Grand corruption, the abuse of public office for private gain by a nation’s leaders, better known as kleptocrats, is a devastating global problem. In too many places, there is a lack of enforcement of criminal laws against corrupt acts. This statement is by the proposed International Anti-Corruption Court.
Whenever I meet young budding youth, I listen carefully to their views on corruption and unemployment in Kenya as well as their desire to either get employed or start a business, out of my own research interests on the youth. From their own voices, their feedback give us what needs to be done, and they feel helpless in the fight against corruption.
Just last year, according to statistica, Kenya scored 31 in the Corruption Perceptions Index. The performance was evaluated on a scale of 0-100, where zero means highly corrupt and 100 very clean. Out of 180 evaluated countries, Kenya ranked close to the bottom of the list at 127
Corruption harms the poor and the vulnerable the most, especially in our country, and the continent of Africa. Corruption increases the cost of basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and access to basic services. Could this be one of the issues of that the country and continent need to address urgently that are affecting our very vulnerable majority youth? Is it time our country and fellow African countries joined the bigger movement on anti-corruption in a big way to stop the circular economy, which has some of its biggest channels through the continent?
Just last week, I was invited to The Hague in the Netherlands, as the city marked the 125th anniversary since the first Hague Peace Conference took place. During this Peace Conference, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) was also established, and June 12 marked a milestone anniversary for this court, with speeches and a reception afterwards.
At the reception marking the anniversary, at the iconic Peace Palace, a lot of announcements and facts were given by the Mayor of The Hague Jan Hendrikus Cornelis van Zanen. They include the proposed International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC), a proposed international court that would strengthen the enforcement of criminal laws against corrupt leaders.
Among others, the pioneers in the process of setting up the IACC are Maja Groff and Ian Lynch, Managing Director Integrity Initiatives International. The IACC, they say, would be a court of last resort to hold kleptocrats and their co-conspirators accountable when national governments are unable or unwilling to do so.
“The court’s biggest interests are [would be] crimes to do with bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds and laundering the proceeds of crimes, all agreed crimes under the UN convention against corruption” Lynch said. “In Africa, only Eritrea is not party to any anti-corruption agreements, thus we are moving in the right direction, only if leaders decide to take action with a good push from interested parties like the civil society and the media,” he said.
Yes, corruption is that big an issue, to the extent that a special court is being set up. Corruption has and continues being a major challenge to Africa’s growth and development efforts. When we think carefully, this money used well could set up innovation hubs that would cushion the majority of unemployed youth and other vulnerable Africans, especially those that fall below the poverty levels.
According to the African Union, about $140 billion is lost to corruption by African countries every year. According to the United Nations, Africa loses $50 billion every year to illicit financial flows mostly due to corruption. So much of an issue is corruption in the continent that the African Union Assembly has even gone ahead to set aside the July 11 of every year to mark African Anti Corruption Day.
Present during the reception at The Hague, where the announcement on the IACC was made, were also key state dignitaries, based both in and out of The Hague. Among them, the PCA Representative in Mauritius and head of the PCA Mauritius Office Balla Galma Godana, originally from Kenya, plus two Kenyan members of academia and legal practice. They came at the invitation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, D. Kenneth Mutuma, lecturer at the University of Nairobi and legal adviser to a range of international governments and state corporations, and Prof Kariuki Muigua, an accomplished mediator and chartered arbitrator.
Democracy support researcher and scholar, currently based in Sweden
Source: theStars .co.ke
Original writer: VERA BWIRE