Namibia: Mixed Feelings Over Weakening Corruption Ranking

Analysts have expressed mixed feelings over Namibia’s weakening performance on the Corruption Perceptions Index, according to which the country’s ranking fell from 56th place out of 180 countries in 2020 to 58th place in the latest results.

Political analyst Henning Melber says Namibia’s ranking should not come as a surprise because of the Fishrot corruption scandal.

He says according to perceptions, the government’s claims that it is fighting corruption may not seem credible.

“And these perceptions are based on observation. This suggests that policy promises have failed to convince people,” he says.

Melber says it shows that the government has not accomplished its mission to be seen as committed enough when it comes to fighting and eliminating corruption.

“Whatever the spin doctors try to fabricate: a decline below the 50-mark is a major blow in reputation and cannot be talked into a success.

“Team Hage faces a credibility and image crisis in terms of the repeated statements that the government is adamant to fight corruption,” he says.

Melber says if the government is serious about curbing corruption, it needs to establish stronger autonomous institutions with the necessary power, competencies and funds to investigate and prosecute, with a mandate which is protected from political influences.

“Transparency and accountability need to be more than mere tokenism lip service. Repeated sermons like reassurances are not enough. This latest score might be a healthy reminder that more needsto be done, not least in the eyes of a Namibian public, which also is the electorate,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Public Policy Research,executive director Graham Hopwood says the new ranking is a clear indication that Namibia is moving in the wrong direction regarding corruption.

He says the index indicates that most countries in the world are either stagnating or deteriorating when it comes to tackling corruption.

However, Hopwood says Transparency International does not pinpoint the causes for Namibia’s decline, but several factors are relevant and likely to have been influential.

“These are the failure to implement the Whistleblower Protection Act, delays in passing the access to information law, the failure to deal with longstanding and current cases, for example the collapse of the SME Bank, the August 26 scandal, and the Areva/Uramin case,” he says.

Hopwood says public doubts about the independence and effectiveness of key agencies like the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Prosecutor General also contributed to the ranking.

“The growing sense that impunity is becoming a key issue in Namibia, the sense that a class of people is considered ‘untouchable’ because of their political connections, and the lack of effective assets and declaration systems for members of parliament and senior officials, among others, have also affected the ranking,” Hopwood says.

Another analyst, Ndumba Kamwanyah, says one needs to look at the methodology used, because the index is pointing to certain aspects in Namibia that have not been addressed, for instance money that has disappeared without a trace.

He says the index cannot be dismissed because it indicates that Namibia needs to do something to address corruption.

By  Namibian.