Chissano
4 April 2007
Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano told delegates at the Global
Forum V on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity, currently underway
in Sandton, that strong political will and the capacity to implement
resolutions will go a long way in fighting corruption.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum of Former African Heads of State and
Government, former president Chissano also highlighted the need for a sense of
urgency "not only in formulating regional and national agendas, but also in
devising strategies for implementation."
Chissano said the Forum of the Former African Heads of State and Government
is committed to playing a major advocacy role in raising awareness about the
scourge of corruption and its impact on the advancement of social and economic
development in Africa. The former Mozambican president also singled out the
need for peer review mechanisms amongst countries.
Echoing the words of President Thabo Mbeki in his opening address to the
Global Forum, Chissano said the issue of stereotypes needs to be addressed.
"Experience tells us that grand corruption often occurs in countries where
democracy is more advanced and that those at the lower scale of democratic
advancement are generally the major victims of grand corruption."
To measure any progress made in the fight against corruption, Chissano said
emphasis should be put on comparing "levels of corruption in each of our
countries or regions today with what it was yesterday, and find comfort and
satisfaction only if we note that our efforts to reduce it are being successful
and moving towards eradication."
Apart from his emphasis on what individual countries need to do in order to
uproot corruption, the former Mozambican president called on developed
countries and multinational corporations to hold their officials accountable
for graft in developing countries. "We seem to notice some double standards in
dealing with the corrupted and the corrupter," said Chissano, adding that
"often we get the impression that some authority is protecting the corrupter
while the corrupted is subjected to national laws."
On what is needed to curb corruption on a global scale, Chissano said: "Due
diligence, probity, capacity to prosecute and asset recovery should constitute
the primary items on the global dialogue on corruption." Chissano added that
countries need to promote "robust and effective institutions of better
governance" as failure to do so may provide fertile ground for corrupt
activities to flourish.
For more information, please contact:
Lewis Rabkin
Cell: 082 497 3220
Issued by: Ministry for Public Service and Administration
4 April 2007
