Regional body wants anti-graft protocol signed

Regional countries have been urged to cooperate with the East African Legislative Assembly to approve and pass the EAC Anti-corruption Protocol designed to enhance the fight against corruption in the region.Members of the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAACA), an independent body dedicated to fight corruption among the East African Community partner states said this yesterday during their annual meeting in Kigali.“Our appeal is that the protocol should be passed as soon as possible to tackle the cancer of corruption in the region. The anti corruption agencies cannot make any significant contribution to the fight against the vice in the absence of strong political will,” Justice Irene Mulyagonja, Uganda’s Inspector General of Government and EAACA president, said.She said corruption within the region was still high and needed cooperation within the member states to stem it.Different issues hampering protocal The latest global corruption barometer, a periodic survey conducted by Transparency International, indicates that EAC countries were among the most vulnerable to corruption.It ranked Rwanda the least corrupt nation in the region after scoring 4.4 per cent. Uganda was ranked the most corrupt with 26.8 per cent followed by Burundi with 18.6 per cent while Tanzania scored 12.9 per cent and Kenya 7.9 per cent.The draft protocol is in the partner states judicial bodies for approval before it can be passed by EALA.The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of East African Community affairs, Innocent Safari, said that the protocol was still at technical level with different issues under scrutiny before it can be tabled before Parliament.“There are issues we didn’t agree upon in our last discussion like the cross border prosecution…its protocol has not been approved,” he said. Though the other countries wanted the cross border prosecution, Tanzania opposed the idea, saying it would be better to handle the issues on bilateral level.In an interview, Aloysie Cyanzayire, Rwanda’s Ombudsman, said there is need to have the anti-corruption protocol signed as a strong tool against corruption.Meanwhile, Cyanzaire disclosed that the EAACAbody would today launch the assets recovery network as to help recover the lost resources among the member countries.The network would address cases where people swindle money and invest it in other countries.

National

Regional body wants anti-graft protocol signed