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PERCEPTIONS OF GOVERNANCE AND INTEGRITY IN CAMEROON BETWEEN 2001 and 2007

PERCEPTIONS OF GOVERNANCE AND INTEGRITY IN CAMEROON BETWEEN 2001 and 2007. Presented by: FOWANG IGNATIUS Executive Associate N°2 (Attaché de Direction N°2) National Institute of Statistics. PLAN OF PRESENTATION. Background Methodological approach Limits of the study

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PERCEPTIONS OF GOVERNANCE AND INTEGRITY IN CAMEROON BETWEEN 2001 and 2007

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  1. PERCEPTIONS OF GOVERNANCE AND INTEGRITY IN CAMEROON BETWEEN 2001 and 2007 Presented by: FOWANG IGNATIUS Executive Associate N°2 (Attaché de Direction N°2) National Institute of Statistics

  2. PLAN OF PRESENTATION • Background • Methodological approach • Limits of the study • Presentation of some results • Conclusion and recommendations

  3. 1-Background (1/2) • This survey was an initiative of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) during the 3rd Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM3) conducted in 2007 that already included some information on the perceptions of governance and integrity, • The National Institute of Statistics administered a specific questionnaire to the heads of households to collect their opinions about corruption in certain specific sectors (education, health, road traffic, water and electricity, etc.)

  4. 1-Background (2/2) Furthermore, the governance and integrity report falls within the setting of a program financed by the trust fund of the Governance Partnership Facility known as "Banking on Change: Tackling sector and demand-side governance issues in Cameroon" (2010-2012 period) and that envisaged to establish a baseline situation for the monitoring of progress related to governance in Cameroon in 2010. Civil servants, members of Civil Society organizations and private business leaders constituted the earmarked target and a survey was planned targeting these groups. Finally, the option was adopted in favour of the analysis of existing information at the NIS dealing partly or wholly with the perceptions of governance and integrity.

  5. 2 - Methodological approach (1/2) The information used in this report has been obtained from: The 3rd Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM3, 2007) and the 2nd Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM2, 2001): Information on perceptions of the living conditions and of governance (section 10), accessibility to basic services and recipients’ satisfaction (section 9) was administered in about 12 000 households (nationwide and in the urban, semi urban and rural areas); Specific additional module (section 17) on corruption (NACC initiative) attached to ECAM3, with a sub-sample of about 4000 households (at the level of the whole country, major towns and small cities only); 1st survey on employment and the informal sector (EESI1, 2005): relations between businessmen of the informal sector and the administration, and the problems they usually encounter; 1st survey on the monitoring of public expenses and the satisfaction of recipients (PETS1, 2003/2004) in the education and health sectors; Other data sources and reports (Transparency International, etc.).

  6. Three main objectives were targeted by the study: to describe the manifestations of corruption in various domains or sectors of activities; to measure, as the case may be, the scale or extent of this phenomenon through the gross rate or the net rate of corruption; to describe the perceptions of the population on the other aspects of governance like the role of the State, policy of mastering and controlling prices of basic commodities, policy of decentralization, implication/participation of the population in community projects, quality of service, etc. NB : Operational definition of an act of corruption in this study In this study, we have limited ourselves to declarations of the payment of unauthorized fees; and where possible, to other forms of abuse of power such as the intervention of personalities, and privileges granted to some users including priority access into certain public offices. Indicators used in the analysis: Frequency of the perceptions of the scale/extent of corruption; Gross corruption rate = with respect to the whole population; Net corruption rate = with respect to the population exposed to the risk; Frequencies of means and channels used; Amounts of unauthorized payments. 2 - Methodological approach (2/2)

  7. 3- Limits of the study (1/1) • The field of thematic report does not completely cover the different dimensions of governance, neither does it treat them with the same level of detail. The target is limited essentially to the viewpoints of households, hence an under-estimation of the level and total cost of corruption. • Another limit of the survey concerns the current nature of the results. Indeed, the report concerns information collected in either 2007 or years before, that is, at least five years ago. For this reason, the time validity in 2010 of some results is questionable, especially for questions related to the scale/extent and cost of corruption.

  8. 4.1 Main results: General aspects (1/13) • In 2007, close to one household out of 5 was a victim of corruption, while 6.6% of the households were actors thereof. • Concerning the overall impact of actions to fight against corruption, a comparative analysis of the gross corruption rate based on the frequency of declared acts of corruption during ECAM2 and ECAM3 indicates a significant drop, from 42.1% in 2001 to 19.9% in 2007.

  9. 4.1 Main results: General aspects (2/13) Figure 1: Proportion of households that think that corruption is a major problem for Cameroon

  10. 4.1 Main results: General aspects (3/13) Figure 2: Perception of households on the trends of small-scale corruption in Cameroon between 2006 and 2007

  11. 4.1 Main results: General aspects (4/13) Figure 3: Perception of households on the trends of corruption at the summit of the State between 2006 and 2007

  12. 4.1 Main results: General aspects (5/13) Table 1: Proportion of household heads who think that poor management /corruption is one of the 3 main causes of poverty per region surveyed

  13. 4.1 Main results: General aspects (6/13) Figure 4: Proportion of household heads who think that the fight against corruption is a priority action for the improvement of the living conditions of households in Cameroon

  14. 4.2 Main results: Perception of the functioning and integrity of public services (7/13) Figure 5: Percentage of household heads who think that there is an improvement in the functioning of public services per activity sector, with respect to the previous year

  15. 4.3 Main results: Perception of other aspects of governance (8/13) Role of the State In 2007, about 70% of the interviewees think that the State should remain the master of the economic affairs and this opinion is highly shared by the most educated persons. Policy of controllingprices of basic commodities A large proportion of the population (80%) thinks that the efforts put in by the State to control the prices of basic necessities in recent years have not yielded much fruit. However, 40 % of the respondents think that the policy of mastery of the prices of essential medicines has had a positive impact especially on the poor. Decentralizationpolicy Decentralization is considered a good thing for more than half of the interviewees (55%) and especially the respondents of the English-speaking regions (more than 60%). Participation of the population in communityprojects In 2007, a small number of respondent (less than 16%) were involved in the realisation of these projects, but about half of the population believed in a positive impact in the realisation of these projects on the living conditions of the population.

  16. 4.4 Main results: Level of importance of corruption per activity sector (913) Figure 6: Proportion of households involved in corruption through the payment of unauthorized fees according to the activity sector (in %)

  17. 4.4 Main results: Level of importance of corruption per activity sector (10/13) • Ranking of 13 services retained according to the level of importance of corruption • 1stgroup: The Police (88%) and Gendarmerie (87%); • 2ndgroup: Taxation (78%), Justice (74%), Customs (72%) and public service (72%); • 3rdgroup: Education (60%), Health (58%) and Public procurement/tender boards (57%); • 4thgroup: Distribution of electricity (41%) and the establishment of land titles (39%); • 5thgroup: Water distribution (30%) and Insurance (28%).

  18. 4.5 Main results: Corruption in the sector of health (11/13) About 6% of the households, that is 9% in urban areas, 7% in semi-urban areas and 4% in rural areas paid unauthorised fees within the last twelve months for the health care of family members Concerning health consultations alone, 2.3% of patients in the urban and semi-urban areas declare that they paid unauthorised fees in 2007. Only one out of four declared having paid the unauthorised fees out of his own initiative (as an actor of corruption) The main channels of corruption during consultations passes through the paramedical personnel (82%) and the physicians themselves (14%) The total annual expenses of households within the setting of corruption in the health sector is averagely 5 213 CFAF for consultations and medical care. This amount corresponds to 1 089 CFAF per person on an average.

  19. 4.6 Main results: Corruption in the education sector (12/13) In about 5% of the households that were victims or actors of corruption, at least one member of the household was involved in corruption during the 12 months that preceded the survey by paying unauthorized fees for the education of their children. The main channels used for corruption are: the principals and headmasters (56.7% of the cases); teachers (16.5%) and other staffs of the institution (16.9%). An average of 9 290 CFAF was spent per household during the last 12 months. This average varies from 14 165 CFAF among urban dwellers to 5 810 CFAF in rural areas; • Registration and schooling in government primary schools in each region costs 3 441 CFAF on average per household, in spite of the purported free enrollment since 2001;

  20. 4.6 Main results: Corruption in public competitive examinations (13/13) • 3.3% of urban or semi - urban households whose members sat for a public competitive examination during the last 12 months preceding the survey, either paid for such or benefitted from the intervention of an authority to succeed in it; • Close to 50% of failures in public competitive examinations in the last 12 months were attributed to corruption: the household was not able to pay bribes like the others (lack of money to pay, lack of support or did not find the right corruption network, that is, the channel through which it could pay to ensure success); • A non negligible proportion of the payments of unauthorized expenses is done during the certification of documents that constitute examination files (10%) or when depositing such files (5%) • In 85% of the declared cases of corruption in public competitive examinations, the members of the household affirm that they were compelled to do so

  21. Conclusion and recommendations (1/4) • Most of the household heads interviewed think that, for the State to scale up the impact of its efforts to fight corruption within the existing socio-economic context, it should: • remain the master in the economic sphere (70% of positive opinions), • Conduct more efficiently the policy of controlling prices, • Provide for greater involvement of the population in community projects, and intensify the fight against corruption and embezzlement. • Moreover, in 2007, the majority of the population already placed hope in the implementation of the decentralization policy. • Mindful of the results of this survey, there is reason to doubt the success of the fight against corruption within a context of insecurity characterized by the stability of the poverty rate around 40% in 2001 and in 2007, and a certain impunity resulting in the absence of visibility of the fallouts of repressive actions undertaken against perpetrators of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.

  22. Conclusion and recommendations (2/4) • Some recommendations (Government, National Assembly) • The Government and the National Assembly should make effective and apply the principle of transparency in public affairs management, by instituting good practices such as the preparation and dissemination of manuals of procedures and guides indicating the prices of services and fines for users of different public services; • Extend the petitions-forwarding mechanism via a toll free number, make an inventory of the acts of corruption observed and statistically analyze these observed acts in various domains of public life, institute measures of repression, good practices and create or promote support structures for victims of acts of corruption

  23. Conclusion and recommendations (3/4) • Some recommendations (Government, National Assembly) • Design a national governance strategy, and provide for widespread dissemination as well as proper ownership by the public of the national anti-corruption strategy, build in a real synergy of actions between the structures and bodies intervening in this fight. • Institute performance indicators in all public services in order to improve the assessment of performance in the execution of public services. Institute reward mechanisms of the best agents, taking into account integrity (See the case of Custom services);

  24. Conclusion and recommendations (4/4) • Some recommendations (Civil Society, Government) • Provide better information and education of users on their rights concerning access to public services (health, education, etc.) , tariffs, and the existing complaint-filing mechanisms Some recommendations (Government, Development partners, Civil Society) • Periodically update such a survey and conduct other specific studies for the monitoring of progress achieved in the area of governance and integrity in Cameroon while adding a “household component”, two additional components on “businesses” and “public service agents” in order to deepen the different aspects of the study.

  25. For information concerningourother publications contact us at www.statistics-cameroon.org Thank you for your kind attention

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