CORRUPTION AND SUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONS IN THE YEMENI PUBLIC SECTOR: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Abstract

This study investigates the roles and contributions of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in anti-corruption in Yemen, focusing on providing new empirical insights into their practical challenges.  The study relies on data collected by the Central Organization for Control and Auditing (COCA), reports, and questionnaires. In total, 100 self-administrated questionnaires were distributed and 83 were collected  and analysed at a rate of 83 %.. The results show that SAIs contribute significantly to detecting corruption, but they do not prevent corruption due to weak political stability and lack of application of laws. Moreover, SAIs face many obstacles, such as favoritism, weak internal audit systems, political instability, lack of independence and transparency in the financing process. In addition, the funds allocated to the apparatuses are not enough, which can hinder all the supplies, including modern tools of internal control. This study provides recommendations to improve the performance of SAIs, which, in turn, will reduce opportunities for corruption in the public sector. Moreover, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study that evaluates the role of SAIs in combating corruption by using reports from the COCA as the institution responsible for detecting corruption and corroborating information received from respondents, as well as transparency of international reports.