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4. Problems Encountered and Measures Taken to solve them 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.
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.
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.
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. 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.   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.
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.
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.
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. |
     
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