Political Risk:
Very High
Score:
31/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
25/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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The Kuwaiti Parliament has the right to scrutinise all Government policies, including those of the defence and security ministers, according to the constitution’s article…
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Parliament regularly reviews and debates the budget and spending of the country’s defence and security sector. It discusses it least twice a year, and…
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Both the Interior Minister and the Defence Minister are members of Parliament and they have the right to vote on laws, along with the…
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Q2
50/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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Parliament has the Defence and Interior Affairs Committee, which has the right to scrutinise every aspect of the security sector’s performance, budget, policy and…
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Only one of the five members of the committee has experience in the defence sector (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). His name is…
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The committee does not legally have to review defence policy every five years, but they must, like other committees, convene to discuss defence and…
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The committee meets at least twice a month, according to PIL article 46 (1). The committee as a whole and its members individually, like…
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The committe does open long-term investigations but they do not usually result in public conclusions. The PIL (1) and the Kuwaiti constitution (2) do…
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Parliament rarely demands major amendments to defence policies, and all security agencies tend to ignore parliamentary recommendations, and lawmakers do not attempt to use…
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Q3
19/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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Defence and security strategies are debated by the executive branch and Parliament. The public participates in these debates through traditional media outlets and social…
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These discussions do not include a 5-year procurement plan as that does not seem to exist in Kuwait and parliamentary discussions of defence strategy…
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There are public consultations on defence and security policies but only from public actors that are very supportive of the Government or ones that…
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Documents on defence and security policies are not available to the public, officials and activists said (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). Kuwait’s…
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Q4
17/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is no policy that requires defence or security organisations to be open or cooperative with CSOs, and all civil society organisations are “not…
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Article 6 of Law no. 24 of 1962 (1) for civil societies does not allow CSOs to engage in politics in general and it…
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The security agencies hold sporadic, often poorly publicised meetings with civil society organisations but they are always with the ones that receive Government funding…
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Q5
63/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Q6
38/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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There are regular discussions about issues of defence between journalists, academics, lawmakers and CSOs, officials, journalists and activists said (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,…
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The Government occasionally issues statements about topics that are being widely discussed but they do not have much meaningful information and they usually just…
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Q7
63/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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Q8
17/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There are no special compliance and ethics units inside the interior and defence ministries but both functions are being carried out by the finance…
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These finance departments are in the chain of command of the defence and security institutions and they can easily be shut down by the…
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Staff within these finance departments are aware of corruption risks facing the institutions, but they are not encouraged to deliver a strategy to combat…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Activists, journalists, officials and academics say that despite establishing the ACA, issuing new laws…
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Q10
25/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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Corruption risks are not clearly identified and the internal financial departments of the security agencies do not have a culture of corruption risk assessment…
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This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because the SAB unit was created in 2017 and at the time of the GDI research…
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This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because the SAB unit was created in 2017 and at the time of the GDI research…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
25/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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Acquisition falls under the financial policies of the defence and interior ministries, which are completely shaped by the heads of these ministries, according to…
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Security agencies in Kuwait do not publish or announce most of the purchases they make. They only seem to announce big Western warplane deals,…
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Parliament has the right to assess the country’s long-term acquisition plan, its legitimacy and expected efficacy, according to PIL article 76 and 147 (1),…
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Q12
38/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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Q13
38/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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Parliament’s Defence and Interior Affairs Committee has the right to scrutinise any aspect of the defence budget, demand information on anything it wants and…
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The defence committee reviews the budget and it has the means to take these institutions to task about their spending, but they often do…
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Q14
25/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The approved budget is published by the Finance Ministry every year in disaggregated form but often the categories that their expenses and revenues are…
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Most of the budget is disclosed to the public, CSOs and the media but it does not come with a detailed breakdown of the…
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It is extremely difficult to obtain information as a citizen through formal channels, especially since there is no freedom of information act in Kuwait,…
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Q15
33/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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The monthly and yearly reports (1, 2 and 3) of the Finance Ministry on the budget and spending of the security agencies do tell…
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Like all other financial transactions, these practices fall under the scrutiny of the SAB, and the finance department of these agencies, which are under…
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The Kuwaiti public and media seem to have no awareness of these activities, according to activists, journalists and officials (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,…
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Q16
31/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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In compliance with article 76 and 147 of the PIL, the internal auditing process is subject to parliamentary oversight, which is not particularly comforting…
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These departments only provide oversight bodies with summary reports, Kuwaiti auditing officials said (1,2,3). In order to get more details, auditors or lawmakers would…
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Internal audit reports are conducted every month and sent to state auditors at the SAB, in compliance with article 41 of Law no. 31…
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The Ministry regularly addresses minor internal or external audit findings but they do not comply with major findings. These minor changes include regrading the…
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Q17
25/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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At least two auditing bodies follow the military’s spending: the SAB, and Parliament’s defence committee. The SAB’s authority stems from Law no. 30 of…
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The SAB’s head and the head of Parliament set the SAB’s budget, according to article 75 of the SAB’s law. If they can’t agree,…
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Annual audit reports are released by the SAB, but only in summary form and they do not divulge any or much information about the…
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The Ministry almost never incorporates the recommendations of any auditor; auditors, a member of the royal family and activists said (1, 2, 3, 4,…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
67/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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Both the constitution and the laws of the police and Defence Ministry (1, 2 and 3) lack articles that forbid these institutions from having…
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There are no cases of defence institutions being involved in businesses that exploit the country’s natural resources, but the defence minister, Sheikh Nasser Sabah…
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There are no cases of individual defence personnel being involved in businesses that exploit the country’s natural resources, officials, analysts and journalists said. (1,…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there appears to be no such activities or interests to be transparent about.
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there appears to be no such activities or interests to be subjected to scrutiny.
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Organised Crime
Q19
88/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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There is no evidence through media investigations or prosecution reports that suggest that organised crime has penetrated the security agencies in Kuwait. There is…
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The internal laws of the police and the military show that the Government is aware that organised criminal networks could penetrate its agencies (1…
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Q20
25/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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There is no unit in the military or the police whose sole job is to fight organised crime or corruption within these institutions, both…
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The military prosecution, as a department, works separately, so its officers are not likely to personally know the officers whose conduct they will be…
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Cases of corruption are investigated but they almost never result in prosecutions, and the investigation is always superficial, officials and activists said (1, 2,…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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Kuwait has only one intelligence agency, State Security, which is part of the Interior Ministry, according to the Ministry’s website (1). The Parliament does…
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The state auditors do not have regular access to information and officials say their requests are often denied by the ministry and the meetings…
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Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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There is no clear criteria for the selection of high ranking officials in the intelligence services (and in the police, military and KNG in…
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Officials and activists say that intelligence posts are often given as gifts to allies of the Emir because they come with generous benefits and…
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The candidates’ profiles are examined by the General Committee for Police Affairs, which is formed by the Minister, to evaluate, promote, demote and fire…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Kuwait has neither signed nor ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (1).
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because Kuwait has not signed up to the Arms Trade Treaty (1).
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because Kuwait is not an arms exporter. It is still worth noting that Kuwait has a very…
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Lobbying in Defence
The country has no legal framework to regulate lobbying, officials and activists said (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).
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This sub-indicator has been been marked Not Applicable because Kuwait does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This sub-indicator has been been marked Not Applicable because Kuwait does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector (1) (2).
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This sub-indicator has been been marked Not Applicable because Kuwait does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector (1) (2).
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