On 31st March and 1st April 2022, representatives from the African Organization of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions in Africa (AFROSAI-E) and the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA) met in Pretoria, South Africa. The two organizations met for a planning workshop supported by GIZ- Good Financial Governance in Africa Programme, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The programme is also co-funded by the European Union and Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in the project “Fighting Illicit Financial Flows in Africa”. The meeting objective is to strengthen the collaboration between Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and Anti-Corruption Authorities (ACAs). The enhanced collaboration between the two accountability actors at a national level is seen as a critical enabler in the fight against corruption.
In 2019, the Conference of the State Parties (COSP) of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) endorsed a declaration to enhance the collaboration between SAIs and ACAs to more effectively prevent and fight corruption (Resolution 8/13). Against this backdrop, AFROSAI-E and EAAACA supported by GIZ got together to develop a research proposal to assess the extent of collaboration between SAIs and ACAs and develop a good practice collaboration framework to be implemented at a national level. The implementation including the dissemination is planned to be done from 2022 to 2023.
Ms. Munira Ali, the Acting Secretary-General of EAAACA states that,
“ACAs informally collaborate with SAIs when conducting investigations particularly of fraud. However, if there is a formal relationship, this will reduce the time in gathering information for fraud investigations as there will be continuous sharing of information at all stages. Where fraud exists, this will be established in the early stages of investigations thereby disarming the corrupt”
It is evident that the research and the development of the good practice collaboration framework is only the starting point of a long endeavor to strengthen concerted efforts in preventing and fighting corruption in Africa. The GIZ Good Financial Governance in Africa Programme looks forward to expanding this area of support in the coming years of its commission.
