Don’t relent on Effort to Minimise Corruption in Africa-Speaker of Benin urges APNAC

Speaker of Benin National Assembly, Rt Hon Louise G VLAVONOU has charged members of the Africa Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC) not to relent in minimizing corruption practices on Arica, despite the daunting challenges.

According to him, fighting against corruption is not an easy task but believed with self-commitment and cooperation an association like APNAC, Africa would make headway soon.

Rt Hon Louise G VLAVONOU made the call during the second day of the ongoing APNAC 2022 Biennial General Meeting at Cotonou, Benin on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.

“As you deliberate on issues here (Benin), I encourage you to be courageous and with zero impunity among yourself, start the fight against within yourselves in APNAC and your countries.”

“I will also encourage you to go back and develop a code of conduct in your national assemblies or parliaments. For with that, we are sure of making a head way,” Rt Hon Louise G VLAVONOU urged the APNAC members.

The Speaker urged the APNAC members not to get discouraged but rather bear in mind that people who are fighting corruption draw more enemies than friends and they could fall victim to political maneuvering in their constituencies in line with their work.

**Speaker of Benin National Assembly, Rt Hon Louise G VLAVONOU**

Virtually every country in the continent from Southern, Northern, Eastern and Western Africa faces perpetrators who bypass or exploit weaknesses in existing laws and regulations to execute schemes, which have been increasing in scale and sophistication.

Corruption undermines the credibility of the public sector and erodes trust in government and its ability to steer to achieve high economic growth and shared prosperity.

It often weakens the impact of public services delivery, adversely affecting all citizens, especially the poor and denying needed development that benefits the larger society.

This, Ghana Chapter’s Chairman, Hon Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah reported that the Country is making progress but with stiff challenges as MPs who stood on their grounds to fight corruption become the target and they often lose their parliamentary seats.

He said as part of Ghana’s effort in the fight against corruption, the government through parliament has passed an Act establishing the Office of Special Prosecutor to tackle corruption and its related crimes.

He admitted the task is huge and challenging but believed with a time of advocacy and campaign awareness, the corruption canker would be minimized if not eradicated.

As part of the effort, Mr. Bedzrah added, Ghana’s Chapter has made it a norm that a member of the APNAC is part of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament; a step he believed would further demonstrate the commitment to fighting corruption at every level and sector.

Mr. Bedzrah said there are some laws and institutions that help Ghana in the campaign against corruption including the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), the Assets Declaration Act, the Public Financial Management Act and the most recent establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

He added that, at the legislative House, the Public Accounts Committee chaired by a Minority side member and the Government Assurance Committees are few other bodies in Parliament supporting APNAC Chapter to make corruption less attractive.

Other countries that presented their reports also lamented lack of political will, inadequate financing, and incumbent abuse of powers, among other political arm twisting on persons and institutions, fight corruption.

For instance, Cameroun has no form of anti-corruption laws or regulations and is in the process of enacting some, thereby making the fight against corruption very tedious for APNAC Chapter, whereas Burundi, Mozambique, Benin, Rwanda have laws like Ghana including assets declaration laws.

Mr. Jeggan Grey-Johnson, Advocacy Manager of Open Society Foundation (OSF) who spoke at the APNAC Conference on the topic; “Implementation of Africa accountability mechanism on debt and economic recovery after COVID-19”, said the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in huge expenditures by governments, circumventing the standard operating procedures and approval processes.

According to him, drawing lessons from a compendium of cases from around the world, all is not lost in Africa and it is possible to reduce corruption risks even in the most challenging environments.

At the same time, Mr. Grey-Johnson conceded that one must acknowledge the potential challenges from the forces that benefit from the status quo, saying that there will be resistance owing to the strong interplay between power, politics, and money.

Generally, members believe that the fight against corruption could be a long and frustrating journey with two steps forward and one step backward, but that reinforces that there is no single rule or magic bullet to address corruption.

For example, open government reforms could be effective in promoting an ethos of transparency, inclusiveness, and collaboration and in shifting norms over time by making conditions less conducive to corrupt activity.

However, their impact depends on the existence of other enabling factors, such as political will, free and independent media, a robust civil society, and effective accountability and sanctioning mechanisms.

The APNAC members highlighted that multiple factors contribute to the impact of anti-corruption efforts, including political leadership, institutional capacity, incentives, technology, transparency and collaboration.

They believed an enhanced collaboration with stakeholders within and outside of government is a critical success factor in overall government effectiveness.

Such collaboration involves the public and private sector, civil society, media, research organizations, think-tanks and citizens as strengthening the fight against corruption is a collective responsibility.

Ghana’s delegation to the 8th Biennial General Meeting led by Hon Emmanuel Bedzrah included Hon Dr. Emmanuel Marfo, MP for Oforikrom, Hon Kofi Okyere Agyekum, MP for Fanteakwa South, Hon Morris Elvis Donkor, MP for Asebu/Abura/Kwamankese, Hon Albert Akuka Alalzuuga, MP for Garu and Hon Peter Kwakye-Ackah, MP for Amenfi Central.