03 Jun 2015

Government continues to play a leading role through existing policies and frameworks to curb corruption.

Consequently, institutions were encouraged to maintain the country’s rankings as the least corrupt country in Africa.

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) board member, Ms Wilhemina Makwinja, said this when giving welcome remarks at the launch of BITC Fraud and Ethics Hotline in Gaborone on Tuesday (June 2).

Ms Makwinja said Botswana’s strength was known internationally as it continued to score highly in a wide range of globally recognised surveys. He noted that such surveys touched on critical areas that included upholding the rule of law, governance, economic stability, political freedom and human rights.

She attested that as a small land locked country, Botswana saw itself competing successfully within a regional and global economy whose playing field does not always favour it.

She, however, warned that investors by nature or any trade partners seek to establish themselves in business environments that were safe, secure and free from corruption.

With that, she said, good governance was one of the key determinants of investment decisions and it gives investors some confidence in knowing their investment decisions exist in a country such as Botswana.

Ms Makwinja, however, noted that since its inception in 2012, BITC has transcended to become the leading investment and trade promotion agency in Botswana driven by excellence, performance, professionalism and good governance. All these, she added are entrenched in BITC’s vision, values and corporate strategy.

She said as a corporate organisation they were compelled to avail a platform that would assist them to identify and address ethics and compliance issues as well as fraud and corruption through a confidential and independently managed hotline.

An ethics hotline provides employees, stakeholders and customers an opportunity to report possible illegal, unethical, improper conduct within an organisation, she said. She said BITC hotline came at the right time because government places much emphasis on fighting institutional corruption by putting measures in place to prevent, curb and identify fraud and corruption before it becomes entrenched and impacts negatively on the image and reputation of an institution.

However, Ms Makwinja said it was regrettable that there were rising cases of fraud, theft and other criminal activities in some corporate organisations in the country.

The majority of these crimes, she said, go undetected or unreported, resulting in financial losses and eventually destroying the organisations.

In view of this, the organisation therefore positioned itself at the forefront of the country’s national priority of fighting corruption, she added. Furthermore, she stated that the best practice in whistle blowing demands that confidentiality and anonymity must be respected to allow and encourage employees, customers and others to report corruption and wrongdoing. She said it was for that reason that they engaged Deloitte Consultants to independently implement and manage the hotline to ensure confidentiality and trust.

For her part, the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ms Nelly Senegelo reiterated government’s commitment towards the attainment of zero tolerance for corruption and economic crime through execution of its mandate.

This, she said, could only be achieved through the effective delivery of the ministry’s mandate and observance of its values which are teamwork, integrity and professionalism.

In alignment of these values and the national position on combating corruption, the ministry adopted a proactive approach towards corruption prevention by developing and implementing an anti-corruption policy in February 2013, she noted.

The ministry has further established ministerial and departmental corruption prevention committees in an endeavour to promote an anti-corruption culture within the ministry.

For the ministry to achieve this, she said, it has to cooperatively work with all its parastatal organisations and other stakeholders, hence the launch of BITC tip-off anonymous.

Ms Senegelo noted that anti-corruption initiatives also contribute to good corporate governance which in turn improves performance, satisfies customer needs and meets compliance requirements.  Ends