AU launches 2018 as the African Anti-corruption year

Jan 23, 2018

Corruption continues to hamper efforts aimed at promoting democratic governance, socio-economic transformation, peace and security and the enjoyment of human rights in the AU member states, a statement said.

ADDIS ABABA - The African Union (AU) is set to launch 2018 as the African Anti-Corruption Year.

This will be during its 30th Assembly of Heads of State and Government starting Monday 22 to Monday, January 29 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This, according to a statement from Addis Ababa, follows the declaration made at the 29th Assembly of the Heads of State and Government in January 2017.

The upcoming Summit of the AU will be held under the theme: Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa's Transformation.

Under the leadership of the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, the African Union, its organs, member states, regional economic communities (RECs), civil society organisations, together with citizens will embark on a journey to address the urgent need to curb corruption, which is a major societal flaw, causing setbacks in the socio-economic and political development of the continent.

"Corruption continues to hamper efforts aimed at promoting democratic governance, socio-economic transformation, peace and security and the enjoyment of human rights in the AU member states," it said.

AU member states, together with the RECs and the African Union, have adopted various regulatory instruments and established different institutions to combat corruption in Africa, most notably the AU Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption (AUCPCC), adopted in 2003.

The African Union has also adopted other instruments aimed at fostering a culture of democracy and ensure good governance and the rule of law, which complement the AUCPCC, namely:

African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: adopted on January 30, 2007- Article 2 (9); African Charter on the Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration: adopted on January 31, 2011- Article 12; and African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development: adopted on June 27, 2014; Article 14.

However, AU pointed out that the challenge remains commitment to institutional approaches to combating corruption and other governance challenges on one hand and bridging the gap between norm-setting and norm-implementation through appropriate measures at local, national, regional and continental levels on the other hand.

Fifteen years after the adoption of the AUCPCC, the declaring of 2018 as the Anti-Corruption Year and its subsequent launch provides a good opportunity to take stock on progress made so far, assess what still needs to be done and devise new strategies that appropriately address new corruption challenges.           

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