Complete Book PDF (4.12MB) - World Bank eLibrary

Corruption in the Telecommunications Sector in Ethiopia: A Preliminary Overview 351
Differing Stakeholder Perceptions
During the interviews and the stakeholder workshop, the views expressed
tended to coalesce into three broad groups as follows:
• Minority Group A. This group acknowledged weaknesses within the
sector but attributed those weaknesses primarily to a lack of capacity
rather than corruption.
• Minority Group B. This group acknowledged serious breaches of procedure
and other “dubious practices” but considered these mainly to be
well-intentioned attempts to act in the best interests of Ethiopia’s telecoms
sector, even if that meant having to bypass some unduly cumbersome
administrative procedures.
• Majority Group C. This group considered the sector to be deeply
affected by corruption that goes well beyond what can reasonably be
attributed to lack of capacity or genuine efforts to bypass cumbersome
procedures.
Box 8.1 sets out further details of each group’s perspectives.
Box 8.1
Stakeholder Perceptions of Corruption in the Ethiopian
Telecoms Sector
In the course of interviews and workshops, a range of stakeholder perceptions
were obtained about corruption in the telecoms sector, particularly in relation to
the appointment of equipment suppliers. These views are summarized below.
Minority View A: “Low capacity but not corruption”
• Because many ETC senior managers are involved in key decisions and so many
controls are in place, any corruption would need to involve too many people to
be plausible.
• Some contracts are placed where all procedures had been properly followed.
• There is a capacity problem, evident both in a shortage of properly qualified
ETC staff and in flaws in the ETC procedures.
• The high technology and quickly advancing nature of telecoms equipment
results in poor decisions that could be mistaken for corruption.
• The high levels of changing technology create an asymmetrical relationship
between ETC staff and international suppliers.
(continued next page)