Tackling corruption in commonwealth Africa: Case studies of Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda and Seychelles Roger Koranteng. Commonwealth Secretariat, 2018. 152 pages. E‐book (PDF): £30.00. Paperback: £40.00. ISBN: 9781849291828

• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Author: Abiodun Marumo Tito Omotoye
• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2386

BOOK REVIEW

Tackling corruption in commonwealth Africa: Case studies of

Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda and Seychelles

Edited by Roger Koranteng.

Commonwealth Secretariat, 2018. 152 pages. E-book (PDF): £30.00. Paperback: £40.00. ISBN: 9781849291828

The 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) was released by Trans-

parency International on January 23, 2020. The latest edition of the

CPI reveals that Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest scoring region on

the CPI with an average of 32 (out of 100). It is therefore unsurprising

that a substantial amount of literature and debate has painted a bleak

picture about the continent's performance in the fight against corrup-

tion. Tackling Corruption in Commonwealth Africa: Case Studies of

Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda and Seychelles, which is divided

into 6 chapters by 6 different contributors, attempts to demystify the

assumption that there are no good stories to be told in Africa by

focusing on several countries that have performed relatively well in

the CPI or have shown a significant improvement in their scores over

the previous decade. The book acknowledges that, while continuing

to experience challenges arising from corruption, these countries have

made critical progress.

The five Commonwealth countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius,

Rwanda and Seychelles possess unique political, economic and social

transitional backgrounds, but as the editor, Roger Koranteng points

out in the introductory chapter, “all five case studies see the impor-

tance of strengthening legal and institutional frameworks; improving

government effectiveness and building a competent public service,

protecting whistleblowers and mobilising every section of the society

to engage with the anti-corruption drive; reforming public finance

management; and investigating and prosecuting public officials at all

levels”(Korateng, 2018:14).

The contributors follow a similar approach in assessing anti-corruption

efforts in each Commonwealth country. That is, the political and

socio-economic contexts are reviewed, foll owed by an analysis of the

anti-corruption legal and institutional framew orks. The chapters con-

clude by highlighting country challenges andlessons. A notable simi-

larity between the concerned countries relates to the fact that a

number of anti-corruption reforms were deliberately undertaken to

strengthen legal and institutional efforts aimed at combattin g corrup-

tion. This included the enactment of new laws or reviewing and

amending existing instruments, establishing national anti-corruption

agencies and partnerships with civil societyorganisations and the pri-

vate sector, as well as increasing political will and support from gov-

ernment to fight corruption. With the exception of Rwanda and the

Seychelles, which implement their anti-corruption initiatives through

the Office of the Ombudsman, we learn that dedicatednational anti-

corruption agencies have been established inBotswana, Mauritius

and Lesotho. However, it is worth noting that the Seychel les enacted

the Anti-Corruption Act in 2016, which subsequently estab lished the

Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS), a self-governing,

neutral and independent body that is not subject to the direction or

control of any person or authority. Prior to the establishment of the

ACCS, the Office of the Ombudsman was empowered to function

independently and allowed to investigate any case of fraud and cor-

ruption involving public authorities up to the President (p. 120). A

unique feature of the Seychelles' anti-corruption institutional frame-

work is the creation of the Public Officers' Ethics Commission in

2008. The chapter on the Seychelles by Mukesh Arya sta tes that this

body primarily “focuses on the sensitisation of publi c officers in state

owned enterprises and government departments.Its main role is to

implement and administer the annual declaration of assets by public

servants including the President.”No other country that was

reviewed had established a similar institution,so this could possibly

explain one of the reasons behind the Seychelles' success in repl acing

Botswana as the least perceived corrupt African count ry in the 2018

and 2019 CPIs.

It may also be interesting for readers to be cognisant of the

different approaches in which the heads of these anti-corruption

agencies are appointed. For example, in Botswana (p. 34), the Director

of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is

appointed by the executive (i.e., the President), which has raised ques-

tions about its independence. On the other hand, the Prevention of

Corruption Act 2002 requires the Prime Minister of Mauritius to

appoint the Director General of the Independent Commission Against

Corruption (ICAC) after consulting the leader of the opposition (p. 54).

Nevertheless, it does not appear that the process of appointing the

DCEC Director has negatively affected the DCEC or Botswana's

performance or ability in fighting corruption, as evidenced by the

country's comparatively high ranking on the CPI.

This book provides lessons to anti-corruption researchers,

development change agents, civil society, private sector and politi-

cians, in both developing and developed economies. Improving

Received: 25 January 2020Revised: 11 May 2020Accepted: 12 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2386

J Public Affairs. 2020;20:e2386.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd1of2

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2386