July 29, 2020
Technical Staff
The IMF published on its blog a post entitled ” Corruption and COVID-19″ [note] Read more on the IMF blog on https://blogs.imf.org/2020/07/28/corruption-and-covid-19/ Accessed on July 29, 2020[/note]. The IMF emphasizes the importance of governance and the fight against corruption. While the IMF defines corruption as “the abuse of public office for private gain” we, at The AACI, define corruption as abuse of power or perceived power or entrusted authority for direct or indirect private monetary or non monetary gain [note] The American Anti-Corruption Institute (AACI), CACM Review Textbook, 2020 Ed., page 169.[/note]
Corruption, the abuse of public office for private gain, is about more than wasted money: it erodes the social contract and corrodes the government’s ability to help grow the….
Governments are playing a bigger role in the economy and this increases opportunities for corruption.
IMF
Because the damages of corruption are always severe, its socioeconomic losses increase amid pandemics. We join the IMF call to governments to fight corruption at such sensitive times.
However, we believe that the effective fight against corruption is “a process effected by those charged with governance, employees, citizens, and other stakeholders to provide a reasonable assurance that those entrusted with power did not abuse it for a private gain(s).” Fighting Corruption is holistic, multidisciplinary, encompasses all economic sectors, results-oriented, and continuous. The framework of the effective fight against corruption shall always apply the ten principles of fighting corruption. It is not enough to limit fighting corruption to governance.
