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360 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
Table 8.1
(continued)
Risk Area 4: Delivery and Installation of Equipment
In Ethiopia
Current risk in Ethiopia: High
This is a high area of perceived risk in Ethiopia. Examples were identified of the following:
4a. Short delivery of equipment
4b. Delivery of inferior or defective equipment
A supplier supplied defective cable, and some ETC managers allegedly ordered it to be quickly
installed even though defective, apparently to cover up its defective nature. Another case,
widely reported in the media, involved the installation in 2006 of a major new billing system
that failed to work properly and eventually had to be replaced (BuddeComm 2009a).
Each of these examples carries associated risks of 4c, 4d, 4e, and 4f.
In addition, examples were identified of the following: working equipment being replaced by
new equipment and new equipment being delivered but not installed. Stakeholders perceived
some of these difficulties to have potentially been caused by factors other than corruption.
These factors could include poor coordination at project handover from the ETC’s
procurement to project management functions; lack of capacity in some ETC staff; frequent
changes of project manager; and failure to properly order and document contract
variations. It was, however, agreed that these difficulties could equally have been caused
by corruption.
In the course of the study, contract documents for a major contract were briefly examined.
This was a contract with a major international supplier, placed in 2004 but not yet finalized.
From the contract documents reviewed, it appeared that appropriate management procedures
were in place. There were progress reports, invoices, packing lists, takeover certificates,
and correspondence between the ETC and the supplier disputing certain items. The
records were logically filed. However, a detailed assessment was not undertaken as to
whether the contract was effectively managed or implemented from the perspective of
either the ETC or the supplier.
Risk Area 5: Construction of Telecoms Facilities
International experience
Typical international risk: High
Internationally, this is an area of high risk. Typical areas of such risk include the following:
5a. Bypassing of procurement procedures
Often on the pretext of urgency, sole-source purchasing is used instead of competitive
tendering.
5b. Bribery of network operator employees or senior government officers
Contractors pay bribes as an inducement to award the contract improperly, to agree to an
inflated price, to agree on construction of excess or unsuitable facilities, or to award numerous
contracts to one contractor with no commercial justification.
5c. Wrongful elimination (by network operator employees) of tenderers from tender list
5d. Failure by network operator to debar poorly performing contractors
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