Query
We have been invited to give input on the Zambian National
Anti-Corruption Strategy as part of the consultative process.
We would like your views and assistance on the following three
tasks:
1. Provide comments on the attached Zambian National Anti-Corruption
Strategy as prepared by the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission
2. Provide us with guidelines on asset disposal for items
recovered in the fight against corruption
3. Provide us with information on best practice for coordinating
the implementation of a national anti-corruption strategy
Content
Part Ianalyses and provides comments
on the Zambian National Anti-Corruption Strategy
Part II reflects on guidelines for the
disposal of assets recovered in the fight against corruption
Part III offers comments on best practices
for the implementation of a national anti-corruption strategy
Previous U4 Queries have dealt with the development and implementation
of national anti-corruption strategies. Please see:
U4 Expert Answer: "Drafting
and Implementing Anti-Corruption Strategies". This U4 Expert
Answer provides information on successful examples of national anti-corruption
strategies as well as a list of recommended reading.
U4 Expert Answer: "Uganda's
Anti-Corruption Strategy and PRSP Process" In this answer
you will find pertinent information on the timing and sequencing of
anti-corruption reforms. For example, the Pakistan NACS, which is
cited as a strong NACS although the success of its actual implementation
remains to be seen, set out the following timetable:
Asset Declaration of Public Officials is set as a priority to
be achieved within the first year of the strategy implementation;
Aspects such as organizational evaluation and internal accountability
mechanisms are set to be achieved within "quick win" (immediate)
1-5 years timeframes, depending on the tier and level of the reform;
Whistleblower protection measures are to be achieved within the
first year of strategy implementation;
Access to Information Law is scheduled to be enacted immediately
in the timetable (on the basis of an already available draft at
the time of planning);
Judicial reform and various aspects of court procedural reforms
vis-à-vis improved proceedings against corruption cases are
set to be reformed within 1-3 years timeframe.
First we will set out some general points on designing a NACS which
includes information on the development and planning processes. Then
we will make specific comments on the Zambian NACS.
General Points
The most effective way to develop and design a NACS is to be strategic.
What does being strategic mean? Being strategic includes considering
the vulnerabilities in a particular system; reflecting on the potential
for future trade-offs that might compromise any proposed anti-corruption
efforts; weighing up emergent trends that, whilst not being a source
of corruption now, may pose a serious corruption threat in the longer
term; and targeting and prioritising the institutions and sectors
that you can most effectively clean-up and reform in the short term
as well as targeting the reforms that will bring about sustainable
anti-corruption reforms in the long-term. To be strategic one must
know and consider the particular circumstances of the country for
which an anti-corruption strategy is being drafted.
While focused on a specific region (Europe and Eurasia), it provides
a sensible and logical framework for developing an anticorruption
strategy. It looks at how to prioritize anti-corruption interventions
(for example by a cost/benefit analysis of interventions) and considers
the phenomena of 'state capture'. It offers several examples of different
country scenarios (albeit countries that emulate the concerns of transition
countries in the Europe and Eurasia region) with different needs and
different levels of governments (for example strong/weak).
A comprehensive National Integrity System (NIS) study of Zambia
was commissioned by Transparency International in 2003. It is worth
reading at least the executive summary of this comprehensive report,
for it details some of the corruption problems faced by Zambia. It
will inform our specific comments on the Zambian NACS:
In the Zambian NACS, the division into National, Institutional,
Situational, Social and Legal frameworks may not be the most useful
way to express the final action plan. These categories may be useful
early on in a logframe exercise, but to maintain them as distinct
categories through to the final action plan invites duplication
of activities and undermines strategic focus.
The goal of attaining zero tolerance to make Zambia corruption-free
is a good vision. However one must be careful not to be unrealistic.
If public expectations are raised and a corruption-free environment
is not achieved or not seen to be achieved such statements may only
serve to erode public credibility in the strategy. It is also necessary
to communicate clearly what is meant by a corruption-free environment
so that outcomes match public expectations.
The overall goal of harmonising and reconciling national efforts
essentially is directed at the establishment of committees and the
development of codes of conduct. It may be useful to also focus
more directly on transparency and accountability through enabling
the people themselves to take action and be heard (through right
of information, access to financial records and being able to complain
and be heard).
The repeated mention of awareness-raising campaigns (mostly under
the social level) needs to be explained and considered. Such campaigns
are rarely, if ever, effective unless they are tied up with concrete
initiatives (such as public audits or reforms that enable people
to get insights into public finance and report suspected cases of
corruption). Stand alone awareness-raising campaigns are an easy
way of showing that a government is "doing something"
but to be effective they need to show people specific ways in which
they will be able to impact on corruption. If successful they can
build a demand for transparency and anti-corruption efforts and
this is essential to generate and sustain political will for reform.
There are some references to the right of information and regulatory
reform to cut red-tape at various places (Institutional, Situational
and Legal). It would considerably strengthen the strategy if these
were brought together under one section, and a clear process outlined
for what should be put in place and how. The awareness raising type
of activities could then be geared towards informing people what
information is available, why this is useful and how they can access
it and act on it.
Another section could be on Political Corruption, or if that is
too strong a term, the phrasing could be to the effect of "Ensuring
integrity and avoiding conflict of interest in public life."
Again, it would be useful to bring together in one place the various
pieces that refer to political corruption-type initiatives in the
NACS. It would be useful to spell out clearly what is needed and
how it will be put in place. For example, it would greatly strengthen
the document if the government commits to making the declaration
of assets for all leaders mandatory and, for example, that the declarations
should be open to the public (they could be available on the internet
or through other mechanisms such as available to a particular group
of monitors). There could be a requirement to declare and publish
all political donations, and financial statements could be produced
for all political candidates' electoral campaigns.
The NACS includes a proposal to set up a new structure of Integrity
Committees. It may be even more effective to revisit Zambia's institutional
set-up and reduce the number of committees and meetings in order
to streamline processes.
Codes of conduct, mechanisms for compliance and ethics training
take steps in the right direction and these are more effective in
combination with public declarations of assets to expose conflict
of interest, the cutting of red-tape and the opening of procedures
to allow public scrutiny.
Mechanisms to encourage and protect whistleblowers should be developed
and set out.
E-Government is a very interesting and potentially beneficial
innovation. One application could be putting declarations of assets,
financial accounts, audits and tendering processes on the internet
for public scrutiny.
Committing to support NGOs that work against corruption is a good
initiative and important for holding governments to account. Allowing
civil society access to information and public processes is an important
part of supporting NGOs that work against corruption.
The questioner is concerned with how governments dispose of corruption-related
assets should they be recovered. One simple principle would be to return
money to the treasury, perhaps earmarked for anti-corruption reforms
or if it is clear from where or which programmes the money was embezzled,
the money could be earmarked for those programmes or departments. Physical
assets could be auctioned with money going to the treasury. There are
of course a range of legal options for actually recovering the assets
in the first place. An excellent previous U4 Expert Answer (written
by a variety of legal experts) addressed these legal issues. Please
see "Recovery
of Corruption-Related Assets".This U4 Expert Answer discusses
a range of criminal and civil actions that could be taken, which have
implications on who recovers corruption-related assets and how recovered
assets could be used.
Part III: Coordinating implementation of an AC Strategy
We offer here some ideas on coordinating the implementation of the
Zambian NACS. The above cited U4 Expert Answers also offer reflections
on this topic more generally.
It is stated in the strategy (page 23) that each Integrity Committee
shall report on a quarterly basis to the Cabinet Office. The challenge
could be to find a format for these reports that is easy to read and
understand and that clearly shows what has and hasn't been done. If
it were possible to compare the performance of Integrity Committees,
that information would be a benefit to monitoring implementation.
Additionally, it would be good to add a set of indicators to be
updated on a quarterly basis. This could include indicators on
numbers of suspected cases of corruption reported and actions taken.
Key data on the financial accountability cycle could also be included
(quality of audits, amounts of money not accounted for, actions taken)
and performance indicators on procurement are some of the areas that
could be included. By making the data interesting and producing a
narrative on the state of corruption in the country, it will be much
easier to generate public interest and engagement. What is more,
indices can generate political will to fight corruption as they
can encourage competition within government departments and between
governments to improve or maintain their ratings and positions. The
quarterly corruption monitoring reports should be released to the
public. Something of the sort is being done in Tanzania, although
it should also be admitted that it has had a very limited impact so
far. The Tanzanian anti-corruption data can be accessed at the following
website www.repoa.or.tz/tgn
where you can also find data on budgets and audits.
The views expressed in this U4 Expert Answer do not necessarily
reflect those of Transparency International.
