The profile of the FEAC

As you very well know, corruption has become one of the major global threats. It has also been causing damages to our country since the time immemorial. With a view to curbing corruption before it becomes rampant, the Ethiopian Government established the FEACC and five regional states also established their own ethics and anti-corruption commissions. The remaining regional states are in the process of establishing their own anti-corruption bodies.

Since its establishment in 2003 with the objectives of expanding ethics and anti-corruption education, preventing corruption, investigating alleged corruption offences and prosecuting corruptors, the Commission made some encouraging achievements. Just to mention some of its achievements in the major areas of intervention, it investigated more than 800 alleged corruption offences and prosecuted hundreds of corruptors, 173 of whom received from 1-19 years of imprisonment.

In an effort to prevent corruption before it is committed by plugging loopholes that were believed to be conducive to it, the FEACC examined the working procedures and practices of more than 85 public offices and public enterprises. It then put forward corrective measures and followed up their implementation. Particularly, the achievements made in tackling the unbelievably rampant corruption in the Metropolis in the areas of land administration and leasing are worth mentioning.

In this regard, we managed to invalidate numerous title deeds and house plans that were illegally issued in confirmation of the ownership of more than 144, 000 square meters of urban land through corruption. By doing so, we were able to recover and safeguard hundreds of millions of public money that was lost to corruption. What is more, the FEACC was able to offer ethics and anti-corruption education for millions of Ethiopians using various channels of communication.

Despite the afore-mentioned achievements, the Commission strongly believes that a lot more remains to be done in the fight against corruption and impropriety in this country. With a view to enhancing its performance in the years to come, therefore, the FEACC conducted Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) on its core functions, put in place new working procedures and structures based on the BPR and began implementing the vitally important project. Much to our pleasure and satisfaction, the project has already begun bearing fruits even at the earliest stage of its implementation.

In the New Ethiopian Millennium, the FEACC is determined and more than prepared to do more in partnership with all stakeholders in general and the Ethiopian public in particular to make sure that corruption cannot impede the on-going development and democratization processes. It is the Commission's strong conviction that the national anti-corruption campaign will not be a success without the active participation of the public. At the end of the day, the general public is the general anti-corruption watchdog that monitors, checks and exposes corruption. To put it more bluntly, your support in our fierce fight against corruption is indispensable. Without your sustainable support, we are nothing.

Had it not been for the support and involvement of the public in the fight against corruption, we wouldn't have been able to make the achievements mentioned earlier. The support that the public has been extending to the Commission in blowing the whistle against corruption and serving as a witness to it has been increasing with the passage of time. To achieve its objectives and realize its vision, the FEACC seeks the full support of all stakeholders in general and the Ethiopian public in particular.

The Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (FEACC) prepared this magazine to inform the public on the national campaign against corruption. The information contained in the magazine was gathered from government departments, higher education institutions, the Commission's Departments, anti-corruption laws and proclamations and other sources. Then the information was organized in a logical, coherent and simple manner so that people from every cross-section of the society could read and understand it.

To begin from the very beginning, six solid years have lapsed since the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia started to tackle corruption and impropriety at all levels by establishing the FEACC in May 2001.

Since its inception, the FEACC launched a three-pronged (prevention, investigation and prosecution) attack on corruption and some encouraging achievements were made in those areas.

In an effort to raise its performance in fighting corruption in the years to come, the FEACC has found it absolutely necessary to enhance stakeholder participation in the fight against corruption. To this end, some awareness raising and informative programmes must be implemented aggressively so that the public is effortlessly mobilized to fight corruption.

To be actively engaged in fighting and preventing corruption, all stakeholders deserve to be informed about the level, causes, consequences, developments, manifestations and threats of corruption in this Country.

They also have every right to get current and appropriate information about the on-going national struggle against corruption. They should also be well aware of the plans and programmes of the Country in dealing with corruption and impropriety.

Having seriously assessed such fundamental concerns and requirements, the FEACC found it absolutely necessary to design and implement projects that could raise public awareness on the national struggle against corruption.

One of such projects is the distribution of various publications on the national campaign against corruption, hence the publishing of this magazine. Simply put, the magazine is all about raising public awareness on the threat of corruption and thereby intensifying the national campaign against it in a more participatory, coordinated and organized manner. The document could also be of paramount importance for researchers, students, teachers, etc. who work in this area.

This document contains the major facts about the on-going anti-corruption campaign in Ethiopia, mainly in federal public offices and enterprises. It discusses the causes, manifestations and consequences of corruption and impropriety in relation to the Ethiopian context and the existing objective reality. It also illustrates the strategies and mechanisms being employed to curb corruption.

The historical background of corruption in Ethiopia and the reasons and justifications behind the establishment of the FEACC are also discussed. The Commission's structural organization, powers, duties, objectives, strategies, mission and vision are fully dealt with, as well.

The major tasks accomplished and the achievements made by the FEACC, the challenges faced and the appropriate solutions provided for those challenges are also covered in the document. Enjoy reading the magazine and don’t hesitate to send us your comments on its content and organization if you deem it necessary.

According to the corruption survey conducted by the Addis Ababa University (in collaboration with the FEACC), fraud, trickery, embezzlement, extortion, nepotism and theft are believed to be the principal features by which corruption has manifested itself in Ethiopia.

When we look back the development of corruption in Ethiopia in retrospect, we could see that there were times when bribery and nepotism were not considered to be serious corruption offences. In the old days, bribery was considered to be a ‘motivational’ factor, not an offence. Nepotism was also mostly regarded as a positive approach to" help friends and relatives". Things have changed now. People have begun to call a spade a spade and deal with it seriously.

As many scholars and experts would agree, corruption is not a social phenomenon that can be explained by a simple cause/effect model. It is a complicated issue, often the result of many contingent circumstances, which produce varied and wide-ranging effects. Without limiting the generality of this argument, however, one can cite numerous factors that are widely believed to be the major causes of corruption in Ethiopia.

According to the expert analysis of the civil service reform programme and some other sources, poor governance, lack of accountability and transparency, low level of democratic culture and tradition, lack of citizen participation, lack of clear regulations and authorization, low level of institutional control, extreme poverty and inequity, harmful cultural practices and centralization of authority and resources are the major causes of corruption in Ethiopia.

Family and ethnic loyalties and obligations, blurred distinction between private and public interests, privatization, weak financial management, inadequate accounting and auditing, weak legal and judicial system, over regulated bureaucracy, deterioration of acceptable moral and ethical values, unsound policies and inefficient civil service system have also been cited by some scholars and researchers as the primary causes of corruption in Ethiopia.

During the Imperial and the Derg Regimes, corruption is said to have resulted in undermining the legitimacy of the governments and weakening their structures, reducing productivity, hindering development, worsening poverty, marginalizing the poor, creating social unrest and finally speeding up their downfall.

Unfortunately, it has continued to pose threats to the Country's development and democratization processes. Currently, corruption is believed to be one of the major factors that significantly contribute to the reduction of government revenue. It can also negatively affect the on-going poverty reduction and development Programmes.

Having analyzed the overall situation in the Country in a holistic manner, the Ethiopian Government finalized preparations to reform the social, economic and political formation of the Country based on democratic principles. This holistic reform programme consisted of various components and programmes, one of which was the Civil Service Reform programme. That was how the on-going Civil Service Reform Programme, which, in turn, included the Ethics Sub-Programme as one of its major components, was launched at the national level.

For the Ethics sub-programme (which was mainly designed to tackle corruption and improve service delivery) to be launched, a multi-dimensional research on the level of corruption and degree of efficiency of the Ethiopian Civil Service System had to be conducted. For that reason, a task force drawn from stakeholders conducted a research, which brought the sufferings of the Ethiopian public to light.

It was after all these logically coherent preparations that the Ethiopian Government established the FEACC in 2001. Among the preparations made to establish the FEACC were the launching of training programmes, drawing of international best practices and lessons, assessment of needs and problems, development of the Commission's organizational structure and conducting of national anti-corruption survey.

With the passage of time, it became evident that the Proclamation needed to be revised for various reasons. Therefore, the Commission's Establishment and Special Procedure and Rules of Evidence Proclamations were amended on the approval of the House of Representatives. In fact, the revised proclamations have already come into force as of February the 2nd, 2005. However, some people seem to be wondering what amendments were made and why they were made in the first place.

It was deemed necessary to amend the Commission's Establishment proclamation to:

Ø Make the Commission's operation and activities be guided with the principle of transparency and accountability,

Ø Enable it to prevent, investigate and prosecute corruption with better efficiency,

Ø Redefine its powers and duties in line with the Amended Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

Ø Lay down detailed provisions enabling it to work in collaboration with other relevant investigation and prosecution bodies and

Ø Despite the fact that serious ethical violations are arguably the commonest types of corruption offences punishable by law, there weren't provisions in the previous proclamation defining them clearly. It has, therefore, been proclaimed in the newly incorporated Sub Article Eight of Article Two that serious ethical violations are any violations entailing dismissal as may be provided in appropriate codes of conduct.

Ø For the Commission to focus on tackling grand corruption, it has been reasonably necessary to define what these "serious corruption offences" are. Consequently, “serious corruption offence” has been clearly defined in Sub Article Nine of Article Two. According to this article, “serious corruption offence” means:

a) Corruption offences involving huge amount of money committed in highly strategic public offices and public enterprises,

c) Corruption offences which cause or are capable of causing a grave danger to the national sovereignty, economy, security or social life.

Ø The other provision that needed further polishing and amendment was the one that dealt with the accountability of the Commission. According to the previous proclamation, the Commission was free from any interference or direction by any person though it was accountable to the Prime Minister.

Unfortunately, this provision prevented the Prime Minister from giving general direction and extending support to the Commission in areas other than the investigation and prosecution of alleged corruption offences. Thus, it has been provided in the amended proclamation that the Commission is free from any interference or direction by any person with regard to cases under investigation or prosecution or to be investigated or prosecuted.

Ø In an effort to strengthen the Commission's collaboration and partnership with stakeholders, the phrase "in cooperation with relevant bodies" has been incorporated at the beginning of the list of its objectives.

Ø The previous proclamation had a confusing article on whether the Commission has the authority to force public offices and enterprises, whose practices and working procedures it is entitled to study, to implement corrective recommendations it may propose to prevent the commission of corruption in them.

o On the one hand, it had the implication that public offices and public enterprises could be obliged to implement the recommendations of the Commission, but on the other, there was a loophole in it that implied that the latter could refuse to do so.

o With a view to avoiding the confusion, it has been proclaimed in the revised proclamation that the Commission has the duty and responsibility to prevent corruption by examining the practices and working procedures of government departments and public enterprises, propose recommendations, follow up their implementation and inform or remind the relevant body to take proper measures.

o The public offices and enterprises should, on their part, be aware that they are obliged by law to accept and implement the recommendations. If the Commission feels that they are showing reluctance and unwillingness to implement the recommendations without sufficient reasons, it has the responsibility to notify pertinent bodies like the Prime Minister’s Office and the House of Representatives of the case so that appropriate corrective measures would be taken.

Ø In order to enable the Commission to focus on grand corruption, new provisions allowing it to delegate the investigation and prosecution of corruption offences to relevant investigation and prosecution bodies have been enacted.

Ø According to the amended proclamation, there will not be any advisory board for the Commission for it has been provided that the Prime Minister could play a role (in administrative issues only) in guiding the Commission to fill that gap. Besides, there are provisions in the amended proclamation that clearly and emphatically indicate the key role that stakeholders can play in the fight against corruption.

Ø In the former proclamation, the provision indicating the relationship between the FEACC and regional anti-corruption bodies lacked in clarity and detailed information. Thus, Article 25, which clearly states the mechanisms for the FEACC to work in cooperation with those bodies in a mutually supportive way, has been promulgated in the amended proclamation.

Ø With a view to regulating the definition of corruption in accordance with the Penal Code, Article Two has been included as part of the amended proclamation.

Ø In the former proclamation, the scope of the application of the proclamation itself wasn't clearly defined and was open for different interpretations. To avoid this confusion, it has been proclaimed in the amended proclamation that the proclamation shall be applicable to corruption offences committed in the Federal and Regional States.

Ø Article Ten of the amended proclamation has a more detailed list of properties that are not subject to restraining order.

Ø Article 38 of the previous proclamation, which provides that “if a person who is accused of corruption prefers to remain silent or is unwilling to answer without good cause after the prosecution witness is heard, the court may take his silence as an admission” is found to be unconstitutional and hence cancelled.

Ø According to the previous proclamation, a person who is arrested on suspicion of having committed corruption offence shall not be released on bail. Practically, however, this prohibitive provision complicated the investigation process of corruption offences. Thus, it has been promulgated in the revised proclamation that an arrested person for a corruption offence may apply to court to be released on bail. However, a person charged with a corruption offence punishable for more than ten years shall not be released on bail.

The vision of the Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission is to ensure that corruption is no longer an impediment to enhancing development and good governance in the Country by creating a highly ethical society that is resolute in combating corruption unwaveringly.

The Commission's mission is to ensure that the Country's resources go to the desired development projects by expanding ethics and anti-corruption education; examining the practices and working procedures in federal public offices and enterprises and thereby plugging loopholes that are believed to be conducive for corruption; exposing, investigating and prosecuting alleged corruption offences where they are committed in federal public offices and public enterprises, or in the regional offices related to subsidies granted by the Federal Government.

· 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 impropriety;

With a view to discharging its duties and responsibilities effectively and efficiently, the FEACC developed and introduced a four-year strategic plan in 1998 E.C focusing major attention on six key issues. The six critical and strategic issues which were identified in the development of the four-year strategic plan are capacity building, prioritizing major tasks, establishing an efficient service delivery system, forging strong partnership with pertinent bodies and stakeholders, establishing an integrated information system and fighting HIV/AIDS.

In cooperation with relevant bodies, to combat corruption and impropriety by raising public awareness about the disastrous effects of corruption and by promoting ethics in public services and among the society. It is also duty-bound to prevent corruption by studying the practices and working procedures in public offices and public enterprises thereby ensuring the revision of methods of work, which may be conducive to corrupt practices. Following the finalization of its studies, the Commission is legally authorized to put forward corrective measures and recommendations and follow up their implantation.

According to Article Seven of the Establishment Proclamation, the FEACC is responsible for investigating any complaints of alleged or suspected serious breaches of codes of ethics in public offices or public enterprises and following up the taking of proper measures.

Similarly, the investigation and prosecution of any alleged or suspected corruption offences specified in the Criminal Code or in other laws, where they are committed in public offices or public enterprises, or in regional offices relating to subsidies granted by the Federal Government to the regions, fall within the power of the Commission.

It is also the duty of the Commission to investigate (where there is reasonable suspicion in connection with corruption offences) and obtain information about any bank account of suspected persons and cause the attachment, with court order, of same where necessary.

In a similar vein, the FEACC is duty bound to freeze, by court order, the assets of any person who may be under investigation for corruption and cause, through court order, the forfeiture of any assets and wealth obtained by corruption or its equivalent to the state or dispose same by or without public auction.

In cooperation with relevant bodies, the Commission has the legal power and authority to register the assets and financial interests of public officials and public employees compellable to do so as specified by law. It is also responsible to protect witnesses and whistle blowers and reward persons or offices that are successful in fighting and preventing corruption. The tasks of preparing codes of ethics for public offices and public enterprises (apart from legislative and judicial bodies), undertaking research on ethics and corruption, following up the enforcement of anti-corruption laws, supporting regions and cooperating with similar bodies also come under the jurisdiction of the Commission.

The FEACC promotes the following principles: Integrity, loyalty, transparency, confidentiality, honesty, accountability, serving public interest, exercising legitimate authority, impartiality, respecting the law, responsiveness and exercising good leadership.

The Commission has been doing its best to acquire as many professionals and support staff as possible. At the end of February 2008, it had 290 staffers. The professional mix of the staffers is so diverse that we can find lawyers, engineers, managers, accountants, education experts, public relations officers, media people, economists and other social science experts.

The FEACC is comprised seven departments, three services and two offices. The departments are identified as Ethics Education and Public Relations, Corruption Prevention, Corruption Investigation, Corruption Prosecution, Studies and Research, Ethics Infrastructures Coordination and Administration and Finance departments. The Services are also designated as Legal, Audit, and Plan and Programme services. The Commissioner's Office and the Deputy Commissioner's Office are also part of the organizational set up. Here is a brief description of them.

The major objective of this Department is creating an aware society (in cooperation with relevant bodies) where corruption will not be tolerated by promoting ethics and anti-corruption education. It also publicizes the Commission’s visions, missions, objectives, duties, powers, programmes, activities and achievements in cooperation with other departments.

In discharging its responsibilities, the Department uses various tools and channels of communication, including media, posters, fliers, brochures, stickers, billboards, news letters (internal and external) and magazines. It also gives face-to-face ethics and anti-corruption education.

Simply put, all the activities and efforts of this Department are geared towards the effective prevention of corruption through the enhancement and expanding of ethics and anti-corruption education.

The Ethics Education and Public Relations Department, which comprised the Public Relations, Media and Ethics Education Teams, is headed by a Director, who, in turn, has four team leaders (of the afore-mentioned teams) under his supervision.

The Department has 31 members in total. As to their educational background, members of the staff have held diplomas, first degrees and second degrees in the areas of languages and literature, education, political science and international relations, curriculum and communication. These professionals have various levels of experience in the areas of teaching, curriculum designing, journalism, communication, etc.

This Department is duty-bound to prevent corruption offences and other improprieties in cooperation with relevant bodies. In order to do so, it studies the practices and working procedures in public offices and public enterprises thereby ensuring the revision of methods of work, which may be conducive to corrupt practices.

Upon the completion of the studies, the Department consults stakeholders, puts forward corrective measures and recommendations and follows up their implementation.

The Corruption Prevention Department has 35 professional staffers in total. The Department is headed by a Director, who has three principal four teams under his supervision.

According to the Commission’s Establishment Proclamation, the Corruption Investigation Department is authorized to investigate or cause the investigation of any alleged or suspected corruption offences where they are committed in public offices or public enterprises or in the regional offices relating to subsidies granted by the Federal Government to the regions. It is also obliged by law to investigate or cause the investigation of any complaints of alleged serious breaches of the codes of ethics in public offices or public enterprises and follow up the taking of proper measures.

The Department receives tips-off from whistle blowers on alleged corruption offences and ethical infringements, investigates them in the order of their seriousness and transfers them to the Department of Prosecution of the Commission. If it deems it necessary, it may require of any federal or regional public office or enterprise to produce relevant documents and provide appropriate information for the examination of practices and working procedures.

Accordingly, any public official or public employee is obliged by law to show or produce relevant documents or information when requested by the Department. Moreover, the former are duty-bound to report to the Department where they have a reasonable suspicion that corruption offences are or are about to be committed. The Department, on its part, is responsible to provide physical and job security protection for witnesses and whistle-blowers.

It has 82 staffers. Investigators are duty-bound to apply to courts for restraining order on any property acquired through the Commission of corruption offences. There are a total of eight teams in the Department. The Department is headed by a Director with a special assistant under him.

The Corruption Prosecution Department, as its very name suggests, was established to prosecute or cause the prosecution of any alleged or suspected corruption offences (where they are committed in public offices or public enterprises or in the regional offices relating to subsidies granted by the Federal Government to regions) based on the substantiated and incriminating evidence provided by the Investigation Department. It is also authorized to freeze, by court order, assets and wealth that are allegedly obtained through corruption and cause (through court order) their forfeiture and confiscation.

If the court verdict goes in its favour, the Department shall dispose the assets and wealth (by or without public auction) and transfer them to the Government. The Prosecution Department works in close collaboration with the Investigation Department, Courts and other prosecutorial organs. The Department has 30 staffers in total.

This Department is tasked with coordinating the activities of major stakeholders in the fight against corruption in the Country. The Department is headed by a Director who has a team leader under him. It has 12 staff members. The Department is in charge of coordinating the following major stakeholders:

· Public offices (police departments, prosecutorial bodies, courts, ombudsman and human rights agencies, auditor generals, and parliaments, etc) that are in charge of probing, investigating, and prosecuting crimes at federal and regional levels,

The Department extends support to the above-mentioned organizations in the following areas:

The Research and Studies Department was established following the conclusion of the BPR conducted in the major activities and work flows of the Commission. The department is led by a director and has two teams. After the finalization of the BPR, it was decided that there should be a department tasked with extending support to those departments that are engaged in expanding ethics education and examining the working procedures of public offices and enterprises. The Department is led by a Director and has ----teams.

More specifically, the Department is in charge of carrying out the following activities:

· Following up the proper implementation of anti-corruption laws and codes of ethics,

· Conducting researches on issues brought to the Commission by different cross-sections of the society,

The recipients of the services of the Department include the government, Commission's departments, regional anti-corruption institutions, ethics liaison units and other stakeholders.

The research findings of the Department are believed to be very helpful in basing some of the Commission's activities on research findings thereby raising its overall performance and efficiency. The Department has 15 staff members.

The Administration and Finance Department has the largest number of staffers, 68. It is led by a Director. It consists of four units, namely Finance, Human Resource Management and Training, Property Administration and General Services and Information Technology Units.

The Finance Unit administers, organizes and controls the Commission’s budgetary spending and expenditure. The Human Resource Management and Training Unit, on its part, is entitled to develop the Commission’s human resource capacity through employment and transfer. It is also responsible to build the capacity of the staffers through various training and awareness raising programmes. Issues related to credentials, promotion, pension and leave of absence are also handled by the same Unit.

The Property Administration and General Services Unit procures consumable goods and fixed assets, distributes them among the Commission’s staffers, as may be required and administers their proper and efficient utilization. It is also in charge of all the maintenance activities, payments and insurance agreements.

The Information Technology Unit takes charge of equipping the Commission and its staffers with appropriate information technology. Currently, the department is under reengineering and is subject to structural change once the reengineering processes are finalized.

The Internal Audit Service audits the financial documents and performances of the various departments, services and units. It then presents the report to the Commissioner. The Service examines the authenticity, legitimacy and validity of the financial documents and declarations, makes recommendations based on its assessments and follows up the implementation of the recommendations. There are three staffers in this Service.

The Plan and Programme Service is duty-bound to coordinate and organize the Commission’s plans, programmes, projects and performance reports. It is engaged in developing projects and following up their implementation. It also evaluates and follows up the implementation of plans, projects and programmes. Moreover, the Service develops short, long and mid-term plans of the FEACC and proposes appropriate strategies on how to effectively implement them. It also advises the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Directors on developing plans, projects, programmes and performance evaluation reports. It also collects and organizes statistical data and abstract. There are five professionals in the staff of this Service. Currently, the Audit and Plan and Programme Services are under reengineering.

The Legal Service, on its part, provides legal advice to the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and other departments of the Commission, prepares legal documents, comments on draft regulations and directives prepared by other departments, represents the Commission on legal issues and prepares directives. It also revises the existing regulations and directives, detects possible bottlenecks in them and proposes amendments if need be. There are three staffers in the Legal Service.

The FEACC exercises extreme caution in the recruitment and employment of officers. Following the announcement of vacancies on government papers, the FEACC receives application packages from applicants. Then, the work experience, academic achievement and background of the applicants will be seriously assessed. Subsequently, the ones with relevant experience, better academic achievement and clean background will be short-listed. Finally, those with better cumulative results (measured against the three criteria) will be recruited to the posts from among the short-listed applicants. It is worth noting that any applicant with unethical background will be immediately rejected without the slightest hesitation.

The Government allocates nearly 12.5 million Birr (on average) in annual budget for the Commission, the lion's share (operational Part) of which goes to expanding ethics and anti-corruption education, which is believed to be at the heart of the corruption prevention programme.

The Ethiopian Government has adopted the preventive approach as a major course of action and line of thought in its fight against corruption with curative measures reinforcing it. Given the cost-effective, sustainable and participatory nature of this approach, no wonder the government took it as a primary direction of stamping out corruption at the national level.

The FEACC is of the conviction that expanding ethics and anti-corruption education among the public and plugging loopholes in the working procedures of public offices and enterprises are at the heart of preventing corruption offences. It is for this very reason that the Commission is currently launching wide-ranging awareness raising programmes through formal and informal ways.

Since its establishment in May 2001, the FEACC has given face-to-face ethics and anti-corruption education for more than 120, 000 people drawn from various cross-sections of the society. Additionally, it reached millions of Ethiopians through the media and tried to raise their awareness on the dire need to fight corruption. It also played a key role in the inclusion of ethics and civic education in the Country's formal education curriculum and the establishment of ethics and civic education clubs in schools in collaboration and partnership with the Ministry of Education.

The establishment of ethics liaison units in 267 public offices and enterprises has also contributed to the expansion of ethics education and prevention of corruption, at least in those offices and enterprises. Preparations are also underway to establish ethics liaison units in various public offices in Addis Ababa City Administration. It also played a significant role in the development of textbooks and other materials on ethics and civic education. Moreover, awareness-raising programmes have been launched through the media.

With a view to enhancing the expansion of ethics and anti-corruption education, the Commission produced and distributed over half a million brochures, magazines, fliers and posters among government departments, public enterprises and the general public at large. It has also been preparing and distributing an internal monthly newsletter, namely “Guadachin” among the members of the Commission’s staff. In an attempt to inform the diplomatic community, donors, international NGOs and development partners, the FEACC has been issuing an external bi-monthly English newsletter, namely “Insight”.

As enshrined in the amended Establishment Proclamation of the Commission, examining the practices and working procedures in government departments and public enterprises and plugging loopholes that are believed to be conducive for corrupt practices is at the heart of the Country's corruption prevention programme. Before the start of the implementation of the BPR a year ago, the Commission examined the practices and working procedures in almost 50 government departments and public enterprises, put forward corrective measures and followed up the implementation of the recommendations.

Among the departments and enterprises whose working procedures were examined included the Ethiopian privatization Agency, Ethiopian Airlines, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, Commercial and Development Banks of Ethiopia, Federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, Customs Authority, Federal Inland Revenue and Roads Authorities, Telecommunications and Electric Power Corporations and the Ministries of Inland Revenue, Mine and Youth and Culture.

Since the implementation of the BPR, also, the FEACC studied and examined the working procedures and practices of specific activities that were believed to be conducive to corruption in 35 public offices and enterprises. The findings of the studies and examinations in 16 public offices and enterprises (out of the 35) have already been sent to the latter for implementation.

Researches were also conducted on procurement and petrol consumption in government departments and public enterprises after which corrective recommendations were given. The Commission was also seriously following up the implementation of the recommendations by the respective public offices and enterprises. To make future projects in this area more fruitful and successful even before the implementation of the BPR, the FEACC developed guidelines for prioritizing the examination of the working procedures and practices of public offices and public enterprises in their order of urgency and seriousness.

In the face of severe capacity limitations, the FEACC cannot examine the practices and working procedures in all public offices and enterprises at a time and put forward corrective measures and recommendations. Unsurprisingly, therefore, it had to prioritize its target areas and guide the reviewing and examination of working procedures in public offices and enterprises based on the priority it set and the guidelines it put in place.

Therefore, putting the susceptibility index of the public offices and enterprises in place had to come first. The FEACC used the following three criteria to determine the degree of susceptibility of public offices and enterprises to corruption: Vulnerability to corruption, impact of corruption and scope of corruption.

Based on the afore-mentioned criteria, the FEACC came up with a susceptibility index classifying public offices and enterprises engaged in collecting taxes and revenue, providing licenses and work permits, allocating land and managing the construction sector as the most corruption prone ones. Under the second category came courts, organizations that had a monopoly on providing a certain service, law enforcement departments, import-export organizations, loan and insurance enterprises and distributors of goods. The remaining public offices and enterprises fall under the third category.

Recently, also, the FEACC has begun reviewing the practices and working procedures of key public offices and enterprises by assigning experts on permanent basis. Such public institutions, which are believed to be pivotal in public service delivery, need to be given special emphasis.

The FEACC established channels and mechanisms of making corruption complaints. Whistle blowers can present their complaints about alleged corruption offences, ethical infringements and improprieties in person, on telephone, through e-mail, on fax and through post office. Their identity could be withheld upon their request. The FEACC will, in no way, disclose their identities without their permission and against their will.

If the complainants prefer to present their complaints in person, they can directly go to office number 214, which is located on the second floor, and do so. If they want to blow the whistle on fax, they can use 0115536991 and inform the Commission about alleged corruption offences. The e-mail and postal addresses of the Commission are feacinv@ethionet.et and 34798/9 respectively. For those who want to do it on telephone, the FEACC has already set up a new hotline (988) at which they can call and inform the latter about their cases free of charge.

The Commission provided the public and other stakeholders with clear and sufficient information on the channels, mechanisms and procedures of presenting their complaints to it through various publications and the media. Just to outline the procedures briefly, the complaints will be received by officers at office number 214. Then some sort of analysis will be made to check whether the alleged offences are corruption offences or not. In this regard, it should be noted that whistle blowers have every right (whether their tips-off fall within the Commission's jurisdiction or not) to know about the status of the cases which they have brought to the Commission.

Afterwards, the Commission is duty-bound to identify those cases which come within its jurisdiction and transfer them to the Department of Investigation for further examination and scrutiny. Subsequently, the FEACC will press charges against those cases which are well-substantiated. Regarding the cases which fall out of the Commission’s jurisdiction, they will be sent to the concerned bodies and organizations.

As far as the achievements made through curative measures (investigation and prosecution of corruption offences) are concerned, the FEACC made some encouraging accomplishments in the last six years. So far, it investigated a number of cases and pressed charges against 800 corruptors, about 173 of whom received from 1-19 years of imprisonment.

Among the convicts were high profile government officials, including the former Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Head of Government Enterprises and Privatization Agency. Some senior bankers and two senior judges were also among the culprits. We believe that such cases are more than enough to prove the Government's seriousness and political commitment in dealing with corruption and impropriety.

Currently, also, the Prosecution Department of the Commission has some 126 pending cases in the regional and federal Supreme and High Courts.

In addition to other means and mechanisms of detecting alleged corruption offences, the FEACC received nearly 11,000 tips-off on alleged corruption offences from whistle blowers. Decisions were also made on dealing with the cases by the Commission and other pertinent law enforcement bodies. With a view to encouraging whistle blowers to continue to blow the whistle on corruption and impropriety, the FEACC has been doing everything in its capacity to protect them from any retaliatory actions that corruptors, on whom they may blow the whistle, may pose on them. Many of them were given job security protections in the last six years or so.

In order to provide the protection through a firmly established legal framework, the Commission initiated the formulation of a draft “Whistle Blowers and Witnesses Protection Proclamation”. Upon implementation following its approval by the House of Representatives, the proclamation is believed to ensure the physical and job security protection of whistle blowers in a more reliable manner. It is our expectation that the Proclamation will be approved by the parliament in 2008. So far, the Commission has given physical and job security protection to nearly 40 whistle blowers and witnesses.