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Topic Discussion IV
Achieving Good Governance
Controlling Corruption, Improving
Administration
and Strengthening the Rule of Law
Room 5
(9 of 18 pages)
Then we addressed the origins of corruption. The first origin was the existence
of severe gaps as well as the imbalance in the economic structures. The existence of the system that is subsidiaries
so 1 to 12 isn't that encouraging corruption? It is really tempting for corruption. For instance the tradesmen
of wheat and corn, the number decreased to one person from ten to one for instance because it was difficult to
really have a trade and according to the market prices and the black market prices, it is very clear so there should
be a structure adjustment and there should also be balance established in the market and this has also to do with
people. For instance, in medicines we have more than 14 that are subsidized. Now we don't have any more subsidized
goods and it used to be 14.
I was saying when I was the Minister of Electrical Resources, I used to say do anything but try not to increase
the price of energy because we cannot do that. Otherwise the black market and all other means will prevail and
of course all the functionaries and the civil servants are tempted. It is not just only the tradesmen who are corrupt.
It is also a means of corruption in a poor society so this is a main source of poverty. It is an economic source,
an economic origin that should be restructuring as well as an economic balance.
As for the second source, the second origin, a centralization, the sharp centralization in the administration to
the separation of some of the islands and that is for instance, in one island, people had to wait 13 hours until
they have their passports stamped and all the formalities so they were not thinking any more of the national code
that they belong to the same nation, to the same country. They were thinking of how to live on a daily basis as
a result of this. The central state is the most dangerous one for society and national unity and there should also
be a law for local authority basically for people to be able to increase the crosses of participation. Centralization
creates corruption because if you want to settle your affairs, if you want to have fast services rendered to obtain
anything we want in terms of services, so however does so needs to result to corruption. He will bribe people.
He will bribe civil servants because the citizen wants to reduce the distance. He wants to do it with money. The
more the distance increases the more bribery exists and thus there is a big group of people in the government and
even in Yemen that relate to the lack of entering serious things and there is a bill of law in parliament at present
and we are striving to exclude and to eradicate this corruption by centralizing. As to decentralization, I think
that we have better results. We have the results of participation, of efficiency as well as many other virtues
and it gives us efficiency of being able to monitor all the contacts.
The third point, the public sector. We have inherited the public sector and the public sector as a matter of fact
led to corruption. One of the sources of corruption because the public funds have been transformed into private
funds and in one of the interventions I said that the public sector has become like a feudal public sector so the
civil servants have started using the public funds, the funds belonging to the state. Some people said no these
are God's funds. This is money given by God, a grant from God. As for the catastrophe that exists now is that the
public sector at present cannot compete at all unless you declare the freedom of economy. However many beneficiaries
do not want restructuring of this sector and unfortunately many also consider privatization as the other aspect
of corruption and we need to find the correct formula to avoid each other's intimidation that this is a counter
idea. We need to adopt the right approach in order to transform the bureaucracy of public sector and misfunctioning
and its corruption as well to transform into privatization with laws and regulations and transparency.
