On 2 June 2021, the African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE) held a roundtable as part of the 2021 gLOCAL Evaluation Week on the theme ‘African Parliaments, Enhanced Oversight and the Fight against Corruption – Lessons from strengthening compliance programs’.
The event, which attracted dozens of attendees from across Africa, was moderated by Ms. Karen Rot-Munstermann, Ag. Evaluator General, African Development Bank (AfDB), with Hon. Faustin Boukoubi, Speaker of the National Assembly of Gabon and Hon. Brian Dube, Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (representing Hon. Adv. Jacob Francis Mudenda, Speaker of Parliament) of Zimbabwe, as the distinguished speakers.
The moderator began by highlighting how corruption affects and hampers development as well as the living conditions of populations. She also noted that parliaments, with their oversight role, play an important role in fighting corruption by way of their compliance mechanisms, thereby enhancing accountability and transparency in government.
Leading-off the discussion, Hon. Boukoubi acknowledged the centrality of parliaments to the fight against corruption, while flagging the issue as a global cancer not only limited to Africa. In the specific case of Gabon, he stressed that the National Assembly was well equipped to play its oversight role, evaluate public policies, as well as pass laws such as finance laws, budget laws, or laws which aim to stem illicit financial flows out of Gabon. He acknowledged that legislators need to work hand in hand with the executive and the judiciary branch to stop corruption, particularly because “Parliament makes the law, but cannot enforce the law”. He cited some good country experiences such as the review of the minerals act in Botswana, Rwanda and Namibia, as developments worth emulating. While acknowledging the oversight role of parliaments, he explained that the National Assembly’s contribution to addressing the issue is an indirect one, and rather it is the work of the executive and judiciary to effectively ensure that all the laws passed are respected, adhered to and enforced. The division of roles and responsibilities notwithstanding, Hon. Boukoubi was candid in calling for more to be done by all for the executive and judiciary to enforce the laws.
Coming to Zimbabwe, Hon. Dube similarly acknowledged parliament’s important role. Drawing on his own experience as the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, he highlighted the Committee’s budgetary, oversight, and compliance role as far as public finance management, the Constitution, and principles of transparency (especially pertaining to how the executive spends the resources that are allocated to the budget) are concerned. He noted that given the levels of sophistication involved in the instances of corruption happening at high levels, a lot of work is required from parliamentarians to expose such fraud. A key challenge, in his opinion, is that the mechanisms used by people engaged in corruption are more sophisticated than the systems currently in place to combat such activities. This notwithstanding, the Parliament of Zimbabwe has played a vital role in the fight against corruption and managed in many instances to expose such corruption due to the team efforts of the national prosecuting authority, the Auditor General’s office, and the anti-corruption commission. Another challenge faced in the fight against corruption is the fact that the law is weak regarding the consequences of, and actual punishment for, such crime – something the Parliament is working to address.
The ensuing broader discussion with the audience solicited questions such as whether parliamentarians use evidence or evaluation reports to inform their recommendations, to which both panelists replied affirmatively. Both panelists acknowledged that fighting corruption takes time and commitment, but also made it clear that the situation was improving in their respective countries, and on the continent, albeit slowly. As they put it, fighting corruption if done right will ensure growth and improve the quality of life of citizens. However, it calls for capacity and collaboration across institutions and enforcement agencies.
In closing, the distinguished speakers welcomed the efforts of APNODE to create an environment of exchange and peer learning for parliamentarians, which has contributed to enhancing the capacities of parliamentarians and parliaments. Hon. Dube expressed a need for APNODE to assist legislators to gain access to credible data and statistics on corruption in their respective countries to better equip MPs in the fight against corruption, and ensure that reports, debates or decisions aimed at combatting corruption are all premised on evidence.
Watch the Roundtable recording