The African Union (AU) on Friday marked Africa Day that commemorates the birth of the then Organization for African Unity (OAU), reiterating call for the fight against corruption.
“Central to the work ahead is the fight against corruption in all its forms,” said AU Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat. Mr. Mahamat emphasized that corruption destroys the lives of ordinary people and undermines the trust in their leaders and public institutions on the continent.
“Resources that are needed for development and the delivery of services, such as electricity, education, healthcare, sanitation and clean water, are diverted by a few, thus depriving the majority of the people from access to these critical services,” he said.
The AU has dedicated 2018 as anti-corruption year, under the theme “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”, and African leaders have declared the July 11 every year as the African Anti-Corruption Day.
“I want to challenge all of us, leaders and Africans from all walks of life, to firmly deal with this scourge (corruption),” noted the chairperson of the AU Commission.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been named champion of AU’s anti-corruption theme, in recognition of the Buhari administration’s commitment to fighting corruption in Nigeria and globally.
In his remarks, Bankole Adeoye, Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to AU, reiterated the need to sustain robust efforts to root corruption out of Africa.
The ambassador urged more efforts to ensure transparency and determination of all to address the scourge of corruption, which he said is one of the major impediments to structural transformation in Africa.
