Cambodian PM: I only make $1,150 per month

Law forces bureaucrats in notoriously corrupt Cambodia to declare income. Will they tell the truth?

Patrick Winn
Global Post
April 6, 2011

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen holds up a document detailing his personal assets Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) office in Phnom Penh on April 1, 2011. Sen urged other officials to follow his lead in a bid to tackle rampant graft. (TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images)

Cambodia's Prime Minister makes less than a Burger King cashier.

So he says, at least. Here's Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rogue cadet-turned-political gamesman holding a certificate that details his income. Like all Cambodian politicians and bureaucrats, he's now required by law to divulge his earnings every two years.

He only makes $1,150 per month, his official salary.

Does anyone believe this?

Not really.

Cambodia's government is one of the world's most corrupt, according to Transparency International, which puts the country in the same league as Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. Half of all Cambodians, their survey says, paid a bribe in the last 12 months.

In spirit, Cambodia's newfound anti-corruption push is great. Roughly 100,000 bureaucrats and politicians have to declare their property, vehicles, business interests and other holdings. Lie and get a year in prison and a $500 fine.

But the loopholes are big enough to fly a jet through. No one has to divulge the assets of their spouses or kids. And all the assets are confidential. (Hun Sen was just feeling confessional when he invited reporters to witness his declaration.)

Also, bank accounts outside the country aren't monitored, so says a researcher for Global Witness explains to ABC Radio Australia.

And let's assume there's no receipt and tax form issued for the bribes paid by half of all Cambodians.