1st Edition
Deconstructing Corruption in Africa
This book investigates corruption and anti-corruption efforts in Africa, emphasising the regional and thematic differences across the continent, whilst also exploring key patterns and trends.
Combatting the ethnocentrism of Western corruption research, this book highlights the importance of a home-generated and contextualised approach to understanding corruption in Africa. Bringing together a rich array of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, the book considers how corruption manifests in a range of selected countries across the political, economic, and social spheres. The book adopts a strong comparative approach, exploring patterns, dynamics, and mechanisms in African societies. It assesses the historical underpinnings of corruption, emerging trends, and socio-economic realities before suggesting realistic contemporary solutions to the challenges of corruption in Africa. Bringing together academics and practitioners, readers will encounter intellectual discussion face-to-face with realities on the ground.
As such, the book will be useful for scholars, politicians, public officials, and civil society organizations, as well as for students and researchers across the fields of political science, public administration, economy and corruption studies.
Introduction - The many faces of corruption in Africa
Ina Kubbe, Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai and Michael Johnston
PART I: Corruption in the Political Sector
1. The Politics of State Capture in South Africa: A New Variant of Corruption?
Thomas A. Koelble
2. Domains of Corruption in Nigeria: A Four-Part Taxonomy and Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Paradox
Aruna Kallon
3. Recounting how electoral corruption manifests in Sierra Leone: Stories and Lessons from the field
Marcella Samba-Sesay nee Macauley
4. Understanding Political Corruption in Uganda through the lens of complexity thinking and historical institutionalism
Clare Cheromoi, Asiimwe Godfrey, Charlotte Karungi Mafumbo and Richard Sebaggala
5. Unraveling the Complexities: Identifying Persistent Factors Hindering Anti-Corruption Efforts in Cameroon
Kwei Haliday Nyingchia
6. Lobbying in Tunisia: Developing a Transparency Regime to Tackle Perceptions of Corruption
Barry Solaiman
PART II: Corruption in the Economic and Social Sector
7. Corruption as an Investment Risk: A Case Study on Anti-corruption Strategies in Djibouti
Wael Saghir
8. Debunking the Demand-Driven myth of corruption: The case of the Saint Louis Scandal in Mauritius
Sanjeev Narrainen
9. Charismatic Churches and Corruption in Ghana: feeding the beast?
Riccardo D’Emidio
10. The causes and consequences of corruption in Zambia
Arthur Chisanga, Steven Daka, Victor Kaonga and Tambulani Chayima Nyirenda
The way forward: deconstructing the many faces of corruption in Africa
Ina Kubbe, Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai and Michal Johnston
Biography
Ina Kubbe is a Professor at the University of Tel Aviv, at the School of Political Science, Government and International Relations, where she mainly researches and teaches on corruption, migration, gender politics, and conflict resolution. Ina is also a Professor at the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Austria. She specialises in social science methodology and comparative research on empirical democracy, corruption and governance research. Ina has published several books, special issues, and articles in the field and is one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN) as well as the Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on (Anti)Corruption and Integrity.
Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai is a barrister and solicitor of the High Courts of Sierra Leone, and Lecturer in the Department of Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Sierra Leone. He is Deputy Editor of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies’ Law Review. Founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law in the Faculty of Law, Fourah Bay College, in Sierra Leone. Over the last two decades, Abdulai has been a leading campaigner for the passing and implementation of freedom of information law in Sierra Leone and Africa as a civil society practitioner working for the Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone. Abdulai was the chair of the Governing Council of the African Freedom of Information Council, and is also Chairperson of the Political Affairs Cluster of the African Union’s Economic Social and Cultural Council.
Michael Johnston is a Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, USA. He retired from Colgate in 2015, but since 2012 has offered lectures and seminars at the International Anti-Corruption Academy near Vienna. He now lives in suburban Austin, Texas, USA, and continues his research projects.
