27 Feb 2022

Parliament has on Friday rejected a motion requesting President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the nature and extent of corruption, economic crime, mismanagement, maladministration and unethical governance in public institutions.

Though in consensus that corruption was a challenge that ought to be fought by all means possible, the dissenting voices were of the view that government had measures in place to deal with the vice.

Tabling the motion, Member of Parliament for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse said commission of enquiry would be chaired by a judge, sit in public and whose report shall be published.

Mr Keorapetse said the commission of enquiry could investigate the nature and extent of corruption, economic crime, mismanagement, maladministration and unethical governance in public institutions with a view to recommend formulation of appropriate policies, laws and programmes.

He said for a country to progress, there must be transparency, visionary leadership and stringent measures to fight corruption. 

“The motion is focused on good governance,” said Mr Keorapetse.

The MP said according to Afro Barometer corruption cross roads report, 50 per cent of the population believe that corruption is increasing and view elected leadership as the most corrupt.

On corruption perception index, Mr Keorapetse said 70 per cent of those involved in the study said they were not eager to report corruption for fear of retaliation.

Mr Keorapetse said the study has also revealed that high profile cases relating to corruption were likely to be concluded with no one being held accountable for the corrupt practices and facing the consequences.

He said the public was losing confidence in the mechanisms used to fight corruption, adding that the commission of enquiry would address shortcomings of the Ombudsman, Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), whistle blowing and Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CP&E).

Furthermore, Mr Keorapetse said the Auditor General’s reports were of the view that the affairs of government were not handled procedurally. 

He added that the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime also believed that corruption did exist in the form of conflict of interest, failure to declare interests when handling tenders and abuse of office.

Mr Keorapetse said valuable consideration (bribery) was considered the most common form of corruption, adding that the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime as well as Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) were equally concerned by rigging of tenders.

Other than corrupt practices, MP Keorapetse said fraud, embezzlement of funds, failure to pay tax and wastage of public funds were also common challenges of serious concern. 

Mr Keorapetse indicated that imprudence was also a challenge as those given the authority to manage government finances fraudulently escalate funds beyond the set scope.

Therefore, based on the evidence from, among others, published material on corruption stating that it was increasing and suggesting measures to contain the situation, Mr Keorapetse said there was a need to engage a commission of enquiry.

He also suggested the need to improve anti-corruption strategies and that Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime must be managed by an independent board.

“The commission must be chaired by a judge since they have been trained to pursue complex enquiries,” he said. 

Objecting the motion, MP for Molepolole South, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said government was committed to fighting corruption. 

“We have measures in place to fight corruption,” he stressed, adding, however, that he was not against any efforts geared towards fighting corruption.

He said there was no doubt that government was continually reviewing and improving the mechanisms aimed at fighting corruption. 

Mr Morwaeng said the bodies assigned to deal with corruption were operating independently and people were free to report corruption.

He said the latest corruption index ratings had revealed that the country was doing fairly as it stood at position 60 out of the 160 reported countries.

“We are relatively doing well,” he said, adding that since there was freedom of expression people were free to report corruption.

Mr Morwaeng said government was in the process of tabling the Data Protection Bill and that the policy of fighting corruption was almost complete. “These are some of the measures to ensure that government was committed to fighting corruption,” he said.

Supporting the motion, MP for Maun East, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile said the motion was relevant as corruption was wide spread and on the increase. 

Mr Kekgonegile said the public was concerned by corruption in government operations, adding that it was unfortunate to observe that allocation of major projects, provision of services and tendering procedures were marred by corrupt processes.

He pointed out that the public was concerned, therefore, the proposed commission of enquiry would gather information that would answer their concerns.

Mr Kekgonegile said good governance called on government to be accountable, responsible and free from wrong doing. ends