The president and government ministers in Timor-Leste have voiced their support for Xanana Gusmão, the current prime minister accused of corruption. Opposition leaders have denounced Gusmão’s actions as “cronyism.” And, finally, Xanana Gusmão has spoken publicly on the allegations he faces. The PM’s first words: “I don’t want to explain any more…” Yesterday, Gusmão expressed…
In Accra on Saturday, US President Barack Obama spoke to the need for African nations to increase the strength of their institutions and promote good governance as an essential component to successful development programs. Obama also had some kind words to our lead Ghana reporter, “Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the…
In his Sunday column yesterday, the Washington Post Ombudsman, Andy Alexander, found a steady tone, even as he characterized the paper’s recently proposed lobbyist-journalist salons as an “ethical lapse of monumental proportions.” Politico was the first to break news of these “salons” after reporters there got hold of an internal Post flyer advertising the policy…
With public pressure on to cut down on generous car allowances, Ministers in Kenya have been debating strategies to cut back… without compromising luxury. The 2009 budget sets aside 70 million shillings (US$ 914,434) for vehicle spending based on a long-standing practice of providing a Mercedes-Benz to go along with the title of minister. Anticipating…
What do Stalinist-era accounting practices in Hungary, financial reports, and post-WWII U.S. property tax assessments have in common with measuring governance/corruption? More than we think, if we take the argument advanced by a former professor of mine Martha Lampland seriously. In a working paper (PDF) published recently, Lampland (a historical anthropologist) suggests that numbers are…
If a country score on a Washington analyst’s spreadsheet nudges from -0.79 to -0.75, should anyone care? Maybe not. In fact, here’s a case where the appearance of insight provided by functionally hollow numbers is filling up a space that could be used to discuss actual governance issues. Call it governance theater. It’s as staged…
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