Dar, Kigali lead in governance, anti-graft

BAK · 2008-06-29T18:35:46+00:00

Nilishasema hapa ukumbini kwamba hizi ripoti za WB na IMF ni bomu. Wameandika upupu mwingine ambao Watanzania wengi hatuwezi kukubaliana nao. Kipindi wanachozungumzia ndiyo mafisadi wa EPA, Richmond, Kiwira walikuwa kazini kufanya ufisadi wao. Dar, Kigali lead in governance, anti-graft By FRANCIS AYIEKO Special Correspondent THE EAST AFRICAN Tanzania and Rwanda are among developing countries that have registered impressive gains in governance and taming corruption over the past decade. According to this years Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) compiled by World Bank researchers, the two countries are in a pack of developing countries that are almost matching the performance of rich countries in overall governance. However, the report points out that despite governance gains in some countries, overall quality of governance around the world has not improved much over the past decade. A number of countries have experienced deteriorations in several governance dimensions, including Zimbabwe, Cote dIvoire, Belarus, Eritrea and Venezuela, it says, noting that in many such countries, no significant change in good governance and taming corruption is apparent in recent years. The WGI, a decade-long effort by the researchers to build and update the most comprehensive cross-country set of governance indicators currently available, covers 212 countries and territories, drawing on 35 different data sources to capture the views of tens of thousands of survey respondents worldwide, as well as thousands of experts in the private, non-governmental organisations and public sectors. This years study is the seventh update of the WGI. According to the study, Rwanda is one of the developing countries, that, starting from a very low level, have shown substantial improvements in political stability and absence of violence/terrorism over the past decade. Algeria and Angola are praised too. On the other hand, Tanzania and Georgia are some of the developing countries that have shown sharp improvements in control of corruption over the 2002-2007 period. The indicators suggest that where there is commitment to reform, improvements in governance can and do occur, a World Bank statement on the latest study says. Some countries are making rapid progress in governance, including in Africa, showing that a measure of Afro-optimism is called for, said Daniel Kaufmann, co-author of the report and director of governance at the World Bank Institute, while acknowledging that the data also shows large variation in performance across countries, and even among neighbours within each continent. He adds: Progress reflects reforms in those countries where political leaders, policymakers, civil society and the private sector view good governance and corruption control as crucial for sustained and shared growth. Good governance can be found at all income levels, with some emerging economies matching the performance of rich countries on key dimensions of governance. The study shows that over a dozen emerging countries, including Slovenia, Chile, Botswana, Estonia, Uruguay, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, and Costa Rica score higher on key dimensions of governance than industrialised countries such as Greece or Italy. The WGI is used by policymakers and civil society groups worldwide as a tool to assess governance challenges and monitor reforms, and by scholars researching the causes and consequences of good governance. It is based on the premise that better governance helps in the fight against poverty and improves living standards. Research over the past decade shows that improved governance raises development. When governance is improved by one standard deviation, infant mortality declines by two-thirds and incomes rise about three-fold in the long run, the statement says. For example, in the dimension of rule of law, it is said that one standard deviation is all that separates the very low ratings of Somalia or Afghanistan from countries such as Kenya and Bolivia; or what separates these countries from countries such as Ghana or Egypt; or in turn what separates Ghana or Egypt from Portugal or Estonia; or what separates these from the best performers such as Denmark or Switzerland. Good governance has also been found to significantly enhance the effectiveness of development assistance in general, and of World Bank-funded projects in particular. Under the WGI, governance is broadly defined by six key elements: Voice and accountability (the extent to which a countrys citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and a free media). Political stability and absence of violence (the likelihood that the government will be destabilised by unconstitutional or violent means, including terrorism). Government effectiveness (the quality of public services, the capacity of the civil service and its independence from political pressures; The quality of policy formulation); Regulatory quality (the ability of the government to provide sound policies and regulations that enable and promote private sector development); and rule of law (the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, including the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence).

Thread starter BAK
Start date Jun 29, 2008

BAK

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Jun 29, 2008

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