![LocationBotswana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/LocationBotswana.png)
The nation of
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
has been ranked as one of the least
corrupt
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
countries in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
by many large, well-known international organizations. However, corruption is not eradicated, and can still be seen in a wide majority of different governmental sectors and in differing forms. To combat this corruption, Botswana has passed many legal acts and policies with the aim of stopping its growth.
The 2022
Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
Corruption Perceptions Index gave Botswana a score of 60 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Botswana ranked 35th (tied with Spain, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Cabo Verde) among the 180 countries in the Index. For comparison, the best score was 90 (Denmark, ranked 1), and the worst score was 12 (Somalia, ranked 180). Botswana, along with Cabo Verde, had the second-highest score in Africa, after Seychelles.
Another international organization, the
Business Anti-Corruption Portal, ranked Botswana as moderate in regards to the amount of corruption seen in the country.
The Business Anti-Corruption Portal continued on, stating that multiple government sectors, such as the Judicial services,
Police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
,
Legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
, Public services, Tax Administration and
Public Procurement
Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a sub ...
all see varying risks of corruption.
In the
Global Competitiveness Report
The ''Global Competitiveness Report'' (GCR) is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. Since 2004, the ''Global Competitiveness Report'' ranks countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index, developed by Xavier Sala-i-Martin an ...
conducted in the years of 2011 and 2012, it was reported that corruption in Botswana is one of the most problematic factors when it comes to doing business in the country.
Extent
In a survey carried out by
Afrobarometer
The Afrobarometer is a pan-African, independent, non-partisan research network that measures public attitudes on economic, political, and social matters in Africa. Its secretariat headquarters are in Accra, Ghana, registered as a limited company ...
, 32 percent of those polled thought either all or most of the officials in non-local government and those with jobs as
civil servants were involved with
corruption. 29 percent thought the same of
members of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
.
Local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
was perceived as less corrupt, with 20 percent saying either all or most of the officials in local government were involved with corruption.
When asked if they personally had to bribe a
government official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...
to obtain
employment, a government payment (such as a
pension or a
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
),
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
or water, or housing and land, each category had 96 to 97 percent responding they had never
bribed a government official. This suggests the experience with corruption of people in Botswana is much lower than that of people living in other countries in Africa.
Forms
Corruption does not come in one singular form, instead it comes in two forms that affect different sectors of Botswana. Corruption in Botswana is primarily used by the small, state elite. It is these individuals that have used their power to create
patronage networks and have the interests of both the public sector and private sector blur together. Combating this form of corruption is much harder. It is more entrenched in the state government and private industries, and the small minority that is benefitting from this corruption can use their power to ensure that it continues on.
Nepotism and patronage are the preferred methods of these state elites.
Corruption is not only relegated to the state elites. Botswana is also a victim to
petty
Petty may refer to:
People
* Bruce Petty (born 1929), Australian political satirist and cartoonist
* Bryce Petty (born 1991), American football player
* Dini Petty (born 1945), Canadian television and radio host
* Eric D. Petty (born 1954), Amer ...
and bureaucratic corruption. However, this form of corruption is typically rarely seen and perceived to be low.
Anti-corruption efforts
![Mokgweetsi Masisi (May 2018)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Mokgweetsi_Masisi_%28May_2018%29.jpg)
Corruption in Botswana is primarily investigated by the
Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC). It is because of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes that Botswana is able to stay relatively low on the corruption scale. This is because of the high prosecution rates that the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime is able to achieve.
To aid in fighting corruption, Botswana is also a member of the Eastern and Southern Anti-Money Laundering Group.
Mokgweetsi Masisi
Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi (born 21 July 1961) is the fifth and current President of Botswana, serving since 2018. He served as the 8th Vice President of Botswana from 12 November 2014 to 1 April 2018. He was a Member of Parliament in the ...
, the current
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of Botswana, has also had a hand in combating corruption in his country. At a regional conference dedicated to combating corruption on the African continent, Masisi gave a speech as the guest of honour, where he called on governments to implement corruption-fighting policies. These policies would require internal accounting and auditing mechanisms, strong anti-corruption institutions to provide oversight, and the rule of law and due process. Masisi also explained the various methods that his country has adopted in combating its own corruption, which include the creation of a specialized court only for criminal acts of corruption, and a number of different legal acts, such as the Whistle Blower Act and the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act.
When it comes to other
legal framework
A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, procedural steps, or test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. A doctrine comes about when a judge makes a ruling ...
s and acts passed to combat corruption in the country, the most widely noted is the Corruption and Economic Crime Act of 1994. This act created the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC), which has led corruption-fighting efforts in Botswana, and granted the Directorate its powers. The Corruption and Economic Crime Act also has a number of other powers, such as outlawing the
solicitation
Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...
, receiving and accepting of a payment with aims to manipulate a public civil servant. Some more powers of the CECA include numerous
whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
protections.
See also
*
Directorate of Intelligence and Security
*
Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime
References
{{Africa topic, Corruption in
Government of Botswana
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
Crime in Botswana by type