26 Nov 2014

The private sector has been urged to play its part in the fight against corruption. 

The deputy director - policy at Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Ms Botlhale Makgekgenene said it was critical for firms to introspect and see how best they could contribute towards the fight against corruption. 

Ms Makgekgenene said it was important for firms to ensure that they did business in an ethical manner  noting that corruption was a two-way thing as both involved had to satisfy themselves. She also observed that the private sector should be seen implementing the code of conduct to promote good governance. 

He urged the BOCCIM conference to come up with resolution that would encourage the private sector to be seen driving the code of conduct implementation and taking the lead in the fight against corruption.

Earlier on, managing director of Tyedo Investments, Mr Tymon Katlholo briefed BOCCIM conference about a gap analysis of the difference between international best practices and Botswana existing laws. 

He said in order for Botswana to win the battle against corruption, there was need to address the issue of impunity which produced secrecy thus resulting in corrupt practices.

Mr Katlholo said there was no how one could talk about the difference between international best practices and what was happening here without addressing issues of integrity, standards and leadership. He said internationally, there are three stages of fighting corruption which includes prevention, detection and response.   

He revealed that generally corruption manipulates government because there is always a tussle between corruption and good governance.  In addition, he said corruption undermines good governance noting that with corruption there could be no sustainable development or political stability.

“I urge you to use integrity to create professionalism. Integrity is a leader’s best friend because it talks self-control,” he added. He cited some of the challenges of corruption such as the political sector undermining democracy and good governance by flouting and subverting formal processes. 

In judiciary, he said there is compromise in the rule of law. He said in Botswana there was a missing link in legislation citing lack of a law on declaration of assets to manage the issue of conflict of interest. 

Mr Katlholo said there was need to come up with declaration of assets act and leadership code of conduct which would basically focuses on the values and principles for managing public resources.  He mentioned other acts such as freedom of information, whistleblowing which he said are needed to win the battle.

Another speaker, Dr Gape Kaboyakgosi who deliberated on international best practices in combating corrupt practices, said Botswana has worked hard to sustain its good reputation by using anti-corruption practices while in other nations corruption is still rife. He said corruption is perpetuated by people who want to gain.

Dr Kaboyakgosi observed that corruption has a number of negative consequences for any economy, including costs on reputation of an economy as well as reluctance of firms to invest.  He said corruption distort private sector resources allocation and lowers tax revenue.  

He said there was need to mobilise the society in order to be able to develop best corruption practices to maintain the good reputation. He also said the media had to be empowered since they reveal corrupt activities.

Another strategy to win corruption, he said covers prevention of maladministration, empowering relevant authorities so that they could carry their jobs effectively; come up with laws on illicit enrichment, disclosure of assets and liability. ENDS