Stamping out corruption in Africa: a dream or a reality? 

By Tsegay Gebriye
London. 

The newly born AU (African Union) is preparing to take the bull by the horns to try to stamp out corruption or is it? Corruption 'costs Africa billions' (BBC, 18 September, 2002) 

The intention is noble and must be applauded, but the devil is in the detail. A mere signing of a convention or the introduction of new legislation alone will not stop corruption.  

Tackling corruption in Africa is long overdue and requires a concerted effort to minimized its effect on the continent’s poor. According to a new report, Africa is losing $150bn a year due to corruption and this cannot be compatible with any development plans envisaged in the continent.  

Corruption at the highest levels of government is inherent in countries where there is lack of democratic governance and accountability.  

The suggested proposal of declaring assets when an official takes up office may not necessarily help in the fight against corruption, as this can’t be easily enforced. Corrupt African leaders and officials could easily amass wealth in the names of their family members and friends or under their names in foreign banks that are inaccessible to local scrutiny. In most African counties, it is the government in place that is accused of corruption and it will be naïve to expect corrupt governments to police themselves.  

Corrupt governments can always come up with ingenious ways of bending their own rules to beat the system. Take EPRDF for example, it is heavily involved in business through its conglomerate of companies. If the assets of government officials are to be declares in Ethiopia, under whose name do you think the unprecedented wealth of EPRDF is going to appear on the asset register? Is it compatible for a ruling party to involve itself in business? Can’t EPRDF companies solicit business through their officials in government? Can’t foreign and local business prefer to use the services of EPRDF companies to in the hope of pleasing the ruling party?  

Any one who is accustomed to the way things work in Ethiopia can correctly answer the above “YES” or “NO” questions. However, one expects more than answers to the above question. Who is authorized to address these questions and come up with solutions?  

In a capitalist system, the sole aim of companies involved in business is to maximize profit. For the companies, any way of profit making is acceptable. It is the duty of the government to oversee the profit making activities of the companies and to decide whether they are in line with the law. However, it is very difficult to enforce the law when the company that is breaking the law happens to belong to the law enforcer. Even if we assume that the law enforcer is too impartial to break the law in favour of its own interest, a contradiction in terms, the involvement of a ruling party in running a private businesses will diminish the public’s and other private business’s confidence in the party.  

What Africa needs before any thing else is a system that favours a democratically elected and accountable government. Once such a system is in place, it would make it easier to pave the way for the establishment of a mechanism that can tackle the causes of corruption and corruption itself.  

One needs to understand that the intractable fight against corruption is long and arduous. Every country in Africa needs to accept the AU initiative to fight corruption and device its own regulation compatible with its level and nature of corruption.

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