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Corrupt, brutal and unprofessional? Africa-wide survey of police finds diverging patterns

Corrupt, brutal and unprofessional? Africa-wide survey of police finds diverging patterns

AFRICANS generally have a low regard for the quality of policing on the continent. Perceptions of police misconduct, corruption and brutality are widespread, according to a new survey by Afrobarometer. The independent research network surveyed 39 countries between 2021 and 2023. Our survey offers new evidence of how Africans experience and assess their police. It shows people often have to contend with demands for bribes from police officers. But assessments varied by country: in some, police were said to be helpful. Afrobarometer currently surveys 39 of Africa’s 55 countries. As researchers at Afrobarometer, we have published on police professionalism and…
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US issues fresh curbs on Zimbabwe president, others; terminates sanctions program

US issues fresh curbs on Zimbabwe president, others; terminates sanctions program

THE United States terminated a Zimbabwe sanctions program and reimposed curbs on nine people and three entities, including the country's president, over their alleged involvement in corruption or serious human rights abuse. WHY IT MATTERS Washington is seeking to make clear that the sanctions are not intended to target the people of Zimbabwe with Monday's move, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. "Today we are refocusing our sanctions on clear and specific targets: President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businesspeople who are most responsible for corruption or human rights abuse against the people of…
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Who is Bushra Bibi, Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan’s wife jailed for corruption?

Who is Bushra Bibi, Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan’s wife jailed for corruption?

BUSHRA Khan, the wife of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was sentenced to 14 years in jail, is known for her spirituality. Khan, 71, has often called Bushra his spiritual leader and she is known for her devotion to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. Born Bushra Riaz Watto, she changed her name to Khan after her marriage. Her husband and followers commonly refer to her as Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, titles that in Urdu denote respect. She has kept a low profile since her marriage to Khan, a former cricket hero who has been in the public eye for…
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Who paid the price for Uganda’s refugee fraud scandal (and who didn’t)?

Who paid the price for Uganda’s refugee fraud scandal (and who didn’t)?

ANTWERP, Belgium In 2018, as Uganda was catering for hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese escaping conflict across the border, a major corruption and mismanagement scandal hit the country's widely praised refugee programme. The scandal, which implicated both government officials and the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR), made global headlines. Yet almost five years on, many of those most involved appear to have avoided legal or professional repercussions, Kristof Titeca, an associate professor of international development at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, believes. “Little meaningful accountability occurred on the side of the Ugandan government,” Titeca told The New Humanitarian, summarising the…
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Mauritania’s former president jailed for five years for corruption

Mauritania’s former president jailed for five years for corruption

MAURITANIA'S former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has been sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering and "illicit enrichment". Abdel Aziz led the West African country for a decade after coming to power in a 2008 coup and was an ally of Western powers fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region. He had been on trial since January and denied corruption allegations. The court found Abdel Aziz guilty of two of 10 charges late on Monday, following an inquiry into allegations of embezzlement of public property and corruption. One of his lawyers called the ruling "a political verdict…
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Liberia elections 2023: three things the next president must do

Liberia elections 2023: three things the next president must do

LIBERIA, Africa’s oldest republic, is about to choose its next president. On 10 October, 46 political parties and 20 presidential candidates will compete for two million registered votes at 5,000 polling stations in 15 counties. But whoever wins will confront a polarised Liberia. CHARLES WRATTO, Associate Professor of Peace, Politics, and Conflict Studies, Babes Bolyai University Liberia is more divided than it has been since the end of its 14-year civil war in 2003. The war ended with the signing of a peace agreement, but its scars are still visible across the country. Frustration around the soaring cost of living,…
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Corruption in South Africa: former CEO’s explosive book exposes how state power utility was destroyed

Corruption in South Africa: former CEO’s explosive book exposes how state power utility was destroyed

ONE repeated theme of the memoir Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, by Andre de Ruyter, former CEO of South Africa’s troubled power utility, Eskom, is that “negligence and carelessness had become cemented into the organisation”. Dirt piled up at even the newest power stations until it damaged equipment, which stopped working – and some equipment disappeared beneath a layer of ash. Integrity had been displaced by greed and crime: Corruption had metastasised to permeate much of the organisation. As a political scientist who has, among other topics, followed corruption and kleptocracy, this book ranks among the more…
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S.Africa’s Eskom losing well over $55 million a month through theft, ex-CEO says

S.Africa’s Eskom losing well over $55 million a month through theft, ex-CEO says

SOUTH African state power firm Eskom loses well over 1 billion rands ($55 million) a month from theft, its former chief executive told parliament, saying a previous estimate he gave was conservative. Andre de Ruyter made the comments in a written submission to parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) seen by Reuters, following an interview to local news channel eNCA in February where he made sweeping corruption allegations without detailed evidence against Eskom and South Africa's governing African National Congress. Shortly after the interview aired Eskom announced de Ruyter would leave his job immediately, cutting short a notice period he was serving after…
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South Africa targets $111 billion investment goal in tough investor climate

South Africa targets $111 billion investment goal in tough investor climate

SOUTH Africa needs to urgently fix energy, transport and security challenges if it is to reverse souring investor sentiment, executives said as President Cyril Ramaphosa targets 2 trillion rands ($111 billion) in new investments over the next five years. Executives were speaking at the South African Investment Conference in Johannesburg, launched by Ramaphosa in 2018 as a way to boost economic activity that had been in decline for over a decade in Africa's most advanced but struggling economy. Mismanagement and corruption at state-owned companies, including power utility Eskom and freight logistics group Transnet, have had a knock-on effect on ports…
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Thabo Bester’s escape from a privately-run South African prison raises questions about corruption

Thabo Bester’s escape from a privately-run South African prison raises questions about corruption

RECENTLY, South Africans were told about an extraordinary escape story – they learnt that a convicted rapist, Thabo Bester, had been at large for a year after he’d escaped from a privately-run maximum security prison. In May 2022 the Department of Correctional Services reported that he had burnt to death in his cell. But a forensic report – which prison authorities only released recently after dogged reporting by journalists at the news outlet GroundUp, showed that the body wasn’t his. Journalist Ruth Hopkins. Ilse van Velzen Bester was re-arrested in Tanzania over the Easter weekend and arrests have been made…
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