The main findings

Corruption Impact on Conflict

Corruption aids the insurgency and fuels local conflicts

One of the most interesting survey findings was that 50% of the respondents consider that corruption fosters the expansion of the Taliban. Also, one third of the respondents said they had heard the Taliban were mobilizing against the government on the basis of corruption allegations.

Corruption is also a cause of conflict at the local level. One third of respondents reported that corruption caused conflict in their villages or towns. Furthermore, a great number of those who reported such conflicts also believed that organized groups controlled the distribution and selling of land as a result of a collusion between land market and high state officials.

Finally, a major trend that is a challenge to state legitimacy is the use of ethnic favoritism when households face corruption. 31% of households in 2009 reported that they relied on a shared ethnic affiliation with corrupt state officials while engaging in corruption transactions, against 14% in 2007. According to the earlier survey, local commanders played a more important role. Now, corruption exchanges tend to be more often linked to ethnicity. 46% of civil servant respondents perceive that ethnic favoritism is prevalent in corruption exchanges.