The Solomon Islands has come through very challenging times since Independence and the link and the role that Corruption in the Public Sector and the Private Sector plays in social disorder, conflicts, poverty, human rights abuses, and gender equality is often underplayed or pushed under the carpet, or, in our case, custom weaved mats.
This damming revelation was publicized via the 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) Solomon Islands under the theme "Linking Corruption, Social Disorder and Conflict” recently released by Transparency Solomon Islands (TSI).
The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is one of Transparency International’s legacies initiated in 1995 and its objective is to measure how corrupt or clean the public sector of a country is. The tool relies on external data sources reflecting the opinions & perceptions of survey respondents from the private business communities.
CPI is the reflection of the opinions and perceptions of how corrupt or corruption is in the public sector– from the private sector. The CPI data is then used to further explores how corruption is linked to Social Disorders and Conflicts in the Solomon Islands.
The report states that Corruption fuels/creates Social Disorder and Conflict through the diversion of funds from public good towards private interests. Not only that, but it also gives disproportionate influence over policies to specific sectors of society.
The report also highlights that corruption also shapes opportunities for social disorders and conflicts with the provision of incentives for the corrupt to influence and control executive governments. Corruption also prevents institutions of integrity and law enforcement to detect and contain threats.
A fine example could be the establishment of anti-corruption institutions with no teeth whatsoever to bite let alone the freedom and independence from the executive government to carry out its mandated responsibilities.
The report also reveals that Corruption also threatens democracy and durable peace by undermining the public’s trust in the state’s capacity and willingness to enforce anti-corruption legislation.
This could lead to willful failure to bring in legislative reforms for transparency and accountability such as the Right to Information Bill 2016 and the Independence of Office of the Auditor General to do its work in monitoring how public funds have been expended for example.
The report cautions that the data in the CPI is not collected nor produced by TI-S and its national chapters.
It further states that CPI measures perceived levels of public sector corruption, and not the actual levels of all forms of corruption in the public sector.