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A Chief Economist of World Bank's Africa Region yesterday said the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill together with media support can help curb "quiet corruption" in the country. Mr. Santayana Devarajan, Principal Economist and Research Manager for Public Economics in the Development Research Group of the World Bank, said quiet corruption occurs when public servants fail to deliver services or inputs that have been paid for by governments. He was interacting with selected journalists in Accra from Washington, DC, USA, in a video conference in which several countries participated. The event was to launch the Africa Development Indicators (ADI) 2010 report which focuses on how quiet corruption leads to an increasingly negative expectation of service delivery system such as absentee teachers in public schools, absentee doctors in primary clinics, drugs being stolen from public clinics and sold on the open market as well as subsidised fertilisers being diluted before it reaches farmers. Mr. Devarajan observed that quiet corruption, though pervasive and widespread in Africa, does not make the headlines the way bribery scandals do adding the act has long term negative repercussions that undermined development in Africa. "Tackling quiet corruption would require a combination of strong and committed leadership, policies and institutions at the sectoral level and most importantly, increased accountability and participation by citizens", he said. Mr. Devarajan said the report shows economic indicators and explanations into why quiet corruption is a hindrance to achieving long and short term development goals and offered solutions to the challenge as well. "Although there is no 'one size fits all' recommendation that applies to every sector, this essay advocates the need for strong and highly motivated leadership in the fight against corruption, commitment and capacity of the national anti-corruption units to pursue operationally effective responses at the sector level and adequate policies and institutions", he said. He said successful implementation of anti-corruption reforms requires that the preferences and interests of all those involved be aligned with achieving the objectives of the reform adding, �the act involved better working conditions�. Mr. Sebastien Dessus, a Lead Economist at the World Bank, Ghana Office, said it is difficult accessing information and gathering data on government's public expenditure at the basic level. He lauded the initiative of the World Bank Group in spearheading the submission of the Right to Information Bill to the floor of Parliament and expressed the hope that it will be adequately debated and effectively implemented. Mr. Dessus called for the empowerment of poor people to build pressure on public institutions and government to improve the quality of service delivery they offered and to disseminate information or published reports or surveys to promote transparency to stem the tide on corruption. The ADI 2010 report provides detailed collection of data on Africa available in a volume. It contains over 450 macroeconomic, sectoral and social indicators covering 53 African countries. It is designed to provide all those interested in Africa with a focused and convenient set of data to monitor development programmes and aid flows in the region with an invaluable reference tool for analysts and policymakers who want a better understanding of economic and social developments in Africa.