Anti-Corruption Efforts Falter in Kyrgyzstan

While everyone agrees that corruption is endemic in Kyrgyzstan and its social and economic effects are corrosive, effective methods of tackling it have yet to be devised. 

"Bribery has become commonplace in our country and no one is surprised at it," Abdykerim Ashymov of the Citizens Against Corruption group said. "There are rules for how to go about offering money. State employees take bribes and then do what they're supposed to do anyway… and members of public don't go to the police about it."

The authorities focus on putting tougher anti-corruption legislation in place, although others argue that the police force cannot be trusted to implement it, as its own record is far from clean. Some fear that entrapment techniques targeting allegedly corrupt officials could turn into just another money-making venture.

Cholponbek Arabaev, head of the civil service's personnel department, sees the introduction of lie detectors and computer-based tests as a way of weeding out potentially dishonest recruits.

Others say public attitudes need to change, so that people are no longer prepared to hand over bribes unquestioningly.

The second report in this radio package looked at the unexpected rise in food prices seen this autumn, even though the harvest season should have resulted in a surplus on the market.

Some are calling for government intervention to hold down prices, but officials say they cannot simply step in and dictate how the private sector should operate.

The acting head of the National Bank, Baktygul Jeenbaeva, says recent increases are in fact part of a long-anticipated inflationary trend, caused by the higher price of imported fuel feeding into the cost of producing and transporting foodstuffs.
 

The audio programme, in Russian and Kyrgyz, went out on national radio stations in Kyrgyzstan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.