Corruption in Colombia has gotten worse over the past year, 56% of respondents to a poll conducted by anti-corruption NGO Transparency International said.
According to the annual global survey, 43% of Colombians said corruption increased a lot and 28% said it increased a little, while only 2% said corruption had decreased a lot and 13% said it had decreased a little.
Perception of corruption
According to the polled Colombians, their political parties are the most corrupt of all; a staggering 81% said the parties meant to represent the people’s interests were affected by corruption. Congress received only a fraction more confidence; 79% of Colombians responded that the legislative branch is corrupt.
Government officials, the police, the judiciary and healthcare providers were also considered corrupt by the majority of respondents.
The perception of corruption in Colombia has stayed the same since the last poll, held in 2010 and 2011 when also 56% of the respondents said corruption had worsened.
Perception of corruption per entity
In regards to bribery, the police seemed to be most affected; 27% of Colombians said that someone in their immediate family had paid bribes to police officers. 19% said it had bribed a justice official and 16% said to have bribed registry and permit officials.
The vast majority of Colombians believe that ordinary people are able to improve problems with corruption. According to 79% of the respondents, the ordinary Colombian can improve his/her country’s corruption. The remaining 21% showed little faith in this.