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Land Sector Corruption in Ethiopia 289
delegation of authority to make case-by-case decisions, such as in the
case of building permits or other restricted land uses, thus creating
the scope for corrupt practices. The acquisition, management, and sale
of state-owned land create further opportunities for bureaucrats to generate
and collect rents. In land administration practice, corruption is
often a serious problem.
Various studies of perceived corruption have highlighted the land sector.
The 2008 Bribe Payers Index by Transparency International lists real estate
and property development as the second-highest of 19 sectors for bribery
of public officials (TI 2008). The 2009 Global Corruption Barometer, also
prepared by Transparency International, lists the land services sector as the
third-most-likely institution for the payment of petty bribes (TI 2009).
Among other studies, a global two-month desk review of land sector
corruption reported in the media and on the Internet produced an extensive
list of cases in both the developed and developing world (Van der
Molen and Tuladhar 2006). Surveys indicating high customer perceptions
of corruption were reported in countries including Bangladesh, India,
Kenya, Lithuania, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Specific cases of
corruption, often involving senior politicians or bureaucrats, were reported
in Australia, China, Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and
Uzbekistan. Still more reports cited investigations of corruption in countries
such as Botswana and Cambodia. Clearly, the problem is widespread.
The Value Chain and Key Actors in the Land Sector
Land management and administration is typically implemented through
a chain of activities including
• Formulation of policy
• Translation of policy into laws, regulations, and directives
• Creation of institutions and capacity to implement policies and
legislation
• Deployment of mechanisms to implement policy and legislation (such as
processes, procedures, and manuals)
• Implementation of systems for monitoring and evaluation, which ideally
should feed back into policy formulation.
The typical key actors in the chain of activities in the land sector
include
• Policy makers
• Legislators