24 Jul 2022

Selebi Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse has tabled a private members bill seeking to transform the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) from a government department to a statutory corporation (parastatal).

Presenting the Corruption and Economic Crimes (Amendment) Bill 2021 for second reading in Parliament on Thursday, Mr Keorapetse said the bill wanted to make the DCEC more autonomous and to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.

He said the amendment bill sought to achieve that by removing the DCEC staff from mainstream public service, and expanding its composition by including a board which would oversee the business of the directorate. He said the proposed board would have the power to recommend who should be appointed the DCEC director general and the deputy.

“It is intended to introduce a sense of transparency and fairness in the process and to remove any sense of control, real or imagined, that the now singular power of the President to appoint this personnel may have over the directorate,” said the legislator.

Mr Keorapetse, who is also the Leader of Opposition (LOO) in Parliament, said the DCEC would have the autonomy to employ its own staff if Parliament passed the amendment bill.

Through the amendment bill, Mr Keorapetse also proposed for the DCEC to be directly funded and accountable to Parliament.

He said the amendment bill was necessitated by the realisation that corruption, nepotism and patronage had increased in the public sector. He said the DCEC in its annual report also noted that cases of administrative corruption, political and elite corruption, bribery and conflict of interest had been reported in the public sector. He said it was a source of concern that few of those cases were prosecuted.

“Corruption has a debilitating effect on efficiency and delivery of services. These problems are traceable to deficiencies in leadership and management and weak systems of accountability and oversight,” said the Selebi Phikwe West legislator.

Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng opposed the amendment bill, explaining  that the DCEC was independent in its operations even though it was a government department. 

He, therefore, said there was no justification to transform it into a parastatal as it’s independence was provided for by the law.

The minister said government should avoid creating too many parastatal organisations.

“When establishing a new statutory body, it's purpose, financial, legal and staffing status need careful consideration. It must be clear that there is need for statutory powers to be exercised by a body that is to a large degree independent of government. If functional or operational independence can still be achieved without the need for the creation of a statutory corporation, then there is no need to establish one,” said Mr Morwaeng.

He said the other issue that needed to be considered was whether the entity would be able to sustain itself financially. He said if the entity would fully rely on government for financing, then it should remain part of government.

He said the current position of government was that oversight authorities performing similar functions as the directorate such as the Ombudsman, Financial Intelligence Agency, Office of the Auditor General, Fusion Agency and others were part of government with operational independence.

Nata/Gweta MP, Mr Polson Majaga was also against the amendment bill, stating that the DCEC was operating independently in its current set-up. He said there was no evidence to suggest that operations of the directorate were at risk of interference from the head of state or the executive.

Palapye MP, Mr Onneetse Ramogapi supported the amendment bill. He said the frequent transfers of DCEC staff carrying high profile investigations was a clear sign that there was political interference on operations of the directorate. 

He, therefore, said it was necessary to make the DCEC autonomous. ends