The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and Mozambique’s Gabinete Central de Combate à Corrupção (GCCC) have signed a joint annual action plan aimed at strengthening cooperation against corruption, financial crime and emerging cross-border threats.

Speaking during the signing ceremony in Gaborone on May 22, DCEC director general Ms Botlhale Makgekgenene said the agreement marked a shift from discussions and goodwill to structured implementation and measurable institutional outcomes.

She said engagements held during the Mozambican delegation’s visit confirmed that both countries were facing increasingly complex corruption risks that required coordinated, intelligence-driven and regionally integrated responses.

The action plan, she said, gave operational effect to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Botswana and Mozambique in Maputo in July 2024 and introduced specific areas of collaboration, implementation mechanisms and clear deliverables.

Areas identified for cooperation include technical assistance, specialised training, information exchange, joint investigations, corruption prevention initiatives, asset recovery and strengthening institutional systems.

Throughout the week, the Mozambique delegation held engagements with Botswana institutions including the ministry responsible for State President, Defence and Security, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Receiver and the Ethics and Integrity Directorate.

According to Ms Makgekgenene, the engagements reinforced a common regional understanding that corruption and organised crime were becoming more transnational, technologically enabled and financially sophisticated, making isolated responses increasingly ineffective.

She said discussions between the two institutions also covered mutual legal assistance, intelligence sharing, institutional strengthening and approaches to corruption prevention.

A key feature of the Action Plan is the establishment of a joint technical committee, which will oversee coordination, implementation monitoring and accountability for agreed activities.

Ms Makgekgenene noted that anti-corruption institutions must adapt to evolving threats linked to illicit financial flows, cyber-enabled corruption, digital abuse and complex financial crimes by modernising operational capabilities and strengthening institutional resilience.

She reaffirmed DCEC’s commitment to implementing the action plan and described the partnership with Mozambique as strategic, necessary and mutually beneficial.

She further said the success of the agreement would be measured not by the signing ceremony itself but by the operational results delivered in the months and years ahead.

The DCEC maintained that combating corruption now requires stronger regional solidarity, institutional trust and coordinated action to promote integrity, accountability and financial justice across the region. ENDS