Household Corruption Perception Survey – South Kivu 2017

This survey, funded and carried out by the Centre de Recherche sur l’Anti-Corruption (CERC), provides empirical data to help the government, civil society and the private sector design and implement policies and programmes that improve governance in South Kivu and reduce corruption.

AimsSix starting questions

1. To identify the forms and practices of corruption, and how the public perceives each of them;
2. to identify the main actors involved in corrupt practices;
3. to identify the causes of corruption;
4. to measure the perceived level of corruption and the sectors most affected, as a baseline to track progress;
5. to measure the perceived political will to fight corruption;
6. to support the development of sector action plans.

Method980 interviews, one per household

CERC designed a questionnaire of 68 substantive questions, plus demographic questions, on the United Nations model for quantitative surveys on corruption, adapted to the local context. It measures citizens’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding corruption.

In May 2017, four enumerators, helped by community leaders, interviewed 980 people aged 17 to 60 – as many women as men, one per household – in the nine administrative entities of South Kivu, including the city of Bukavu. CERC had planned 860 interviews. After checks, 30 questionnaires were set aside: 950 responses were analysed: Bukavu (140), Uvira, Shabunda, Fizi and Mwenga (120 each), Walungu (100), Kalehe and Kabare (90 each) and Idjwi (80).

An interview lasted 50 minutes on average: 872 hours of interviews in all. As many respondents had not been to school, the enumerators read out the answer options. “Don’t know” answers, frequent at the start, fell as the interview went on: the interview itself raised awareness of corruption.

• Corruption is seen as serious (56.9%) and rising (45.2%), even though few respondents name it unprompted among the province’s most serious problems, far behind unemployment and poverty.
• It is seen in most institutions: 54.3% consider the provincial government corrupt, 52.9% the members of the provincial parliament, and money is the form of corruption most often cited (58%).
• It is poorly understood: 52.5% could not say what corruption is at the start of the interview.
• It is rarely reported: only 20.9% know whom to report it to, and fear of reprisals (59.2%) and the belief that nothing will be done (53.0%) discourage reporting.
• The need for money explains it for 46.5% of respondents, and 59.8% believe most acts of corruption result from economic hardship.
• Citizens are ready to act: 70.1% think corruption can be eliminated or reduced, respondents reported 940 actions they have already taken against it, and more than 60% want CERC to inform them about their rights and the ways to fight corruption.

General situationLittle progress, but some satisfaction

More than a quarter of respondents (28.5%) see significant progress in the general situation, 42.6% little progress and 22.3% none. Yet 62.9% say they are very or somewhat satisfied with the overall situation in South Kivu, and only 11.0% very dissatisfied. Opinions on the political situation and political leadership are divided, and 30.0% consider the economic situation bad.

SeriousnessRarely named, but seen as serious

Named by only 9.7% among the most serious problems, corruption is seen as serious as soon as respondents are asked directly: 56.9% find it very or somewhat serious, 15.6% not serious. And 45.2% believe it is higher than in past years, against 14.2% who find it lower.

InstitutionsInstitutions seen as corrupt

These results accuse no official in particular: they show how citizens perceive each institution in the delivery of services. Corruption is seen as widespread in most state services, starting with the provincial government.

SectorsCustoms, political parties and education at the top

Of twenty sectors and services, corruption is seen as most frequent in customs (46.8%), political parties (45.3%) and education (44.9%), and least frequent among religious denominations (26.1%), the army and police (33.2%) and community leaders (33.9%). Asked to rank the three most corrupt sectors, respondents name the electoral system first (29.6%), then customs (11.6%), education (9.1%) and health (8.2%); the commercial sector (0.7%) and the media (0.9%) come last.

Money is the form of corruption public officials most often accept or demand (58%); other respondents name motorbikes, furniture, vehicles and phone cards. Respondents base their view on personal experience (35.0%), the media (26.3%) and friends and acquaintances (16.9%).

Government actionLittle-known efforts against corruption

Only 13.9% know of measures taken by the government against corruption in South Kivu, and 86.1% could not judge their effectiveness. A large majority doubts the political will: asked whether the government has a sincere will to fight corruption, 9.1% strongly agree and 6.5% agree, against 15.1% who disagree and 54.9% who strongly disagree; 12.8% don’t know.

DefinitionMore than half did not know

At the start of the interview, 52.5% of respondents could not say what corruption is. The others defined it mainly as the misuse of state funds or property for personal gain (25.2%), stealing other people’s money or property (11.0%), manipulating other people’s rights (5.6%), abuse of power (3.6%) or nepotism (2.1%). Any campaign against corruption must start from this.

36.1% think ordinary citizens can commit corruption, 16.1% that only state officials and managers of public property can, and 47.5% don’t know. Asked which attitudes lead to it, 64.9% cannot answer; the others name greed and the ambition to get rich (13.7%), a lack of responsibility and ethics (6.9%), low salaries (3.8%) and family burdens (3.7%).

Causes“We need money”

For 46.5% of respondents, corruption is explained by the need for money to live and by salaries below daily needs; 7.8% name the ambition to get rich quickly, others a lack of ethics. A third don’t know. This matches unemployment and poverty, named as the province’s most serious problems.

A list of thirteen acts – paying a police officer to cover an offence, giving a teacher a gift for a good mark, getting a relative appointed in a ministry, using an official car for private purposes… – was put to respondents: most consider them corruption, and “don’t know” answers no longer exceed 13.8% to 20.1%, a sign that the notion is better understood by this point of the interview.

PracticesHow bribes happen

Only 52.1% are very or fairly certain that a bribe gets the service delivered or the problem solved. The main motivations named are that there is no other way to get things done (28.2%) and the wish to avoid sanctions (18.9%) or higher official payments (7.0%).

Asked about their contacts with fourteen institutions over the past twelve months, more than 90% of respondents did not answer; of 695 contacts reported, 28 requests for bribes were mentioned. This gap between corruption seen as general and cases rarely reported would deserve a qualitative study.

ReportingOnly 20.9% know whom to turn to

Asked whether they know an institution to which they can report corruption, 20.9% say yes, 30.0% no and 48.4% don’t know. Those who know one name community leaders first:

ObstaclesWhy people do not report

Acting940 actions already taken

A large majority say they are ready to act against corruption, and respondents reported 940 actions they have already taken themselves – an encouraging base on which to build information and education campaigns.

Corruption is clearly seen as present in state and civil society institutions, in South Kivu as in the DRC as a whole. A few sectors – the army, religious denominations – are seen as relatively less corrupt, but most are seen as corrupt by a large share of respondents. As more than half of them did not know at first what corruption is, the share of those who see it everywhere is even higher among those who understand it.

The survey also informed: “don’t know” answers fell as the interview went on, and more than 60% of respondents want CERC to tell them more about corruption and how to prevent it.

Education and information will be important keys to fighting corruption in South Kivu.

Nearly 60% of respondents believe most acts of corruption result from economic hardship: a way of justifying corruption, when it harms economic and social development. CERC’s education efforts must counter the idea that it is useful, and show that corruption has consequences – because many give up reporting it since “nothing will be done”, procedures are unclear or “it is not worth reporting if I am not affected”.

This survey is a baseline, to be repeated to measure how corruption evolves in South Kivu. It reflects the ideas, beliefs and judgements of the province’s citizens, and gives CERC and its partners a solid base on which to design their strategies.

CERC thanks the people of South Kivu who took part in this survey and who stand up against corruption in the province, Fredrik Galtung and Valentine Lecruse of Integrity Action for their advice, and the CERC team who carried out the survey and analysed the results.

Original report

Published by CERC in French in July 2017, from the interviews of May 2017.