Transparency International not so transparent

Does anyone else consider it an exceptionally bad conflict of interest for supposed anti-corruption organization Transparency International to be getting government financial grants of half a million from the governments it then gives favourable anti-corruption ratings to?

Kiwisfirst has surreptitiously obtained TINZ's 2009 financials, which seem to raise suspicions about their stiff-arm to requests for this information.  $544,446 of their 2009 revenue came from an auspicious NZAID grant, while only $5,791 came from membership subscriptions.  It appears that TINZ has no employees.  Office rent for 2009 was only $3,118.  Meanwhile, there are some seemingly un-transparent and rather large expenditures of $281,820 for "core funding", $75,778 for "civics education" and $40,655 for "peer learning network".

For the record, I've personally considered the global organization Transparency International as dodgy as a robber's dog ever since the whitewash ratings it supplied during the Winebox days.

Good on Penny Bright for giving them hell.

Anyone want to defend Transparency International?

Anyone?

Comments

[Angus]

Come in Polly-neke.

[BammBamm]

$3118? It was a dog kennel they were renting!

[Grace Haden]

for more on this read http://anticorruptionnz.wordpress.com

[baxta]

Its all clear now. I could never figure out how NZ always came out top in the Anti Corruption League Tables while corruption was so manifest during the Clark era.

[CM]

Yes, all that chronic vague, unsubtantiated 'heard it down the pub' and 'read it online somewhere' Clark-era corruption. It's a wonder there's anyone NOT in jail.

[Sally]

What is going on? Penny listed as an "Anti-corruption campaigner." OMG!

TINZ lists as " Goal 1" of its workplan "Greater Accountability and Transparency in New Zealand".

It appears that the agenda of TINZ is the feather-nesting of those in higher places.

[Peter Klett]

I know from experience, that while a lot of good hearted people are really there to do good. The Secretariat is ran completely innefficiently particularly the finances, their finance department consists of no more than 10 staff and people running programmes have almost no financial knowledge, dumping all financial work on interns who aren't even prepared to deal with such things.

You must wonder, why isn't an organization that demands everyone to be transparent showing how much people earn, while governments they call corrupt do so?