All are invited to join an electronic discussion from 18 June to 20 July

2001. Organisers hope the e-discussion will raise critical issues and
lessons learned, generate suggestions and analysis, as well as
facilitate an exchange of ideas for concretely moving forward regional
actions and co-operation.

To join the discussion simply send a blank email to
[email protected].
To unsubscribe, simply write a blank email to
[email protected].

Progress on Source Book adaptation for Francophone Africa

After three initial workshops held this past year in Mauritius, Morocco,

and Senegal, the final Source Book Adaptation Workshop for Francophone
Africa took place at TI-S in Berlin on 22-26 June. The workshop brought
together 14 representatives from 8 countries (Algeria, Benin, Cameroon,
Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal), chosen on the basis of

their personal skills and training and included lawyers and magistrates,

professors, and journalists.

Participants were divided into 6 groups with the purpose of finalising
12 chapters of the Source Book (where no consensus could be reached in
former workshops) and submitting them to the editor-in-chief, Djillali
Hadjadj. During a plenary session, each group presented its results and
difficulties were discussed.

Final versions of Source Book chapters will now be reviewed by the
editor-in-chief and publication is scheduled for the end of 2001.

Ghana Uniting Against Corruption

Ghana’s fifth annual National Governance Workshop, held on 5-6 June, was

jointly organised by the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP)

and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), of which Ghana Integrity

Initiative, the Ghanaian Chapter of Transparency International serves as

secretariat.

Under the theme “Ghana Uniting Against Corruption”, members of
government, civil society and the private sector, deliberated on the
government’s policies of Zero-Tolerance for Corruption and Repatriation
of Political Loot and reviewed a draft Action Plan against corruption.
Essentially, the action plan is a blueprint for reforms aimed at
empowering stakeholders in key areas of the nation’s ethical
infrastructure especially law enforcement agencies and oversight bodies.

Government is expected to implement measures to ensure civic education,
provide access to public information in order to ensure greater
transparency, review the law on asset declaration to include
verification mechanisms and ensure whistleblower protection through
legislation. Specific institutions have been targeted for an expeditious

overhaul and simplification of their procedures and rules, as the
current complex processes in public service delivery create
opportunities for corruption. Provision of equipment and training are to

be fast-tracked and improvements made in public sector wages.

According to participants, the actions plan’s success depends on the
demonstration of political will by the government through resource
commitment, ethical conduct in the management of public affairs and
transparent and merit-based procurement and appointment processes.
Participants saw government as necessarily playing a central role in the

fight against corruption. In this regard, the proposed Code of Conduct
for the political executive was commended but the planned establishment
of an Office of Accountability in the Presidency to implement the Code
was queried as to effective independence of the Office and possible
duplication of functions with existing institutions.

There was a consensus that efforts should be made to locate, retrieve
and repatriate stolen wealth using strategies and approaches that have
proved successful elsewhere. This effort must include the enactment of
legislation to make transfer of illicit wealth abroad a crime. The need
for building coalitions to fight corruption was emphasised.

TI Kenya probes traditional fundraising methods

TI Kenya has just published a report documenting changing patterns in
the use of the uniquely Kenyan traditional fundraising methods called
Harambee that have long been used to finance public development. The
report concludes that the practice has evolved into a largely top-down
election campaign related phenomenon dominated by the ruling party.

TI-Kenya whose mission it is to “build public awareness, informed by
rigorous research, and, (…) join all economic and social sectors in a
collective national effort of building transparent, accountable
institutions” compiled data from newspaper archives on reported Harambee

activities from 1980 – 1999. A preliminary follow-up of projects in
three districts was then conducted.
The group's research indicates that the practice now predisposes people,

particularly politicians, to practice corruption. It provides an avenue
for people who steal public funds to legitimise themselves to the
public. Large donations to the fundraisers are made by the political
elite with no accountability. Many political parties – including the
opposition – contribute money to Harambees, but donations by the
President personally and by his KANU party have vastly outstripped
others. And there is no mechanism for ensuring money goes into the
intended projects. “There is little accountability, and people do not
expect there to be accountability,” David Ndii of TI-Kenya told The
Associated Press.
The report concludes that the practice has lost its community
development focus and largely become a vehicle for bribing voters. In
the run-up to the general elections in 2001 in which incumbent president

Daniel arap Moi is constitutionally barred from standing for another
term, TI-Kenya recommends:
- the suspension of Harambee during elections
- Barring contenders for elective office from contributing to Harambees
during the elections
- Defining election-spending ceilings to include candidates’ Harambee
contributions for a specified period before elections.

The report entitled “Harambee: Pooling together or Pulling Apart?” was
produced with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and is
available from the TI-Secretariat library.

TI Kenya works on OECD Convention and legislation

At the occasion of the debt relief workshop (see above), TI Kenya’s
Erastus Wamugo briefed participants on the results of the chapter’s
investigations into the applicability of the OECD Convention to chapters

in the South. TI-Kenya also held a workshop on 17 May with Kenyan
parliamentarians whose formation as a chapter of the African
Parliamentarians Network against Corruption (APNAC) it is facilitating.
TI-Kenya has provided the MPs with anti-corruption legislative drafting
and policy expertise with the aim of strengthening Parliament as a
national integrity institution.

TI-Zimbabwe: making headway in coalition-building

TI-Zimbabwe has moved forward over the past half-year with a series of
coalition-building workshops with broad participation from private
sector, public sector and civil society organisations.

A seminar on the establishment of a whistleblowers fund was held on 11
April with the support of NORAD. The fund will aim to provide legal
protection for victimised whistleblowers. A further workshop entitled
Corruption in Government Departments was held on 16 May, with the
support of the European Union. The workshop addressed mechanisms to make

government operations transparent and accountable to the public and
aimed to inform officials of TI Zimbabwe´s policies and role in the
fight against corruption. This followed a conference held in February
with representatives of the ministries of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, Finance and Economic Development, the major
opposition party, the ruling ZANU PF party, human rights organisations
and other NGOs, and the media. The conference examined the draft
Anti-corruption Commission legislation, which was provided for in the
constitution of Zimbabwe and mobilised support to lobby with government
for an Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (IACC). It was generally
agreed that the ACC bill needs to be improved to provide for its
independence from the Executive. Awareness raising on the need for this
body is an important activity of TI Zimbabwe.

Recognising the responsibility of both the private and public sectors in

the bribery equation, TI-Zimbabwe held a seminar on 5 June on
“Curtailing Corruption in the Private Sector”. Participants discussed
the idea of forming a coalition of organisations to exchange
information, report on corrupt practices and co-operate in fighting
them. Topics under discussion included corporate governance, codes of
conduct, internal audits and anonymous whistleblowing arrangements. A
corporate Governance Manual based on the principles of the Commonwealth
Association on Corporate Governance, which had been launched in April by

the Ministry of Industry and International Trade, was also presented. It

incorporates the best practices and detailed governance guidelines.
Training for investigators in handling complex white-collar and
information technology-related crime was seen as essential.

--
Peter Eigen
Chairman
Transparency International (TI)
Otto-Suhr-Allee 97-98
D-10585 Berlin, Germany
Tel: -49-30-343 820-0
Fax: -49-30-347 03912