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Education Sector Corruption in Ethiopia 99
new entrants to the market, or other forms of uncompetitive practices
that may or may not include a conspiratorial role on the part of those
responsible for procurement. In view of suggestions of related practices,
including perceived barriers to market entry, the risk of this corrupt practice
is considered to be medium.
Bribery to influence evaluation of tenders—risk: medium. In general, survey
responses suggest that outright bribery in the form of cash payments is
relatively rare, and when it occurs, it is of a more minor nature than
would typically be encountered in other countries in the region.
Nevertheless, other less-direct forms of bribery were reported to have
recently occurred, including an example of an overseas publisher offering
international travel perks to Ethiopian officials responsible for the procurement
of textbooks.
From an international perspective, the offering of such perks would
normally be deemed to be a corrupt act in the country of origin of the
company involved, as well as in Ethiopia. At the very least, any such
perks would need to be openly declared and subject to public scrutiny,
to ensure that it did not influence the tender evaluation. Survey
responses suggest a low level of awareness of the corrupt nature of such
inducements. For this reason the risk is assessed as being medium,
despite an absence of any significant perception that it is a major corruption
risk.
Supply of substandard, or inadequate quantity of, supplies or equipment—
risk: medium. One of the clearest indicators of corruption in procurement
is the purchase of substandard or defective supplies or equipment. For
this to go unchallenged by those responsible for procurement strongly
suggests either a lack of capacity, corrupt practices, or both.
Interview responses suggest that basic procurement controls are in
place but that they do not always work as intended, resulting in some
cases in the acceptance of goods that fail to meet the specifications set
out in the procurement contract. For example, a large fleet of buses
purchased by the MOE using Teacher Development Program funds
and distributed to TTCs were found to be defective. The TTCs complained
that the MOE had dumped the buses on them. The MOE
subsequently sent auditors to determine whether the complaint was
genuine.
Many schools continue to experience textbook shortages. It is beyond
the scope of this study to analyze the causes of such shortages, which are