05 Aug 2015

Corruption is an international epidemic that has destroyed many governments and continues to threaten many others.

 “It has potential to immensely rob our children of their future unless we all join forces to wipe it entirely”, said the Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), Mr Carter Morupisi.

Speaking at the 12th Global Programme on Anti -Corruption, Financial Crime and Asset Recovery, Mr Morupisi said in this new media era, financial crime had become one of the most sophisticated criminal activities that dictated aggressive interventions from all stakeholders.

He said Botswana government was committed to the fight against corruption and had come up with the zero tolerance strategy.

To further attest to this commitment and embed it within the government, Mr Morupisi said President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama had made the fight against corruption one of the top 10 priority areas in the public service plan. 

He said it was therefore requisite for every public service employee to demonstrate their input to this deliverable.

“As a result of our commitment to this fight, Botswana has over the years been recognised as the least corrupt country in Africa, this however not in any way suggests that there is no corruption in Botswana.

Just like it is in many other countries, we do have reports of members of the public who always try to thwart efforts compelling us to always to be a step ahead in order to beat them to their own game’’, he said. 

Mr Morupisi said they could not only focus on public education and not invest in systems that would deter corrupt practices including financial crime and if an organisation had all necessary programmes to enable this to succeed; its efforts would not bear fruit if the legal framework of that particular country did not corroborate the institutional effort.

“There has to be synergy between organisations, the public, local and regional law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and indeed the media in order to realise progress,” he said.

He said if Africa was to win the fight and prevent financial crimes, technical assistance should be provided in the development of anti-corruption mechanisms.

 Governments and financial institutions such as the African Development Bank should therefore avail resources that would assist nations to fight corruption.

“In this anticorruption pipeline, a critical stakeholder is those who assist governments to put to book perpetrators of corruption, the police and indeed Interpol have and continue to play a vital role in this journey to fight corruption and financial crime,” he noted. Ends