OUTCOME STATEMENT
High-level government representatives from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, together with civil society representatives and development partners, met in Nairobi, Kenya from 13 to 17 February 2017 to build and foster partnerships and create a Regional Platform to Fast-track the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in support of the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16 in Eastern Africa. This platform builds on the momentum generated by the UK Anti-Corruption Summit that took place in London on 12 May 2016. The workshop focused on four thematic areas, which were identified on the basis of an analysis of recommendations from the first cycle UNCAC reviews and ongoing technical assistance requests emanating from the region. The following actions were agreed to:
GENERAL COMMITMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS IN SPECIFIC THEMATIC AREAS
FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS
Proposed Action #1: Professional Training Solution
Seek support for certified training from credible providers such as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential for investigators. Agencies should consider developing a short list of regional learning institutes that are well suited to perform the role of regional proctor or facilitator for this training in the event there is interest in collaborating on a regional training solution.
The following criteria were considered:
Breadth and depth of ongoing training opportunities and courses,
Delivery methods,
Certification requirements,
Requirements for continuing professional education credits,
Cost,
International recognition of credential and training, and
Mentorship and support (national, regional, and international across disciplines).
Proposed Action #2: Training Solution - Policy and Procedure Gap Analysis.
Consider extending the Commonwealth Africa/UNODC policy and procedure research project (administer the questionnaire, analyze the results, and identify gaps) to the remaining EAAACA Members, specifically Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Zanzibar, and South Sudan.
Proposed Action #3: Training Solution - Embedded Long-Term Subject Matter Expert (SME).
Consider hosting long-term SMEs to mentor investigators and participating agencies. Considerations would include the mandate, duration, capacities and core competencies of the SME, desired outcomes, and assessment tools.
Proposed Action #4: Policy and Procedure Solution - Periodic File Review.
Review and update the agency’s policies and procedures, and provide recommendations to agency heads in the area of periodic file review.
There are a number of ways to conduct file reviews. Agencies should select methods most appropriate to their circumstances including:
Annual review and analysis of a random sample of completed investigations,
Review and analysis of all cases that were rejected by the prosecutor,
Review and analysis of all cases that resulted in an acquittal or were otherwise dismissed by the court, and
Review and analysis of all cases that have been before the courts for a considerable time in order to assess their continued viability and likelihood of conviction.
5. Proposed Action #5: Policy and Procedure Solution - Management of Exhibits and Proceeds of Crime.
Review and update the agency’s policies and procedures in relation to the management of exhibits and proceeds of crime and consider implementing the solutions recommended in the final report of the Commonwealth/UNODC policy and procedure gap analysis and benchmarking research project. Agencies should consider sharing policy and procedural best practices, especially as they relate to managing proceeds of crime and contribute to a shared policy library.
2. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION
Participating delegations identified multiple challenges in the effective protection of whistleblowers. The delegations agreed that the majority of work would need to take place at the national level, but that additional regional knowledge exchange and joint capacity building would be beneficial to support this process. Also, depending on the legislative framework of each State, it would require involvement from different stakeholders, as most whistleblower protection laws do not only focus on corruption, but on a broader reporting of matters of public concern
WHISITLEBLOWER PROTECTION
Proposed Action #1: Legislation.
Review and revise legislation, as appropriate, where no comprehensive legislation or gaps exist.
Good practices within the region and beyond will be considered:
Hold stakeholder consultations to assess existing laws and/or during the process of drafting laws. (Would require some limited support.)
Consider sharing draft laws/bills with countries in the region to receive input and liaise with the East African Legislative Assembly, which is currently also developing whistleblower legislation (model law).
Explore whether incentives could be provided to whistleblowers, such as a percentage of recovered assets upon recovery
2. Proposed Action #2: Policies and Procedures
Review relevant national or institutional policies and procedures which facilitate reporting of corruption and other conduct as specified in the relevant legislation.
it also includes a guidance/directives for agencies on how to inform their staff where to report (internal and outside to designated agencies or focal points), how to create internal reporting processes which are harmonized with existing systems, codes of conduct etc., and which qualifications the designated focal points/recipients of reports should have.
Require agencies to designate (initial) whistleblower focal points.
Organize meetings for those focal points for awareness raising/dialogue.
Draft guidance material.
Designate an authority to coordinate and monitor the above-mentioned tasks. The authority would require all concerned agencies to report on an annual basis the measures they have been taken to establish reporting systems and implementation of protection measures.
3. Proposed Action #3: Awareness Raising.
Undertake sensitization/awareness raising programmes and explore possibilities to cooperate with civil society organizations and other relevant organizations on reporting channels and protection to encourage citizens to report matters of concern such as corruption to agencies who can investigate such cases. Such initiatives should also include unions, lawyers, media etc.
4. Proposed Action #4: (Legal) Advice.
Consider options to provide independent (legal) advice to persons who consider blowing the whistle and consider ways of cooperating with civil society organizations/paralegals, etc.
5. Proposed Action #5: Streamlining.
Explore how to include whistleblower reporting systems and protection at a national or institutional level as a core part of relevant strategies and plans (integrity plans, national anti-corruption strategies, etc.) and to monitor their implementation.
6. Proposed Action #6: Capacity Building (Regional).
Develop a pool of experts in the region that can support management teams in institutions that wish to strengthen their reporting systems and upon request support national level capacity building initiatives.
WITNESS PROTECTION
The participating delegations underlined that in the East African region, people who blow the whistle on alleged corruption, organized crime, or other matters of public concern they come across in the workplace, may face threats and physical danger of a level which may make them eligible for admission into a witness protection programme.
7. Proposed Action #7: Legislation and Establishment of Units.
Develop witness protection legislation and witness protection programmes/units
8. Proposed Action #8: Capacity Building.
Provide specialist capacity building including for witness protection units.
Witness protection, in case of high-risk situations, requires qualified staff as it entails a combination of tasks and skills (mixed teams) all operating in a highly confidential environment (judiciary, investigators, experts in high-risk armed reaction, high-risk armed personal protection, forensic and social workers, and covert operatives).
9. Proposed Action #9: Regional / International Cooperation.
Develop mechanisms for cooperation, involving exchange or benchmarking of witness protection good practices and on (temporary) relocation of protected witnesses across borders to ensure their safety.
3. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Participating delegations identified three general categories of challenges to the facilitation of international cooperation in the prevention and investigation of corruption cases: legislative, capacity, and regional networks.
Proposed Action #1: Formal Measures.
Ensure that central authorities and relevant national institutions are adequately resourced and trained
Support the preparation of a practical guide for practitioners in the region
Support measures to establish or strengthen national registration systems for the ownership of assets and other properties
Develop mechanisms for meeting legal requirements to gather, store, process, and present evidence delivered via electronic or technological means in a manner that is permissible across jurisdictions.
2. Proposed Action #2: Informal Measures.
Develop and implement internal policies, mechanisms and procedures to facilitate coordination of institutions at the national level in preparing and responding to requests for mutual legal assistance.
Take measures to establish a regional forum to facilitate regular meetings of central authorities to discuss challenges, priorities and good practices.
Organize regular regional networking meetings of investigators and prosecutors to facilitate contacts, share experiences, and build trust.
Seek opportunities to engage in joint or parallel investigations across jurisdictions, on a case-by-case basis, emphasizing the importance of confidentiality and the integrity of the investigation process.
Take measures to promote informal cooperation and intelligence sharing, including spontaneously, between law enforcement bodies across jurisdictions, such as through the EAAACA
4. PROCUREMENT
Procurement corruption was considered from the viewpoints of procuring entities, procurement oversight bodies, and corruption investigation bodies. While the primary approach taken on procurement is preventative, there was also a strong emphasis of strengthening capacity to investigate and prosecute procurement corruption cases.
Proposed Action #1: Compliance review of legislation.
Undertake an analysis of the procurement legislation of each State in the region to determine compliance with article 9 (1) of UNCAC. Based on this analysis, develop action plans to bring legislation into compliance with UNCAC.
2. Proposed Action #2: Committee & Forum.
Explore placing corruption, including investigation and prosecution of corruption, on the agenda of the EAPF: explore whether EAAACA states who are not EAC members may attend.
Establish and mandate a committee to:
Create and disseminate a document indicating key procurement corruption risk areas and warning signs related to these risks
Develop a best practices guide on public transparency related to public procurement.
Develop an advisory note on how to develop systems to prevent external interventions in the identification of need for goods or services, development of bidding document, adjudication of bids, and contract management.
3. Proposed Action #3: Capacity building and experience-sharing measures.
Strengthen regional capacity to identify corruption risks in procurement processes and develop strategies to mitigate these risks, with particular emphasis on vetting suppliers (including identification of beneficial ownership, benchmarking, use of bulk contracts, and development of evaluation criteria together with bid evaluations themselves).
Provide opportunities for professionals engaged in procurement and the investigation and prosecution of procurement corruption to be placed with relevant agencies in the region to share experience.
IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES
Representative delegations agreed to take forward the recommendations above as a matter of priority in order to fast-track implementation of UNCAC, particularly with regard to measures that would require little or no additional resources. Such measures would seek to leverage existing networks and peer-to-peer learning and sharing of experiences and good practices. UNODC and development partners present agreed to seek to mobilize resources to support the implementation of this action plan. It was further agreed that regional actions should be coordinated through the EAAACA.