ANALYSIS: Graft likely to remain dominant feature in Cambodia

The corruptor-in-chief? (Photo: AFP)

Thu, 29 Apr 2010
By Robert Carmichael
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen this week told a gathering of business leaders and government officials in Phnom Penh that there was no corruption in a deal by mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd, which pulled out of the country last year.

BHP Billiton, which is not saying much, is being investigated by the authorities in the United States and Britain for possible corruption offences. A number of media reports have cited Cambodia as one country where it might have paid bribes.

"They say that the company that explored for bauxite gave money illegally to Cambodia," Hun Sen was quoted as saying in the Phnom Penh Post newspaper. "We should ask: How can they bribe? It cannot be possible."

However, that seeming impossibility is well in line with international perceptions of the impoverished nation. Corruption monitor Transparency International rated Cambodia as one of the world's most corrupt countries, placing it 158th out of 180 countries with first spot going to the least corrupt country.

And you do not need to look hard in Phnom Penh to see the fruits of corruption. The streets are full of luxury vehicles, often driven by government employees whose official monthly earnings are just a few hundred dollars yet who live in expensive homes.

No one knows how much is siphoned off each year, but the US ambassador provided some indication last year - and riled the government - when she publicly said that graft costs Cambodia 500 million US dollars annually. That is around one-quarter of the national budget.

Cambodians are well aware of the problem. A 2007 study by independent market researchers Indochina Research examined attitudes toward corruption and found it is pervasive.

The report, called Perceiving and Fighting Corruption in Cambodia, noted that government employees routinely pay to get their low-paid jobs which means they need to extort money to recoup their "investment."

Half the respondents in the study blamed government salaries of less than 100 dollars a month as the main cause of corruption although they also pointed to greed and lust for power.

But likely the most significant finding was that Cambodia's judiciary was perceived as the most corrupt body. It is hard to fight graft when the mechanism needed to solve corruption is its biggest obstacle.

"Rigorous law enforcement must go together with salary improvement: The former is considered a necessary factor to reduce corruption," the report concluded. "This is a challenge given that the judiciary is unanimously considered the peak of corruption."

The extent and importance of graft explains why it has been on the donor reform wish list for 15 years. Finally in March, there was some good news when parliament passed a law the government claimed would combat the scourge.

But the law's many critics were not persuaded. They said the law is weak and flawed and maintained that political will to act against corruption is lacking.

But the new law does have some supporters. Bertrand de Speville is a leading international anti-corruption specialist and until 1996 headed Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption.

De Speville said a successful anti-corruption drive requires three elements: enforcement of the law, measures to prevent corruption and educating people about it.

"Their close coordination is the key," he said via e-mail. "Each of them is essential [and] they are interdependent - a success in any one of them enhances the other two."

But he warned that neglecting one would see the effort fail and added that political will is the "first essential."

De Speville was broadly positive about Cambodia's new law, saying it "provides a reasonably sound foundation" to combat graft, but he also pointed out some problems.

"The declaration of assets and liabilities regime is of very limited value," he said by way of example. "It fails to meet its true objective, namely the identification of conflicts of interests, and does not require declaration of the assets of spouses, parents and children."

Chea Vannath, an independent analyst and prominent campaigner against corruption, echoed de Speville's emphasis on education. So does she think the law is strong enough and the political will exists to make it work?

"Not in the near future because we are talking about reform, and for reform, you need a critical mass to make things change," Chea Vannath said. "[But] if among people in government [there are those] with a strong willingness to fight corruption, we might see hope."