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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 22821, member: 2262"] The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has named Bashar Al-Assad, the former president of Syria, as the most corrupt person of 2024. They said he had a huge and terrible impact on his country. President William Ruto of Kenya came in second place. Many people voted for him to be first. Over 40,000 people wanted Ruto to win the top spot. They said his government is greedy and corrupt, and there are not enough jobs for young people. People are also upset about a new finance bill. OCCRP said that so many people voting for Ruto shows that the public wants justice and accountability. Ruto's government has been accused of making policies that have caused economic problems. Protests against his government have led to violence, arrests, and people going missing. This has made the public even more angry. The OCCRP said that Assad turned Syria into a narco-state. This means a country that makes money from illegal drugs. They said he used crime, like making and selling a drug called Captagon, to fund his authoritarian rule. Assad's regime did more than just hurt Syrians. It also spread violence, drugs, and corruption in the region. Assad used mass graves and chemical weapons. Alia Ibrahim, one of the judges, said the damage Assad caused will take many decades to fix. The OCCRP also gave a new award this year: the "Lifetime Non-Achievement Award." President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea won it. He has been a dictator for a very long time. Obiang has been in power since 1979. He uses fear, forced disappearances, and torture to keep people from speaking out against him. His country has a lot of oil and gas. But Obiang and other rich people have stolen much of this wealth. They live in luxury, while most of the people are very poor. [/QUOTE]

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