Forms of Corruption in Nepal

This article discusses the various forms of corruption in Nepal, such as bribery, nepotism, embezzlement, patronage, extortion, and impunity. It explores the negative effects of corruption on the economy and society and suggests ways in which the government can fight corruption, including effective law enforcement, public awareness, transparency, amendment of laws, and strong political will.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS 1
Business Ethics
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
FORMS OF CORRUPTION IN NEPAL........................................................................................2
I.BRIBERY..................................................................................................................................2
II.NEPOTISM..............................................................................................................................2
III. EMBEZZLEMENT...............................................................................................................3
IV.PATRONAGE........................................................................................................................3
V.EXTORTION...........................................................................................................................3
VI. IMPUNITY............................................................................................................................3
WAYS THROUGH WHICH THE GOVERNMENT CAN FIGHT CORRUPTION....................4
I.EFFECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT......................................................................................4
II .PUBLIC AWARENESS.........................................................................................................4
III. TRANSPARENCY...............................................................................................................4
IV. AMMENDMENT OF LAWS...............................................................................................4
V. STRONG POLITICAL WILL................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
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INTRODUCTION
Corruption involves using or obtaining power or favors in a dishonest way that often has a
negative consequence on a second or third party.it is a direct consequence of greed and power
and exists at all levels of society in varying degrees . It has been linked to low income, low levels
of education and low freedom of the media and is highly associated with the political and
economic sectors. Corruption is most prevalent in developing and transitional countries with
closed economies and plays a major factor in slowing down the economic growth of these
countries (Williams-Elegbe, 2018).
According to Transparency international, Nepal is the 124 least corrupted nations out of 175
nations that were ranked in the corruption perception index. Corruption has many effects
including increasing the price of goods which may affect their quality in the long term as well as
the economic development of a country, poor delivery of public services, prevailing injustice and
employment of unqualified or under qualified personelle to offices which leads to misuse of
office.
There are many forms of corruption which include but are not limited to: bribery, extortion,
cronyism, favoritism, graft and patronage.
FORMS OF CORRUPTION IN NEPAL
I. BRIBERY
It involves giving money or gifts to someone so that they can act in ones favor dishonestly.
Bribery is the most common form of corruption in Nepal especially in government offices, as is
often required so as to get the required service. According to a Nagarik investigation, of the 715
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people who went to government offices in Kathmandu and Lalitpur, 504 of them said they had to
bribe the official to get the job done.
The socio-economic factor also plays a role where bribes are given with the excuse of
underpayment, with the officials claiming to require the money for meals or as tips for the
services being provided (Zimmermann, 2014). The work would be done sluggishly until the
bribe was given to complete it.
It is also common in judicial systems. Most citizens believe that judges accept bribes to sway
the decisions they make in court cases. This leads to injustice since the wrongdoers are set free
while those that are innocent are left to face the consequences.
Graft is a form of bribery that involves public funding. Most of those involved are usually
politicians or top ranking officials in the government.
II. NEPOTISM
Nepotism is the form of corruption where family members and relatives of people in power
are appointed to higher positions and given jobs despite of their qualifications. This means that
those appointed to those offices would be under qualified thus affecting the quality of work they
provide (Lewis, 2017). This can be seen in the judicial industry where lawyers hired are usually
close friends or relatives of politicians.
This usually discourages qualified and trained lawyers, forcing them to work abroad. The
corruption in the judiciary has a negative impact on the economy since it makes investors
unwilling to invest. Finances that are available are also not used thus affecting development
projects (Hough, 2013).
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Nepotism is a form of favoritism, and the same effect is seen in instances of cronyism, close
friends or members of one’s inner circle are considered for job openings. Favoritism in general
lowers the moral of workers since they will not see the need of working hard since those being
rewarded have already been identified. This will eventually cause low productivity of an industry
and will hamper its development.
III. EMBEZZLEMENT
This is the misuse or misappropriation of funds belonging to one’s employer or entrusted to a
person. Embezzlement affects the economy of the country since the funds are not used for their
intended purpose (Funderburk, 2016). According to Rajesh Khanal of The Kathmandu post,
millions of rupees are spend unnecessarily due to lack of measures to curb unnecessary
expenditure.
Embezzlement of funds contributes to growing levels of poverty since areas that are identified
as in need of funding do not receive the funding they require. It widens the gap of inequality
when certain sectors receive more funding frequently as compared to others.
IV. PATRONAGE
Patronage occurs when a person has the power to appoint personelle in a place or to give
privileges. Unlike nepotism, patronage occurs when the person in power gives favors to those
they owe, for example, for helping them gain a political seat. Patronage can cause poor work
delivery due to hiring of under qualified individuals into offices. It leads to lack of confidence in
political leaders (Moody-Stuart, 2017). People also tend to elect leaders for the wrong purposes
and thus incompetent people end up in top offices.
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V. EXTORTION
This involves using force or violence in order to gain an advantage. An example is when
politicians threaten or use violence to get donations from businesses, schools or industries
(Jianping, et. al, 2014). Extortion reduces confidence in leaders and also plays a part in misuse
and misappropriation of funds.
VI. IMPUNITY
Impunity is a form of corruption practiced by those responsible for enforcing laws such as the
police force. It occurs when corrupt individuals are not punished for their actions and end up
getting away with no consequences. Impunity increases the occurrence of corrupt dealings since
the perpetrators carry out their dealings with a sense of security (Hough, 2017).
Most citizens in Nepal believe that the police cannot be relied on to enforce laws. Low level
officers who are often underpaid can easily be bribed, and this has led to an increased level of
violence and crimes.
WAYS THROUGH WHICH THE GOVERNMENT CAN FIGHT CORRUPTION
I. EFFECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT
The government should ensure that there are enough laws in place to deal with corruption.
These laws should always be implemented to ensure that the corrupt are punished. The body
responsible for implementing these laws should be free and independent from the government
(Pemberton, Pantazis & Hillyard, 2017).
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II. PUBLIC AWARENESS
The public should be educated about corruption and its effects. They should then be
encouraged to advocate for anti-corruption. Once the public is aware of the effects that
corruption has on the society they will be motivated to shun corrupt leaders.
III. TRANSPARENCY
Open governance should be practiced where citizens have access to documents related to the
government. It ensures that there is a high level of transparency, participation and accountability
by the citizens (Balasubramaniam & Venkatachaliah, 2017). It also sheds light to corrupt
dealings which would require to be dealt with and eventually leads to better development
outcomes. Having the right policies in place can be used to facilitate open governance.
Transparency in job sectors will reduce the occurrence of favoritism and will ensure that
qualified individuals are given the proper jobs. In the long run this will ensure that the work will
be done effectively and will boost the development of the country.
IV. AMMENDMENT OF LAWS
Existing laws should be amended to make them stricter when handling cases of corruption in
line with the UN convention against corruption. They should be reviewed in a way that ensures
corrupt workers are held accountable for their mistakes, kept out of office and return all stolen
finances or assets (Khanna, 2016). Corruption proceedings should be made public and
enforcement of the laws put in place should be ensured.
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V. STRONG POLITICAL WILL
It is important to have leaders who have a strong political will and drive to fight corruption.
This has been witnessed in Singapore where the founding Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan who
was voted into office in 1959 took measures to eradicate corruption and succeeded in doing so
within a short period of time (Ghimire, 2018).
Such leaders will ensure that existing laws are implemented and implement a zero tolerance
policy for corruption.
CONCLUSION
Corruption is detrimental to a countries economy. High levels of corruption reduce the gross
domestic product of the county. It affects justice and ethics, undermines the values for
democracy, and increases cost of carrying out businesses and increases inequality since only
those with money are able to grow. It will cause distrust in the government and the citizens will
be unwilling to work with it. Although a few people benefit from the unethical transactions
majority of the people are left to suffer the consequences. Succeeding in the fight against
corruption is not impossible. Some countries have achieved this with great success in a short
amount of time. These countries include Singapore, Estonia and Georgia (Šumah, 2018).
Fighting corruption is a collective responsibility of the government as well as the citizens and
can only be achieved through good practices such as transparency, following the rule of law,
responsiveness and honesty and fairness in dealings.
Strategies that are put in place to fight corruption should not be ignored but followed strictly
and new ones should be created when the need arises. For a country to be prosperous it is
necessary to take all the required measures to eliminate corruption.
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References
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