Corruption creating recruits for insurgent groups – Transparency International
Transparency International report said that African leaders are using their defence budgets to buy loyalty and build “patronage networks’’, while driving recruits to terrorist groups such as Boko Haram.
The report which assessed the risk of corruption in the defence institutions of 47 African countries, was released on Tuesday in Johannesburg.
It said such corruption was proving to be a “push factor” for insurgent groups such as Boko Haram, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabaab in Africa.
Leah Wawro, Watchdog Group’s Programme Manager for Conflict and Insecurity, said while ideological factors had certainly pushed new recruits to these organisations, the role of corruption as a ‘push’ factor could not be underestimated.
She said corruption had undermined states’ perceived legitimacy and led to a sense of disillusionment and abandonment across Africa.
Wawro said military spending had increased by 91 per cent in Africa in the past decade, but anti-corruption bodies, audit functions and parliamentary committees were missing in most countries.
“By treating the defence sector as exceptional, its efficiency has been undermined.
Wawro cited an incident in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in which the government bought three separate types of tanks “with no clear rationale” as an example of a non-transparent procurement decision.
“Corruption often had a negative effect on soldiers.
“When commanders are skimming off the top and wages aren’t paid correctly, it has a range of negative effects, specifically on morale.
“It can also lead to militaries becoming involved in smuggling and bribery,’’ she said.
Wawro said the report gave numerous examples of corruption among troops.
She said these include military personnel in Tanzania being involved in the highly lucrative trade of elephant tusks and of Somali officers selling assault rifles to insurgent group al-Shabaab.
Wawro said, “Although graft varies between states, there is no country in Africa whose defence sector is not vulnerable to corruption.
“International arms exports are profiting from conflict and insecurity on the continent.
“Foreign governments have undue political influence on the defence procurement decisions in 70 per cent of the countries surveyed.”
Wawro said China, US, France and Russia have all sought to take advantage of Africa’s increased defence spending through weapons sales.
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