Money makes the world go round . . .
and around and around it goes as it circles the drain.
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Then thereâs nothing to question. Itâs well-worth the cost of the smokes.
That is the general consensus. But when you are operating under a government contract, there can be issues. And you do need to repress your natural sense of indignation over these sorts of things. Especially when you are trying to help out in a humanitarian crisis, and the people obstructing you are part of the population you are trying to help. If you think about it too much, it can be pretty depressing.
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Thatâs what creative paperwork is for.
Thatâs what people are. If it is just some cigarettes itâs a pretty cheap obstacle removal. Running into some unbribable do-gooder who is causing trouble out of some misguided sense of ârightâ can be much worse.
âand that they world with companiesâ
Should that be âworked with companiesâ?
citation needed
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Not so much unbribable but do-gooders neverthless. European Commission.
Not what I am talking about. I am strictly talking about people who insist that they be bribed in order to do their jobs, or allow others to do theirs. I am not talking about getting anyone to do anything immoral or illegal. I am referring to getting them to do what they already know is the right thing to do, and for which they are already being paid.
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I am very curious.
Donât you risk running afoul of various anti-bribery laws from donor countries? Iâm trying to imagine how legislation could differentiate between enriching public officials for a good cause, and more standard issue kickbacks.
And yes, I can imagine arguing that arguing âmorality of serving general public without a bribe > morality of providing for your extended family and clanâ doesnât wash in much of the world, where it can be seen as standard Western immoral selfishness. (I vaguely remember some politician sneering at the idea that Americans even understood the concept of âfamily valuesâ.)
Even so, I was quite deflated when I read about an experiment in significantly increasing the pay of police officers resulted in them demanding larger bribes, rather than what I think most of expected, fewer bribes. I guess morality trumped fear of punishment.
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It is one of those situations where most of the people I report to, in Denmark and the US, have some experience working in such places. We are pretty specific about expenses incurred in the field. If the people in charge did not want it done this way, they could certainly tell us so. I have not had it happen to me, but I have heard the experiences of people who were used to working primarily in Northern Europe, then suddenly found themselves unloading grain in Benin or Liberia, without knowing what to expect. The locals, offended at people who did not want to play by the established rules, were perfectly happy to require the ship to change anchorages several times a day, and never get a chance to get to go to the dock and unload. I have no doubt that they would delay their offload literally until the end of time.
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My concern was not whether people understand what is going on - you made that perfectly clear. Itâs whether anti-corruption legislation has enough loopholes to allow your organizations to conduct their activities without having to fear prosecution. The fact that you cannot conduct business without a modicum of bribery is not usually an allowable defense. Nor is the fact that you are saving lives.
Thus, Iâm still curious to know whether your management is certain that they (and perhaps you) are immune for prosecution on corruption charges or whether theyâre just assuming common sense and good intentions should provide protection - not always a good bet.
Honestly, you are raising questions that I have wondered about myself. The international legal issues are not my area of expertise. I have to assume that since more than half of the world works that way, corporations like mine have explored those issues. But I could be completely wrong. I do know that there are some countries where corruption and the potential for violence are so great that we just do not go there any more. Not that any amount of aid is likely to buy us any goodwill in the world.
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âŚhave emphasised they have strong anti-corruption policies, and are committed to investigating their dealings with Unaoil.
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