East Africa states to fight graft jointly

The EAC fundamental principles stipulated in Article 6 (d) of the Treaty include good governance, adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, accountability, transparency, social justice, equal opportunities, gender equality, as well as the recognition, promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

TI noted in its recent report of the EAC states’ ineffectiveness to fight corruption, and harassment of whistle blowers.

“Local anti-corruption activists and whistleblowers courageous enough to publicly expose weaknesses in accountability systems are increasingly at risk as government crackdowns limit democratic opposition and stifle civil society’s ability to express the voice of the people,” reads the report.

EAC’s action therefore comes as a timely move to quell the TI’s concerns and continued calls for renewed commitments to implement anti-corruption reforms and legislation besides introduction of preventive measures including education programmes.

“This will help restore public trust and contribute to a reduction in the levels of corruption throughout the region,” emphasised TI.

In the CPI 2009 report, Botswana was the top-ranked African state at position 37 globally with a score of 5.6 while New Zealand had the highest corruption perception index of 9.4 globally.