In tandem with the determination of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to equip its employees with the skills required to combat corruption, three staff of the Commission together with their counterparts from other African countries have benefited from a training on ‘Modern Anti-Corruption Techniques in Preventing and Combating Corruption’.      

The training was organized by the Egyptian National Anti-Corruption Academy of the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), Egypt’s lead anti-corruption agency.  The training ran from Monday 29^th May to Wednesday 31^st May 2023 at the Academy in Cairo, Egypt. The three ACC staff that benefited from the training are the Commission’s Director of Internal Audit Victor Peacock, Deputy Director of Assets Declaration Edita Fofana and Senior Public Education Officer Abdulai Saccoh.

In his statement, the Deputy Director, ACA, Major General Abdul Rahman, acknowledged the efforts and commitment of member states of the African Union towards combating all forms of corruption. He highlighted the importance of collaboration among member states in tackling corruption, which has the potential to transcend beyond borders. He recognized that corruption is one of the defining challenges of today’s world because it can germinate seed of discord, nurture unpatriotism, subvert national cohesion, wreck economy and undermine infrastructural projects. 

The Deputy Director reflected on some of the cross-cutting issues which tend to serve as an obstacle to the campaign against corruption in Africa and other parts of the world. He said that technology is one of the prevention tools used in Egypt to reduce direct human contacts between the client and service providers. He affirmed Egypt’s commitment to open education doors of opportunities, and continue to work with all states and non-state parties in order to strengthen partnership in combating corruption.

Director of International Cooperation Sector, ACA, Dr. Khaled Said, said they decided to share their expertise with staff of other anti-graft outfits in Africa because they share common values and vision. He spoke on corruption risk management and evaluation and the contents of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and its review mechanism. Dr. Said recognized the relevance of the UNCAC review process and how international instruments have helped to counter corruption and other crimes across the world. He dilated on a number of instruments which have enhanced the global campaign against corruption including the UNCAC, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), the Arab Anti-Corruption Convention, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the Arab Network for Promotion of Integrity, Transparency and Combating Corruption.

The ACC team also did a presentation on the third generation of Sierra Leone’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy.