Almost 15 million people were affected by corruption in cases that came to light between 2016 and 2020, according to Transparency for Colombia.
The anti-corruption NGO analyzed 967 corruption scandals that were unveiled by news media and in some cases investigated by the authorities.
More than $3.4 billion (COP13.67 trillion) were stolen in the cases that came to light in the studied period.
Compromised funds
The corruption disproportionately affected women and other vulnerable sectors of society, Transparency for Colombia director Gerardo Andres Hernandez said in an opinion piece in newspaper El Espectador.
The consequences of corruption go far beyond economics. In 311 cases, corruption affected children and adolescents, students and the socioeconomically vulnerable population. In all of them, corruption accentuated inequalities and was an obstacle for vulnerable populations to improve the quality of their lives.
Transparency for Colombia director Gerardo Andres Hernandez
Type of corruption
The study revealed that most reported corruption was related to government administrations that allocate public funds.
The study also highlighted how the defense and security sector is vulnerable to corruption.
Corruption per sector
Corruption and the freedom of the press
Hernandez highlighted that most corruption revelations came from areas where locals have access to “sufficient local information,” according to press freedom foundation FLIP.
Only 15% of the reported corruption cases were related to rural regions where local media in some cases don’t exist.
It is necessary to distinguish between reported cases and those that actually exist: regions where there are better conditions for freedom of the press, expression and denunciation are those with more reported cases. On the other hand, territories with weaker press freedom and freedom of expression have less reported cases, but this does not mean that there is less corruption.
Transparency for Colombia director Gerardo Andres Hernandez
Reported corruption cases
The approximately 2,000 press reports resulted in 2,438 criminal investigations of which 448 resulted in guilty verdicts, according to Transparency for Colombia.
Hernandez stressed the need for “integral and coherent policies” that target corruption in the sectors where this appears to be most common.
