1st Edition

The Politics of Elite Corruption in Africa Uganda in Comparative African Perspective

By Roger Tangri, Andrew Mwenda Copyright 2013
    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book considers the causes of high-level state corruption as well as the political constraints of countering corruption in Africa. It examines elite corruption in government as well as in the political and military spheres of state activity, and focuses on illegal behaviour on the part of state and non-state actors in decision-making.

    Situating corruption and anti-corruption within a political framework, this book analyses the motivations, opportunities and relative autonomy of state elites to manipulate state decision-making for personal and political ends. Based on detailed case studies in Uganda, the authors focus on corruption in the privatization process, military procurement, foreign business bribery, illegal political funding, and electoral malpractice. The book examines why anti-corruption institutions and international donors have been constrained in confronting this executive abuse of power, and discusses the wider relevance of Uganda’s experience for understanding elite corruption and anti-corruption efforts in other African countries.

    The Politics of Elite Corruption in Africa will be of interest to students and scholars of African politics, African political economy, development studies, corruption and government.

    Part I: Introduction  1. Causes, Costs and Control of Corruption in Africa  2. Understanding the Politics of Elite Corruption in Africa  Part II: Elite Corruption in the Context of Uganda's Political Economy under the NRM  3. Politics of Reform and Donor-Government Relations  4. Elite Corruption and Regime Consolidation  Part III: Case Studies of Elite Corruption in Uganda under the NRM  5. Corruption in the Privatization Process  6. Military Corruption since the 1990s  7. Foreign Business and State Corruption  8. Political Finance Corruption  9. Electoral Corruption  10. Politics and the Ineffectiveness of Anti-Corruption Institutions  11. International Donors and the Limits of Countering Corruption  Part IV: Conclusion  12. Executive Dominance and Elite Corruption in Uganda  13. African Politics and Elite Corruption

    Biography

    Roger Tangri is a visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at Stanford University, USA.

    Andrew M. Mwenda is the founder and managing director of The Independent, a current affairs news magazine in Uganda.