Written by EDITOR

As the five-country East African Community (EAC) Common Market and the other stages to full integration of this economic block draw closer, there is need to have a common and tough anti-corruption law.

We need this because many leaders who get appointed to powerful positions continue to disappoint their people by engaging in grand corruption, or just look in the face. Upon appointment they quickly become selfish and loot their nations while millions of their citizens languish in abject poverty.

 
How many times have the media reported on grand corruption cases involving millions of dollars, but because of protectionism by the ruling cliques, nothing really happens to the looters in terms of penalties for corruption. It is unfortunate that they misuse their powers while they stand on high podiums to condemn petty or nuisance corruption by civil servants in service-oriented departments and the traffic police.

 
Each one of the five EAC member state has made certain spirited efforts to speak out against grand corruption, but in actual fact nothing really prohibitive has been legislated by any of the countries. The best, or at 'worst', they have resigned from public offices, but retained political powers as the culprits often have multiple positions in their ruling parties and in government. They thus buttress themselves from public scrutiny, ridicule and punishment.

Tanzanians, Ugandans and  Kenyans have recently witnessed grand corruption whereby it has taken foreign governments to point out and rally support for their countries’ national wealth.

 
Of late the British government has forced one of its companies to repay Tanzania about US$37 million for one single corruption case, but Tanzanian authorities are yet to wake up and prosecute those who were involved in the scandal that led to this refund, and neither has it gone for the money that is due to its state Treasury.

The other EAC member states could fall prey to this behavior if left to continue. However, it is not too late to prevent the rampant grand corruption from spreading their influence into the less affected member states.

 
East Africans and their foreign 'friends' would be happy to see an initiative to draft a common tough anti-corruption law which will prohibit culprits to be given any responsibility in any government or NGO of regional character.

 
The common anti-corruption law could go as far as establishing institutions and set up mechanisms to monitor grand corruptions, other than the courts, because the latter are also known to be corrupt.