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Addressing corruption and building integrity in defence establishments
Transparency international
Transparency international
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Abstract
"There are three broad sources of corruption in defence: Defence officials (ministerial and military staff); Defence institutions (ministries and the armed forces); and Political contexts and controls. In looking at the different manifestations that these bring (see sidebar), one repeating theme is common: the role of weak accountability in procurement. Defence procurement is characterised by large, infrequent and technically complex contracts. It is an area hard for outsiders — and indeed for some insiders — to fully comprehend. Understanding equipment specifications is a highly technical task since they must be accurately described and specific for the project. Vast sums of money, a lack of transparency and accountability, and the temptation to profiteer from procurement contribute to the corruption of the process. Another weakness of procurement is its extensive use of agents or middlemen, a practice which is more widespread than in any other industry. The identities and activities of agents are largely kept secret by firms that regard such information as ‘commercially sensitive’. In many cases, the middlemen are either senior military personnel or are close to the ‘leadership’. Nearly every case of defence sector bribery shows that these agents have been the conduit for paying bribes. To combat the problem, TI believes their identities, contracts and payments should be disclosed to the authorities conducting defence procurement. An additional area to address is the lack of competition in defence procurement. One recent study found that governments bid out 50 percent or more of their defence procurement requirements to a single supplier.4 This astonishing statistic reflects the unique position that suppliers have and their close relationship with the defence establishment, which can open the process to possible misconduct."
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2008-02
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With permission of the license/copyright holder