The Vanguard newspaper in Lagos highlights a discouraging trend of Nigerian lawmakers declaring greater personal assets than they currently posses in order to build in a cushion that accounts for corrupt gains while in office. When those asset disclosures are finally reviewed years later, the inflated numbers sadly match reality. The article mentions how the…
DetailsA new paper analyzes the performance of the African Peer Review Mechanism, as experienced in Kenya. From the NED email newsletter: In a recent position paper on the current political crisis in Kenya, Bronwen Manby, Senior Programme Advisor with AfriMap at the Open Society Institute, discusses what can be learned from both the successes and…
DetailsGlobal Integrity’s Sebastian Sanga writes from Tanzania with a review of last year’s electrical power crisis, and the political powers that let it happen. The report, in the words of a peer reviewer, “gives a vivid picture of the gravity of the corruption cankerworm in Tanzania.” Tanzania: The Influence Grid By Sebastian SangaImage: Dar Es…
DetailsMedia independence takes a knock in South Africa, with an apparently retaliatory sacking. While publicly-supported broadcasters are often quite good (the BBC comes to mind), there is a built in risk of government interference, and here it is. RSF press release, via AllAfrica. Reporters sans Frontières (Paris) PRESS RELEASE7 May 2008Posted to the web 7…
DetailsLast week, we asked if American television networks were going to cover the story that the Pentagon coordinated pro-government statements in secret meetings with the news networks’ on-air employees. In a word: No. They aren’t going to cover that. Politico: ‘Deafening’ silence on analyst story
DetailsLA Times: “Federal agents Tuesday swarmed the home and office of the Bush administration official responsible for protecting government whistle-blowers, part of an investigation into whether the official retaliated against his employees and obstructed justice.” Washington Post: More than a dozen agents participated in the daylong raid, temporarily shutting down the e-mail and computer systems…
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