Fighting corruption is a personal conviction, says AUABC Secretariat head

NDAMU SANDU

Charity Hanene Nchimunya (pictured), the executive secretary of the AU Advisory Board against Corruption (AUABC) wants to leave a mark when her tenure ends at the continental agency.

“…in the long term, I would wish to leave an imprint on the landscape of anti-corruption in Africa through the different programmes and projects that I support the Board in conceptualising and delivering. I want to be the face of anti-corruption for the time that has been allotted to me to head the Secretariat of the Board,” Nchimunya told Business Times this week.

In the short term, she wants to be known as the executive secretary that was instrumental in securing a programmes’ budget for the board at a time it had none in 2017.

“Upon my assumption of duty in January 2016, I was informed that the Board had not had a programmes’ budget for few years prior to my arrival. So together with staff I found on ground especially in Finance, we set to work out a programmes’ budget which I defended before Member States after approval by the Board. The Member States subsequently approved this budget for the 2017 financial year 2017. This budget was to grow over the years and reached its’ peak in 2019 and 2020 though sadly we had to surrender part of it in 2020 to support Member States’ response measures to the Covid-19 pandemic through Africa CDC,” Nchimunya said.

In the medium term, she wants to be known for role in supporting the board in articulating its second strategic plan that ran from 2018 to 2022.

Nchimunya’s journey at the AUABC has been “exciting and enriching”.

“One of the highs was the privilege to lead in the African Union wide theme of the year 2018 as the African Anti-Corruption Year. This was the first time the African Union or any other International Organisation for that matter decided to devote the entire theme for the year to anti-corruption,” she said.

Arising out of the many activities done in 2018, there has been follow-up and far reaching decisions such as the Common African Position on Asset Recovery, which is a policy and advocacy tool meant to deal with asset recovery and return, Nchimunya said.

It ‘sets out the recommended measures and actions required to effectively address the continuous loss of African assets and to effectively identify, recover and manage African assets that are in, or recovered from, foreign jurisdictions, in a manner that respects the development priorities and sovereignty of Member States’.

One of the lows was the reduction of the programmes budget following the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. This saw the board in 2020 surrendering some of its programmes budget to support response measures to the pandemic and its subsequent budgets continued to be assessed on the reduced budget.

“This, coupled with the difficult terrain in 2020 to implement programmes has continued to affect the programmes’ budget to a level where a number of programmes have had to be hived off,” Nchimunya said.

She said insufficient resources (human and financial) have hamstrung the AUABC in executing its mandate as has been the continued sophistication of perpetrators including new forms of corruption as well as the massive bleeding of Africa’s resources that find their way in foreign jurisdictions.

“This, in the wake of limited resources availed to the Board has been rather been challenging but the Board has been cutting the ‘coat according to the cloth’, and this to some extent has had an impact on its’ effectiveness,” she said.

Forty-eight State Parties have ratified the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC). Zimbabwe is among the countries to have ratified the convention.

Nchimunya said one of the major factors that has contributed to the feat is that there has been genuine desire or rather commitment from African Union Member States regarding issues of governance.

“This was further accelerated by the proclamation of 2018 as the African Anti-Corruption Year. Since that year, we have continued to register significant number of ratifications,” she said.

Due to the commitment by member states, the entry into force of the AUCPCC was also achieved within a relatively shorter period of time. The AUCPCC entered into force on August 5, 2006. It had been adopted on July 11, 2003.

Nchimunya is hopeful the remaining seven countries will come on board soon.

“We recently had an advocacy mission to one of the countries and indications were that national processes would be concluded as we celebrate the 20th anniversary since the adoption of the Convention in 2023,” she said. The AUCPCC celebrates its 20th anniversary next month.

“The wish of the AUABC is to have all the remaining seven countries on board so that we achieve universal ratification during this commemorative year. However, if that is not achieved, we are looking to have at least three of the seven countries having ratified the AUCPCC before 2023 ends,” Nchimunya said.

The AUABC’s role is advisory, relying more on moral suasion as there is no enforcement mechanism which is not sufficient in combating corruption “not only on our continent, but globally”, Nchimunya said.

“There are instances where punitive and corrective actions need to be taken. Such actions in certain circumstances would have proved to be more effective deterrents,” she said, adding the board would endeavour to “do everything in our mandate in advising on ways of combating corruption on the continent”.

Corruption has become highly sophisticated especially that involves multinationals. Nchimunya said the board has been mandated by the Convention to analyse the conduct of multinationals operating within Africa and advise Member States accordingly.

However, Nchimunya said there are constraints with respect to manpower and financial resources in terms of the capacity to assist countries unpack corruption by multinationals.

“This has however not prevented the Board from collaborating with stakeholders to try and unpack corruption perpetuated by multinationals. The Board recently participated in a conference where the case of Glencore took centre stage and the conference called for concerted action on this case,” Nchimunya said.

The stakes could be high in the fight against graft as the perpetrators would go to extremes in order to conceal and perpetuate their deeds, she said. The syndicates could be powerful with “long and strong tentacles” in many spaces and places, even in those places wielding great influence, the executive added.

“The encouragement however, is that the prevention and fight against corruption is one great and noble deed for the greater good of humanity. The scourge of corruption has wrought such devastating havoc on the continent and the world at large; it is a scourge that benefits the unscrupulous few, and disadvantages many millions,” Nchimunya said, adding, “The of the detrimental effects of corruption is inexhaustible and this calls for total collaboration by all stakeholders in its prevention and combating; this cause is not only for our times, but also for posterity- it is not only for us as individuals, but for the greater good of humanity.

“Those fighting corruption should be inspired that theirs’ is the right fight which has to be done and won.”

Is there a link between low salaries and corruption especially by government officials?

Nchimunya said this is the perception held by many that the two could be associated but believes that the picture lies with an individual’s personal beliefs and values; character and personal integrity or the lack thereof plays a greater role.

Empirical evidence, she said, showed no clear correlation between low salaries and corruption.

“In a recently published study by Robert W. McGee and Serkan Benk, in the book, ‘The Ethics of Bribery’ and under the Chapter ‘Income Level and Attitudes Toward Bribery’ underscore this proposition. This goes to show that the link between low salaries and corruption is not that strong but rather one’s personal disposition to ethical values,” Nchimunya said, adding that there is a need for concerted and deliberate efforts to enlighten the masses, especially those vulnerable to the vice and those with the likelihood of culpability, on the adverse effects of corruption.

She said the AUABC is equal to the task and is treading on the right trajectory compared to its counterparts such as Group of States against Corruption at the European Union level and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the global level despite not being equipped with all the necessary resources.

“Furthermore, its enabling statute, the AUCPCC, is one of the most comprehensive anti-corruption instruments,” Nchimunya said.

She said member states, state parties and other stakeholders are giving the Board some much needed support as it executes its mandate of combating corruption. There are also some ongoing efforts to reform the structure of the Board to make it more responsive to the mandate as placed on it by the AUCPCC, Nchimunya said.

The anti-corruption crusader became the first female substantive executive secretary of the AUABC which she said is a “humbling honour and a privilege” although the issue of gender should never be the focus.

“I believe what is cardinal is what the appointee or office bearer is capable of bringing to the table,” Nchimunya said, that “we are now in an era where appointments or positions are not stringently tied to gender but to capability, qualifications and performance”.

“It is more like the aspect of gender is only an added advantage among a pool of qualified individuals. In short, the overriding factor in being appointed is not that one is female but that they possess the requisite qualifications, capabilities and competencies.”

A Canon Collins and Chevening alumni, Nchimunya is an avid player of amateur lawn tennis guided by the motto that ‘you don’t stop playing tennis when you get old but rather that you get old when you stop playing tennis’.

“So, I keep playing so I don’t get old,” she said.

In Zambia, Nchimunya is engaged in farming and charitable activities with her husband. She is also an invested Master Guide which is a youth leadership award recognised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide.

Her leadership style is premised on arms-length and not in micromanaging team members.

“But of course this does not always work out as anticipated in certain circumstances,” the executive said.

She draws inspiration from God who “leadeth me by the day and makes provision for my every need” and the basis of everything she does as a devoted Christian.

At a continental level, Nchimunya is inspired by Advocate Thuli Madonsela, the former Public Protector of South Africa.

“And of course my family has provided the inspiration, the impetus to go on as they cheer from the terraces. My husband, Habadu Chrispin Nchimunya has been my huge cheerleader over the years and has continued to do so to this day. He has been a strong shoulder to lean on in difficult times too,” the executive said.

She is a keen believer in unity in diversity; each person in the grand scheme of things has something positive that they can bring to the table.

“Often times, it has to do with our perspective of things. I am also a keen believer in life long education and that one only ceases to learn upon their death. In this regard, I always encourage myself and those I come in contact with, to keep learning and advancing in different aspects of life,” Nchimunya said.

“In keeping with this, I endeavour to learn new things everyday, on my job to advance my professional life as well as outside my job,” said the executive who has in the past worked for the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zambia and GIZ.

The two assignments honed her technical skills in corruption prevention and the understanding of the subject matter of corruption and its multifaceted dimensions.

“I worked with wonderful teams and there was a lot of knowledge transfer of both managerial and soft skills amongst team members in those years I spent at the Commission and GIZ. I continue to stand on the shoulders of other female leaders in my field such as the then Director General of the Commission, Rosewin Wandi and my then line director, the late Hon. Kayobo A. Ng’andu,” Nchimunya said.

She has been impacted Thandeka Gqubule’s book ‘No Longer Whispering to Power’, which chronicles Madonsela’s resolve and resilience to do the right thing without fear or favour and despite the odds.  I try to emulate this noble attribute and do the right thing in keeping with the guiding statutes of the African Union, Nchimunya said.

She is presently Robin Sharma’s ‘The 5AM Club’ whose emphasis is on disciplining oneself to attain peak performance at a personal and professional level by maximising productive in the wee hours of the morning.

“I am gleaning insights from there and to the extent possible put some in practice albeit in an adapted manner. In fact, I often start my days much earlier than 5AM, meditating and praying, exercising and keeping fit and generally planning the day ahead,” the executive said.

She said stakeholders in the prevention and combating of corruption should not to slacken but remain resilient and join forces as “we strive to have a corruption free continent”.

“The cause is daunting but with unity of purpose, the objective is attainable. Fighting corruption has to be a personal conviction otherwise one is bound to throw in the towel,” Nchimunya said.