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Personnel Risks

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Personnel can both abuse their positions for personal gain and fall victim, directly or indirectly, to others’ corruption. A staff with integrity and trust in the establishment they work for is key to the effective functioning of the armed forces and defence and security establishments.  

Transparency International's Defence and Security Programme (TI-DSP) identifies four areas of corruption risk that may be caused by or affected by personnel.
 

Leadership behaviour

Positive leadership is vital to maintaining the integrity of defence and security establishments. When leaders engage in corruption themselves, or knowingly permit it, the integrity of the organisations they lead is greatly compromised.

Payroll

Payroll, promotions, appointments and rewards are central issues of integrity for defence and security personnel. Rewarding those who can pay, giving positions or money to those who haven’t earned it, and sabotaging others to preserve power are unethical and undermine defence and security establishments.

Conscription

Corruption to avoid conscription into the military was recognized as a problem as early as Napoleonic times. Individuals may pay bribes to avoid service, or to enter preferred postings.

Salary chain

The salary chain is the long link from the national treasury right down to payment to an individual soldier. In many corrupt environments those funds are stolen or diverted en route, so that far less than the due amount finally reaches the soldier.

Values & Standards

Many transparency programmes focus on using laws and regulations to contain corruption and prosecute the corrupt. TI believes that without strong ethical standards and values, these regimes cannot be entirely effective: there must be a focus on building values and high ethical standards to avoid corruption. Read more.

Small bribes

Many civilians’ experience of corruption is likely to be the payment of small bribes in daily life. Despite the relatively small monetary amount of these bribes, they are a big concern. Read more.