World Press Puts the Focus on Corruption
Sep 8th, 2009 • Posted in: News China’s anticorruption drives often politically motivated, claims report; sources say Pelosi will not strip Rangel of powerful chairmanship despite ethics probe; many Cubans reported to be disgruntled over government anticorruption campaign because it’s throttling bargains on the black market; Ugandan ethics official says 80 percent of property owned by public officials in that country is stolen
VARIOUS DATELINES
There were several different and sometimes surprising takes on corruption from three continents last week:
- Prominent corruption arrests in China often are motivated by political power struggles, with competing factions in the Communist Party using the nation’s “war on corruption” to target rivals and their corporate supporters, according to a report last week from the New York Times. Because China does not have an independent police or judicial system, party leaders order investigations, making it a “very politicized process,” China scholar Minxin Pei told the Times. In a recent government poll, 75 percent of respondents listed corruption as their biggest concern, notes the report.
- Sources tell the Hill that House majority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) probably will not ask embattled Ways and Means chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to give up his leadership post, despite the fact that Rangel is being investigated for various corruption and tax-evasion allegations. Sources say Pelosi does not want to interfere with the ethics committee probe by stepping in before it reaches a conclusion.
- Ordinary Cubans are chafing under the government’s crackdown on corruption, complaining that it is cutting into the black market and thereby raising prices, reports the Reuters news agency. Buyers typically rely on the black market for lower prices for goods, and sellers use the illicit pipeline for supplementing their incomes. Experts estimate that as much as 20 percent of goods distributed to state outlets are stolen, according to the report.
- More than 80 percent of property owned by public officials in Uganda is acquired through theft, alleges a government official. The Kampala Daily Monitor reports that Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, state minister for Ethics and Integrity, says corrupt officials are sophisticated: “They are more organized, heartless, and bold, while our official tracking systems have become compromised.”
Sources: New York Times, Sep. 3 — Reuters, Sep. 3 — Kampala Daily Monitor, Sep. 2 — The Hill, Sep. 1.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 17 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 10 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 3 — Related Newsline story, July 27.
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