EXECUTIVE SUMMARY __________________________________________________________________________ 3.9 In the case of public office, many problem areas were identified in relation to the administration and to public office in general, thus confirming what was highlighted in the CSAR. These problem areas include a waste of resources and politicisation of the administration. The CRM also noted the shortcomings of the system with regard to assessing, promoting and disciplining civil servants, which are largely the result of the politicisation of the Beninese administration and its lack of transparency. This accentuates the gap between the administration and the administered, and so reduces the legitimacy of the public service. Finally, low salaries and disparities in remuneration represent another important problem area. 3.10 The CRM noted that corruption had a serious impact on the proper functioning of the Beninese state. The White Paper on corruption in Benin underlines that “the opportunities that lend themselves the most to corruption are in large part administrative procedures or the demand for goods and services: one citizen out of every two (51%) falls foul of corruption; the most corrupt sectors are health, education, tax services, the Treasury, public procurements, customs, the justice system, mayoral offices, etc. Customs is at the top of the list, having the highest incidence of corruption with 98% of people stating that this sector was corrupt”. 3.11 The CRM noted with satisfaction the new authorities’ stated intention to fight the scourge of corruption. The ‘green march’ against corruption, in which the head of state himself participated, is proof of the severity of the phenomenon, which is considered a social cancer. To give an indication of the extent of the problem, the Observatory on the Fight against Corruption (OLC) – quoting the minister of finance, Irénée Koupaki – notes that “the Treasury’s losses in taxation revenue owing to fraudulent practices, combined with the actions of taxpayers and tax and customs officials, are estimated to be over some one hundred billion CFA francs each year”. According to the same source, exceptional expenditure of approximately 201 billion CFA franc between 2001 and April 2006 still had to be properly audited – in other words, justified on the basis of proper documentation. This sum is approximately one-third of the national budget. The fight against corruption has not progressed beyond the realm of formal documents. There is indeed unanimous agreement that very little political will exists to fight corruption, and that there are few reliable and significant results in this area. However, since the appointment of President Boni Yayi, the political will to combat corruption has improved and the country has witnessed the indictment of one minister and another political figure. Moreover, some 30 judges have also been indicted in cases related to criminal justice costs, entailing a loss for the Beninese state of several hundred million CFA franc. Nonetheless, people remain sceptical about the government’s chances of winning this important and beneficial battle. Although the vision and strategy to eradicate corruption exist and are being managed by the institutional tools for combating corruption, the problem lies in the determination to, and efficiency of, implementing them. 3.12 On the issue of the promotion of women, the CRM observed that significant progress had been made. At the institutional level, the CRM noted that Benin introduced equality of the sexes in the constitution. In effect, this fundamental 8