Colombia’s Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez has warned that corruption causes Colombia to lose approximately $4.7 billion dollars each year, reported newspaper El Espectador on Wednesday.
In the face of upcoming elections, the Public Ministry leader said that “the majority of municipialities and departments lack the instruments for political control and discipline” to ensure that commissions are not offered in exchange for votes.
He explained that “the municipal councils frequencly exercise their powers in an extorsive manner to authorize the hiring of mayors.”
Ordoñez estimated that 13% of the Colombian government’s money spent on hiring public officials is actually used to “pay favors.”
According to statistics from the Public Ministry, of the $36.5 billion spent on the matter roughly $4.7 billion are lost due to corruption, “while no one does anything” to address the issue.
The official concluded that “when corruption is present, democratic prosperity does not exist, and neither does democratic security.”
