Although Egypt is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the country still lags behind as far as public accountability and transparency are concerned, according to a new report. The report, which is made by Transparency International (TI), a global organisation leading the fight against corruption, says under-developed public accountability systems are hindering efforts to combat corruption in Egypt. It points to major gaps in legal anti-corruption provisions and a worrying lack of resolve to introduce effective practices to curb the problem in the four countries under examination. "In all countries studied, the governance systems can be described as ineffectual," said Christiaan Poortman, the director of Global Programmes at TI. "A key obstacle is unchecked executive power, which overrides attempts to introduce the kinds of checks and balances that put integrity and accountability at the heart of good governance," he added. The report: “The Good Governance Challenge: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine”, says this lack of good governance poses a risk for sustainable development, social cohesion and economic growth. It is based on four comprehensive studies, which assess the governance systems in the four countries, including the executive, legislature, political parties, the judiciary, anti-corruption agencies, non-governmental organisations and the media. It identifies areas of weakness and presents recommendations to strengthen institutions and the implementation of existing legislation. While it acknowledges differences between the four countries, the report says they all share a common problem, which is that corruption in them poses a challenge for accountability and development. The report (http://www.transparency. “Nepotism, bribery and patronage are so common that they are widely accepted facts of life,” says the report. “Notably, a citizen denouncing corruption in any of these countries is left unprotected since there are no whistleblower protection mechanisms, and aside from Lebanon, provisions regarding public access to information are extremely weak,” it adds. The report notes that Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon do not have anti-corruption agencies and though Morocco does, it has no power to investigate or sanction. "Institutionalising change poses a significant challenge,” said Poortman. “We want to work with governments, civil society and the private sector to uproot corruption as a means to ensure stability and economic development," he added. On a positive note, the report points to an increase in the adoption of national anti-corruption plans and legal frameworks including laws in Palestine that strengthen the independence of the judiciary, drafting of access to information legislation in Lebanon, a Central Instance for Prevention of Corruption plan in Morocco and the establishment of a Transparency and Integrity Committee in Egypt. It calls on these countries to safeguard the independence of oversight bodies, such as audit offices and ombudsmen, and increase citizen participation in governance processes. It says the executive branch should allow for strengthening the role of parliament, the judiciary and public oversight bodies as effective checks on its operations. The report even encourages the four countries to respect and protect the freedom of citizens and non-governmental organisations to engage in public affairs, including the fight against corruption. Public officials, private companies and citizens have little understanding of accountability and transparency, the TI report says, adding that ordinary Egyptians are often wary of holding governments to account, sometimes due to social pressures not to speak out. In a report released in March, the chairman of the State-backed Central Auditing Agency, whose body reviews the Government's performance in terms of corruption and policies, painted a bleak picture of the Egyptian economy, taking the Government to task for the spread of corruption and the living difficulties for the poor. "The Government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is blamed for the increased number of Egyptians living under the poverty line as well as the proliferation of corruption," el-Malt, the head of the Agency, told the Parliament earlier this year. The official cited a number of international reports in support of his argument, including figures from the World Bank showing that the percentage of Egyptians living under the poverty line had climbed from 20 per cent in 2007 to 23 per cent in 2009 and that 77 per cent of the poor live in rural areas. He drew attention to the 2009 UN Human Development (UNHD) report, which ranked Egypt 123rd out of 182 countries. On corruption, he cited Berlin-based TI, which ranked Egypt 111th on its Transparency and Integrity index.
