The African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption provides a framework which State Parties can follow to combat corruption. Article 12 of the Convention calls upon governments to fully engage the Civil Society and Media in the fight against corruption. Recognizing the role that Media has in educating, informing, and acting as watch dogs and being whistleblowers, it is paramount that Media is equipped with right information on how they can engage State Parties to the Convention.

As a way of facilitating experience and knowledge sharing on the lessons and challenges that journalists face and discuss practical solutions on effective reporting on corruption as a means to strengthen the fight against corruption, the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (AUABC) convened a capacity building training with journalists from across the continent from the 27^th to the 29^th September 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya. Mrs. Charity Hanene Nchimunya, Executive Secretary, African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption unpacked the progress in the fight against corruption on the continent.

1. What progress has the African continent made in the fight against corruption?

The fight against corruption has been progressive across the continent. We must begin by appreciating the foundation that has been laid in terms of policies and strategies aimed at preventing and combating acts of corruption in Africa. At the continental level, there are several frameworks such as the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) that act as the guiding document for all the fifty five (55) Members States of the African Union. The Convention has been key in ensuring there is coherence and synergy across the continent to fight against graft. The Convention is complemented by other frameworks such as the Regional Economic Community Anti-Corruption Protocols, the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows and the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR) among other frameworks that assist in sealing the loops on graft.

Most importantly, we have many member states domesticating and implementing these frameworks and we have seen the efforts are paying off. For example, the Angolan Attorney General in 2019 reported that their office has recovered more than US$5bn in assets in one year. Several other countries report progress in their asset recovery efforts, including Nigeria where in 2018 the government recovered US$322m from the Swiss government that had been stolen by former military ruler. Similarly, in 2019, Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission presented a cheque for 7.5 billion Leones to President Dr Julius Maada Bio as part of 16 Billion Leones of stolen cash recovered from corrupt officials.

There are so many examples of best practices from across the country that also include the citizens and the use of technology and use of social platforms to spotlight acts of corruption. We still have a long journey ahead of us but it is encouraging to see some progress and impact from the efforts put in place. I also believe the impact will even be more felt when we have the universal ratification of the Convention. Seven (7) states are yet to ratify.

2. Why is it important for African Union Member States to ratify, domesticate and implement the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption?

Tackling corruption and its impact remains a challenge to the continent as it threatens the realization of sustainable development, inclusive growth and good governance, which are fundamental in the achievement of the aspirations under Agenda 2063.

The African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, offers practical recommendations and credible response to stem the culture of impunity and corruption for a political, social, economic and cultural stability. The Convention acts as a guiding framework for the work of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption which is at the forefront of working with key stakeholders to address issues of graft within and outside the continent.

The Convention recognizes that though the primary responsibility of tackling corruption rests with individual states, sub-regional frameworks are also necessary to address the scourge of corruption and Article 19(2) of the Convention requires States Parties to foster regional, continental, and international cooperation to prevent and combat corrupt practices in international trade transactions. You can see the nexus therein that the Convention builds at all levels. It is therefore of critical importance to all African Union Member States to not only ratify, but also domesticate and implement the Convention to ensure all stakeholders are therefore able to work collaboratively without any policy gaps while fight graft.

I believe that if the Convention is fully domesticated and implemented at the national levels, you would seal all the loopholes at the individual, institutional and policy levels. You would see whistleblowers fully protected under witness protection; you would see institutions such as investigate bodies and judiciary work independently without any external influence; you would see civil societies, private sector, the media and so on, also been able to play their role effectively and without fear or intimidation. The Convention ably articulates all the benefits that come with combating corruption.

When we talk about functional institutions of education, healthcare, infrastructure and many other critical sectors that matter to the citizens, when we look closely as to why these areas are not functioning per expectation, you will find corruption is the underlying challenge.

3. Why is it important to engage the Media in the fight against corruption?

The African Union has been keen to rally citizen’s participation on the African Union-led anti-corruption initiatives across the continent and a correlated increase in knowledge on the dangers of corruption on socio, economic and political transformation of Africa. This has provided a platform for strengthened partnerships with key stakeholders including national anti-corruption agencies, supreme audit institutions, civil society organizations, and the media.

As you are aware, the Media remain a practical and effective tool to foster awareness on corruption, as well as voices that demand accountability and transparency from the public and private sectors. Through investigative journalism, media outlets have been key whistleblowers as well as holding government accountable in management of the public affairs. The Convention in Article 12 calls upon State Parties to ensure that the Media is given access to information in cases of corruption and related offences on condition that the dissemination of such information does not adversely affect the investigation process and the right to a fair trial, however, reports have shown that this has been hard to come by. It is therefore necessary for us at the AUABC to continue engaging with the Media on capacity building on the different facets of corruption and anti-corruption activities so they are able to have knowledge and are regularly informed on the various progress in preventing and combatting corruption across the continent.

In engaging the media, we envision that they will continue to play the very important role in;

• Advocating for countries to ratify, implement and report on compliance with the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption;
• We want the Media to raise awareness on the negative impact of corruption and be able to share practical examples of the day to day effects of graft. At the same time, be able to show the positive impact of combating corruption.
• We have seen many investigate journalists and we would like to encourage them and other journalists to reporting cases of corruption to the relevant Anti-Corruption Agencies;
• Promoting anti-corruption champions and publicizing stories of success in fighting corruption.

Relatedly, during three-day capacity building workshop we held on the 25th -27th September 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, one the outcomes was the establishment of the Network of African Media Practitioners against corruption with members drawn from across the continent. The Network also constituted an interim committee to advance the commitment of the Network in playing their part in the preventing and combating corruption. The Interim committee members are:

• Awanda Majoni - Chairperson
• Bernadette Namata Umutoni - Vice Chair
• Cyriac Gohi Gbogou- Rapporteur
• Sarah Joseph Chodata- Member
• Nako Madjiasra - Member
• Rebecca Chimjeka – Member.

4. As Africa marks year 2020 under the theme of nutrition, what is the AUABC doing related to this sector?

As we all know, the impact of corruption on food insecurity has dire and life-long consequences in many facets of our life. Corruption leads to food crisis, malnutrition, and affects the livelihoods of millions of people across the continent. As we focus on the 2022 theme of the year on nutrition, some of the issues we encourage our Member States to address, in collaboration with the Regional Economic Communities and continental mechanisms, are issues such as land-grabbing; embezzlement of resources meant to enhance food production and nutrition; there are some incidences where even government subsidies and aid programmes have been misappropriated as so on. Relatedly, we want to see Member States enhance their efforts in promoting transparency in issues of food security, this way they can address the challenges and bottlenecks related to the effective and efficient handling of corruption cases and to ensure indictment over abuses and misuse of the resources in the sector.

If you read the findings on the nutrition, the evidence is worrying on the persistence of the burden of malnutrition showing its dire consequences for physical, mental, cognitive and physiological development of African children. The evidence also shows that malnutrition leads to decreased social and economic development of nations and becomes a very important political and economic development issue. Read more here.

We must work hard to achieve the objectives we have set ourselves through the African Union's Agenda 2063, particularly its aspiration 3 which advocates for an Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law.

Learn more about the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption by visiting – www.anticorruption.au.int #AfricaAgainstCorruption

For further information, contact:

African Union Advisory Board on Corruption | E-mail: auabcregistry@african-union.org I Tel: + 255 27 20 500 30.

Doreen Apollos | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 115 517 700 | E-mail:ApollosD@africa-union.org l | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia