Celebrating international Anti-corruption Day
Staff Writer | Wednesday December 18, 2024 09:19
The theme for this year is, ‘Uniting With Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity’. We recognise that the youth are the leaders of both today and tomorrow. This requires taking personal responsibility for one’s actions.
This year’s theme aims to ensure that the youth are at the forefront of advocating for anti-corruption societies. Creating a future, which is rooted in integrity, is shaped by the leaders of our society. The youth should acknowledge the importance of integrity. They should therefore adopt traits and leadership skills, which promote integrity. This will help to ensure that our future leaders and our society are corruption-free. Corruption is the main cause of inequalities, injustices and limited development in relation to our available resources and opportunities. Young people are directly affected by such consequences. The youth should be empowered to use their voices of dissatisfaction to advocate for constructive, sustainable changes in how our societies are managed.
The youth should be given opportunities to contribute their creative minds and skills towards the socio-economic and political development of our country. Botswana has laws, which seek to regulate corruption within the country. Such laws include the Corruption and Economic Crime Act (CECA) of 1994. The Act provides for the establishment of a Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime, which makes comprehensive provision for the prevention of corruption. It also confers power on the Directorate to investigate suspected cases of corruption and economic crime. It is the responsibility of the DCEC to educate the public on the effects of corruption. In his speech at the commemoration of the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day on December 6 at Selebi-Phikwe, President Duma Gideon Boko indicated that there is an urgent need to re-design both the country's institutions and legal structures, which are tasked with preventing corruption.
The President also indicated that there will be a forensic audit of government institutions. It will aim to assess the functionality of the institutions, the appropriation and deployment of state resources, and the overall financial state of the country. The government of Botswana is internationally credited for its management of corruption. However, issues often reported in the media include lack of transparency in awarding tenders, conflict of interest, nepotism and lack of judicial independence – all of which tarnish the country’s good reputation internationally.
The DCEC has a critical role to play through itself, upholding the principles of integrity and transparency. We, therefore call for the actual political independence of all our oversight institutions, which include the Office of the Ombudsman and the DCEC. This will ensure that public confidence is re-gained and re-affirmed. All, regardless of their socio-economic status should be held accountable for their actions, whenever there are proven allegations of corruption.