Saturday, March 13, 2010

A Culture of Corruption

Here's an article on corruption I finished for the Yemen Today Magazine, for those who are interested:

Corruption, in its various forms and degrees, drifts through the fabric of nations without prejudice, its dynamic nature making it just as hard to define as to quantify. Vague definitions include that such as the one provided by Transparency International as, “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” Merriam-Webster defines corruption simply as, “the impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle.” While these definitions require more detail to do the concept justice, citizens of Yemen are well aware of its meaning. I have yet to run into a Yemeni that does not believe that corruption is a rampant component of their society.
I consulted Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami, Vice Chancellor at the International University of Technology Twintech, an economist and vice Chairman of Non-governmental of Adviser for the Republic of Yemen, to gain more insight into what appears to be a culture of corruption. Hearing stories from the Yemeni people and witnessing, myself, acts of corruption on such a frequent basis, I addressed the issue of its prevalence to Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami. “You can’t have figures on corruption, only judgments so it’s a difficult concept quantify.” He does believe that there is a direct correlation between poverty, a low standard of living, and corruption. “There’s no doubt corruption is widespread in Yemen due to the low standard of life and low wages. People desire a higher standard of living so they seek out alternative resources and use their position to manipulate others.”
To emphasize how difficult it is to measure corruption, Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami discussed the newly created Anti-Corruption Committee in Yemen. The committee is supported by the World Bank and includes 16 members of civil society organizations from surrounding governorates including Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Marib, Shabwah and al-Jawf. “While there have been many complaints presented to this committee, we have no cases from them to the court to this day. This is because this is very difficult issue to fight when the standard of life is low and enforcement of the law is not implemented.”
Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East with 40% of the population living under the poverty line (CITE). The World Bank cites only 40% of the population has access to electricity, though this decreases to 20% in rural areas where nearly 80% of the population takes residence. Unemployment rates have reached 35% and the youth pool is rapidly growing at an average birthrate of 6.7 children (Médecins Du Monde). The GNI per capita in Yemen is $870 and will only continue to be negatively effected as oil revenues are on the decline due to both global issues effecting changes in pricing and the depletion of the reserve itself. With all these factors taken into consideration, no resource to replace oil profits, a water crisis, a power shortage, and an array of other issues stunting its progress, there’s no denying the critical situation Yemen faces and the reality that poverty and corruption could also be on the incline.
These obstacles are overwhelming and while they have been mounting over the years, the poverty inflicting the country is nothing new. “Yemeni society has been suffering from poverty for centuries,” emphasized Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami, “and when it exists for extended periods of time it changes the people, it makes poverty a part of the culture. People are fighting to survive and you can’t change this mindset unless you change the phenomenon itself.” Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami spoke of the affect it has on a son to watch his father struggle throughout his life in order to make a living to support his family. Whether this is achieved through legal means, illegal means, or not achieved at all, it has an affect on his children who do not benefit from nor positively reflect the often shameful channels taken in the interest of survival. Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami feels that this scene has become the norm in Yemen and is eating away at its humanity.
People have an idea of what their life should look like and if the reality does not match the image they often resort to other means to elevate their conditions. This occurs more frequently in difficult economic situations and tends to breed unethical behavior, though the person directly involved most likely does not view their actions as such, but as a means of survival in an environment that offers no other option.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami expanded on this concept. “I presented, years ago, a lecture to the donor community on the market of terrorism in Yemen and one of my arguments was that we have more than one billion poor Muslims seeking normal employment, but if they don’t find it in the regular market and someone offers them another opportunity, even if its illegal (pertaining to drugs or terrorism, for instance), he will take it.” He explained further, “Salaries are low paying, unemployment is high, families have at least five children, add qat to the mix and you get the reality of the situation here.”
In continuation, Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami explained that this behavior occurs in governmental and non-governmental institutions and that because the law is not enforced such activities are customary. “Yemenis are religious people and they know when they are doing something immoral, even if they believe they have no other option,” Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami concluded by adding that “Ethics do not come into play until after a secure system has been established.” Considering this, one has to wonder the extent to which this affects the psyche of an individual; to be forced into behaviors one looks down upon in order to secure a place in society.
So what is the solution? I asked Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami with a half formed smile, aware of the magnitude of what I was asking. “Change the environment of poverty,” he responded, wearing a smile of his own. “Some people think we must start with the political framework, I believe political change needs an infrastructure first. There needs to be an infrastructure for democracy, otherwise it becomes easy to manipulate and can turn against change itself. This is what happened in Yemen. Many people in the parliament are uneducated and tribal. These people have power and drive the laws and norms so how can change happen?” Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami feels that overthrowing the government has been a tactic of the past, but has failed to change society in the long term. “My research has shown that changing people’s economic situation will change their life overall. This creates a modern infrastructure for real and prospective change. Once things like education and health care are strengthened, the rest will follow and a structure of law will develop.”
While Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami raises good points, it is overwhelming to think of the extent to which this change would have to manifest itself. In addition to the issues already listed, there are other hindrances to development. Isolation of the rural community due in part to the lack of infrastructure is one element, accompanied by a deficiency in developed social services. The widespread use of qat creates its own set of challenges for Yemen. Exhaustion of water reserves is already a concern, but the cultivation of qat only intensifies the problem, consuming a troubling one third of extracted groundwater. Qat also contributes to increasing health problems and an overall decrease in productivity.
I’d heard rumors circulating that many Yemeni institutions intentionally keep the salaries of their educated employees low in order to maintain a standard of corruption. If those in the lower levels of an institution are forced to pursue illegal venues for financial gain, then it protects those at the top from persecution of their own illegal activities. While I have not been able to sufficiently explore this notion, I did present the idea to Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami. “No, I don’t believe that this is the case,” he replied, getting straight to the point. “Yemen’s GDP is 23 billion for a population of 22.4 million; the Yemeni government simply can’t provide decent salaries for people. When you take the government budget and compare it to the amount of government employees, they are unable to make satisfactory salaries for citizens. I don’t think the government is intentionally giving out low salaries to drive corruption because the government can’t offer high salaries due to the limited resources.”
While corruption is not unique to Yemen, Dr. Mohammed Al-Maitami stresses that because of Yemen’s dwindling resources, or the “small pot from which to pull from,” the effect of corruption is felt more significantly. Though Yemen is not alone in its plight between poverty and corruption, is there a point where the two become so saturated into society that the line dividing what is corrupt and what isn’t becomes unrecognizable by the people themselves? If so, Yemen is not yet there and my interactions with those who believe in a more sustainable future give faith that the extreme poverty and corruption that have infected the country will one day be dissolved.

2 comments:

  1. Most of the communities in India (such as Bengali), are succumbed in 'Culture of Poverty'(a theory introduced by an American anthropologist Oscar Lewis), irrespective of class or economic strata, lives in pavement or apartment. Nobody is at all ashamed of the deep-rooted corruption, decaying general quality of life, worst Politico-administrative system, weak mother language, continuous absorption of common space (mental as well as physical, both). We are becoming fathers & mothers only by self-procreation, mindlessly & blindfold. Simply depriving their(the children) fundamental rights of a decent, caring society, fearless & dignified living. Do not ever look for any other positive alternative behaviour (values) to perform human way of parenthood, i.e. deliberately co-parenting of those children those are born out of ignorance, real poverty. All of us are being driven only by the very animal instinct. If the Bengali people ever be able to bring that genuine freedom (from vicious cycle of 'poverty') in their own life/attitude, involve themselves in 'Production of Space’(Henri Lefebvre), at least initiate a movement by heart, decent & dedicated Politics will definitely come up.
    - Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, 16/4, Girish Banerjee Lane, Howrah-711101, India.

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  2. Siddhartha, thank you for your comments! The cyclical nature of poverty and its connection to so many other factors makes it a challenging and heart wrenching issue to address. It is a problem of such magnitude that many who live outside of such realities neglect to confront it completely. Thank you for taking the time to read a bit about corruption's ties to poverty in Yemen and for involving yourself in the overall discussion. My apologies for the late reply, I only became aware of a few missed responses today.

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