East Africa states to fight graft jointly

The East African Community is preparing for a joint war on corruption.

The member states, fresh from signing the common market protocol, are now taking steps to harmonise their national efforts against the vice blamed for underdevelopment in the region.

The EAC secretariat has prepared a draft protocol on Prevention and Combating Corruption that now awaits debate at the level of the Council of Ministers.

The move comes less than a month after Transparency International indicted the five states for a deteriorating corruption situation.

According to the International Corruption Perception Index 2009 report conducted by Transparency International, Rwanda was the best placed nation in the region at position 89 with a score of 3.3 on a ten point scale out of 180 countries surveyed. Tanzania ranked 20 positions above Kenya at 126 with a score of 2.6 while Uganda was at position 130 with a perception index of 2.5.

Kenya’s score in the CPI 2009 report stands at a dismal 2.2 compared last year’s 2.1 placing her at position 146 from 147 in 2008, but in the company of endemically corrupt states such as Zimbabwe and Russia, TI Kenya said. This means the country is the 34th most corrupt country in the world.

The EAC secretariat in Arusha now reckons that that the recently signed Common Market Protocol will heighten regional socio-economic activities thus the emphasis on ethics and integrity in order to achieve the set objectives.

“This stage [Common Market] is the backbone of our integration as it will facilitate free movement of persons, goods, services, capital as well as rights of residence and establishment. It is a requirement, therefore, to establish regional institutional framework to deal with the challenges of these freedoms and increased economic activity,” EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation Beatrice Kiraso said at the meeting of the Partner States’ Heads of Anti-Corruption, Ethics and Integrity authorities on November 27, 2009 in Arusha.

Anti-corruption, Ethics and Integrity is among the four pillars of the EAC Good Governance Framework which is one of the initiatives to lay a firm foundation for the EA Political Federation.

Ms Kiraso acknowledged the negative impacts of corruption on all aspects of integration as it impedes investments, trade, movement of capital and persons. “It is directly related to poor service delivery and no doubt enhances poverty levels in our region,” she added.

She urged the authorities to consolidate the national efforts on the fight against corruption and promotion of good governance “to create an environment that is attractive to foreign and regional investors so as to bolster the benefits of integration”.

The draft protocol has had the input of experts and different stakeholders at Partner States level and this meeting will seek the endorsement of the Heads of Anti-corruption agencies and integrity centres from all the five Partner States.

This, and other on-going initiatives, will further be discussed at the upcoming conference on Good Governance which follows the first one that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in January this year.

“The Good Governance will be an annual event which will provide an opportunity to different players under the four pillars of the Good Governance framework to take stock of the successes and challenges in their sectors.

“Addressing Good Governance issues is part of the process of political integration,” the Deputy Secretary General said.

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.