60 per cent of Mauritians see systemic rise in public sector corruption, Afrobarometer survey
Six in 10 Mauritians say that corruption has increased over the past year, according to the latest Afrobarometer survey.
Overwhelming majorities of Mauritians believe that at least some government officials, police, National Assembly members, local councils, and prime minister staff are involved in corruption.
A majority of Mauritians say ordinary citizens risk retaliation if they report corruption.
These views reflect public concern about corruption as Transparency International, in its 2016 report, downgraded Mauritius to 50th out of 176 countries in its corruption ranking.
More than eight in 10 Mauritians say that “some,” “most,” or “all” police and government officials are involved in corruption. More than three fourths say the same about the National Assembly (80%), local municipal/district councils (79%), and the prime minister and his office (77%).
Six in 10 citizens feel that corruption has increased in Mauritius over the past year, an improvement from 2014 (69%).
Only about half of respondents believe that ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption, and two-thirds say that ordinary people risk retaliation or other negative consequences if they report corruption to the authorities.
More than six in 10 Mauritians say it is “somewhat” or “very” likely that a wealthy person could pay a bribe or use personal connections to avoid paying taxes (66%), avoid going to court (62%), or register land that doesn’t belong to them (61%).
