Niger - Corruption
Civil servants often demand bribes to provide public services. A poorly financed and trained law enforcement establishment and weak administrative controls compounded corruption. Other contributing factors included poverty, low salaries, politicization of the public service, traditional kinship and ethnic allegiances, a culture of impunity, and the lack of civic education. A French appeals court found in March 2015 that a 35 million euro ($38.5 million) contribution by French nuclear company Areva towards the purchase of a new presidential airplane for Niger constituted moral corruption.
Several incidents in August and September 2015 in which large amounts of foreign currency and gold were discovered at Niamey’s international airport raised concerns in the media of money laundering or corruption. In all incidents senior officials reportedly instructed customs officials to return the money and gold to the travelers without levying customs taxes.
The High Authority to Combat Corruption and Related Crimes (HALCIA) forwarded several corruption cases to the Ministry of Justice. HALCIA investigated and uncovered several corruption and fraud cases involving civil servants, judges, and security force members, notably customs officers. HALCIA referred most of the cases to state prosecutors for action. Individuals were charged with crimes and occasionally jailed for short periods, although they often were granted provisional release, and no sentences were handed out for corruption.
The constitution requires the president of the republic, presidents of other government institutions, and cabinet members to submit written statements of their personal property and other assets to the Constitutional Court upon assuming office, and they complied. These statements are to be updated annually and at the end of an individual’s tenure. The National Register and the press publish the initial statements and updates. Copies of the statements are forwarded to the government’s fiscal services. Filers must explain any discrepancies between the initial and the updated statements. The Constitutional Court has authority to assess discrepancies, but there was no indication it questioned a declaration’s veracity and/or imposed sanctions. The law does not allow designated officials to purchase or rent, by themselves or through other parties, any government-owned property or to bid for government contracts. HALCIA and the State Inspectorate have investigative roles, with the State Inspectorate being more administrative.
The law provides for access to public information and administrative documents, and this occurred. Requestors can also obtain many documents from individual ministries and the National Archives. The law provides a list of “communicable” and “noncommunicable” documents and establishes procedures for accessing them and paying related costs. If officials deny access to a document, they are required to notify the requestor in writing and provide the legal grounds for denial. The law provides an appeal mechanism for review through the national mediator, and legal complaints are referred to the Administrative Court. It also provides for sanctions against agencies, individual civil servants, and users for noncompliance.
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