Corruption is easier to define than bribery. Or, there are lot more definitions out there. Transparency International defines it “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”.

Fairly simple. Someone has a position – which has ‘power’ to it – whether it is the check out clerk’s power to ring up your purchases, or make you stand and wait and wait and wait, or it is the passport officer, who “hasn’t got the right paper to make you a passport”, so you can choose between never travelling, or giving over some other paper.

Someone abuses that position – you must make a facilitation payment, or take them to dinner, or buy them a beer.

Bribery may be that facilitation payment (money), or anything else (gifts, information, kissing up, favours sexual or otherwise, a lift, a banana, whatever), given to someone (individual or group). Whatever is given, so long as it is not ‘official’ – so it varies with whoever gives it, it does not get receipted, and/or it is not openly asked for as part of the fee. In this respect, a tip to a waiter or barman is a bribe.

Be that as it may, it is one part of this blog investigation. Bribery may or may not be illegal. It may or may not be standard procedure. It may or may not be expected. One of the things we are curious to find is the who, what, where, when, why, of bribery. This blog investigation is not intended to be judgmental. It is simply intended to get the information out there, so people, be they visitors or local people, know how to act? How much to tip/bribe? When to do it? What is vulgar and not vulgar? When is it expected, and when is it insulting?

From Wikipedia:
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public legal duty.

Or;
The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient’s conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.

So, it has aspects. Something is given. All agree. That something may be quite a number of things.

Behaviour is changed (influenced). Or intended to. All agree. You want the barman to notice you and get you a beer. You want the passport officer to give you travel documents. You want the attendant to fill your bike up with petrol. You want to get your property deeds in your name. You want people to vote for you. You need your ‘free’ anti-retrovirals.

Bribery is a crime. Not all agree. But this is fine. We are not going to look at that. We just want to know what happens. How it happens. Why it happens. We want the information out there for all to see. We want examples.

For example, I was run down by a woman who drove through a red light many years ago. My bicycle went under the car, and I smashed her windscreen. With my face. I spent five days in a coma. My mother came form Australia to ‘look after’ her brain damaged son in Zimbabwe.

One activity involved going to the police for report filling, fines, bureaucracy, paper work and those exciting activities (i.e. who was responsible to pay for the brain scan, which seems to have found something). While waiting in the Police officers office, we listened to him lament (it was 1200) about his lunch that was ordered, and how would he pick it up, would we be finished so he could get it before it got cold, etc.? All good questions.

When the husband of the (obviously guilty) driver appeared, it did not go missing on him. He offered to ‘sort out’ the officer’s meal. Things went well for him then. The charge was not ‘driving with undue care’ which carried an obligatory 3 day jail sentence! They paid for treatment, dental work and a new bicycle, but no jail time.

From the examples, we want to know where the bribery happens the most. In medicine (hospitals, doctors and nurses, drugs), with the traffic police, Ministry of housing, Registrar general and travel documents, customs, local government, drivers licences, Emergency taxis and public transport, the courts, prisons, criminal police investigations, political offences, the diamond industry, or where?

We want to know “how much?” Tipping, as it is common, and most see it as legal, is easy. Ten to fifteen percent of the bill. But, how much do you ‘tip’ a ‘street kid’ (anyone of any age or sex, that inhabits the street) who offers to assist you in cheating the city of it’s parking fees? How much do you pay to ‘avoid’ a speeding ticket, after you have, in fact, been driving above the speed limit? What is the ‘fine’ with and without receipt, for not having break down triangles? How much do you pay to expedite a hospital bed? If the bed is supposed to be free, what is 10 to 15 percent?

How much is your vote worth? People offered to vote for me if I would buy them a beer. Now this is quite insulting, considering that many people (over 15 000, but the actual number is definitely unknown) died so that the ‘seller’ had the right to vote. And he was willing to sell it for a beer (maybe $1.00). And how was I to know (voting is secret) whether he voted for me anyway?

Perhaps that is why I lost the last election?

Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they’re a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan — as of early 2010 the U.S. Army had 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world). And these numbers will continue to grow as these dogs become an ever-more-vital military asset.

So it should come as no surprise that among the 79 commandos involved in Operation Neptune Spear that resulted in Osama bin Laden’s killing, there was one dog — the elite of the four-legged variety. And though the dog in question remains an enigma — another mysterious detail of the still-unfolding narrative of that historic mission — there should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved: Man’s best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior.

Above, a U.S. soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his dog leap off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during water training over the Gulf of Mexico as part of exercise Emerald Warrior on March 1.

From Foreign Policy

Have a look at the full photo essay of dogs at work here

Last year Kubatana engaged Freedom Fone, our sexy IVR system, to solicit feedback from the general public on Zimbabwe’s constitution making process; what they want, what they don’t want. I see Iceland is using the Internet to open up their constitution making process to the public.

SADC challenged to stop barking, and start biting. Great suggestion. Seeing will be believing.

Mugabe’s Latest Gift to Zimbabwe: the Secret of Living Longer
Good news from Zimbabwe where, despite Western media reports of political crisis, economic stagnation and widespread poverty, the electoral roll indicates the country is actually one of the healthiest on earth. The October 2010 count finds 41,100 voters in Zimbabwe aged 100 or more – four times the number of centenarians in Britain, whose population is more than five times as large. Another 132,500 Zimbabwean voters are in their 90s; 16,800 Zimbabwean voters are also 110 years old, all of them, amazingly, born on New Year’s Day in 1901. Read more

‘Hiding HIV status from partner equates to murder’

A recent survey shows the majority of South African youth believe sex with an HIV positive person who does not disclose their status is tantamount to murder.

The Praekelt Foundation conducted a survey on its Young Africa Live mobile platform. The youth portal has about 370,000 users.

The foundation’s Gustav Praekelt said the respondents are between 16 years old and 25. They answered 50 questions. Read more