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dam-l UK editorial on lesotho corruption/LS


30 Apr 2000
Insight

It takes two to tango when it comes to corruption

Sunday Times Editorial

A LANDMARK case against international corruption begins in the Maseru High
Court this week, with a number of huge companies in the dock on charges of
bribery.

These multinational companies have all been involved in building or
tendering for aspects of the massive hydroelectric dam project in the
mountains of Lesotho. They are charged with improperly paying millions of
rands in foreign currency to intermediaries who, after taking a cut,
deposited the balance into a secret Swiss bank account held in the name of
the top executive of the dam project.

The consortiums have not yet been asked to plead, and we carefully avoid
prejudging the question of whether they are guilty of the crimes with which
they are to be charged.

But the trial raises several important legal issues likely to be
significant for any subsequent case of this kind.

One is the difficulty of proving bribery if it means showing exactly what
favours were exchanged for what payments.
Suppose the prosecution has evidence of money paid secretly by big business
into the pockets of someone in a position to influence decisions in their
favour; suppose the executive concerned takes the money without declaring
it to the authorities; that all this takes place at the very time that
tenders and contracts are being considered and awarded; and that no one
involved offers any satisfactory explanation. Would this be sufficient for
a conviction?

Another problem is the question of jurisdiction.
Would the court of any country be entitled to charge and sentence companies
whose head offices and chief executives are based on the other side of the
world?

But the case also illustrates that there is another side to the popular
view of the Third World as almost inherently corrupt and corruptible.
It takes two to tango. If influential government officials in a developing
country are offered enormous bribes and succumb to the temptation, the
fault must be shared equally by those who offer the funds to secure some
considerable unfair advantage for themselves.

Often those with the cash to spend on tempting officials come from the
wealthier parts of the world, and from those very countries whose
governments and business communities complain about the corrupt practices
of the Third World.

African delegates to the AfricaEurope summit in Cairo earlier this month
made this point strongly: when donors and investors complain about
corruption in Africa, they neglect to consider the inevitable partners in
crime - those First World conglomerates which offer huge and illegal
financial incentives to secure business for themselves.

They corrupt officials and whole societies with offers of unimaginable
wealth, and then, when their contract is complete, they pull out and return
to Europe or the US, leaving widespread moral and financial contamination
in their wake.

It is a serious problem which must be urgently addressed to ensure that
blame is properly apportioned, that corruption is stamped out and that
development funds are properly spent so that the poorest nations of the
world can finally experience some improvements in their lives.
Many governments have complained about international corruption and its
impact on their societies; many say they have committed themselves to
taking tough action against it.

But so far, only Lesotho has actually done anything to charge those it
suspects of such cross-border crimes.
Last year, the Maseru government passed the Prevention of Corruption and
Economic Offences Act, making it easier to deal with future corruption of
this kind. Now it is fighting a determined battle to expose the truth
behind allegations of large-scale bribery associated with its hydroelectric
dam project.

It is a nice irony that this small, isolated country should be setting an
example to the rest of the world.

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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