One in five people paid a bribe in the last 12 months for land services, reports Transparency International’s 2013 Global Corruption Barometer.
According to the global civil society organization, corruption in the land sector is particularly critical in post-conflict societies and countries in transition, as well as those where land use for food is critical for feeding the nation.
“The high prevalence of bribery in the land sector creates a substantial informal cost for those trying to register or transfer land. It can make land administration services inaccessible to people who are not able to afford these illegal payments. By creating a disincentive to register property transactions, the informality of land tenure increases. People are left with little or no protection under the law, making them vulnerable to evictions and other abuses,” notes the report, in part.
The report which also examines how corruption features in people’s lives in a variety of sectors around the world is a culmination of a survey of more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries.
