The US government donated some US$ 45 billion (EUR 35.5 billion) for reconstruction and relief funding to Iraq. However, due to endemic corruption, people are still lacking basic facilities such as power, clean potable water and sanitation. In Iraq, the Commission for Public Integrity (CPI), the Board of Supreme Audit, and the Inspector General in each ministry, deal with corruption. Judge Radhi al-Radhi, head of the CPI, said that corruption has become common in Iraq. Arwa Hassan, Middle East Programme Coordinator for Transparency International, a Berlin-based NGO that monitors corruption worldwide, said that corruption is definitely hampering reconstruction. According to officials, some 3,500-corruption cases have been investigated by the CPI, of which fewer than 50 have been tried in court. Most of the courts in Iraq have been refusing to take corruption cases because of the huge number of terrorism and kidnapping cases. The worsening security situation keeps people from informing the authorities of corrupt colleagues for fear of being threatened or even killed.

Related news: Iraq, Baghdad: poor sanitation poses cholera risks, Source Weekly, 25 Jul 2006

Related web site: Water Integrity Network

Source: IRIN , 6 Sep 2006

Tags: policies & legislation