Freetown, Sierra Leone - Political Party Registration Commissioner Roland Caesar has expressed displeasure at the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) and opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party's (SLPP) reluctance to submit their updated 2007 Parliamentary and Presidential 2007 elections expenditures. … (Complete Story)

THE Monitor Action Group has called on Government to compel political parties who get State funding to submit annual reports. … (Complete Story)

Representatives of major political parties in the country have expressed mixed feelings about the content of a proposed bill for the funding of parties. … (Complete Story)

Kenyans will be stuck in a cycle that accelerates corruption in election campaigns unless political parties are funded directly by taxpayers. … (Complete Story)

THE Gauteng legislature yesterday adopted the provincial Political Party Fund Bill, which is intended to limit the dependence of political parties on private donors. … (Complete Story)

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GHANA INTEGRITY Initiative (GII), the local chapter of the global anti-corruption body, Transparency International has defended the use of perception as a basis for most of the findings on incidence of corruption. … (Complete Story)

Recently, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, presented a paper on the effect of corruption on the nation’s democracy at the fifth Justice James Moradeyo Adesiyun Biennial Memorial Public Lecture held in Ilorin, Kwara State. , who was there, reports: … (Complete Story)

Kenya may be legally bound to repay tens of millions of pounds of debt incurred when politicians signed security-related contracts with non-existent companies. … (Complete Story)

Secret party funding must end Idasa SA's democracy cannot afford hidden 'donations' to politicians such as those from Brett Kebble, says institute Parliamentary Editor CAPE TOWN Private donations to political parties should be regulated by law and should be open to public scrutiny, the Institute for Democracy in SA (Idasa) says in a recently published guide for the corporate world on making political donations. Idasa suggested that companies fund only parties that were registered with the Independent Electoral Commission and that they should outline a set of principles to which parties must conform to qualify for a donation. It suggested that donations of more than R50000 be declared and that they be paid into a bank account and not to individuals in hard cash. … (Complete Story)

South Sudan's anti-corruption commission will launch a wide-ranging probe into the semi-autonomous government's contracts after allegations arose that millions of Sudanese dinar had disappeared. … (Complete Story)

VISITING British Parliamentarians in the country have slammed their Nigerian colleagues for distancing themselves from their constituencies even as they urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use an updated version of the 2003 voters' register for the 2007 elections … (Complete Story)

TWO umbrella civil society organizations have questioned the competence of the Kenya-Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) to handle graft cases … (Complete Story)

Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi launched a municipal anti-corruption strategy today and urged officials to use this as a tool to empower their communities … (Complete Story)

Namibian opposition parties believe that lack of adequate financial resources is the biggest culprit for their poor performance during national elections … (Complete Story)

President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria to support the government's anti-corruption campaign by purging corrupt members … (Complete Story)

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday unmasked 31 state governors that the commission had been investigating in connection with sundry offences, including alleged criminal diversion of local government funds … (Complete Story)

Teams from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Union (AU), European Union and SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) will observe Zambia's fourth multiparty democratic elections set for 28 September … (Complete Story)

ODM-Kenya now wants President Kibaki to appoint a tribunal to investigate the conduct of Mr Justice Aaron Ringera … (Complete Story)

Gender is seen as the way in which roles, attitudes, values and relationships between men and women are constructed by societies … (Complete Story)

President Mobutu Sese Seko was said to have sipped pink champagne daily, hired Concorde to fly his family to New York to shop and bought numerous friends in high places, much of it with the help of foreign aid … (Complete Story)

Parliament has been shut out of its oversight role over the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission since it was established three years ago, according to new findings by a House watchdog … (Complete Story)

DEVELOPED countries are playing a leading role in increasing the incidence of corruption in poor countries, the Inspector General of Government, Justice Faith Mwondha has said … (Complete Story)

The United States and Britain have faulted the Government on its fight against corruption … (Complete Story)

ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia (ECZ) director Dan Kalale has called on NIPA residents to report MMD Lusaka Central parliamentary aspiring candidate Rose Zimba over allegations of distributing Chibukut … (Complete Story)

The Lower House of the Liberian parliament, Tuesday this week, ratified both the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) international conventions against corruption, The Analyst has learnt … (Complete Story)

NAIROBI: Kenya risks losing its status as a model of African democracy if it does not urgently crack down on corruption that has reached crisis levels and stifled development, US Senator Barack Obama said yesterday … (Complete Story)

There is no question that there is a lot of goodwill out there for the reconstruction effort of the government of Liberia, but the problem is the goodwill will not be delivered unless the government takes measures to wipe out corruption and punish economic criminals … (Complete Story)

President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for collective resolve by all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria to cherish, support and strengthen the Nations democratic institutions, and reiterate his commitment to handing over on May 29 2007 … (Complete Story)

BANJUL - An advanced Commonwealth Elections Assessment Team is currently in The Gambia and has hold meetings with diverse stakeholders and members of civil society organizations … (Complete Story)

While John Edwards has drawn widespread scorn and ridicule for his affair with a video producer on his payroll, campaign-finance lawyers say the payments were most likely legal. … (Complete Story)

In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. … (Complete Story)

NEW YORK, June 8 (UPI) -- Special-interest funding is a vital source for the Democratic convention in Denver, despite Barack Obama's refusal of soft money for his campaign, analysts say. … (Complete Story)

The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) expects to have its proposals for legislation covering political party financing before Parliament by September, according to ECJ chairman, Professor Errol Miller. … (Complete Story)

BARACK OBAMA is the most prodigious fund-raiser in the history of American politics. In March, the latest month for which figures are available (new ones are expected soon for April), he raised $41m. Compare the freshman senator’s haul with that of the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, who is on first-name terms with more than a few billionaires. She raised $20m, an outstanding figure in any other context. … (Complete Story)

When Taco Bell heir Rob McKay and his fellow "investors" gathered in Washington this month to fund start-ups, they weren't looking for the latest idea hatched in some tinkerer's garage. Instead, the investment partnership known as Democracy Alliance, a group that includes filmmaker Rob Reiner and billionaire George Soros, were looking to be angels to political start-ups. In the 2008 election, their millions could be part of the new thing in politics. … (Complete Story)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and rival John McCain's campaign sparred Monday over an independent group's advertising campaign that is promoting McCain's stance on security and spending issues. … (Complete Story)

Don't take this the wrong way. But everything you know about the link between business and politics is incorrect. For nearly the entire 20th century, a simple formula held: business people like Republicans and don't like Democrats. … (Complete Story)

Fergus Cullen, New Hampshire's youthful Republican Party chairman, takes notice of these things: The ninth piece of mail from Rudy Giuliani, the second missive from Mitt Romney in two weeks, a new campaign staffer for one of the presidential campaigns … (Complete Story)

It's that time again — the end of another quarter, and therefore, another financial day of reckoning for the presidential campaigns in a race that has shaped up to be longer and more expensive than any other in history. … (Complete Story)

A top adviser to Mitt Romney criticized rival Fred Thompson on Friday for his campaign finance reform efforts, triggering an exchange between the two Republican presidential contenders as they seek conservative support. … (Complete Story)

The United States will hold its first billion dollar presidential election next year, heightening concerns about the influence of money in American politics. … (Complete Story)

Governor Eliot Spitzer and members of the State Legislature came to Albany in January promising to change the way the state government does business. Now, with less than a month remaining before the scheduled end of the state legislative session, the Senate and the Assembly need to act on an issue that has the potential to change significantly the culture of Albany: reforming the state’s lax campaign finance laws. … (Complete Story)

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Twelve candidates are facing off in the first round of the ballot on April 22. The list includes not only famous former government ministers, but a Trotskyite, a little-known anti-European Union mayor, and Jose Bove, the now-famous anti-globalization farmer with the handlebar moustache. So far, four people have been arrested, including Ruth Turner, a top aide to Tony Blair, and Lord Michael Levy, the Labor Party's chief fund-raiser, a man who has been nicknamed "Lord Cashpoint." … (Complete Story)

[Harry] and [Louise] were not real people. They were actors hired by a lobbying group for the health insurance industry. Their success helped spur a proliferation of issue-oriented ads in which actors urge voters to get involved in "grass-roots" campaigns. In early January, when the Senate was putting together its version of lobbying reform legislation, some Democrats had hoped to include disclosure requirements to make astroturf lobbying more transparent. Mark Fitzgibbons, a leading opponent of disclosure rules, said he thinks momentum is shifting in his favor as some Democrats question whether a disclosure provision could survive in the Senate and win President Bush's signature. … (Complete Story)

U.S. Rep. David Price will hold a Capitol news conference today to introduce a bill to shake up the public financing of presidential campaigns. … (Complete Story)

The public financing system for presidential campaigns, a post-Watergate reform hailed for decades as the best way to rid politics of the corrupting influence of money, may have quietly died over the weekend. … (Complete Story)

Sandinistas y liberales disidentes son las dos agrupaciones políticas partidarias que más han gastado dinero durante la campaña electoral que culmina el 5 de noviembre próximo con elecciones generales, según un informe que emitió un organismo de observación electoral … (Complete Story)

Un informe presentado por Ética y Transparencia, en donde enfoca la inversión económica que le han dado los partidos a su campaña política, se señala que el Frente Sandinista junto con el partido Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense ha hecho un gasto, del 52% para la campaña, que se calcula que en 52,2 millones de córdobas … (Complete Story)

La misión de observación de la Unión Europea presentó hoy su primera evaluación del proceso electoral nicaragüense, destacando mucha tensión y polarización … (Complete Story)

Phoenix -- Six years into its brave new world of publicly financed campaigns, Arizona's "clean money" elections system already is creaking with signs of age … (Complete Story)

WASHINGTON — We are so accustomed to arguing about the decisions politicians make that we often forget about the importance of non-decisions … (Complete Story)

SANTA FE - It didn't take long for the state Republican Party to snap to the fact that the securities broker implicated in the Robert Vigil corruption trial gave Gov. Bill Richardson thousands in campaign contributions … (Complete Story)

Measure 1 on the Aug. 22 primary election ballot might well be called the "Campaign Finance Reform -- Again" initiative … (Complete Story)

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand: There is an old story here in Thailand's vast, rice-growing hinterland about politicians who handed out a pair of slippers at election time - one slipper before the vote and the other after they were successfully elected. … (Complete Story)

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, faced with allegations that bags of cash were handed to governors and lawmakers to block an impeachment bid against her, has ordered an investigation, her spokesman said yesterday. … (Complete Story)

Election Commissioner Brig Gen (rtd.) M Sakhawat Hussein yesterday said categorically that the EC is working to hold an 'absolutely free, fair and credible election, not to serve the interest of any class or group'. “Our intention and desire is clear. We have not taken the responsibility to serve or supervise any purpose of any interest-seeking class or group”, he said. … (Complete Story)

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Just when it seemed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was making significant progress in tackling the country's endemic culture of corruption, he and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have been linked to allegations that they received illegal off-budget funds to finance their 2004 election campaign. … (Complete Story)

Despite heated debate over funding sources in the 2004 election, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will not order a thorough investigation into an alleged illegal inflow of funds into his Democratic Party, a close aide said Saturday. … (Complete Story)

Amien Rais's admission that he received money from Rokhmin Dahuri to finance his 2004 presidential election campaign has supported allegations that two other candidates also received funds from the former fisheries minister and current graft suspect. … (Complete Story)

No one disputes that the Philippines is mired in economic and political crises. There is endemic poverty that despite government hype everyone knows is nowhere near being overcome. Around 65 million Filipinos struggle to live on P96 or less a day, according to the latest 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the National Statistics Office (NSO). The net worth of just the ten richest Filipinos is equivalent to the combined annual income of the poorest 49 million Filipinos. The situation can only get worse with corporate profits rising even as joblessness is at a sustained historic high. … (Complete Story)

Election-time funding of political parties by companies is set to become more transparent. Apex industry chamber CII plans to set up an industry-wide election fund, managed by an independent trust, that would disburse election funds contributed voluntarily by companies. The fund would be part of the chamber’s ‘Integrity India’ campaign that aims to counter corruption and ensure greater transparency in socio-economic issues. … (Complete Story)

That was the amount requested by one minor party in submissions to the independent review of party funding carried out by businessman John Goulter, who recommended an extra $2 million a year to go into party coffers, taking the taxpayer- funded pool of party funding to $16 million a year. That is separate to the $3.2 million broadcasting allocation. EDITORIAL B4 … (Complete Story)

Lawmakers should disclose all details to rebuild public trust … (Complete Story)

Lam said the vehicle and security guards were part of round-the-clock security arrangements for the chief executive and he reassured critics that public resources would not be used for Tsang's election campaign. … (Complete Story)

UNIONS and companies should be banned from trying to buy influence with political donations, and taxpayers should pick up the tab instead … (Complete Story)

High-profile strategy has yet to persuade the European Union or Croatia’s skeptical public that the scourge of corruption is being tackled … (Complete Story)

The National Party has gone to ground as they prepare to oppose comprehensive campaign finance reform in a bid to return to two-party politics, Labour strategist Pete Hodgson said today … (Complete Story)

KYIV (AP) – Ukrainian analysts and politicians on Aug. 26 hailed the sentence handed down to former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko in the United States as a victory over corruption, but lamented that Ukrainian authorities have not done enough to tackle the problem … (Complete Story)

High-profile strategy has yet to persuade the European Union or Croatia’s skeptical public that the scourge of corruption is being tackled … (Complete Story)

KYIV (AP) – Ukrainian analysts and politicians on Aug. 26 hailed the sentence handed down to former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko in the United States as a victory over corruption, but lamented that Ukrainian authorities have not done enough to tackle the problem … (Complete Story)