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  1. Introduction 

  2. The Major tasks accomplished 

2.1. Expanding Ethics and Anti-corruption Education

2.2.  Activities on Corruption Prevention and Research

2.3. Investigating Corruption Offences

2.4. Prosecuting Corruptors

2.5. Building the Commission's Capacity

2.6.  Working in partnership with Regional Ethics and Anti-Corruption Bodies 

2.7.  Other Activities

    3.   Budget Spending

    4.   Problems Encountered and Measures Taken to solve them

    5.  Strong and weak sides

    6.   Conculusion     

      1.   Introduction           

Nowadays, corruption has posed a major threat to the global economic development, social justice, political stability and sustainable peace. This disastrous evil has resulted in undermining the legitimacy of governments, eroding confidence in leadership, diverting public’s money away from development projects, reducing productivity, hindering development, worsening poverty, marginalizing the poor, discouraging investment and spreading unrest and violence. 

In our Country, too, some of the above-mentioned effects of corruption have been manifested. According to the corruption survey conducted by the Addis Ababa University in 2001, fraud, cheating, trickery, embezzlement, extortion, nepotism, theft and prejudice are believed to be the principal features by which corruption has manifested itself in Ethiopia. 

According to the expert analysis of the civil service reform programme, poor governance, lack of accountability and transparency, low level of democratic culture and tradition, deficiency of citizen participation, lack of clear regulations and authorization, low level of institutional control, extreme poverty, inequity and harmful cultural practices could be cited as major causes of corruption in this Country. 

Blurred distinction between private and public interests, inadequate accounting and auditing, over regulated bureaucracy, deterioration of acceptable moral and ethical values and inefficient civil service system have also been mentioned as major sources of corruption in Ethiopia by some scholars. If such root causes of corruption are not addressed appropriately, the Country’s poverty reduction and development programmes will definitely face serious challenges. 

      That is why the Ethiopian Government has launched three-pronged anti-corruption campaign (prevention, investigation and prosecution) by establishing the Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (FEAC) in 2001. The Commission has the following objectives: 

·        In cooperation with relevant bodies, to strive to create an aware society where corruption will not be condoned or tolerated by promoting ethics and anti-corruption education;

·        In cooperation with relevant bodies, to prevent corruption offences and other improprieties;

·        To expose, investigate and prosecute corruption offences and impropriety. 

This is the Commission’s Annual Performance Report for the 1996 (Ethiopian Calendar) Budget Year. Generally, the report discusses the Commission’s achievements in the areas of prevention, investigation and prosecution of corruption offences. More specifically, also, it deals with projects and activities, key areas of special focus in the budget year, problems encountered and measures taken to solve them and conclusion. As it is evident from the report, the FEAC made some encouraging achievements in expanding ethics and anti-corruption education, raising public awareness and closing loopholes in the working procedures of government departments and public enterprises. The achievements made in the areas of investigation and prosecution of corruption offences are also highlighted in the report. We very much hope that we can do a better job in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders in the years to come.

      2.1 Expanding Ethics and Anti-corruption Education 

With a view to creating a well- aware society that does not tolerate corruption and impropriety, the FEAC gave basic ethics and anti-corruption education (by launching various training and awareness raising programmes) to 15036 people drawn from different cross-sections of the society, including 108 public enterprises, government departments, civil society organizations, media, religious groups and the private sector. 

The programmes were of paramount importance in raising the awareness of the public on the disastrous effects and severe consequences of corruption, amended Establishment and Procedural Proclamations of the FEAC, basic ethical and moral values and other relevant issues. 

The FEAC also delivered professional advisory service for 267 ethics officers on how they should fight corruption in their respective public offices and enterprises in collaboration and partnership with their staff members and management groups. In an effort to enhance the collaboration and partnership among ethics officers, auditor-in-chiefs and managers in the fight against corruption, the Commission organized and launched a consultative workshop in which all of the above stakeholders were in attendance. 

In this consultative workshop, 150 general managers of public enterprises, 153 ethics officers and 150 auditor-in-chiefs were represented. The workshop proved to be of huge importance in strengthening the multi-lateral cooperation among the parties in the fierce combat against corruption and impropriety. It was particularly indispensable to ensure and facilitate the relatively smooth operation of the ethics liaison units in government departments and public enterprises. 

The FEAC, which has adopted the preventive and multi-stakeholder approach as a major strategic direction in the fight against corruption, attaches a very high premium on the expansion of civic and ethics education among the public in general and the youth and children in particular. It is the Commission’s strong conviction that such an approach is preferable to ensure the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of the campaign against corruption. 

For that very reason, the Commission has been working in close partnership with ethics and civic education clubs in primary and secondary schools, of which establishment it spearheaded in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. It also offered training on ethics, civics and anti-corruption education for 397 members of the clubs drawn from 212 schools. With the sustainable support and assistance of the Commission, the clubs have been making commendable efforts to expand ethics, civic and anti-corruption education among members of their peer group. In fact, the Annual Report the FEAC drew up on the progress of their performance has shown that they have been doing a good job so far. 

The FEAC also developed five modular text materials on The Role of Investigative Journalism in the Fight against Corruption”, “Ethical Problems of the Youth from Psychological Perspective” and “Ethics of the Police”. The preparation of the remaining two modules on the “Ethics of the Defense Forces” and “The Role of the Justice System in the Fight against Corruption” is on the verge of finalization.   

The FEAC was also working in close partnership with religious organizations and respectable personalities in its fight against corruption mainly through the expansion of ethics and anti-corruption education. To that end, it organized a multi-religious workshop at which representatives from all religious groups convened and suggested ways and mechanisms of fighting corruption and expanding ethics education from religious point of view. The discussants underscored that religious fathers should present ethics and anti-corruption education from religious perspective and point of view. 

High on the agenda of the workshop was the prevention of harmful cultural practices and unethical behaviour, the role of religious fathers in the fight against corruption, expansion of ethics education and curbing of corruption. The participants also stressed the need to motivate and urge the public to actively participate in developmental activities in general and anti-corruption struggle in particular. 

They also emphatically deliberated on the need to coordinate efforts by different stakeholders in the prevention of corruption and expressed readiness to work in partnership with the Commission in this regard. 

In a similar vein, the FEAC launched similar awareness raising programmes in which 240 representatives from the executive and judiciary branches of the Dire Dawa City Administration had participated. A similar training was also offered to fresh graduates of the Addis Ababa University. 

To the best of the Commission's belief and conviction, the smooth and free flow of authentic and reliable information about its plans, activities, performances, weaknesses and strengths is very helpful and supportive of the national anti-corruption campaign. The FEAC stood firm to its convictions and principles in this regard in the last budget year. 

Therefore, the Commission provided private and government media, researchers, students and other individuals and organizations with the full information they sought on its plans, activities and performances. Journalists from government and private media were, for example, briefed 63 times in the last budget year alone. Much of the information was given upon the request of the receivers. 

With a view to raising the awareness of the public on the national anti-corruption movement through additional channels and sources of information, the FEAC distributed a huge number of tailor-made brochures, posters, fliers and magazines throughout the Country. Some 64 articles, which were written by its staffers on its objectives, duties, powers and day- to-day activities, were also published on government papers giving the Ethiopian public and other stakeholders additional sources of information, yet again. The FEAC also sponsored the preparation and transmission of nearly 24 educative and dramatic spots, which were reasonably believed to educate the public about the severe consequences of corruption in a more entertaining manner than other approaches.

2.2 Activities on Corruption Prevention and Research

Based on the powers and duties vested in it, the FEAC examined the practices and procedures in many public offices and public enterprises to secure methods of work which were prone to corrupt practices. Firstly, the Commission had to finalize the examination of the practices and working methods of four public enterprises and public offices, which it started the previous year.   

Therefore, the FEAC finalized the examination of the practices and working procedures in the Merchandize Wholesale and Import Trade Enterprise; the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture; the Ethiopian Development Bank and the Ministry of Mine. In all cases, the final outcomes of the examinations made were tabled for discussion among the respective public offices and enterprises, the Commission and other stakeholders on consultative workshops. 

Inevitably, also, the Commission took supplementary and complementary ideas from the participants incorporated them with its findings and put forward corrective recommendations, which were submitted to the respective government departments, public enterprises and other concerned bodies. 

The Commission also finalized the examination of the practices and working methods of the Ethiopian Post Office, the Quality and Standards Authority of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, Pharmaceutical and Medical Supplies Import and Wholesale Share Company and Addis Ababa University. The FEAC, then, presented the draft documents on the outcomes of the studies to the respective public offices so that they could comment and express their opinions on them, which they did. 

All that remains to be done regarding the studies conducted in the afore-mentioned public institutions is the organization and launching of a consultative workshop (in which all stakeholders will participate) on the draft documents. The Commission is, therefore, making all the necessary preparations to launch the workshops where the draft documents will be debated, scrutinized and enriched by participants. Following the conclusion of the workshops, the Commission will produce final reports on the studies and put forward corrective recommendations, as usual. 

Currently, the FEAC is examining the practices and working procedures in the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, Ethiopian shipping lines, Ethiopian Air Lines, Agricultural Inputs Distribution Center, Road Transport Authority and Ministry of Health. To the best of the Commission’s belief and conviction, examining the practices and working procedures of public offices and enterprises and making corrective recommendations alone cannot bring about the desired changes in their performances. Such projects will come to fruition if and only if the proposed recommendations are implemented effectively.   

Cognizant of this, the FEAC has always been following up and evaluating the effective implementation of its recommendations by the concerned bodies. Last year alone, it evaluated the implementation of the recommendations in more than a dozen of public offices and enterprises of which practices and working procedures were examined in 1995 and 1996 budget years (Ethiopian Calendar). 

Among them were the Federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, Ethiopian Roads Authority, Federal Inland Revenue Authority, Ethiopian Electric Light Corporation, Ethiopian Customs Authority, Design and Construction Inspection Office, Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority and Water Works Construction Enterprise. The FEAC produced evaluation reports on the implementation of the proposed corrective recommendations and measures and submitted them to the respective public offices. 

In order to prevent corruption before it is committed, the FEAC will continue to investigate the practices and working methods in other government departments and public offices in a more organized and efficient manner than before. It doesn't, however, jump into a certain public office or enterprise and start examining its working procedures. It, first and fore most, identifies public offices and enterprises which are believed to be prone to corruption, prioritize them according to the degree of their exposure to corruption and launch the examination of their working procedures in that order. 

In the last budget year, for example, it identified some public offices and enterprises based on the tips it received from whistle-blowers on their alleged exposure to corruption and impropriety. Among those public offices were the Harar and Meta Abo Breweries, Genet Hotel and Ethio-Djibouti Railway Enterprise.   

With a view to raising its efficiency in the prevention and investigation of corruption offences, the FEAC developed guidelines for examining the working procedures of public offices and prioritizing the investigation of alleged corruption offences.  

Without the active participation and full support of witnesses and whistle-blowers, the FEAC believes, the national anti-corruption campaign will not be successful. So far, numerous witnesses and whistle-blowers have shown some courage, commitment and determination to expose and uncover corrupt practices and improprieties. 

In an effort to protect these key allies and collaborators, and thereby enhance their participation in the fight against corruption, the Commission drew up a draft proclamation on witnesses and whistle-blowers protection the year before. Last year, it tabled the draft proclamation for further scrutiny and examination among stakeholders, enriched it with supplementary and complementary ideas obtained from the discussants and submitted it to the Prime Minister's Office for approval. 

Based on the corrective recommendations and comments it received from the Premier's Office, the FEAC has been working on the final draft of the proclamation in collaboration and partnership with the Ministry of Justice in the last budget year. Upon approval by the Council of Ministers and the House of Representatives, the Proclamation is envisaged to ensure the physical and job security protection of witnesses and whistle-blowers. 

In yet another move to boost and enhance public participation in the fight against corruption, the FEAC established draft of procedures and standards for the selection of awards of persons who are successful in fighting and preventing corruption, enriched it with comments from its own staffers and submitted it to the Prime Minister's Office for approval. Based on the recommendations it received from the Prime Minister’s Office, the FEAC is nearly finalizing the preparation of the final document in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice. Upon implementation, the bi-lingual directive will, no doubt, intensify public participation in the fight against corruption in the years to come. 

As it has made it clear time and again in this report, the FEAC has a firm and unwavering conviction that corruption should and must be fought through the adoption of a Multi-stakeholder and collaborative approach against it. No matter how commendable and praise worthy its commitments may be, the Commission may not be able to root out corruption through unilateral efforts and ad hoc measures. 

For this convincing reason, it has been doing its level best to enhance and intensify public participation in the fight against corruption. In this regard, the draft of the coordination manual it produced in the last budget year could show its real commitment to promoting coordination and multi-literalism in the combat against corruption. Currently, the FEAC is putting the finishing touches to the draft manual based on some complementary comments from its own staffers. 

2.3. Investigating Corruption Offences

Last year, the FEAC received some 1,625 tips, in total, from whistle-blowers and complainants on alleged corruption offences, infringement of rights and reprisals. Of the above total, 1088 of them (67 per cent) came within the Commission's jurisdiction with 537 of them (33%) falling outside its jurisdiction. Out of the 537 tips that fell outside the Commission's jurisdiction, 178 of them were found to be within the jurisdiction of regional ethics and anti-corruption commissions. Inevitably, therefore, the FEAC sent 149 of them to the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commissions of the Tigray; Oromia; Amhara and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional States with the remaining ones still awaiting decision. 

Out of 1,181 cases that fall within the Commission's jurisdiction (including some pending cases from the previous year), 267 of them have been under different levels of investigation with the investigation of the remaining 914 ones to be undertaken sooner than later. Besides, the FEAC finalized the investigation of 58 alleged corruption cases out of which 30 are under due process of law and 7 are awaiting prosecution with the remaining 21 cases still under investigation. Moreover, it completed the investigation of 70 other cases which were transferred from the previous year. Upon the request and order of the Prosecution Department, the Investigation Department of the FEAC conducted further investigation on 10 cases, closed the files of 7 cases and transferred three others to an authorized prosecutor. On another order of the Prosecution Department, the Investigation Department arrested 48 individuals suspected of committing corruption offences, investigated the alleged offences and brought them to court. The Commission also delegated the investigation of 12 alleged corruption cases to the police departments. 

With regard to cases that should be (by their nature) dealt with special sense of urgency, the FEAC received 58 cases of such sort. Among them were 23 alleged cases of reprisal. The result of the investigation of these cases showed that retaliatory measures were taken against 8 of the complainants, which prompted the Commission to give immediate protection to all of the victims and reverse the retaliatory measures. On the contrary, 9 of the complainants were not given the protection they sought as their complaints were unsubstantiated satisfactorily. Currently, the investigation of 6 other complainants is under way. 

2.4 Prosecuting Corruption Offences

Having thoroughly looked into the cases it received from the Investigation Department for prosecution, the Prosecution Department filed charges against 67 alleged corruption offences and closed the files of 52 cases which were not satisfactorily substantiated. It also ordered the re-investigation of 103 cases which were believed to be poorly substantiated. The Commission also transferred 24 cases (of which prosecution was beyond its jurisdiction) to prosecutorial bodies under the Ministry of Justice. 

The FEAC was also following up the cases it took to court the previous year. In this regard, it is worth noting that 24 of those cases were given verdict. It also presented the required supporting evidence on 64 of the pending cases which it brought to court the year before. The Commission was also doing its level best to protect seized property and assets that were allegedly obtained through the Commission of corruption.

In the last budget year, the FEAC gave due emphasis to strengthening mutual support and assistance in many areas between and among its departments. The degree of cooperation and coordination of efforts between those departments engaged in carrying out similar tasks and projects was particularly encouraging. 

In this regard, the supportive advice that the Prosecution Department offered to investigators on how they could investigate 21 cases is worth mentioning. 

2.5 Building the Commission’s Capacity

Obviously, the Commission cannot discharge its duties and responsibilities to the desirable level without building a strong capacity. Therefore, capacity building has always been at the center of the major projects. For that reason, the FEAC developed a project proposal on designing software on corruption prevention information system and submitted it to the Ministry of Capacity Building for sponsorship. It also developed another project proposal on local network and system development and presented it to the same Ministry for funding. 

The Commission also did everything in its capacity to alleviate the problems it has been facing in relation to the shortage of office rooms. As a result, it secured some office rooms, which could accommodate nearly a quarter of the existing staff. Moreover, the FEAC developed stock inventory system, which could enable it to make the inventory of office furniture, equipment, goods and stocks in a very systematic manner. 

It also facilitated the participation of its staffers in various training programmes. It, for example, organized a training programme (in which 63 of its staffers and 100 ethics officers were in attendance) on “Strategies on Combating Corruption in Ethiopia”. 

With a view to providing the Ethiopian people and the international community with latest and reliable information on its activities, programmes, duties, objectives and responsibilities, the Commission designed its own website in the last budget year. 

It has also been launching a new business re-engineering programme in all of its departments so that it could improve its performance in the years ahead by curbing various bottlenecks in their daily operations and improving the management system.   

2.6 working in Partnership with Regional Ethics and Anti-Corruption Bodies

The FEAC has an exemplary working relationship with regional ethics and anti-corruption bodies. As a relatively better equipped Federal Anti-corruption Body with relatively stronger capacity and experience, the FEAC has always been extending a multi-faceted support for its regional counterparts in the areas of capacity building, training, corruption prevention and experience sharing. 

In the last budget year alone, it gave a well-organized training for 19 professionals drawn from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commissions of the Amahara; Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regions. The training programmes focused mainly on investigating techniques, data collection and organization and corruption prevention. The techniques, mechanisms, strategies and methods of examining the practices and working procedures in public offices and enterprises in the respective regions were also dealt with, at length, during the training. 

Upon request, the FEAC gave some important pieces of advice to the Oromia Region Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission on how to prepare a strategic plan, develop human resource, prepare and air educative spots on radio and television, prosecute corrupt public servants and launch corruption survey in the region. 

Moreover, the FEAC made several arrangements to share its experience with its regional counterparts in various areas of cooperation. Mainly, the Commission shared its experience in the areas of amending proclamations, curbing corruption, recruiting and staffing, defining corruption, expanding ethics education, investigating and preventing corruption, organizing and launching training programmes, implementing programmes and developing regulations and directives. 

Last year, the FEAC held a joint consultative meeting with the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commissions of the Tigray; Amhara and the South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional States. Among the participants were the Commissioners of the afore-mentioned ethics and anti-corruption commissions and the Commissioner of FEAC. Upon the conclusion of the consultative meeting, the Commissions formed a joint forum where they may deliberate on the successes of their anti-corruption activities and evaluate their performances in the years ahead. 

Most importantly, also, the FEAC extended the required support for the Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa City Administrations on how they can establish their own Ethics and Anti-corruption Commissions. It is worth remembering that the Commission has been extending such sorts of professional support for other regions, which have already established their own anti-corruption commissions.

2.7 Other Activities

The Commission tabled the report of its semi-annual performance (1997 budget year) for discussion among its staffers. Having held intensive deliberations on the report, the discussants put forward important recommendations on the implementation of core plans and programmes in the last budget year. The FEAC took those lessons, incorporated them with its own package of corrective measures and used them to improve its performance in the second half of the budget year. The Commission also produced a draft document containing core items of fundamental information on its three-year performance (1994-1996 Ethiopian Calendar). 

In the effort to harmonize its administrative code with the amended Establishment Proclamation, revise some awkward provisions in it and complement it with additional provisions, the Commission amended its administrative code in the last budget year. With a view to enhancing its partnership and collaboration with them, also, the FEAC held important discussions with the Ministries of Capacity Building and Education and with the Federal Civil Service and Police Commissions. The FEAC also audited its annual performance and implemented the audit recommendations effectively. It also implemented the recommendations of the Auditor General. Besides, the FEAC developed a draft manual on the coordination of its activities and projects with all stakeholders.

3.  Budget Spending    

Regarding budget spending, one can boldly conclude that the Commission was relatively efficient in the last budget year. It spent nearly 93% of its annual budget (8,517,588 birr of the 9,178,484 birr allocated for the year) effectively against the 1996 budgetary spending which stood at 85%. Looking at it separately, we could see that the spending of the recurrent operating budget stood at 90% compared to that of the recurrent salary and Per diem expenditure, 96% of which was spent.

4.  Problems Encountered and Measures Taken to Solve them.

The Commission did not have sufficient number of office rooms to accommodate its existing staffers properly, let alone provide new recruits with new ones. All that it could do was assigning them in offices heavily congested beyond their capacity. Some of the Commission’s partners with whom it was launching joint projects were also very slow in discharging their duties with the required pace. They could not cope up with the pace of the Commission in executing the joint projects. The reluctance and inability of some public offices and enterprises to provide full information the FEAC sought also caused it a lot of problems. The FEAC did everything in its capacity to solve all the problems in consultation with concerned bodies, which it managed to do so in many cases.

5.  Strengths and weaknesses

The vast majority of the Commission's projects were executed according to plan. This, by it self, is an encouraging achievement. Besides, members of the Commission's staff showed a commendable motivation and commitment to improve their performance, coordinate their efforts and adopt their work plans to new situations and developments. However, one could also see an opposite and sharp contrast to the above positive trends on the other side of the coin. In very limited instances, there was lack of motivation on the part of some staffers to accomplish tasks according to plan and seriously follow up pending cases and unfinished tasks. There was also lack of investigative skill on the part of some investigators, which, in turn, gave rise to improper handling of files. Moreover, some staffers planned their work improperly (without taking various factors into consideration), which negatively affected their performance.

6.  Conclusion

To conclude, the achievements made in the last budget year in various areas were encouraging. More than 75% of the objectives set were achieved. The achievements made in the areas of expanding ethics and anti-corruption education, investigating and prosecuting corruption, spending the annual budget efficiently, liaising with regional and international bodies, improving performance and, most importantly, preventing corruption were encouraging. 

To the best of the Commission’s conviction and belief, the last point mentioned in the above paragraph deserves a more serious attention and top priority. If corruption is to be prevented in a sustainable and cost -effective manner, there should be an active public participation in the fight against it. 

The FEAC will, therefore, do every thing in its capacity to enhance public participation in the fight against corruption in the years ahead. The public, on its part, should, in no way, hesitate to collaborate with the Commission in the prevention of corruption. 

The international community in general and development partners in particular should support the prevention of corruption in any way they can. This is the most cost-effective and reliable approach to fighting corruption and impropriety. We must continue to give the prevention of corruption a top priority in our fight against corruption. It is easier to prevent the spread of corruption than to undo the damage it has caused later. “Prevention is better than cure,” as the saying goes.