April 2 2007

Hon. Martha Karua attended the Global Forum V on Fighting Corruption & Safeguarding Integrity (GFV) that was held on 2nd - 5th April 2007 in Sandton South Africa . She was accompanied by H.E. Mr. Julius Kandie, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Kenya Mission to the UN, Vienna, Mrs. Fatuma Sichale, Deputy Director, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Mr. John Tuta, Deputy Chief Legal Officer, Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs, Mrs. Anne Kithaka, Senior Principal State Counsel and Ms. Mercy Muthuuri, Personal Assistant to the Minister.

While addressing the participants, the Minister noted that the fight against corruption and organized crime now features very high on international, regional and national agenda. She said that in most sub-Saharan countries, nascent multi-party regimes are now engaged in efforts to nurture and consolidate democratic institutions that would anchor the rule of law. The Minister noted that limited resources, poor and illiterate populace, have made progress in these efforts slow.

Hon. Karua also observed that most African countries have now embraced global concepts of governance. She said that the African Union is founded on these global concepts of governance while the New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) seeks to institutionalize concepts of good governance through regular reviews of the extent of implementation of the principles of good governance, rule of law and human rights in the various African countries. Hon. Karua told the delegates that in 2006, Kenya was one of the first countries in Africa to subject itself to the APRM process of NEPAD. She said that H. E. President, Mwai Kibaki presented Kenya ’s report to the State Parties of NEPAD in Banjul , Gambia and the recommendations of the APRM Panel are now being implemented.

The Minister lamented that although Article 54 of the UN Convention against Corruption requires State Parties to employ mechanisms for recovery of property through international co-operation in confiscation, some developing nations (like Kenya) have had their efforts to trace, recover and repatriate assets suspected to have been stashed in foreign countries hampered by non-co-operation of some of the countries where the assets are situated.

She informed the delegates that the following measures have been taken by the Kenyan Government to combat corruption

* Enactment of necessary legislation like the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003 which established both the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Officers Ethics Act, 2003

* Strengthening of existing institutions including the judiciary, the police and the office of the Attorney-General to effectively play their roles e.g Special anti-corruption courts have been established to expedite the determination of corruption cases.

* Filing Criminal and civil cases in court against perpetrators of corruption.

She noted that the challenges inlcude:

On Public Sector Reforms, the Minister outlined the following:

1. In line with Article 7 of UN Convention Against Corruption, the government has initiated reforms in the public sector by dismissal, interdiction, investigation and arraignment of corrupt public officers including senior public officers such as Permanent Secretaries (Government Accounting Officers) and Chief Executives of state corporations.

2. The government has also established the Public Sector Reforms and Development Secretariat in the Cabinet Office (Office of the President) and adopted a Results Based Management approach in the entire public service.

3. The government introduced performance contracting for all Government Ministries, Departments and State Corporations. Permanent Secretaries, on behalf of their Ministries, are required to sign performance contracts with the government where every institution is partly assessed on the initiation of anti-corruption measures to curb corruption.

4. The Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector Programme (GJLOS) to deal with problems affecting the justice, law and order sector institutions. It has representation from the civil society and the private sector which is represented by their umbrella body Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).

Other public sector reforms mentioned by the Hon. Minister include:

Hon. Karua expressed conviction that educating the public will promote their awareness and that of all stakeholders on their responsibilities in the prevention of money laundering.