By: Helmut Mahongo
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Deputy Executive Secretary for Corporate Affairs has indicated that corruption not only weakens public trust but also reduces development gains and diverts resources from essential services.
The deputy executive secretary, Judith Kateera, told the (SADC) heads of the Anti-Corruption Agencies Conference, which concluded in Lilongwe, Malawi, this week.
The conference, which took place from 22-24 June, was convened by the SADC Secretariat, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Government of Malawi.
During her opening speech, Kateera emphasised the importance of collective actions in safeguarding public resources and strengthening governance institutions across the region.
“Corruption continues to undermine development gains, weaken public trust, and divert resources away from essential services. Our collective response must therefore be coordinated, innovative, and firmly anchored in regional cooperation and accountability,” Dr Kateera emphasized.
The Conference focused on, among other issues, public procurement transparency and beneficial ownership disclosure, enhancing asset recovery and financial investigation.
Different and effective ways of advancing the whistle-blowers protection framework and leveraging the use of emerging technologies to improve corruption fighting efforts were also on the conference’s agenda.
Some of the challenges faced by the region in fighting corruption pointed out during the conference include weak public procurement systems, limited asset recovery outcomes, and a fragmented whistle-blower protection mechanism.
During the course of the conference, participants had an opportunity to exchange experiences and best practices to strengthen financial investigations, improve inter-agency cooperation, and enhance the use of technology in corruption prevention and detection.
Delegates acknowledged progress made under the SADC Strategic Anti-Corruption Action Plan (2023-2027), a regional coordination corruption-fighting framework which replaced the (2018-2022) plan.
Emphasis was placed on the need for the implementation of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to expand corruption-fighting efforts beyond block.
According to the 23rd issue of Procurement Tracker Namibia by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), governments and civil society representatives from across SADC met in Luanda, Angola, from the 29th of May to the 3rd of June 2023.
They met for a week-long conference that focused on fast-tracking the implementation of specific parts of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
The gathering was focused on encouraging SADC member states to implement their commitments to national and regional cooperation and public procurement.
At the SADC Anti-Corruption Conference in Luanda, Angola in June 2023, UNODC, wrote that public procurement, or the purchase of goods, services, and works by governments or state-owned enterprises, is a process particularly vulnerable to corruption.
Through public procurement corruption, public authorities can siphon away funds meant for public services, harming especially the vulnerable, the agency reported.
“Every dollar lost to corruption in public procurement is a dollar that could have been invested in schools, hospitals, or infrastructure. Strong oversight bodies, stringent anti-corruption laws, accountability, and enhanced private sector compliance can ensure resources reach qualified beneficiaries,” the UNODC noted.
Corruption, in the region, seems to be more prevalent in the public procurement space.
Mozambique has the tuna bond scandal, South Africa has the Thembisa hospital fraud case, Angola’s oil industry fraud implicates the former president Isabel dos Santos, and Namibia’s Fishrot case draws a picture of why the public procurement space has been one of the focal points in corruption fighting discussions in the SADC.
Among the key outcomes of the recently held Conference were commitments to strengthen the operational capacity of Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs).
The transition and acceleration of digital public procurement systems and beneficial ownership registries were also emphasised as integral to combating corruption.
Participants also called for the promotion of the use of Artificial Intelligence and data analysis to help with the detection process of the procurement process.
