Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER FOUR: ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT__________________________________________________________________________difficulties of making a clear distinction between politics and the judiciary;difficulties relating to the very functioning of the administration, markedby the existence of service relations – a situation of dependence resultingfrom its excessive ranking;deep-rooted nepotism; andfavouritism at all levels where appointments are reserved for those whocan serve selfish interests.477. With regard to money laundering in the country, the CSAR mentions that itsprevalence is not known. However, some key measures have been taken interms of legislation, policies, programmes, institutional development and theallocation of resources to combat money laundering in the country. Forexample, the Directive and the Single Law on the fight against moneylaundering in WAEMU member states was adopted by the Council ofMinisters of the AU. Benin recently adopted this law in Parliament. However,its entry into law is subject to its promulgation by the head of state.ii.Conclusions of the CRM478. The CRM notes that the CSAR does not analyse the categories of corruption inBenin in a manner that would enable the recommendations to address thespecific forms and modalities of corruption. However, the discussions withstakeholders and additional reading helped to show that the most commonforms of corruption are bribery, tax and customs evasion, over-invoicing ofservices provided to the state through government contracts, under-invoicingof debts owed to the state, misappropriation, influence peddling, favouritism,and vote-buying during elections. The areas most affected by these practicesare public administration (in general), state financial administration (taxation,customs and government contracts), politics and justice (also see ChaptersThree and Five).479. The CRM also notes that the CSAR lists the causes of corruption in Benin butoverlooks the weaknesses in control bodies and their dependence onpoliticians and top officials in public administration. This lack of independentoversight transfers control to those with the most power. On the other hand,there are factors that encourage partiality in decision making, andconsequently spread corruption. These are: the ignorance and illiteracy of thepopulation; impunity; delays in providing public services; the excessivecentralisation in public administration; political favouritism in the appointmentof top officials because of the absence of job descriptions and career plans;and the acceptance of the practice of offering gifts and of preferentialtreatment.480. With regard to the fight against corruption in its different forms, the CSAR issilent on some commendable efforts made by the government of Benin sincethe 1990s. However, these efforts are ineffective in view of the magnitude of170