Bribery is an act of offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties.

It can consist of immediate cash or personal favors, a promise of later payment or anything else the receiver views as valuable.
There is hardly any society in the world that is not plagued by this problem as it is within human nature to act in this behavior. However, it remains unethical, counter-productive and illegal to engage in this type of activity which also has the element of serious conflict of interest that can compromise the integrity of institutions.
In Guyana, there are numerous allegations and claims of this practice and admittedly it is difficult to substantiate. The authorities can only do so much to minimize these instances with citizens constantly reminded to desist from offering bribes in exchange for favours. There is no secret that bribery spans almost all facets of life in which personal interest and selfishness prevail.
In an on-going campaign against bribery, the Ministry of Home Affairs has embarked on an aggressive campaign which relies heavily on the support of citizens. Building on its Online Crime Reporting System, it has recently launched the ipaidabribe website. This can be seen as a continuing effort in the modernization of the country’s security apparatus utilizing available technology.
This anti-corruption initiative requires citizens, a large number of whom have access to the internet on cell phones, computers and other devices to anonymously report the nature, number, pattern, types, location, frequency and values of this corrupt activity.
Similar websites have been deployed in several developing countries including India and Kenya to provide insights into bribery and in the process assist in improving governance systems and procedures and law enforcement activities to fight corruption. Based on reports, there has been a high degree of success in those countries.
Following the launch and the current media campaign, many citizens have expressed varying sentiments and skepticism which is understandable and the plea here is to give this initiative a chance to work.
Ipaidabribe is a citizen-driven mechanism with three main objectives:
•    To heighten citizen awareness about the nature and spread of bribe-related exchanges and promote an informed debate to reduce and ,hopefully, to eventually eliminate the practice
•    To help citizens to recognize, avoid and tackle bribe-paying situations
•    To identify and analyse the workflows within corruption-prone public service institutions, thereby allowing Government to make systemic reforms and instituting more transparent processes with better vigilance and regulation
The website is very user-friendly and citizens are encouraged to visit and use it. Apart from making provision for anonymous reporting via personal computers and mobile phones of bribes paid and solicited, citizens can also report exemplary or conduct of public officials, where no bribes were solicited.
Even though the accounts of bribery provided by citizens may be of little evidential or legal value, they could provide the basis for Government to make organizational and other interventions to reduce the scope of the practice in State Agencies which deliver services to the public.