Political Corruption in Africa

Amundsen, Inge

doi:10.4337/9781788972529

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…When the existence of the loans became public, the IMF suspended its support to Mozambique and most foreign aid (already on a downward trajectory) was frozen. An international forensic audit and legal proceedings instigated by the US government implicated numerous members of the ruling elite (Nuvunga and Orre, 2019). While the ex-Minister of Finance was apprehended by South Africa for extradition to the USA, in Mozambique no prosecutions have been concluded successfully.…”

Section: Elite Control and Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing business while holding public office: Evidence from Mozambique’s firm registry

2021

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We link the universe of owners of businesses formally registered in Mozambique since Independence to a new database of politically exposed persons. Recreating the dynamic network of ties between firm owners, we estimate the value of party political and executive mandates to their personal business interests. We find holders of political office attain significantly faster growth not only in the number of companies they own but also in their structural power within the business-owner network, as measured by their 'godfather centrality'. Such growth is concentrated in joint-stock firms active in trade and finance sectors and is even larger once we aggregate the analysis to the family-name level. This is consistent with politicians accumulating private sector wealth by acting as rentier-brokers.

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Section: Elite Control and Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing business while holding public office: Evidence from Mozambique’s firm registry

2021

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Political corruption is prevalent worldwide but has varying manifestations (Heywood, 1997), such as extortion and favouritism (Amundsen, 1999). In some developing countries, such as Zimbabwe, political elites overtly use the state apparatus as an ‘instrument to extract resources from society’ for personal gain and accumulation (Amundsen, 1999: 3). Such neo-patrimonial tendencies are pronounced when the political elite is united, although these dynamics may change under crisis conditions marked by both internal and external political struggles (Boin et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political corruption in Zimbabwe: News media, audiences and deliberative democracy

Ndhlovu

Santos

2021

Crime, Media, Culture

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Even though corruption by politicians and in politics is widespread worldwide, it is more pronounced in developing countries, such as Zimbabwe, where members of the political elite overtly abuse power for personal accumulation of wealth. Ideally, the news media, as watchdogs, are expected to investigate and report such abuses of power. However, previous studies in Zimbabwe highlight the news media’s polarised and normative inefficacies. Informed by the theoretical notion of deliberative democracy developed via Habermas and Dahlgren’s work and Hall’s Encoding, Decoding Model, this article uses qualitative content analysis to examine how online readers of Zimbabwe’s two leading daily publications, The Herald and NewsDay, interpreted and evaluated allegations of corruption leveled against ministers and deputy ministers during the height of factionalism in the ruling party (ZANU PF). The article argues that interaction between mainstream media and their audiences online shows the latter’s resourcefulness and, at least, discursive agency in their engagement with narratives about political corruption, itself an imperative premise for future political action.

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“…In the late 1990s, state governments in Asia and Africa launched an extensive anti-corruption campaign, spearheaded by the World Bank and Transparency International. Corruption was the “disease”, which “destroys the functioning of (society’s) vital organs” (Amundsen, 1999, p. 1). Corruption is also seen to have deleterious effects on development and democracy (Aidt, 2009; Cuervo-Cazurra, 2008; Mauro, 1995; Warren, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We care about others”: discursive constructions of corruption vis-à-vis national/cultural identity in Indonesia’s business-government relations

Pertiwi

2020

CPOIB

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Purpose This paper aims to problematize existing conceptualization of corruption by presenting alternative perspectives on corruption in Indonesia through the lens of national/cultural identity, amidst claims of the pervasiveness of corruption in the country. In so doing, the paper also sheds light on the micro-processes of interactions between global and local discourses in postcolonial settings. Design/methodology/approach The study applies discourse analysis, involving in-depth interviews with 40 informants from the business sector, government institutions and anti-corruption agencies. Findings The findings suggest that corruption helps government function, preserves livelihoods of the marginalized segments of societies and maintains social obligations/relations. These alternative meanings of corruption persist despite often seen as less legitimate due to effects of colonial powers. Research limitations/implications The snowballing method of recruiting informants is one of the limitations of this paper, which may decrease the potential diversity and lead to the silencing of different stories (Schwartz-Shea and Yanow, 2013). Researchers need to contextualize corruption and study its varied meanings to reveal its social, historical and political dimensions. Practical implications This paper strongly suggests that we need to move beyond rationalist accounts to capture the varied meanings of corruption which may be useful to explain the limited results of existing anti-corruption efforts. Social implications This study calls for a greater use of qualitative methods to study broad social change programs such as anti-corruption from the perspective of the insiders. Originality/value This paper contributes to the discussion of agency at the interplay between the dominant and alternative discourses in postcolonial settings. Moreover, the alternative meanings of corruption embedded in constructions of national identity and care ethics discussed in this paper offer as a starting point for decolonizing (Westwood, 2006) anti-corruption theory and practice.

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Political Corruption in Africa

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Doing business while holding public office: Evidence from Mozambique’s firm registry

Doing business while holding public office: Evidence from Mozambique’s firm registry

Political corruption in Zimbabwe: News media, audiences and deliberative democracy

“We care about others”: discursive constructions of corruption vis-à-vis national/cultural identity in Indonesia’s business-government relations

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