The Chairman of the Leadership Code Commission Emmanual Kouhota has warned that "corruption is not only increasing but that people who are involved in corruption are also getting smarter and smarter."
Mr. Kouhota said this when he addressed a two day 'Anti-Corruption and Integrity Workshop' which ended in Honiara last Friday.He told about thirty participants at the workshop that Solomon Islands ranks 109 out of 180 countries on the TSI corruption perception index, 180 being the most corrupt and number 1, the least corrupt.
The Leadership Code Chairman told the participants that allegations of corruption against government and government institutions, politician and public servants are not uncommon.
He added that there had also been allegations that tenders were awarded on the amount of kickbacks demanded by officials rather than in accordance to established procedures.
Mr Kouhota said that whether such allegations are true or not, one thing that will always be true is that "such allegation diminishes the respect for, and the integrity of the government institutions and those who serve in them; political leaders and public officials."
He told the participants, who include members and revenue officials of the City Council, and revenue officers from the Customs and Inlands Revenue Divisions that the responsibility of preventing corruption in the public sector falls on all of us.
He said that the Leadership Code Commission has taken the initiatives in organizing workshops like the one that opened yesterday.
Mr Kouhota added that the workshop has been arranged with the aim of highlighting the dimensions of corruption, its causes and effects, and steps that can be taken to minimise corruption in the government departments and agencies.
National Express