Something is rotten in Melanesia!

Joseph Veramu

In the early seventeenth century, Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth, which featured the famous line: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".  Today, when it comes to corruption at least, Denmark is far from rotten: the country was ranked first (with a score of 88) in the 2021 Corruptions Perception Index (CPI) – an annual index which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption by experts and the business community.

 Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for a handful of Melanesian countries also included on the latest CPI. Amongst the 180 countries assessed globally, Fiji ranked highest amongst the Pacific countries with a similar score to Dominica at 55 out of 100. 100 indicates very clean and 0 very corrupt. Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and PNG stagnated with scores similar to China, Hungary and Niger at 45, 43 and 31 respectively. PNG continues to rank the lowest on the index amongst the Pacific countries.

 While the CPI relies on experts to assess levels of corruption, a newly released survey shows that Melanesian citizens are also concerned about corruption.  The Global Corruption Barometer Pacific 2021 Survey – measures public perceptions of, and experiences with corruption.  Findings from Fiji noted that 68% of citizens think that corruption in government is a very big problem. The report also noted that, in comparison to other Pacific nations, more citizens in Solomon Islands and PNG were concerned about corruption. A staggering 97 percent in Solomon Islands and 96 percent in PNG said that corruption in government is a very big problem. In Vanuatu, the percentage of people who think that corruption is a very big problem in government was 73%.

 Can more be done to curb corruption and improve these findings?

  In most Melanesian nations, governments have made progress through law reform and policy development to meet key global anti-corruption commitments they have signed onto - such as the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), and relevant targets under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16. However, sometimes these well-meaning policies are not effectively translated into tangible actions in the annual plans of Ministries tasked with promoting transparency and accountability. 

 For example, an Inter-press Services (IPS) Report on 7/2/2022 quoted Busa Jeremiah Wenogo, a development economist in the capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Port Moresby, noting that “kickbacks offered to government officials to facilitate payment is still rampant. Most big civil and building contracts tend to have very strong political connections and ties, which means that the procurement process is still weak.” The same IPS report also quoted Ruth Liloqula, Chief Executive of Transparency Solomon Islands. She told IPS from the capital, Honiara that the most corrupt individuals and institutions in the country are members of parliament and companies extracting natural resources.

 It is also noted that there is sometimes a tendency to personalize culture. Tribal or kinship links are sometimes exploited by people in powerful positions for personal gain. This calls for governments to ensure greater accountability of political decision makers. It should be mandatory that public officials should publicly disclose their income and assets. These disclosures should be linked with mechanisms to identify and monitor potential conflicts of interest. There should be improved accountability in the use of discretionary public funds and ensuring that law enforcement institutions and the judiciary can effectively sanction high-level corruption.

 Integrity Fiji (Fijian civil society organisation focussed on anti-corruption) has recognised the value of collaborating with multiple stakeholders.  Working with the Ministry involved in government procurements has helped to ensure that vendors and suppliers are familiar with ethical compliance procedures. The Fijian Civil Society Organisation (CSO) also found that working closely with United Nations agencies like United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been very helpful in providing best practices on anti-corruption strategies under the provisions of UNCAC. In the case of UNODC Pacific, they have excellent procurement resources and expertise to assist government procurement officers develop proactive competency skills in ethical processes.

  The CPI 2021 and other corruption surveys recently conducted in the region reveal that the situation has not changed for the better. This calls for evaluating the effectiveness of various activities in national anti-corruption plans. It may mean that “same old-same old’ activities where workshops are held in poverty-stricken villages, and long lectures in air-conditioned hotel settings are done away with because of their ineffectiveness. Governments in the anti-corruption space should be actively monitoring, re-strategising and adopting best practices as needed to ensure anti-corruption efforts yield impact in communities – particularly for those most marginalised.

 In Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, curbing public sector corruption is challenging. All is not well at the top of the political hierarchy in Melanesia. CSOs in the anti-corruption space can sometimes feel like Hamlet – sleep walking through anti-corruption advocacy as the ‘rank and gross’ spirits of corruption refuse to be curbed! Things must be done differently to start seeing some improvements.

 Joseph Veramu is Executive Director of Civic Leaders for Clean Transactions (CLCT) Integrity Fiji – Transparency International’s National Contact in Fiji