International report: The government of Yemen has not carried out any anti-corruption activities

English - Saturday 25 March 2023 الساعة 08:43 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:

The 2022 Human Rights Practices in Yemen report said that the Yemeni government has not carried out any major anti-corruption activities, although Yemen has made progress by developing legislation and oversight bodies, but there are still many gaps in implementation.

The human rights report issued by the US State Department on March 21, seen by "Newsyemen", confirmed that corruption regularly affected government purchases.

The report added that the government benefited from corruption and mismanagement, and paid "exorbitant salaries" to "advisers" living outside the country, according to a report issued by a researcher at the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies in January.

The report stated that the salaries of many government officials and civil servants were not paid, due to a lack of government resources, while public sector salaries remained burdened by "ghost workers" who receive salaries for jobs they did not perform.

The report pointed out that the Sana’a Center for Studies report accused the government and local and international organizations, including Transparency International, agreed that corruption is a serious problem in every branch and level of government and among non-state actors, especially in the security sector.

According to the report, international observers alleged that government officials routinely benefited from insider arrangements, embezzlement, and bribes.

The report noted that in January, the government launched its second national anti-corruption strategy for the period 2022 to 2026. However, the CEB noted very weak implementation of the government's first strategy covering 2010 to 2014.

The report noted a report published by the ATAWAD Anti-Corruption Organization, which analyzes the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in Yemen.  In its assessment, the government's Supreme National Commission for Combating Corruption continued to suffer from a lack of adequately qualified staff and investigators, as well as a lack of independence.

The report indicated that the government lacked appropriate mechanisms for reporting corruption and written protection measures for whistleblowers.