12 Mar 2018

The private sector continues to be riddled with undesirable reality of facilitating business through corrupt means, says vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Botswana Professor David Sebudubudu.

Professor Sebudubudu was delivering a keynote address at the Botswana business ethics forum (BBEF) seminar in Francistown on recently hosted by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) in collaboration with the University of Botswana (UB). 

He identified amongst others; bribery and undue influence to acquire public tenders, bid rigging and other forms of anti-competitive practices, human resources malpractices, provision of substandard goods and services, tax evasion, money laundering and abuse of human rights as some of the corrupt ways different entities are exposed to.

“It is crucial that the private sector ponders soberly on the grave realities of corruption, fraud and anti-competitive realities, and devise appropriate strategic interventions to redefine its image and restore public confidence,” he added. Professor Sebudubudu further noted that private companies and other entities could strengthen institutional integrity and capacity to fight corruption by establishing ethical codes and standards, whistle blowing structures, anti-corruption compliance and regulatory requirements.

“There are several international anti-corruption tools that could be benchmarked on to enhance ethics and anti-corruption efforts in the private sector such as the UNCAC which provides an anti-corruption framework comprising anti-corruption standards, policies, processes and practices that the private sector can localise to its peculiarity and underlying needs.”

He concluded by encouraging the business community to cultivate and uphold good business ethics that promote corporate governance and business integrity. 

Earlier on in her welcome remarks, the acting senior assistant director, corruption prevention division at Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) Ms Mophutholodi Molatudi mentioned that an ethical culture in any business organization is one of the best ways to gain investor and public confidence adding that she encouraged employee awareness on ethical standards that must be enhanced by adopting codes of conduct for employees, strengthening internal control systems and enhancing training on ethics and values.

“In the past, through concerted efforts with Business Botswana, we put in place the code of conduct for the private sector to promote ethics. 

She further observed that Botswana is committed to being transparent and accountable in order to achieve zero tolerance of corruption as well as maintain the country’s reputation of being one of the least corrupt countries in the world adding that this can only be achieved through a strong ethical culture.

Giving her closing remarks, the principal anti-corruption officer at the DCEC, Ms Sethunya Rathedi noted that the seminar presented an opportunity for the development and implementation of governance structures and codes of ethics adding that the forum brings about interaction for participants to learn from previous successes and mishaps to shape the future of the economy. Ends