Public canvassed on corruption issue

As part of a major crackdown on corruption, the Ethiopian government has launched a nationwide survey to canvass people’s views on the subject. National radio announced that questionnaires had been sent to some 400,000 people selected at random from private households, public institutions and businesses. The University of Addis Ababa is conducting the survey, which will cost US $145,000, AFP said. The questionnaires are available in Ethiopia’s six main languages.

The crackdown on corruption began in earnest when the one of the parties in the ruling coalition recently sacked five members of its central committee on graft charges. Members of the government had been charged with “maladministration, mismanagement and disciplinary misconduct”, AFP said. The issue of corruption has also featured in splits in the dominant Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Other steps taken by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front include introducing tuition on corruption into the school curriculum.