Vote-buying a major issue Guyana – new Justice Project report

Apr 22, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – Guyana and the Dominican Republic are the two countries in the Caribbean with the highest rate of vote buying. This is according to a new report by the World Justice Project (WJP). This report comes at a time when Guyana is preparing for its Local Government Elections (LGE’s).

On Thursday, WJP released the report titled ‘Corruption in the Caribbean’. According to the findings of the report, a lot of Caribbean people believe public officials are corrupt.  Drawing on nationally representative surveys, the report represents the voices of people in the 14 Caribbean countries and their experiences and perceptions of corruption in both the public and private sectors.

One key finding from report is that on average, 63% of people in Caribbean countries believe politicians are engaged in electoral fraud or manipulation.

The report also shows how some people in the region have experienced this personally. On average across the Caribbean, 11% of people reported attempts to manipulate their vote in national elections, and 8% in municipal elections.

It was stated in the report that vote buying occurs across the Caribbean, but voters in select countries see substantially more solicitations for their votes. In both national and municipal elections, respondents in the Dominican Republic and Guyana reported the highest rates of instances of being asked to vote for a candidate or political party in exchange for a favor or some money or goods. These solicitations were higher on average in both countries, as well as the Caribbean region overall, for national elections.

The lowest rates of reported voter manipulation were found in Antigua and Barbuda.

With a regional average of 11% for vote buying for the national elections, 36% of respondents from the Dominican Republic, and 23% respondents from Guyana stated that before the election, they (or a member of their household) were asked to vote for somebody/some political party in exchange for a favor or some money/goods.

For municipal election the regional average is 8%, with Dominican Republic ranked 31% and Guyana ranked 18%.

For household members, the regional average for national and municipal election is 11% and 10% respectively, with the Dominican Republic at 21% (national election) and 19% (municipal election) and Guyana at 23% (national election) and 23% (municipal election).

Another key finding of the report is that the perception of nepotism, hiring and career advancement of friends and relatives, in both the public and private sector was widespread throughout the Caribbean.  In fact, on average, 81% of those surveyed believe public officials practice nepotism; 83% believe politicians and elected representatives do so.

“The numbers are slightly lower for the private sector, where 75% of respondents believe private sector employees frequently or very frequently exercise influence over the hiring of friends and relatives,” it was stated too.

According to the report, the countries where perceptions of private sector nepotism are most pronounced are Trinidad and Tobago 82%, Grenada 84%, and St. Lucia 77%.

Kaieteur News recently published that it was stated in the WJP report that Guyana’s corruption rate is among the highest in the Caribbean.

The Corruption in the Caribbean report specifically probes the prevalence of bribery in the region. While the perception of corruption in the public sector was high in the countries surveyed, an average of only 7% of people who had recent contact with public officials reported they were asked to give a bribe, favour, or additional sum of money. The most frequent cases of bribery came during interactions with car registration/driver’s licence officers (9%, on average, among the countries studied) and police officers 8%. The least frequent involved local politicians 2%, doctors and nurses in public hospitals 2%, and public school teachers 3%.

People in Antigua and Barbuda along with Grenada reported the lowest of experiences with public sector bribery, at less than 1%, while 19% of respondents in the Dominican Republic and Haiti reported having to provide a bribe, gift, or favour within the last 12 months. Jamaica 17% and Guyana 16% also had similar rates of public sector bribery.

ABOUT THE WORLD JUSTICE PROJECT

The World Justice Project is an independent, multidisciplinary organization working to create knowledge, build awareness, and stimulate action to advance the rule of law worldwide. Effective rule of law reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people from injustices large and small. It underpins development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights, and it is the foundation for communities of justice, opportunity, and peace.

Explore the full Corruption in the Caribbean Report at: https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/Corruption-in-the-Caribbean-report-v4.pdf.

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• Caribbean, Corruption in the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Justice Project report

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