The President’s Advisor on Governance and Corruption, Mr. Daniel Batidam, has been elected to the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AU-ABC).
He will serve a two-year term on the Board and may have his mandate renewed for another two-year term at the end of his first term which will end in 2017.
Mr. Batidam was elected by the Executive Council at the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and replaces Dr. Tony Aidoo who served on the 11-member Board from 2013 to 2015.
According the AUABC, members of the Board are elected on their own merit after they have been proposed by member states.
To be elected, one must be of “highest integrity and impartiality [with] recognized competence in matters relating to preventing and combating corruption and related offences.”
Mr. Batidam is a notable voice in the fight against corruption in Ghana. Until his appointment as President John Mahama’s advisor on governance and corruption, he was the Executive Director at African Parliamentarians’ Network Against Corruption (APNAC).
And before then, he was the Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International.
His acceptance of a position in the government, accused by various civil society organizations as failing spectacularly to fight corruption, was seen as curious and a marked departure from the values he stood for especially given that he was one of the most ardent critics of the government’s anti-corruption efforts.
He, however, insisted that his new position will not compromise his stance on corruption.
His appointment to the AU-ABC may be seen as an endorsement of his continued commitment to fight corruption even though Africa in general does not seem to be doing particularly well in fighting corruption.
The African Union itself in 2002, estimated that 25% of the GDP of African states, amounting to US$148 billion, is lost to corruption every year. The situation is believed to have worsened over the years.
It was probably in view of this that the “Member States of the African Union adopted the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (The Convention) at the Second Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, held in Maputo (Mozambique), on 11th July 2003.”
Three years later, on 5 August 2006, the Convention came into force and currently has 34 countries ratifying it.
The Board was created in May 2009 and has the mandate to; Promote and encourage adoption and application of anti-corruption measures on the continent; Collect and document information on the nature and scope of corruption and related offences in Africa; Develop methodologies for analyzing the nature and extent of corruption in Africa; and disseminate information and sensitize the public on the negative effects of corruption and related offences; Advise governments on how to deal with the scourge of corruption and related offences in their domestic jurisdictions; Develop and promote the adoption of harmonized codes of conduct of public officials; amongst many other lofty objectives.
The vision of the Board is to be, by 2015, “an efficient organization that provides pertinent support to Member States in the sustainable implementation of the AU Convention and the fight against corruption in Africa.”
We are in 2015 and whether this vision will be attained by the end of this year remains to be seen. Myjoyonline.com
