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Improved cooperation and collaboration, regular experience
sharing, technical support, and replication of good practices among
anti-corruption agencies would enhance efforts to root out corruption menace in
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), president of the
regional body’s commission, Victor Gbeho, has said.

Speaking at the formal launch of the Network of National
Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) in Abuja on Wednesday, Mr.
Gbeho expressed the belief that the harmonisation of the various
anti-corruption laws of member-states would help ensure that the region does
not become a safe haven for corruption.

The successful stamping out of corruption, the ECOWAS leader
said, would contribute immensely to the regional effort toward the
consolidation of stability and good governance, noting Nigeria’s exemplary
actions to encourage anti-corruption institutions to work together to rid the region
of perpetrators of corruption.

Drawing attention to the challenge anti-corruption crusade is
facing in the region, particularly the relationship between corruption and
crime, Mr. Gbeho pointed out that laundered money is often known to be used to
sponsor human and drug trafficking, illegal oil bunkering, smuggling,
importation of small arms and light weapons, as well as other forms of economic
sabotage and subversive activities.

Cooperation is the key

Though he noted a reduction in criminal activities in recent
times due to the intervention of the ECOWAS and the international community,
Mr. Gbeho said unchecked corruption is likely to fuel it further.

“Sharing of information on movement of suspects and
harmonisation of policies aimed at ensuring peace, stability, and development
in the region is in line with the ECOWAS vision 2020 strategic objectives,
which seek to enhance peaceful coexistence and stability in the region by
2020,” he noted.

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, said
the formal take off of NACIWA is a major milestone in the effort by ECOWAS to
institutionalise the fight against corruption through regional network in
member states of the region.

Reviewing the operations of NACIWA since it began in 2009, Mr.
Adoke said it has not only fostered closer multilateral relationships among
anti-corruption institutions, but also encouraged mutual assistance and cross
border support against the vice.

“Through NACIWA, ECOWAS would have more voice in collectively
determining the best strategies to employ in their fight against corruption, by
taking advantage of better methodologies available in sister-countries and
outside the region to leverage on capacity-building opportunities,
collaboration in prevention, investigation and prosecution of corrupt people
and institutions, to assist one another in enhancing the capacity of
operational staff to contribute to the development of a stable, prosperous, and
peaceful region,” the minister said.

Deputy head, European Union, Kazimierz Romanski, said the formal
signing of the NACIWA constitution and election of its executive committee were
significant steps to strengthen effective mechanism to prevent and eradicate
corruption in the region, adding that the network has already succeeded in facilitating
the process of ratification of the ECOWAS protocol on the fight against
corruption, as well as promote sustained inter-state cooperation on the issue.

Reaffirming EU’s support to ECOWAS strategies to consolidate
good governance and regional stability as pre-condition to a successful
regional economic integration and human development, Mr. Romanski said their
countries are ready to help promote initiative towards good governance, in
order for there to be genuine rule of law as fundamental shared values of their
partnership with Africa.

“The fight against corruption cannot be isolated from the wider
governance agenda, nor is there a one-fit-all solution to fight corruption. The
support to the implementation and follow up of international and regional
conventions at the country level should also be considered as the fight against
corruption,” he declared.

The launching of the NACIWA network paves the way for the
implementation of its three years work plan on its practical framework, with the
objective of outlining priority areas for implementation in the current year.

The chairman, however, did not throw more light on how the regional body
intends to make all these measures work, as such plans in the past have been
frustrated by bureaucracy.