A recent blog post FAST or slow? Integrity and anti-corruption in Samoa in Devpolicy Blog, Grant Walton, Husnia Hushang and George Carter analysed the progress being made in Samoa in their battle against corruption.
While Samoa compares favourably with its Pacific neighbours in surveys such as the Global Corruption Barometer, half the population think that corruption in the Government is a major problem.
Indications were that the previous Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) government was making progress through increased funding to key integrity agencies. HRPP did not help the cause, however, with the constitutional crisis caused when they narrowly lost the 2021 election.
“The new government’s promised financial support for Samoa’s integrity agencies is promising. However, it is far from certain whether their pledged largesse will materialise,” the authors note.
They conclude, “While we’ll have to wait and see if the FAST party can successfully build upon the perceived integrity gains made under the previous government, our analysis suggests that the new government’s initial integrity and anti-corruption efforts appear to be moving in the right direction.”
FAST or slow? Integrity and anti-corruption in Samoa is recommended reading for anyone interested in Pacific anti-corruption efforts with its fair and balanced assessment
