Corruption Unit Confidence

Those Cambodians involved in low-level corruption are about to get a swift quick in the pants Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) officials say.

Recently the ACU claimed that the payment of illegal fees paid to junior government officials would be stamped-out within four months.

The ACU hopes that NGOs will help them in their efforts by providing monitoring (and a healthy budget to do so, presumably) of local activities.

Such bribes are nothing more than payments to get these officials to do what they are paid to do.

Public registrations, business licences and arranging for road repairs are some examples of bribes being required to grease the wheel and inspire the local bureaucracy to get their backsides into gear.

The initiative is all well and good, I suppose. And the less cynical than I might believe it will achieve something. And well it might.

But two points:

1. What sort of message does it send when low-level corruption activities involving a few dollars at a time are squarely targeted, whilst the filthy few- high-ranking political figures and businessmen- are allowed to continue to pillage the country's people and resources through highly corrupt activities?

2. Can anyone take the ACU seriously? Really, decades of endemic low-level corruption will be gone within four months? Such ridiculous claims destroy credibility.

Four months! Anyone would think that there are elections coming up.