AT A busy intersection in downtown Freetown, motorbike-taxi drivers wait for customers. They pass the time telling tales of petty corruption. “Yesterday I was chased by two policemen,” says a young man, slouched forward on his bike seat. “They told me I was violating a law when I wasn’t, and confiscated my motorbike. I had to pay 100,000 leones ($18) to get it back.” Two other drivers butt in, eager to trump his story with their own.
It is not hard to find a Sierra Leonean who has experienced corruption. A survey carried out in 2013 by Transparency International, an advocacy group, shows the country to have the highest rates of bribery in the world. Some 84% of respondents admitted to having paid a bribe. Corruption runs so deep that it is hard to eliminate.
But at least some are trying. In September the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) launched a scheme, in partnership with Britain’s overseas aid ministry, called “Pay No Bribe”. The project provides a hotline, a phone app and a web portal for citizens anonymously to report everyday corruption. The toll-free number goes through to a call centre staffed by two softly...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2fZvfrt
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