Senegal
Senegalese corruption report creates rage

afrol News, 20 May - A report by the Senegalese Civil NGOs Forum denouncing the high prevalence of corruption among the country's public servants has not been well received. The police force declared its was "indignant" and "surprised" by the report's conclusions and President Abdoulaye Wade claims the Forum is a disguised political opposition.

Mame Adama Guèye, President of the NGOs' Forum that is the Senegalese branch of Transparency International, on Friday had presented the conclusion on Senegalese state employees corruption, stressing the report only wanted to spur the government "to adopt appropriate measures." The study said the low level of wages and the economic crisis were the reason behind large-scale corruption. Its quantitative conclusions were however surprisingly grave.

The report concluded that corruption was especially widespread among certain groups of public servants. An estimated 72 percent of traffic officers took bribes, compared with 64 percent of the customs officers, 61.4 percent of the municipal police force and 54.3 percent of employees in public administrations. 

The police force was the first to react, complaining the report "throws discredit upon this body," according to an official statement by the General Directorate of National Safety (DGSN). The DGSN reacted "with surprise and indignation" to the report and claimed it was committed to monitor uniformed policemen and traffic constables. 

The government also felt particularly attacked by the report, given the fact that President Wade had dedicated much of his election campaign to the fight against corruption. Guèye had also concluded that Wade's government "for two years has not made reforms necessary to fight corruption." 

The President reacted furiously to the report, claiming the NGOs' Forum had a hidden political agenda. Wade denounced the reliability of the study, which he suspected being a political argument. 

Meanwhile, the national and regional press defends the study against government attacks. The Dakar daily 'Wal Fadjri' defends the study as "an assistance to the citizens" of the country, hoping President Wade will "calm down" and take appropriate steps to combat corruption. Guèye to the newspaper it was "up to the authorities to listen to us or not, but this is not our task. We will work with whoever wanting to work with us." 

Even as far away as Burkina Faso, Wade's negative response made headlines. Ouagadougou-based 'Le Pays' was disappointed by the admired lawyer and statesman (the protagonist of NEPAD and the Madagascar negotiations) demonstrating an "allergy against criticism so typical to African autocrats." Wade should have blamed the embarrassing situation on the short time he had been in power, the newspaper advised, obviously having in mind the poor state of the arts in its own country. 

Guèye meanwhile repudiates Wade's attack on the reliability of his organisation's study. Investigations had covered all the main regions of the country, he holds. The study included interviews with 396 companies and 1227 families and one had used the same methods as the government had used to produce its Poverty Reduction Strategy, which constitutes the basis of the country's economic policies, according to Guèye. 

Sources: Based on Guèye, press reports and afrol archives

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