Sanaa: Corruption is rampant in government departments in Yemen, according to a study.

The study, conducted by two university professors, was aimed at making candidates of presidential and local elections aware of the problem of bribery and work their electoral programmes to combat the menace.

Political bribery is also rife in the country with candidates offering bribes to buy loyalties, votes as well as influencing intellectuals and journalists.

The study found that 94 per cent of the respondents said that corruption existed in government organisations, while 0.3 per cent said there is no bribery at all.

The study, which was conducted by the Yemen Polling Centre (YPC) and funded by the Centre for International Projects Enterprise (CIPE), revealed that 65 per cent of the respondents believe corruption is high in judiciary, 59 per cent said it is high in security, while 47 per cent said it was high at the ministry of finance.

The study felt that if efforts were exerted, then corruption can be reduced in these organisations.

Some 82 per cent of the 700-person sample said that the phenomenon of corruption would spread further, while 11 per cent said it would decrease.

The study was conducted between July 15 and August 15 and covered five governorates in Yemen Sanaa, Aden, Taiz, Hodeida, and Sada.

As many as 70 per cent of the respondents said government employees delayed paper work in order to get bribes.

Some 58 per cent said that the employees directly seek bribes, while 34 per cent of them said that the people themselves offered bribes to the employees.

Seventy-six per cent of the respondents said employees who take bribes get protection and support from other groups, and 68 per cent said employees form part of a group that organises the set up, while 72 per cent said corruption takes place with the knowledge of higher authorities.

The respondents felt that several factors contributed for the spread of corruption in government offices.

Some 75 per cent of the respondents said low salary was the main reason and 62 per cent of them said lack of social obligation while 50 per cent of the respondents cited other reasons such as absence of law and complicated procedures.

Almost half of the respondents felt that the government was not serious in combating corruption.