AU agency seeks 100% ratification on anti-corruption convention

NDAMU SANDU IN NAIROBI, KENYA

An African Union (AU) unit is pushing to get the remaining seven African countries ratify the anti-corruption convention as the continental body escalates the fight against corruption.

It is estimated that Africa loses over US$150bn annually to corruption.

The seven countries that have not ratified the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption are Central Africa Republic, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan, Somalia and Eswatini, the African Union Advisory Board against Corruption (AUABC) said.

The ideal situation is 100% ratification where all 55 African Union members should be on board, AUABC executive secretary Charity Nchimunya told African journalists at a media engagement workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday.

“We are using any possible means for them to come on board. We will be conducting advocacy missions to get ratification,” she said.

Nchimunya said the AUABC will go to a country that has not ratified the convention and speak to the structures telling them why they need to ratify.

She said the 48 State parties that have ratified the convention makes the AUABC one of the of “highly ratified clusters” within the AU family.

Nchimunya said the board was working with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as the two are part of the AU’s governance architecture.

Member countries within the APRM undertake self-monitoring in all aspects of their governance and socio-economic development. However, there has been reluctance by a number of African countries to sign up to the APRM.

“There is need for Heads of States to be able to sign up  to the mechanism so that the more they do that, they call each other out behind closed doors so that remedial action is taken by the different member state,” Nchimunya said.

A number of African countries have disregarded the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International saying its methodology is flawed.

The AUABC is working on a homegrown tool which measures corruption in member states.

The tool will not rank countries but instead encourages them to comply with the convention, Nchimunya said.

“As a board we don’t want to run countries per se. Our perspective is we should encourage all member states to aspire to do the best they can as far as  fighting corruption is concerned,” she said.

The advisory board is working on a model law which will be domesticated by member states.

The law has been on the cards since 2013 and has not been certified by the technical team due to the “demanding work schedule and manpower challenges within the Secretariat”.

Zimbabwe is among the countries that have ratified the anti-corruption convention.

It has established the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and Anti-Corruption Courts as it escalates the fight against the scourge.

ZACC has arresting powers and is pushing to get prosecution powers to speed up the fight against corruption.

ZACC has recovered assets worth over US$25m since the beginning of the year through its asset recovery and forfeiture unit.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has identified corruption as the number one enemy.

Critics, however, say the administration is using the anti-corruption drive to weaken rivals, citing the catch and release involving officials linked to the governing party.