BOGOTA (TrustLaw) - Colombia is focusing its fight against corruption on helping citizens identify and expose graft, says the Andean nation's anti-corruption czar.
Billions of dollars are embezzled from government coffers each year. Decades of drug trafficking have provided a fertile breeding ground for corruption in the world's biggest producer of cocaine.
Last year, Colombia dropped five places from 70 to 75 in Transparency International's annual index ranking 180 countries according to perceived levels of public sector corruption.
But that has not dampened Oscar Ortiz's zeal. The head of the presidential body to tackle corruption believes citizens can play a key role if public education is used to transform cultural attitudes towards graft.
"I think people do care about corruption but at what point (they) say something is corrupt and how they define corruption varies a lot," Ortiz told TrustLaw in his office in Bogota. "We need to get the message across that any type of bribe is corruption."
Changing perceptions about corruption involves raising awareness about its impact and cost on the country's social and economic development, no matter how big or small.
A survey last year by the Bogotá-based External University of Colombia revealed that business leaders pay on average 13 per cent of the value of a deal or government contract in bribes. That represents nearly two million dollars each year, estimates Ortiz.
"We've tried to raise awareness among the public about what that figure actually represents in real terms and break it down by showing loss in spending on health services and the building of schools," he explained.
Another corruption hotspot is the misuse and squandering of royalties paid by international oil and mining companies to operate in Colombia's resource-rich provinces, which amounted to $1.7 billion last year.
"Royalties are often not used for the public good and for the benefit of a local region and social and economic development. It's a lost opportunity for progress," said Ortiz.
CITIZENS AS WATCHDOGS
The anti-graft chief explains that citizens can act as corruption 'watchdogs' by working alongside local authorities, and putting pressure on elected officials to be more accountable and transparent.
Corruption in Colombia, as in many other countries, is particularly prevalent during public contracting processes, where the government grants contracts to the private and public sector to carry out work like building schools, hospitals, roads and aqueducts.
Under a government initiative called "Agreements for Transparency", set up three years ago, citizens, local universities and non-governmental organisations monitor the entire process from bidding to implementation. So far, they have covered over 200 government contracts worth nearly one billion dollars, says Ortiz.
The government's anti-corruption body has also implemented relatively simple and inexpensive strategies - which Ortiz dubs "corruption anti-virus measures" - aimed at making the business of government and spending more transparent.
These include ensuring citizens can access state documents on public spending and contract awards online; urging local councils to hold regular, open-door meetings and broadcast them live; encouraging officials to put citizens' concerns on the agenda; and making documents public 20 days before council meetings. Ortiz describes such steps as "replacing bricks with windows".
"The more citizens know about what's going on and the more they're involved in local government decisions, the more politicians can become more responsible and accountable and therefore less corrupt," he said.
Much of the onus lies with mayors who should promote a climate of openness at the local government level, letting people know how funds are being spent, he added.
MAKING COMPLAINTS
The government has set up a free anti-corruption hotline and a complaints processing system to encourage citizens to denounce graft.
Each year Ortiz and his team receive around 7,000 formal written complaints from across the country. The majority involve allegations of nepotism, fraud during public contracting processes and the misuse of state funds.
While Ortiz does not have the judicial power to sanction rotten officials - something critics say reduces his clout - his office can name and shame corrupt individuals.
And the government's anti-corruption team helps citizens file complaints and build a legal case where appropriate, which has led to court proceedings and some convictions.
"The best antidote for corruption is to show citizens that the law and justice system is efficient and that corrupt people will be punished," Ortiz said.
In a country where few citizens trust their elected officials, raising public confidence in government institutions and their staff is an arduous task.
Election-rigging scandals and vote-buying are a common feature of the political landscape. Today, over 80 lawmakers are under investigation for conspiring with the country's right-wing paramilitary groups in election fraud.
DRUG MONEY
Tackling corruption in Colombia is particularly difficult because of the country's drug trade. Over the decades, drug money has been used to exert social and political influence over local affairs, and a narcotics cartel bankrolled a presidential election campaign during the 1990s.
"Drug trafficking promotes the idea of quick and easy money. It puts enormous pressure on the country's institutions and is the root of most money-laundering activities," Ortiz explained.
Yet despite the long tentacles of the drug lords, the anti-graft chief argues that corruption has decreased in recent years, as government justice systems have taken root across the country.
This has been aided by the success of government troops in regaining control of more territory that was in the hands of rebel and paramilitary groups.
"The rule of law has improved as security has improved," Ortiz said. "In some areas, justice was dished out with the man holding a gun, now that has been replaced with judges."
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