INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION

Newsletter June 2015 issue

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Corruption in the private sector: the fight is on!

Same practices, different labels. On the one hand, they are deemed cancerous, while on the other,
they are branded "realities of the business environment". There persists in Mauritius a misinformed
perception that corruption exists only in the public sector. While policymakers have made clear their
intention of criminalising corruption in the private sector, ICAC has already set the ball rolling in
collaboration with key partners through preventive actions. Comparatively, the ratio is almost
staggering: in recent years, from the number of complaints received by ICAC Hong Kong, 75%
concerned the private sector while only 25% related to government departments and public bodies.
Corruption in the private sector in any country is, at first, a sensitive issue. "The business sector, in
the early years, resisted the ICAC for meddling in their affairs", writes Steven Lam on his case-study
paper entitled 'Tackling Corruption: the Hong Kong experience'. "In the space of three decades, a
new culture a culture of probity has evolved and taken root in our community"...

Page 2

Media: key component in the fight against corruption

"If it's not true, don't say it. If it's not right, don't do it", David Puttnam reminds us in his TED talk. He
relates the above specifically to the media, "to the notion of honesty, accuracy and impartiality
(which) are fundamental to the process of building and embedding an informed participatory
democracy" and provocatively asks "the media have to decide: do they see their role as being to
inflame, or to inform?" In a research paper entitled Empowering Anti-Corruption Agencies by the
Swiss Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES), the authors point out that: "If little has
been done to involve the community in the work of an anticorruption agency, the inevitable result is
that the public comes to distrust the agency and provides no information about what is going on.
Without that information the agencys investigative powers are useless. Furthermore, its preventive
and educational work is likely to be ignored for lack of public support". The above appears to
encompass the current perception of the state of affairs in the fight against corruption, as
highlighted by the findings of our National Survey on Corruption published in March 2015...

Page 4

Empowering public officials for early detection

Public sector integrity remains a prime concern for ICAC. Public bodies are the agencies through
which national programmes are implemented. Public bodies have set up structures in their
respective organisations and the different activities are conducted through systems, practices and
processes. However, weaknesses in the systems coupled with the unethical behaviour of the people
behind these systems may give rise to corrupt practices. As part of its mandate, ICAC has the
responsibility to exercise vigilance and superintendence over the integrity of systems in public
bodies. The ICAC achieves this mandate mainly through the conduct of Corruption Prevention
Reviews. Such a review involves an examination of systems and practices in public bodies (a) to
analyse the weaknesses that may result in corruption risks and (b) to recommend measures with a
view to curbing the opportunities for corruption. It is the responsibility of public organisations to
manage areas where the risk of fraud or corruption is present, over and above their day-to-day
business...

Page 8
A publication of the Independent Commission Against Corruption
Rduit Triangle, Moka
Republic of Mauritius
Tel: 402 6600 - Fax: 402 6959 - Hotline 142 - email: [email protected]

Message

Focus

Corruption in the

from Luchmyparsad Aujayeb, Director General

The past few months have been crucial for ICAC. The findings

of the National Survey on Corruption published in March 2015

were a wakeup call, leading us to an introspective exercise with
a view to amend our global strategy in the fight against
corruption and money laundering. We have kick started a
comprehensive sensitisation campaign as our first response.
However, ICAC wishes to ignite a national debate as to whether
fighting corruption and money laundering is the sole
responsibility of just the anti-corruption agency? Or else the
fight of each citizen of this country. Indeed each member of the
community should feel concerned and take up arms in the fight
against corruption and money laundering.
It is an undeniable fact that corruption exists in Mauritius, as
everywhere else in the world. However, the knee jerk reaction
to this by some 'opinion leaders' continues to be the fallacious
blaming of ICAC. Are we responsible for this state of affairs?
The answer is a resounding NO. Corruption happens for several
reasons: personal greed , decline of personal ethical sensitivity,
no sense of service when working in public or private institutions
etc. ICAC is mandated to spearhead the national fight against
corruption and money laundering. This fight is not solely the
responsibility of a single agency and the whole community
should feel concerned.
ICAC is not breaking ground with this claim. The top three
mandates of the Commission as per section 20 of the Prevention
of Corruption Act (PoCA) are to: (a) educate the public against
corruption; (b) enlist and foster public support in combating
corruption; and (c) receive and consider any allegation that a
corruption offence has been committed. ICAC has always
worked with a number of stakeholders in that respect.
ICAC has, nonetheless, come to the conclusion that there is a
missing link in the fight against corruption and indeed some
components appear to be dysfunctional. The cornerstone of any
national strategy in the fight against corruption is public trust
and support. True it is that ICAC has to go to some length to
garner this trust and support, but it is unacceptable that some
quarters still undermine this national fight. Despite countless
appeals to reason by the Commission, it is still being unfairly
hammered as a "political punching bag" by some. These
people, whether they wish it or not, are stakeholders and must
realise that the ultimate damage they are causing is not to their
political nemesis, but to the national fight against corruption.
The Commission realises that just a sensitisation campaign is
not going to change mindsets overnight. ICAC is therefore
moving towards the next step by laying stress on the fact that
an effective and efficient national fight against corruption will
not be possible without legislative reforms. But we are
reassured to learn that the policymakers are already working
toward bringing legislation to tackle issues such as
whistleblowing and witness protection, declaration of assets,
financing of political parties, among others. Such amendments
will no doubt plug long identified loopholes in our current
legislative framework in addition to propositions made by ICAC
on amendments required on unexplained wealth and corruption
in the private sector.
However, even with such mechanisms, a national fight against
corruption will only materialise if all stakeholders rally together
and we all look in the same direction and say NO to corruption
and money laundering.

Same practices, different labels. On the one hand,

they are deemed cancerous, while on the other, they
are branded "realities of the business environment".
There persists in Mauritius a misinformed perception
that corruption exists only in the public sector.
Policymakers have made clear their intention of
tackling corruption in the private sector and ICAC has
already set the ball rolling in collaboration with key
partners through preventive actions.

Comparatively, the ratio is almost staggering: in recent years,

from the number of complaints received by ICAC Hong Kong,
75% concerned the private sector while only 25% related to
government departments and public bodies. Corruption in the
private sector in any country is, at first, a sensitive issue. "The

business sector, in the early years, resisted the ICAC for

meddling in their affairs", writes Steven Lam on his case-study

paper entitled 'Tackling Corruption: the Hong Kong experience'.

"In the space of three decades, a new culture a culture of

probity has evolved and taken root in our community".

Three decades of experience is what separates ICAC Mauritius

and ICAC Hong Kong. However, the journey is well underway in
Mauritius. Down the years, ICAC has communicated
recommendations to policymakers for proposed amendments to
the law for increased investigative powers within the private
sector. As things stand in the current legislative set up, only 5
cases involving members of the private sector ("corruption of
agent" under section 16 of the Prevention of Corruption Act
(POCA)) have culminated in a case in Court as at date. These
cases are still underway.
Specialists today are adamant: corporate corruption significantly
diminishes or threatens the dynamism and growth that comes
with fair competition. Jomo Kwame Sundaram the assistant
secretary general for economic development in the United
Nations (UN) highlights that "The bottom line is clear: we need to

deal with corruption in the private sector creatively, at all levels,

and through different channels of intervention and regulation.
Furthermore, we need to encourage the private sector towards
voluntary initiatives that promote CSR." Consequently, today
ICAC Hong Kong allocates more than 70% of its resources to
prevention campaigns within the private sector.

ICAC has started a similar journey since 2012 with the private
sector in Mauritius. Currently, ICAC is mandated as per Section
30 (1) (C) (v) of the POCA to "liaise with private sector

organisations and trade unions for the setting up of anti

corruption practices". In line with the above, ICAC has sought

private sector engagement and commitment in the fight against

corruption namely through: (i) the Public Private Platform Against
Corruption (PPPAC), (ii) the Private Anti-Corruption Task Force
(PACT) and (iii) the Construction Sector Anti-Corruption
Committee.
Numerous other anti-corruption projects are in the pipeline:
namely the organisation of workshops for managers of the
private sector to share best practices, empowerment of private
sector employees on corruption and related issues and the

private sector: the fight is on!

development of a model gift policy for private sector
organisations. With a specific focus on enlisting all major
stakeholders in the fight against corruption, ICAC is moving
proactively, pending policymakers' plan to amend the legislation.
Today, ICAC is pleased that the private sector in Mauritius
recognises and is fully committed to the need to collaborate with

the Commission. To paraphrase Sundaram, greed and a shortsighted defense of anachronistic business models provide the
most significant obstacles to addressing the fight against
corruption in an effective and timely manner. "Entrepreneurial

vision, business integrity and corporate responsibility can, and

must, play a central role in this context".

Jane Valls, CEO of the Mauritius Institute of Directors:

"All stakeholders working together is essential"

Briefly, how and why did the MiOD get involved with
ICAC in the fight against corruption in the private sector?
ICAC organised a workshop for the private sector in November
2012 on the issue of corruption in Mauritius. The workshop was
attended by approximately 70 participants mainly from the
private sector. At this workshop it was generally agreed that
there should be a private sector initiative to combat corruption in
Mauritius and all those interested in participating in such an
initiative, including the Mauritius Institute of Directors (MIOD)
and Transparency Mauritius (TM), agreed to set up a working
group. The initial working group was led by ICAC and was called
the Business Action Group Against Corruption (BAGAC). At this
stage it was decided that another meeting with the wider private
sector should take place to ensure continued buy-in, to ensure
also that BAGAC was on track and how this initiative should be
taken forward.
This led to the second Business Forum run jointly by
MIOD and ICAC with Prof Deon Rossouw in 2014...
During this forum regrouping 53 participants, a clear preference
for a private sector led collective action initiative was expressed.
There was also substantial support for a private sector led
voluntary initiative. In the light of this outcome a compromise
proposal was suggested which gained the support of the whole
workshop. This proposal was that a private sector led collective
action initiative should be established that should also allow for
private sector led voluntary initiatives. There was also consensus
in the group that the private sector led collective action initiative
(Public Private Sector Platform Against Corruption) should be
chaired by the Joint Economic Committee (JEC). The secretariat
should be provided by ICAC. The private sector led voluntary
initiative (Private sector Anti-Corruption Taskforce) on the other
hand should be chaired by the MIoD with the Mauritius
Employers Federation (MEF) providing the secretariat.
How would you describe the progress/results of this
partnership today and what were the main challenges?
I think the original initiative by ICAC back in November 2012 was
key to the progress that we see today. There is a general
consensus in the private sector that we need to have such a
voluntary initiative and we have made a lot of progress since this
first meeting in deciding which direction and what shape the
initiative should take. A lot of work has been accomplished by
first BAGAC and now PACT but we also recognise that there is
still more to do. The key challenges were initially getting
everyone on board and then ensuring that the Integrity Pledge
really meets the needs that it is designed to serve which is
mobilising the private sector to take tangible measures to

proactively reduce the risk of corruption and develop ethical

cultures in their organisations. And then of course achieving
consensus within the group, while continuing to consult the
wider group of stakeholders. The proof of the pudding will of
course be in the eating when we launch the Integrity Pledge
later this year and when we evaluate its success.
Finally how would you rate the importance of an
interplay of stakeholders - civil society, the press &
the private sector - in the fight against corruption and
the promotion of good governance in the business
landscape in Mauritius?
I think it is essential that all the stakeholders work together.
We know that more than USD 1 trillion is paid in bribes each
year worldwide according to the World Bank. And we know
that it is difficult to combat corruption on your own but by
joining forces, we can make a difference. These problems
cannot be resolved without the contribution of the private
sector which accounts for up to 60% of all global business
activities. In Mauritius, the negative impact of corruption on
the countrys reputation would be very damaging to all sectors
of the economy, but especially the Financial Services sector.
Around the world there is increasing scrutiny and increasing
media attention on such issues - fraud and corruption always
steal the headlines first. And we know that in a difficult
economic climate, the risk of fraud and corruption increases
and yet companies are still failing to do enough to prevent
bribery and corruption.

Media: key component in the fight against corruption

"If it's not true, don't say it. If it's not right, don't do
it", David Puttnam1 reminds us in his TED talk2. He
relates the above specifically to the media, "to the
notion of honesty, accuracy and impartiality (which)
are fundamental to the process of building and
embedding an informed participatory democracy"
and provocatively asks "the media have to decide:
do they see their role as being to inflame, or to
inform?"

In a research paper entitled Empowering Anti-Corruption

Agencies by the Swiss Centre for Research and Studies in

Sociology (CIES), the authors point out that: "If little has been
done to involve the community in the work of an anticorruption
agency, the inevitable result is that the public comes to distrust
the agency and provides no information about what is going
on. Without that information the agencys investigative powers
are useless. Furthermore, its preventive and educational work is
likely to be ignored for lack of public support". The above

appears to encompass the current perception of the state of

affairs in the fight against corruption, as highlighted by the
findings of our National Survey on Corruption published in March
2015.
Throughout the years however, ICAC has worked to identify key
stakeholders and enlist them in the fight against corruption. Our
partners today range from the private sector (the Public Private
Platform Against Corruption and the Private Sector AntiCorruption Taskforce), to the civil society (working groups with
the Mauritius Council of Social Service, the NGO Trust Fund and
the Common Training Strategy Committee) and a specific focus
on the youth (through more than 100 Integrity Clubs at
secondary level and Anti-Corruption Clubs at tertiary level),
among others. Since its creation, the Education and Prevention
division of ICAC has interacted face to face with approximately
400,000 Mauritian citizens at least once.
In its chapter on Anti-Corruption, the World Bank Institute

Professional Development program highlights the following:

"The media is important as it is a nonbiased source of

information for politics and education (...)". Community

stakeholders learn the opinions, decisions and actions of

policymakers and anti-corruption agencies through the media. It
is beyond doubt today that the media is a major actor regarding
dissemination of information regarding corrupt practices to the
population. The role of the press is so important that studies
have even established empirical correlation between the effects
of press freedom and the level of corruption.
To be fair, the media more often than not focuses much of its
efforts in investigative journalism, firmly believing in their duty
to the public to cover stories of corruption by politicians and
business leaders. Notwithstanding the fact that the existence of
such journalists might actually keep people away from
corruption due to the increased risk of being caught, the media
unfortunately has remained elusive as a stakeholder. From
ICAC's perspective, for every step forward in the fight against
corruption, sections of the press have dealt an adverse blow.
Which leads to the question: does this dichotomous situation
explain why, despite relatively high level of press freedom in
Mauritius, the perception of corruption in the country remains
high?

(...) a great majority of these articles were

confined to the occasional opportunistic
"political painting" exercise of the institution.

Since the start of the year, the actions of the ICAC have been
recurrent news items in the local newspapers, averaging three
articles per week. However, a great majority of these articles
were confined to report of court cases or the occasional
opportunistic "political painting" exercise of the institution in
editorial columns. As a result, news reports on ICAC's
preventive activities have either been sidelined to the less
important pages, or in most cases not reported at all. In so
doing, the media is unfortunately not being an active

stakeholder in the fight against corruption. As the CIES further

elaborates, "even when a country recognises that fighting

corruption requires more than merely enforcing the laws and

has a strategy involving the elements of prevention and public
education, the strategy fails because its elements are not
advanced together, are not coordinated and thus fail to
reinforce each other".

Focus

The Parliamentary Committee on ICAC

At this point, it is important to highlight that ICAC is not laying

the blame on the media for exercising its right to freedom of
expression. The question the Commission is asking is whether
the press in Mauritius is fully committed to its role as a major
stakeholder, which helps to bind together all the other
components of the community, a sine qua non condition for
successful strides in anti-corruption efforts? To inform, rather
than to inflame. As David Puttnam explains in his TED Talk, "It

has to be possible (for the media) to bond freedom of

expression with wider moral and social responsibilities."

The lessons of the National Survey on Corruption were

unanimous: there are no shades of grey in the fight against
corruption. Either you are fully committed to the fight, or you
are with the corrupt. Following the call for a change in mindset
in the previous issue of this newsletter, ICAC is now calling for
members of the community to take their responsibilities. To
paraphrase David Puttnam on the notion of duty of care, could
anyone honestly suggest that the media have taken sufficient
care to avoid behaving in ways which they could reasonably
have foreseen would be likely to undermine the ICAC of even
damage our inherently fragile fight against corruption? The
answer, unfortunately as things stand, is no.

The notion of public interest should stretch

beyond the production deadlines of newspapers
Hence, ICAC wishes now to bring the following to the frontline
in terms of debate: it is time for each civil component to realise
its importance and role in the national fight against corruption.
It is time the media gives the benefit of the doubt to ICAC, i.e.
realise that the Commission does not operate behind a shroud
of secrecy. The ICAC's functions are clearly defined within the
law, with varying levels of oversight. Firstly, the Office of the
Director of Public Prosecutions, who has the final say on
whether an investigation goes for prosecution or not, secondly
the Court which decides the outcome of such prosecutions and
which would undeniably highlight any wrongdoing in the
conduct of any investigation, and thirdly the Parliamentary
Committee to which ICAC is accountable on specific matters as
prescribed under the PoCA.
Answers to any questions the media may have on the activities
of ICAC are of public domain. However, ICAC is bound by a
duty of confidentiality during the conduct of an investigation.
Such details nonetheless become public once discussed in
Court. The notion of public interest should stretch beyond the
production deadlines of newspapers. The media, as any
stakeholder in the fight of corruption, need to exercise a duty of
care. The fate of the fight against corruption today in Mauritius
rests on the fragile equation involving ICAC and its
stakeholders, and the media has the power to do or undo
anything in that respect.
1 After a much-awarded career as a film producer, Lord David Puttnam now
works at the intersection of education, media and policy. He sits in the
House of Lords.
2. TED is a nonprofit movement devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading - through
www.TED.com

From left to right: Hon M. S. Abbas Mamode, MP, Parliamentary

Private Secretary; Hon Dharmendar Sesungkur, MP; Hon
Maneesh Gobin, MP, Chairperson; Hon Rajesh Anand Bhagwan,
MP, Opposition Whip; Hon Vedasingam V. Baloomoody, MP,
Chairperson Public Accounts Committee; Hon Shakeel A. Y. A. R.
Mohamed, MP;
(absent from picture: Hon Satyaprakashsing Rutnah,MP, Deputy
Chief Government Whip; Dr the Hon Zouberr H. Joomaye, MP;
Hon Kalidass Teeluckdharry, MP)

The Parliamentary Committee on ICAC has been constituted

and has had three sittings already. The Parliamentary

Committee is established under Part VI of the Prevention of
Corruption Act (PoCA) and is vested with oversight powers,
crucial to the effective organisation of the Commission.
The Parliamentary Committee is composed of 9 members of
Parliament. One of the members is designated as Chairperson
by the Prime Minister. The Parliamentary Committee meets at
least once a month and on such other date as the Chairperson
may determine. Five members may constitute the quorum of the
Parliamentary Committee and decisions may be taken by a
simple majority of the members present and voting and in the
event of an equality of vote, the Chairperson has a casting vote.
The functions and powers of the Parliamentary Committee are
laid out under section 61 of the PoCA. The Parliamentary
Committee monitors and reviews the manner in which the
Commission fulfils its functions under the Act, reviews the
budgetary estimates of the Commission, issues such instructions
as it considers appropriate with regard to the financial
management and the staffing requirements of the Commission,
as well as the allocation of resources to the various operations
of the Commission.
Under section 36 of the PoCA, the Commission is required, not
later than six months after the close of each financial year, to
issue an annual report on the activities and furnish audited
accounts of the Commission for the financial year to the
Parliamentary Committee, copy of which is subsequently laid
before the National Assembly.
However, accountability is restricted to administrative decisions
and does not extend to matters relating to investigations, as
specifically provided by Section 61(3) of PoCA. In fact, a
member of the board, officer or public official may refuse to
answer any question which relates to any subject matter of an
investigation by the Commission or which in his opinion, would
tend to disclose facts relating to such.

Commonwealth Secretariat Training Programme

(Left to right) Jarvis Matiya, Legal adviser & Head of Justice Section (CS), Mr Isswar Jheengut, DCPED
(ICAC), Mr Andrew Mitchell QC, Mr Luchmyparsad Aujayeb, DG (ICAC), Dr. Roger Koranteng, Governance
Advisor (CS), Shadrach Haruna, Legal Adviser, Justice Section (CS)

A delegation from the Commonwealth Secretariat was in

Mauritius to assist ICAC in an 8-day training session at the

Hilton Hotel Mauritius. The training sessions were held on the
20th to the 29th April 2015 and were attended by over 100
participants, mostly from ICAC, but also from sister agencies
such as the Office of the Sollicitor General, the Mauritius
Revenue Authority, the Central Investigation Division among
others. This training programme was the fruit of a meeting
between the Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth,
Mr Deodat Maharaj and the Director General of ICAC earlier this
year.
According to Jarvis Matiya, Legal Adviser and Head of Justice
Section of the Rule of Law Division, this training further
cemented the Commonwealth Secretariats commitment to
supporting African member countries in their fight against
corruption. "Corruption is bad for development. It is important

to make sure that any practice that drains the economy should
be discouraged. Initiatives at the global, regional and national
level are pointing to the fact that there is need to put in place
measures to tackle corruption. The Commonwealth, because it
believes in good governance, democracy and development,
attaches great importance to any efforts and initiatives to tackle
corruption" he said.
The training was segmented into two parts. The first part,
themed Enhancing Senior Management and Leadership Skills,
was held over one week and targeted senior representatives
from ICAC and participant institutions. The second part, held
from the 27-29 April, was a specialist training in anti-corruption
and money laundering and targeted mainly prosecutors and
investigators from the ICAC. "This is an opportunity to learn

more on the work ICAC is doing and look at some of the

challenges ICAC is facing. This training seminar has given the

opportunity for various players within the criminal justice
system to share notes and exchange ideas on how to
strengthen the fight against corruption generally and look at
other ways of strengthening their cooperation and
investigation of corruption practices" declared Jarvis Matiya on
this session.

The closing of the training sessions involved an interactive

moot Court presentation which demonstrated the best practice
approach to prosecuting money laundering cases. The lead
facilitator for this exercise, Mr Andrew Mitchell QC, is a
prominent barrister and consultant in the field of asset
recovery, confiscation, restraint and receivership. Participants
also heard from speakers including the Honourable Iqbal
Maghooa, Puisne Judge, FIU director Guillaume Ollivry, Mr
Shadrach Haruna, Criminal Justice Expert and Legal Adviser in
the Rule of Law Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr
Joseph Jagada, Law Enforcement and Legal Adviser to the
ESAAMLG, Mr Anthony Noble, Specialist Investigator, Mr Phillip
Armand Moustache, Compliance Director at the Central Bank
of Seychelles and representative of EGMONT Group among
others.
Finally, at the end of the training session, Jarvis Matiya
explained his satisfaction with what he has seen in these
terms: "Mauritius continues to be an example in terms of

governance. I think statistics speak for themselves, namely

the Mo Ibrahim index. That speaks a lot about the
commitment to fight corruption and the very fact that we are
here today to look at how we can strengthen that field is a
clear indication of Mauritius' determination in this fight. There
are a lot of lessons the Commonwealth can learn from
Mauritius in fighting corruption".

Dr. Roger Koranteng, Governance Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat:

"Fighting corruption is not the sole responsibility

of a single agency"
The fight against corruption involves several actors.
Can you elaborate on how critical the contribution of
stakeholders is ?
The anti corruption work obviously is not the sole responsibility
of a single agency, because an anti-corruption agency cannot
be everywhere at the same time. Even though you have a
mandate to coordinate, to spearhead and to bring to a final
conclusion investigations, that mandate has been given to you
as an anti-corruption agency. However, every country's anti
corruption strategy is labeled 'national': national anticorruption strategy. What it means is that this plan involves
the whole nation, not only a single agency. Therefore, in
fighting corruption, you need all the parties and the
stakeholders: the public sector, the civil society and the private
sector. Another point would be that you cannot detect corrupt
practices everywhere. You need to coordinate and collaborate
with all stakeholders, so that the latter can alert you as to
what is happening for you to take corrective measures. Every
country that has been successful in fighting corruption has
always brought together all stakeholders in order to deliver in
their mandate.
There is a worldwide perception that corruption only
happens in developing countries, or African countries
for that respect. What are the views of the
Commonwealth Secretariat on the progress of African
countries so far ?
Firstly, does corruption occur only in developing countries?
The answer is no. Corruption occurs everywhere, in fact it is a
human thing. However, the difference is that in developed
countries, they have institutions that are very effective and
efficient. They make corruption very expensive, in the sense
that if you're corrupt and you're caught, which you're likely to
be in developed countries because of their advanced
structures, you will be punished severely. Whereas in
developing countries, the opportunity exists but the likelihood
of you being caught is low. However, the progress made by
Africa in terms of fighting corruption is obvious.

"A national anti-corruption strategy means it is

a plan involving the whole nation, not only a
single agency"

If you look at the two world accepted measures of measuring

corruption, the Transparency International Corruption
Perception Index (TI CPI) and the Mo Ibrahim Index, all the
countries who are doing far better are Commonwealth African
countries compared to those who are doing extremely badly.
This is not by accident. African countries face the same
challenges in their economies etc. What sets these countries
apart? You can attribute this difference to institutions.
Commonwealth African countries have practically the same
institutions and legal frameworks. Then there is also the role
of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the work of the

Dr Koranteng is an Advisor for Governance at the Commonwealth Secretariat

in London and a Senior Lecturer and a Management Consultant at the Ghana
Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Association of Commonwealth African Anti-corruption Agencies

where we meet, discuss, compare, benchmark and share ideas
and solutions as to how to fight corruption.
And Mauritius more specifically?
In the case of Mauritius, for some years now, you have topped
the Mo Ibrahim index, which measures anti corruption and
good governance. That means that Mauritius is doing
extremely well. I would insist to add that there is still room for
improvement. Mauritius may top the Mo Ibrahim Index, but
you do not top the TI CPI. That means that Mauritius can do
better. In fact I am expecting Mauritius to top both Mo Ibrahim
and TI ranking in Africa. And it's something not far from
Mauritius' reach.
Mauritius is known for its culture of excellence. Being
ranked 3rd in the Transparency International ranking
in Africa is often met by a "not good enough" by the
press and some parts of the population. What would
you answer to them?
Mauritius has been alternating the 2nd and 3rd position in the
TI CPI. You have always been denied the 1st spot. I think the
perception out there is that Mauritius has very good
institutions: ICAC is known to be a very efficient institution. But
TI CPI does not read institutions. They read a country. So
obviously, if they are looking at ranking Mauritius, perception
would feature in that. Perception is by no means reality, but at
times perception is as good as reality. Because how people
perceive things will inform the way they relate to it. So I
believe the reason why Mauritius is not getting the number one
spot in the TI CPI is the perception they have about the
country, but not about ICAC. Because everywhere you go,
people know that ICAC is an efficient and successful institution.

Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework

Empowering public officials for early detection

Public sector integrity remains a prime concern for ICAC. Public
bodies are the agencies through which national programmes are
implemented. Public bodies have set up structures in their
respective organisations and the different activities are
conducted through systems, practices and processes. However,
weaknesses in the systems coupled with the unethical behaviour
of the people behind these systems may give rise to corrupt
practices.
As part of its mandate, ICAC has the responsibility to exercise
vigilance and superintendence over the integrity of systems in
public bodies. The ICAC achieves this mandate mainly through
the conduct of Corruption Prevention Reviews. Such a review
involves an examination of systems and practices in public bodies
(a) to analyse the weaknesses that may result in corruption risks
and (b) to recommend measures with a view to curbing the
opportunities for corruption.
It is the responsibility of public organisations to manage areas
where the risk of fraud or corruption is present, over and above
their day-to-day business. It is in line with this philosophy that
the ICAC developed the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework
(PSACF). As an integral part of the strategy to fight corruption,
the active involvement and engagement of public bodies is of
prime importance.
The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Framework was deemed
revolutionary in the approach adopted by the ICAC in the fight
against corruption. Its logical approach was so clear that the
PSACF gave Mauritius the 1st Place for United Nations Public
Service Awards 2012 in the category Preventing and Combating
Corruption in the Public Service. Since then, the United Nations
has been recommending other countries to adapt the PSACF to
their public service. In Mauritius meanwhile, the PSACF manual
has been circulated to the public sector, aiming to strengthen
institutional capabilities of public bodies through the
establishment of appropriate mechanisms to control corruption.
The PSACF enables public bodies to take up ownership of
building corruption resistance in their respective organisations. It
provides for the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Committee
(ACC) which has the responsibility to drive this project at the
level of each public body. The ICAC is working in close
collaboration with public bodies and is acting as a facilitator in
the implementation of the framework. The PSACF will serve to
enhance the institutional and governance framework of public
bodies and ensure that the accountability framework and
infrastructure not only rests on sound and robust internal control

mechanisms but is underpinned by the oversight role of external

auditors for the efficient and effective use of public resources.
Audit committees have also played a crucial role in reinforcing
the public sector governance framework.
The implementation of the PSACF has gained momentum and
many public bodies have demonstrated their commitment to be
an essential part of the national strategy against corruption. It is
encouraging to note that as at date, 56 public bodies have
already embarked on the implementation of the PSACF. Some
44 of these public bodies have developed their Anti-Corruption
Policy in which they state their firm commitment to a zerotolerance approach to corruption. 40 public bodies have
embarked on the Corruption Risk Management phase. This is a
crucial exercise where public bodies recognising that corruption
risks may be present in different areas of activities, conduct
their own risk assessment and implement strategies to mitigate
these risks.
With the implementation of the PSACF, public bodies are called
upon to make an introspection of the way things are done and
to make changes to enable them to better respond to public
expectation and other challenges. Here ICAC would like to
recognise the efforts undertaken by all the public bodies who
have embarked in this initiative in an endeavour to promote
public sector integrity. Some public bodies have even gone
further by integrating the Anti-Corruption Policy as an important
part of their mission and objectives. In the Mauritius Police
Force the Anti-Corruption Policy is embedded in the National
Policing Strategy. This demonstrates commitment not only to
achieve their mission but more importantly to achieve the
mission with integrity and this no doubt makes a difference.
For a sustained approach in promoting integrity in public sector
organisations and to complement the PSACF, public officers
have been designated to act as Integrity Officers so that they
can contribute to the establishment of an enduring ethical
culture. The role of these Integrity Officers is amongst others,
to observe, review and report on progress of the
implementation of the PSACF; ensure that the processes
followed are consistent with government regulations, policies,
guidelines and best practice principles in liaison with Internal
Control/Audit; provide opinions and guidance on probity risks
and issues that may arise during the above
processes/procedures; ensure compliance to the code of
ethics/conduct; and manage complaints regarding noncompliance under the guidance and supervision of the Senior

Chief Executive or Permanent Secretary.

Integrity officers have a key role to play in ensuring public sector
integrity. In view of ensuring that Integrity Officers deliver their
roles effectively, training programmes are being organised in
collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and
Administrative Reforms. As a first phase of the training
programme, ICAC in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Service
and Administrative Reforms (MCSAR) conducted a 12-hours basic
training course in September and October 2014 for 65 public
officers who were designated to act as Integrity Officers by their
respective organisations. A 5 days Advance Training Programme is
also envisaged in August 2015 to be conducted by resource
persons from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC). The training programme will include a 90 days
practicum to be undertaken in their respective organisations. The
aim of the training programme is to better equip and empower
Integrity Officers to effectively fulfil their functions. The
programme is expected to contribute towards professional
development of public officers while motivating them to sustain
public sector integrity.
The training programme will assist Integrity Officers in better
understanding the role of integrity in corporate and good
governance; developing integrity concepts and ethical reasoning
skills and identifying the need for the organisation's integrity
management programme. It will help in setting the necessary
mechanism for adoption of an integrity standard and also assist in
developing ethics statements, codes of ethics and ethics policies.
The implementation of the Anti-Corruption Framework in public
bodies is expected to create a national impact as public bodies will
strive for a zero-tolerance culture against corruption and build
corruption prevention measures into their strategy. Public bodies
as a whole are becoming more and more conscious of the
importance of corruption prevention and the need to implement
anti-corruption structures as this will help to achieve their goals
and objectives as the guardians and stewards of the management
of public funds and also operate in an environment where integrity
prevails. It is expected that the PSACF becomes integrated in the
overall public sector management framework over the next 2-5
years and induces stronger resistance to corruption. The way
forward is to internalise the PSACF in the structures of the entire
public sector since the public service is a key driver of values and
principles in promoting the welfare of the Mauritian people.

Monitoring & Evaluation

Corruption issues can persist due to failures in controls and
integrity systems including lack of checks and balances and
collective actions challenges. Education and prevention work
aims to address these issues with a view to eliminate
opportunities and motivation for corruption.
Monitoring and evaluation of anti-corruption work is crucial for
an anti-corruption agency to continuously improve on
performance in the fight against corruption. Though results of
anti-corruption programmes, especially those of prevention
and education, become visible and tangible only in the
medium and long term, it is important to monitor programmes
on an ongoing basis for short term outputs/outcomes also.
Monitoring is the periodic oversight of the implementation of
an activity to establish the extent to which input deliveries,
work schedules, other required actions and targeted outputs
are proceeding according to plan, so that timely actions can
be taken to correct deficiencies detected. Evaluation involves
determining as systematically and objectively as possible the
effectiveness, efficiency and impact of anti-corruption
activities in the light of specified objectives.
Monitoring and evaluation forms an integral part of the
education and prevention work of the ICAC. The objectives
are, amongst others, a. improve management of programmes
to ensure optimum use of funds and other resources; b. learn
from experience so as to improve the relevance, methods and
outcomes; c. provide information to enhance advocacy for
changes in policies, programmes and legislations; and d. track
progress and demonstrate achievements on the basis of the
results chain.
The monitoring and evaluation system for education and
prevention programmes tracks performance against three
main types of indicators:
Output indicators which is quantitative data about the
work performed,
Outcome indicators which gauge effectiveness in meeting
objectives, and
Impact indicators which identify the achievements and
effects positive or negative, intended or not on individuals,
institutions and the environment caused by a given anticorruption programme.
In addition to the use of the above indicators, monitoring is
considered as a critical component of an effective anticorruption programme. Focus is on activity, financial, context
and results monitoring. Inputs, activities conducted and
outputs are closely and regularly monitored for quantity,
quality and timeliness of inputs and activities. For example,
response to requests are made within 3-5 days and corruption
prevention reviews are completed and report submitted within
4-6 weeks.
Indicators are usually compiled from periodic surveys that
have been conducted, formal and informal feedback,
observations made and reports by stakeholders to the ICAC.
Monitoring mechanisms and evaluations are needed to
advance the fight against corruption. The above mentioned
indicators are regularly tracked to ensure efficiency and
effectiveness in the fight against corruption.

Forthcoming activities for 2015/2016

Sustaining Integrity in Public Service

The public sector has been on the forefront in adopting concrete
anti-corruption measures to eliminate opportunities for corruption,
to make its detection easier and to deter potential corruptors. Anticorruption efforts through a partnership and a holistic and
integrated approach where systems integrity and people integrity
complement each other will be furthered. The activities planned are
as follows:
(i) Empowerment sessions for officers of the public sector
especially new recruits of the public sector
(ii) Organisation of a Workshop on the role of Audit
Committees (AC) in promoting public sector integrity
(iii) Workshop on Corruption Risk Assessments (CRAs) for
Internal Auditors (IAs)
(iv) Conduct of an accredited training for Integrity Officers.
(v) Development of a Manual for Integrity Officers
(vi) Implementation of Public Sector Anti-Corruption
Framework in 15 new public bodies.
(vii) Conduct of 15 Corruption Prevention Reviews focusing on
corruption prone areas.
(viii) Conduct of 30 follow-up exercises to sustain corruption
prevention efforts
(ix) Development of 3 Best Practice Guides on:

IT Security and Control; and

Allocation of Stalls

Discretionary power in the public sector

(x) Conduct of three research studies on:
Direct Procurement in Ministries and Departments;
Licensing and
Discretionary Powers
Promoting Ethical Leadership
Enhancing ethical leadership is a vital component in enhancing trust
in the fight against corruption. The development of the following
guidelines will be initiated:
(i) Code of Conduct for members of the National Assembly and
other Politicians
(ii) Guidelines on resisting influence targeting councillors of local
authorities
(iii) Production of anti-corruption charter for community leaders
Fostering a Corruption-Free Generation Youth AntiCorruption Platform
To sustain youth momentum in the fight against corruption, it is
planned to set up a Youth Anti-Corruption Platform involving all
major stakeholders working with youth.

The platform will be a consultative forum for the promotion of an

anti-corruption culture among youth through concrete actions. It is
expected to ensure coordination and long term sustainability of
anti-corruption initiatives ranging from activities in secondary
schools to those involving young working professionals. The
proposed platform will meet on a regular basis for progress
evaluation.
Some of the other activities to sustain initiatives and efforts to
mould youngsters behaviour and attitudes to resist, reject and
report corruption in daily social life and future professional life are:
(i) Development of a set of 3 A2 size posters portraying the right
behaviour of pupils at home, from home to school and at
school.
(ii) Integrity clubs: Integrity Club Award, Setting up new clubs,
empowerment of club members and sustaining clubs towards
the organisation of anti-corruption activities in schools.
(iii) Dissemination of anti-corruption clips comprising songs,
choreographies and sketches amongst all stakeholders
involved with the youth and on ICAC website, YouTube and
Facebook page.
(iv) Anti-corruption Public Speaking Competition for tertiary
students
(v) Setting up of 4 additional Anti-Corruption Clubs at Tertiary
Level to add on the two existing ones
(vi) Research studies/ dissertations by tertiary education Students
Sustaining Civil Society Support and Engagement to Resist,
Reject and Report Corruption
A successful and sustainable fight against corruption needs the
collective action of the public and private sectors together with civil
society organisations. This is spelt out in Article 13 of United Nation
Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
The civil society has been a key partner in the fight against
corruption. In 2015, our initiatives will be geared towards
promoting ownership of anti-corruption initiatives and formalisation
of anti-corruption commitment by civil society organisations. The
activities are as follows:
(i) Symposium for trade union federations to set up an anticorruption trade union platform for collective action.
(ii) Women Anti-Corruption Forum.
(iii) Setting up of two additional Anti-Corruption NGO Focal
Groups.
(iv) Review Code of Conduct for Councillors and its
implementation.
(v) Booklet highlighting recurrent corrupt behaviour in local

10

authorities.
(vi) Civil Society Anti-Corruption Symposium involving members
from Social Welfare and Community Centres.
(vii) Review of Best Practice Guide for NGOs.
(viii) Setting up of 4 vigilance groups at the level of the community.
Consolidating Public Trust in Reporting Corruption
To enhance trust and confidence of the general public in the fight
against corruption, a mass communication campaign around the
themes: rebuilding trust in the ICAC and reporting corruption is
being planned as follows:
production of three anti-corruption video clips to be aired
on the MBC;
disseminated across social media and radio; and
strategic placement of posters derived from the concept
at various public places in Mauritius.
The ethos of this campaign will be the aggressive targeting of the
youth, bearing in mind the level of cynicism demonstrated in the
National Survey on Corruption 2014 from the latter. To sustain this
campaign, a newsletter to communicate to stakeholders about
progress made in the fight against corruption and money laundering
will be issued on a quarterly basis.
Addressing the Supply Side of Corruption through
Public/Private Partnership
Tackling corruption requires both a demand and supply side
approach. It is in this vein that anti-corruption platforms such as the
Public Private Platform Against Corruption (PPPAC), Private Sector
Anti-Corruption Task Force (PACT) and the Construction Industry
Anti-Corruption Committee have been set up. These platforms will
be sustained and activities will be centred upon the following:
(i) Development of an Integrity Pact in the Construction Sector
(ii) Implementation of an Integrity Pledge in the Private sector
(iii) Workshop for Businesses to disseminate best practices
(iv) Development of a gift guideline in collaboration with the
private sector
Empowering the Rodriguan Population
Anti-corruption activities are conducted in Rodrigues on a yearly
basis in view of sensitising and empowering stakeholders on the
importance of breeding and sustaining a culture of integrity. It is
proposed to schedule a mission to Rodrigues comprising a team of
two officers in the period of August/September. During their visits,
specific stakeholders will be targeted namely private sector, public
sector, education sector and civil society.
Resource Guide for Drafting of Anti-Corruption Strategy

After having signed and ratified the United Nations Convention

against Corruption (UNCAC), Mauritius had undergone a peer
review on the implementation of Chapters III (Criminalization) and

IV (International Cooperation) of the Convention. Mauritius will

have to shortly subject itself to a second cycle of review and
demonstrate that it has successfully implemented measures under
Chapters II and V of the said Convention which cover areas
relating to Preventive measures and Asset Recovery.
Article 5 of UNCAC, which falls under Chapter II of the said
Convention provides a mandatory obligation, for State Parties to
develop and implement effective, coordinated anti-corruption
policies that reflect principles of rule of law, proper management
of public affairs, integrity, transparency as well as accountability.
Although the Article, in itself does not impose an obligation on
State Parties to adopt a National Anti-Corruption Strategy, the
UNODC is currently working on a Resource Guide, that sets out
key factors that may be taken into consideration by State Parties
should they wish to adopt a National Anti-Corruption Strategy.
The Resource guide aims at assisting towards formulating an AntiCorruption plan which is to be implemented, monitored and
evaluated.
The UNODC invited participants from various countries, including
Mauritius to provide inputs to the draft Resource Guide, which is
being authored by Messrs. Matthew Stephenson, professor of law
at Harvard University and Richard E Messick Esq, anticorruption
consultant from Washington DC. It is expected that the Resource
Guide will be finalized and published by end of this year.
SIDS Conference on Anti-Corruption Reform
Mauritius, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC), has been selected to host the next global
conference on anti-corruption reform in small island jurisdictions.
This global event is expected to be held from 17 to 21 August
2015. The participants will be members of the small island
developing states (SIDS), which are also State Parties to the
United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). It is
expected that participants who will attend the conference will be
from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cape Verde, Comoros,
Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Maldives,
Sao Tom and Principe, Seychelles, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and
Tobago, as well as from the Pacific region namely from Palau,
Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu.
The overall objective of this high level conference will be to
discuss the peculiar challenges faced by a small jurisdiction when
combating corruption, facilitating the exchange of experiences and
best practices on anti-corruption reforms in various areas such as
asset declaration, whistle-blower/witness protection mechanisms,
and anti-corruption in procurement, amongst others. Inputs
collected at the conference will be taken on board at the Sixth
Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United
Nations Convention against Corruption, which is to be held in early
November 2015 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Statistics
Key Performance Indicator

As at June 15th 2015

Total 2014

Total 2013

Complaints Received

779

1533

1613

Preliminary Inquiries Opened

289

491

553

Cases Lodged

22

23

59

Cases Won

17

21

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"Koripsion: swa oui, swa non. Apre asim to desizion":

explaining the media campaign
ICAC has kick started a media campaign, coinciding with the
Commission moving to its new headquarters at Rduit. The tagline
of the media campaign reads: "Koripsion : swa oui, swa non. Apre
asim to desizion!", produced by the production company Eruption
Studio. This campaign follows extensive debriefing sessions in the
aftermath of the National Survey on Corruption published earlier this
year, which was discussed in the last issue of the newsletter.
Campaigning for causes, however noble the fight against corruption
may be, is not an easy task. Down the years, ICAC has come to
realise that members of the public have, unfortunately, become
desensitised to messages promoting values such as integrity,
honesty and patriotism. Refusing to accept this as a fatality, the
1
Commission is seeking to transform it into opportunity.
As a result, the chosen tagline will no doubt raise a few eyebrows.
This is the desired effect sought by ICAC through this campaign, the
message being: "either you are part of the problem, or you are part
of the solution", with an underlying message that we are all
stakeholders in the fight against corruption and money laundering.
Positive feedback from focus groups has led us to validate this
campaign.
To explain the rationale behind the conception of this tagline, JeanLuc Ahnee, managing partner of Eruption Studio provides the
following:

" La corruption est un choix face auquel chaque citoyen est seul
responsable. Face ce choix, il ny a pas de demi-mesure ou de
compromis possible. Choisir son camp, cest faire un choix de
valeurs, de principes ; en somme, un choix de socit entre
justice, honntet, mritocratie et illgalit, magouille et
improbit. Etre avec tous ceux qui, comme lICAC, ont choisit de
lutter contre ce flau ou tre dans le camp den face. Il reviendra
ensuite chacun dassumer les consquences de ses actes."
Some viewers may run the risk of misinterpreting some visual
messages in the video campaign and point out perceived
misrepresentations of reality. ICAC and Eruption Studio have tried
conveying the intricacies of corruption offenses and the subsequent
investigation in one-minute visual clips. This has not been easy. The

more so when such clips are based on fictional representations of

what could happen in real life. ICAC would like to bring forward
the rationale behind each clip, in the expectation that the wider
public appreciates the message.
Clip One: The Race
Enacting a group of children in a competitive environment for a
prize, the clip shows how one of them cheats to claim the top
spot. While there is obviously no corruption offense involved, the
focus of the clip is on values such as honesty and integrity, the
main pillars behind a corruption-free generation. ICAC wishes to
trigger questions from younger viewers to their parents, who will
then explain to the former the relationship between the need for
values in a corruption-free society. Also, the Commission hopes
adults will realise how these values are intrinsically linked.
Clip Two: The Date
Corruption, cutting corners or "traser" in creole, is neither
acceptable nor fashionable. Even the most classy young man, with
an impeccable code of conduct in society, can fall prey to
temptation and commit an offense. In this clip, while the young
man attempts to bribe the traffic warden, the girl chooses
otherwise: to leave the young man because of his skewed moral
compass. The message in this video is clear: we all have a choice
in every situation in life. How people react to these choices will
define the society we live in.
Clip Three: The Secretary
Reporting corruption is an obligation for public officials. However,
whistleblowers may be afraid of retaliation. This clip showcases a
secretary who dares to denounce an act of traffic d'influence. As
previously mentioned, all the variables needed to prove such an
offense in court could not be covered in the short lapse of this
clip. Informed viewers will no doubt notice other issues such as
admissibility of evidence etc. ICAC chose to suggest these aspects
between the lines. Instead, the focus is on the courage the
secretary musters to go ahead and denounce the illegal act and
the support of her family in this endeavor, hailing her as a hero
after the arrest of the corrupt person.

Gen-Y Attitude
Starting this newsletter issue, ICAC is introducing a comic strip feature aimed at secondary and tertiary level youngsters (Generation Y). Make sure to
follow the adventures of our characters as the storyline unfolds...

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