Anti-corruption war is everyone's fightNamibia''s war on corruption is hampered by a significant lack of resources and capacity challenges, a recent United Nations assessment has found. Lack of resources and capacity challenges hampers execution In a briefing paper released yesterday by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), one of the key recommendations to improve Namibia''s anti-corruption fight is to recognise the critical role the public, civil society and private sector could play. The paper, by IPPR''s Frederico Links, provides an overview of the recent findings by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) team, which measured Namibia over a five-year period on its overall anti-corruption framework and how effectively it is implemented and to what extent the country complies with the provisions of the convention.
The paper states that Namibia has done “relatively well, especially when compared to her neighbours and peers on the continent,” in meeting the country''s obligations under UNCAC, the global anti-corruption framework to which Namibia is a signatory.
Nevertheless, the UNCAC findings make it clear that “Namibia falls short of meaningful compliance in all areas. In other words, the anti-corruption environment is still in a state of evolution,” the briefing paper states.
According to the IPPR, authorities in Namibia “need to realise that effectively fighting corruption does not come down to just the activities of a spearheading agency, law enforcement bodies and/or judicial actors, but essentially requires buy-ins from civil society and the greater public.”
The paper states that until now “this is something that Namibian authorities across the board do not seem to recognise.”
In its recommendations, the IPPR states that “multi-stakeholder platforms and avenues for sustained broad-based participation and consultation be established or those already created … make space for greater public participation.”
Links yesterday underlined that Namibia has tackled the issue of corruption on its own volition for several years and had been singled out as an “island of success” on the African continent before it joined UNCAC.
And yet, while the UN team commended Namibia for its overall progress in meeting its obligations “the reviewers nevertheless emphasised that much still needed to be done”.
A key issue highlighted by the report are the technical and capacity assistance needs found to hinder anti-corruption activities.
“In essence, there is a shortage of expertise, experience and specialist skills, compounded by facilities and funding constraints, across the board, including law enforcement, judiciary and regulatory,” the briefing paper states.
The UNCAC report shows that Namibia has identified a long list of supportive needs to enable the country to comply with all provisions of UNCAC. Among the various indicators assessed are illicit enrichment, bribery in the private sector, embezzlement of property in the private sector, the freezing, seizure and confiscation and protection of witnesses, experts and victims.
Moreover the areas include law enforcement cooperation, joint-investigations and special investigative techniques. Another area is extradition, transfer of sentenced person and transfer of criminal proceedings.
All of these include a need for good practice or lessons learned summaries on various topics, on-site assistance by anti-corruption and legal advisors, legislative drafting, development of action plans and other types of supportive services.
One of the gaps identified by the UN assessment team is in the area of bribery and trading in influence.
The report found that acts of indirect bribery and third-party beneficiaries are not covered in respect of all bribery offences under the anti-corruption laws in place. Moreover, Namibia does not have a law which authorises financial institutions to undertake enhanced scrutiny of accounts linked to individuals with prominent public functions and their immediate families and friends.
Another finding is that Namibia has not criminalised illicit enrichment and that embezzlement is not criminalised under the law if it is committed by a person in the private sector.
The UNDAC report also found that Namibia lacks a holistic, comprehensive policy and legal approach to the declaration of assets by public servants.
The report further found that while Namibia is a signatory to the global anti-corruption framework, “there is no ministry or other arm of the executive responsible for ensuring UNCAC is complied with and which can act as a liaison point.”
Beginning in 2010, this UNCAC assessment identified an initial 35 countries and looked at the individual country''s performances on implementing the provisions of the chapter on criminalisation and law enforcement and a chapter on international cooperation of the convention.
JANA-MARI SMITH