News

Brussels, 10 July 2014 — The European Union welcomes the agreement reached on 9 July 2014 on a new United Nations convention to strengthen transparency in investor-state disputes.

The Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration will make it easier to apply the UN’s transparency rules to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) carried out under existing investment treaties.

‘Improving transparency in ISDS is crucial,’ said EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, welcoming the development. ‘Yesterday’s agreement shows that more and more countries are committed to transparency in ISDS. It also shows that we can improve existing investment treaties by working together.’

Read the full article in the European Commission website: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1121.

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(Reuters) – A United Nations panel that monitors compliance with U.N. sanctions on Somalia has accused the country’s president, a former minister, and a U.S. law firm of conspiring to divert Somali assets recovered abroad, according to a new report. The Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group, an 8-person committee, disclosed the findings in a confidential report to the U.N. Security Council’s Somalia/Eritrea sanctions committee. Reuters reviewed a copy of the 37-page document.

Read the Reuters story by Louis Charbonneau and Drazen Jorgic.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/16/us-somalia-corruption-un-exclusive-idUSKBN0FL07220140716?f

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WACA WACA – West And Central Africa Weekly Anti-Corruption Announcements – 18 July 2014

The Fight Against Corruption in the Field

Liberia: Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Craves Moral Support From United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The Executive Chairperson of the LACC, Cllr. James N. Verdier, has appealed to UNMIL and other missions in Liberia to provide moral support the Commission to enhance its work. Cllr. Verdier said while the LACC welcomes technical and logistical support from partners, the Commission would appreciate their moral support which will help boost its work and discourage perpetrators of corruption.The LACC boss made the appeal last Thursday when the new Deputy Special Representative of UN Secretary General for Consolidation of Democratic Governance, Antonio Vigilante, paid a familiarization visit to the Commission.  Read More

Nigeria: UK prosecutor reviews alleged link between UK aid and jailed Ibori. Britain’s leading fraud prosecutor is evaluating material alleging UK aid might have been channelled to companies linked to James Ibori, a jailed Nigerian former oil state governor, a top government lawyer said on Wednesday. Read More 

Nigeria:Bien mal acquis – Le Liechtenstein va restituer 167 millions d’euros au Nigeria détournés par Sani Abacha. Le Liechtenstein s’est engagé à restituer au Nigeria 167 millions d’euros détournés par l’ancien président Sani Abacha dans les années 1990. Lire la Suite

Sierra Leone: Anti-Corruption Commission talks about the new national anti-corruption strategy to officers of eastern police. Over seventy (70) police officers of the Eastern Police Division were educated on the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS 2014-18) and activities of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Read More

Cote d’Ivoire: Hôpital général d’Abobo – Négligence, racket et corruption. Une affaire Richard Niangoran, risque d’indigner l’opinion publique nationale et même internationale. Tout commence le mardi 8 juillet 2014 aux environs de 13 heures lorsque le chauffeur de taxi à Cocody St-Jean, Richard Niangoran ressentant un malaise au niveau de son bas ventre, décide de se rendre à l’hôpital général d’Abobo non loin de la gare. Lire la Suit

Burundi:Un militant anticorruption interdit de manifester.L’une des principales figures de la société civile du Burundi, Gabriel Rufyiri à la tête de l’Observatoire de lutte contre la corruption et les malversations économiques (Olucome) avait annoncé, mardi, son intention de manifester seul.  Lire la Suite

Congo-Brazzaville: Lutte contre la corruption: la localité de Djambala déterminée à combattre ce phénomène.Les autorités politico-administratives se sont montrées favorables pour lutter contre ce phénomène dans leur domaine d’activité. Cet engagement fait suite à la campagne de sensibilisation menée du 14 au 19 juin à Djambala, dans le département des Plateaux, par la Commission nationale de lutte contre la corruption, la concussion et la fraude (CNLCCF). Lire la Suite

African News on Anti-Corruption

Analysis:Lawyers, judges and corruption. Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, pushed her anti-corruption efforts a notch higher when she sought to identify forces fostering illicit activities in the judiciary. Read More

Analyse: Afrique: Les mafias prospèrent aussi sur le colossal marché des déchets. L’Italie appelle à une coordination internationale pour contrer le phénomène d’exportation illicite des déchets qui touche aussi l’Afrique La justice italienne estime qu’il n’y a plus de temps à perdre : il faut contrer au plus vite le phénomène de l’éco-mafia dont l’activité devient de plus en plus internationale. La multiplication des contrôles et des saisies en Italie a poussé les barons de la criminalité organisée à étendre et multiplier leurs aires d’activités en dehors de la péninsule. Parce que proche, mais aussi parce que vulnérable aux frontières et peu regardante, l’Afrique reçoit désormais, avec ou sans son accord, les résidus légaux ou pas de l’activité industrielle européenne et occidentale. Lire la suit

Corruption and Justice: Ex-CEO of Tanzania ports faces fraud charges over bloated Chinese contract. The former head of Tanzania Ports Authority and his deputy were charged on Monday with fraudulently awarding a bloated contract worth more than $523 million to a Chinese company to expand the city’s main port. Read more

Analysis: Why anticorruption reforms fail-systemic corruption as a collective action problem. Read more

Opportunities and Vacancies

Free Online Course in basics on anti-corruption and Corruption Prevention. Click here to register.

Other

Your contributions to WACA WACA are strongly encouraged. Please send us information about your activities and anti-corruption programs for 2014 (Njoya.tikum@undp.org).

Electronic Resources. Anti-corruption portal https://anti-corruption.org, workspace https://undp.unteamworks.organd sharing portal on the WB anti-corruption agencies http://www.acauthorities.org/.

For more information, please contact:

Njoya Tikum
Regional Policy and Programme Advisor
Anti-Corruption
Regional Service Centre for Africa
UNDP

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For the first time, Tanzania has introduced the UN Global Compact on safeguarding the Tanzanian environment, promote equality, create wealth for local communities, fight corruption, uphold human rights, labour rights and ensuring social inclusion so that Tanzania can bring about sustainable development and promote business ethics.

Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) Executive Director Daniel Machemba made this affirmation on Friday when introducing the UN Global Compact organised by the Association of Tanzania Employers and TCCIA with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

During the event, UNDP senior governance advisor Steve Lee said UNDP was ready to support Tanzania and its institutions as it builds and implements the Global Compact.

He said the major goal of the compact was to address corporate social responsibility across the country, noting that the UN Global Compact “is an entry and a base for inculcating and instituting responsible business not only by multinationals and large firms but also small and medium enterprises in their respective settings.”

Read the story by Beatrice Philemon in IPP Media.

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Accra, 3^rd June, 2014 – Formalising the interactions between non-state stakeholders and public agencies for collaborative governance could help in addressing some of the challenging issues in Africa’s extractive industries.

A new book released by the United Nations University-Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) urges leaders in Africa’s extractive industries to institutionalise a governance system that is transparent, inclusive and accountable in order to improve transparency, equity and efficiency in the management of revenues from the industries.

The book, “Collaborative Governance in Extractive Industries in Africa”, calls for the empowerment of community stakeholders by the state, private or international agencies, who are acting as sponsors or leaders of collaborative governance processes.

The book says collaborative governance will promote a common understanding of the environmental and socio-economic challenges associated with the extractive industries. It also suggests that with formalised arrangements, non-state stakeholders could easily have access to relevant information including financial statements, public expenditures and other disbursements without resorting to conflicts.

“Collaborative Governance in Extractive Industries in Africa” advocates improving the knowledge, skills and capacity of these stakeholders to engage in formal, non-violent dispute resolution and decision-making processes. Training of community members especially on issues such as resettlement of displaced communities, mechanisms for payment of compensations, and on the management of environmental impacts of extractive operations could help improve knowledge and understanding of issues of decision making in the industry.

In his foreword to the book, the Rector of the United Nations University, Dr. David M. Malone, encourages African countries to institutionalise and strengthen their governance system in the extractive industries for development. He states, “I am confident that collaborative governance of extractive industries in Africa will contribute to the efforts to use revenues from extractive resources for inclusive growth”.

The book also discusses the challenges in the distribution and the management of mineral and petroleum resources and suggests many other ways of addressing them for sustainable development in Africa. Also, it draws lessons from other countries to help improve the management of the rich resources in Africa. Among the recommendations are the development of guidelines by government agencies for the use of royalties that go to traditional authorities, the strengthening of relevant state institutions, the need for the establishment of a think thank that is devoted to the extractive industries as well as the development of efficient control mechanisms, to mitigate the resource curse on the continent.

Read more in http://accra.sites.unicnetwork.org/files/2014/04/Media-Release-on-Collaborative-Governance-in-Extractive-Industries-Book.pdf

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