Gladwell Otieno is the executive director for the Africa Centre for Open Governance, based in Kenya. An uncompromising anti-corruption campaigner, she aims to revive Kenyan civil society’s work on anti-corruption and good governance.
Otieno attended the Africa Forum on Fighting Corruption that recently took place in Johannesburg. Haydée Bangerezako spoke to her about continental anti-corruption efforts.
Tell us about the African Union protocol to fight corruption.
This is the AU convention on preventing and combating corruption, which was adopted in Mozambique in July 2003. The important thing for all these countries is not that they have signed and ratified … the important thing is that they enforce it and implement its provisions at the national level.
We have the experience that governments will go to these international meetings, they’ll sign with a grand flourish and then, when it comes to really domesticating the provisions of the conventions at home, you find they are very slow.
Is the AU anti-corruption protocol likely to be effective once it is signed?
Given the performance of African governments on corruption, I would be very sceptical.
What if the signatories violate protocol? Who will enforce it?
I am not sure of the provision for the violation of the protocol; this would have something to do with the political will to commit to actually implementing the convention.
Why is this anti-corruption initiative happening now?
The specific reason right now is that this is a precursor to the Global Forum V conference, a big international conference on corruption that is going to be happening in April.
I think the South African government is to be commended for working together with the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to bring people together before the global forum to agree on a common position.
I think, in general, as Minister [of Public Service and Administration in South Africa] Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi pointed out, there has long been a desire by Africans to look at the way corruption is talked about at the international level and see how we can make that more relevant to the African context; how we can make, for example, the indicators which have been used to measure corruption and assess levels of corruption in different countries more relevant to the African context.
What is the African asset-recovery programme?
There is lots of concern about the fact that Africa’s assets have been stolen and placed abroad by various people, including political leaders. Some of the more notorious offenders are people like the ex-president of the present Democratic Republic of Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko.
So Africa has — through capital flight and corruption — assets abroad to the tune of, let’s say, $500-billion to $700-billion. There is a concern that the same countries which are telling African countries that they must do more about corruption are the countries in which the proceeds of corruption from African countries are kept.
If you look at the amounts which are involved, then it’s a lot more than is given to Africa in terms of development aid. But, I don’t think some governments are being thoroughly honest when they complain about the difficulty of recovering assets.
I think the reason they haven’t tried hard enough is because in many of these governments you’ll find people who themselves have illegally taken away assets from Africa and put them away in foreign banks.
What is the biggest challenge to fighting corruption in Africa?
I think our major problem in Africa is the inferior level of leadership that we have and probably a political culture that does not place enough value on having leadership of integrity, and effective and strong leadership with a vision.
Highlights of the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption
The convention requires state parties to adopt laws to prevent, detect, investigate and punish acts of corruption. Sixteen African countries have ratified the legislation so far: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
State parties are refrained from using funds acquired through illegal and corrupt practices to finance political parties. (Article 10)
Ensure and provide for the participation of civil society in the monitoring process and consult civil society in the implementation of this convention. (Article 12)
Each state part shall adopt necessary legislative measures to enable the repatriation of proceeds of corruption. (Article 16)
State parties must commit to bilateral agreements to waive banking secrecy on doubtful accounts and allow competent authorities the right to obtain from banks and financial institutions, under judicial cover, any evidence in their possession. (Article 17)
Encourage all countries to take legislative measures to prevent corrupt public officials from enjoying ill-acquired assets by freezing their foreign accounts and facilitating the repatriation of stolen or illegally acquired monies to the countries of origin. (Article 19, clause 3)
Work closely with international regional and sub-regional financial organisations to eradicate corruption in development aid and cooperation programmes through strict regulations for eligibility and good governance. (Article 19, clause 4)