Corruption endemic in Algeria, Transparency International alleges

Despite modest progress over the last year, corruption remains rampant across Algeria, an annual report says.

By Fidet Mansour for Magharebia in Algiers - 05/11/10

For the seventh year running, Algeria finds itself at the bottom of the annual corruption ranking drawn up by Transparency International.

The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranked Algeria 105th out of 178 countries surveyed. While Algeria's 2.9 rating out of 10 presents a marginal improvement from 2.8 (111th place) last year, the country is still listed as one of the most corrupt places in the world.

"All the talk by the authorities has changed nothing; Algeria has been seen to adopt or announce decisions aimed at stemming the problem, but they are not being applied," the Algerian Anti-Corruption Association (AALC) announced on October 27th. AALC, which represents Transparency International, added that "it is time for the Algerian authorities to stop picking on those who are working to combat corruption".

Responding on October 31st to the report's release, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said that the results were "not objective".

"The Algerian state has stepped up its measures and control mechanisms to fight corruption and misappropriation of public money over recent years," the prime minister said. He added that these mechanisms involve "the training and qualification of managers who are responsible for handling public money, and the appointment of financial inspectors and expert legal officials within ministries to examine the public tender process".

Despite Algeria's slight improvement, the country "is still losing ground" compared with its Arab neighbors, economic expert Abderrahmane Mebtoul told Magharebia.

"Their societies suffer corruption too, but you can see that efforts have been made regarding good governance," Mebtoul said.

Algeria falls behind Tunisia (4.3 points) and Morocco (3.4) in the rankings but is still ahead of Mauritania (2.3) and Libya (2.2).

"Corruption has become institutionalized, affecting all spheres of economic and social life, bringing the country's national security into question," Mebtoul said.

Journalist Amar Meziane told Magharebia that Algeria's low ranking was a result of a string of scandals which have rocked the country over the past two years. In particular, he mentioned three major affairs: the Sonatrach scandal, the East-West Highway project, and the fiscal fraud committed by Orascom Télécoms Algérie (OTA).

Top officials connected to the East-West Highway project were imprisoned for engaging in corrupt practices with the Chinese. In other corruption scandals, a high-ranking official in the fisheries ministry was found guilty of orchestrating illegal business deals with foreign parties and some senior managers of Algérie Poste received prison sentences for corrupt practices.

Inquiries into the Sonatrach and East-West Highway affairs were continuing, Algiers Court public prosecutor Belkacem Zeghmati said on Wednesday (November 3rd) at a press conference to mark the start of the 2011 judicial year.

"These affairs are important, requiring time to determine the damage done to the national economy, and the amount of money which has been misappropriated," Zeghmati said.

These scandals have caused concern on the streets of Algeria. Faced with declining purchasing power, Algerians wonder whether the authorities are really capable of putting an end to all these vested interests.

"These scandals worry me, and I really wonder how these people have managed to get away with it for so long before being caught," said economics student Warda Imren.

"What worries me most is the fact that corruption can have affected major sectors like the oil industry," Slimane Kenzy said.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/11/05/feature-02.