Corruption is one of the greatest challenges for Africa, says Botswana’s President Khama

Corruption is a global phenomenon affecting all countries in the world, but its adverse effects are deeply felt in poor and developing nations, said Botswana’s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama.

He noted that despite the positive strides made by countries towards attaining democracy and human rights, corruption still remains one of the greatest challenges in Africa.

“Corruption has and continues to be the dark patch that has tainted nation states on the African continent and the developing world,” said President Khama.

“Fighting corruption is a management responsibility and cannot be done singlehandedly by any anti-corruption agency. It requires political drive from all government institutions and the private sector.”

He made this point at the opening of the First Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa in Gaborone, Botswana, on 23 May 2011.

Referring to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, President Khama stated that many African countries continue to receive very poor ratings and occupy the bottom half of the ratings, which adversely impact on the ability of these countries to attract foreign investment to boost economic growth.

“On the African continent many people continue to live in abject poverty despite abundant natural resources owing to corruption in some cases. In many instances, the abundance of these resources has been a curse for the general populace ... diminishing the confidence levels of the population in politicians, public servants and government institutions as a whole ... leaving people in despair and hopelessness. Where corruption is rampant, the wealth of a country ends up in the pockets of a few of these people,” he said.

President Khama added that Transparency International Indicators have shown that Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where poverty has risen in the past decade, with half of the region’s population of 840 million living on less than a dollar a day. He stressed the important role governments should play in tackling corruption in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty by half by 2015.

He continued that corruption was to blame for the crash of the financial markets, citing the Global Corruption Report 2009 which listed conflicts of interest entangling gatekeepers; misaligned incentives for decision-makers; insufficient transparency and accountability for market segments and players; and serious lapses in corporate due diligence, governance and integrity.

“Our concern should be to turn things around and make corruption a high-risk, low-return undertaking by developing strategies and putting in place secure mechanisms to fight it. Governments cannot succeed alone in tackling this problem. It is only through collaborative efforts with all stakeholders that progress can be made. A sure way to succeed in the war against corruption is to develop an international agenda. Building coalitions is the only way forward for us as it also ensures that there is a system of checks and balances.”

The four-day conference will see presentations from Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia.