Introduction and Background
"Corruption … undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organised crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish. This evil phenomenon is found in all countries - big and small, rich and poor…corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government's ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice and discouraging foreign aid and investment. Corruption is a key element in economic under-performance and a major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development"
Extant evidence abounds in developing countries which indicate that corruption negatively affects economic growth and development. Whilst corruption is a global problem, research shows that the rate of corruption and bad governance in Africa and other developing countries, has generally stifled service delivery and development work. Therefore, to achieve meaningful sustainable development, it is imperative for developing countries inclusive of African governments, to strengthen good governance and integrate anti-corruption measures to eradicate corruption in the workplace by strengthening institutional frameworks, policies and capacity development of all employees, managers, leaders and employers across all institutions using an inclusive approach.
For decades now, Africa has experienced various types of corruption including but not limited to bribery, theft and fraud, institutional corruption, grand or political corruption, corporate corruption, administrative and systematic corruption. The words of Chinua Achebe are very clear on the enormous effects of corruption in Africa, when he expressed: “Without doubt, corruption has permeated the African society and anyone who can say that corruption in Africa has not become alarming is either a fool, a crook or else does not live in this continent” .
Corruption is an impediment to political, economic and social development, hinders administrative development and performance, impairs economic efficiency, undermines human development, leads to brain drain, discourages foreign investments , undermines effective utilisation of natural resources leaving the affected countries vulnerable and dependent on outside interests, subverts democracy, undermines the state legitimacy and the rule of law, leads to capital flight, increases and skews public expenditure on basic needs such as healthcare, education and infrastructure, leads to environmental degradation, erosion of social values, stifles local initiatives and enterprise and intensifies other social problems such as crime, unemployment, poverty and ethnicity. Corruption also reduces the productivity of public investment and of the county’s infrastructure through misallocation of talent and other resources, reduces government revenue due to tax evasion resulting in high taxation of the public and reduces a country’s competitiveness at the international level, particularly, with regard to trade, currency stability and investment. These consequences have the overall negative distortion on a country’s development.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa once observed that “One thing underlies all the difficulties caused by the interactions of Africa’s history over the past 40 years. It is the weakness of governance and the absence of an effective state. By governance we mean the inability of government and the public services to create the right economic, social and legal framework which will encourage economic growth and allow poor people to participate in it. All the evidence shows that reductions in poverty do not come without economic growth. But as any gardener will testify, growth will not occur unless the right conditions are in place”. It is against this backdrop that the Anti-Corruption Education Consultancy (ACEC) was founded in May 2009 as an independent and fully Namibian-owned company created by Mr Geoffrey N. Shakwa to provide exceptional specialized consulting solutions in good governance and anti-corruption to members of the public and private sector, NGOs, development partners and donor-funded organizations in Namibia, the rest of Africa and other developing countries.
In pursuant of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)(http://www.globalgoals.org/ ) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030, the ACEC is dedicated to supporting governments in Africa and other developing countries to mainstream good governance and anti-corruption modalities into public sector management to promote good governance and effective service delivery to attain meaningful sustainable development by 2030. Good governance and effective prevention of corruption are perhaps the most important pillars in eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development in developing countries. Further, the ACEC supports all sectors notwithstanding donor agencies/countries that are funding development projects and works in Africa by assisting them to mainstream anti-corruption strategies and good governance frameworks into traditional development assistance.
The ultimate aim of the ACEC is to ensure that Africa and other developing countries are firmly equipped to achieve sustainable development by 2030 through a substantial reduction of corruption and bribery in all their forms (SDG 16.5) and the development of effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (SDG 16.6), coupled with ensuring responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels (SDG 16.7).