FIGHTING CORRUPTION


Initially the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its 1998 corporate policy paper entitled “fighting corruption to improve governance” defined corruption as the “misuse of public power, office or authority for private benefit through bribery, extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, speed money or embezzlement”. The definition, however, was


limiting because it considered corruption as a sin of government and public servants, and did not take into account the fact that corruption equally prevails in the private sector. In fact, sexual extortion is a form of


corruption but is not often taken into account in compilations of corruption indices. More recently, the UNDP


began using the broader definition of corruption to accommodate the private sector as captured by the former Nigerian General and President – Olusegun Obasanjo, who defined corruption as “the misuse of public office for private profit or advantage, acts of commission and omission in your employment resulting in loss or disadvantage to your employer and private gain to you or any other person associated with you”. This pattern of behavior can be


found in almost every sphere of life. Such manifestations include:


• Unlawful land grabbing; • Looting of public property; • Offering or receiving gifts or bribes to alter the behavior of the recipient;


• Unlawful acquisition of property at the expense of the public; • Money laundering; • Theft or attempted theft; • Conflict of interest; • Tax evasion; • Extortion; • Fraud/forgery; • Pay-offs;


The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue Three - Cameroon | 27


Left: a poster of President Paul Biya outside the Parliament building; Below: The Coat of Arms of Cameroon.


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