police in support of more democratic societies. This work provides an analytical review of formal civilian oversight for ...democratic policing outlining the benefits as well as the key challenges such oversight encounters. It then offers some insights on the required framework and environment for overcoming those challenges for improved police accountability, drawing on the author's field experience. It also extends the comparative analysis about formal civilian oversight for democratic policing by providing a much more international perspective including a typology of the various classifications and approaches to such oversight.
