By Matthew Denis
The Government of Namibia has approached the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to explore training opportunities as well as sharing of expertise with personnel of the Namibian Anti-corruption Commission in the fight against corruption.
In a statement signed by Demola Bakare, Ag. Director, Public Enlightenment and Education/Spokesperson for the Commission revealed that the Ambassador of Namibia to Nigeria, Mr. Humphrey Geiseb made the demand when he paid a courtesy call to the ICPC’s headquarters on Friday.
According to him, Nigeria as a country occupies an exalted position in the fight against corruption in Africa and such expertise that it possessed needed to be shared with other countries in the continent like Namibia.
The Ambassador revealed further that Namibia also had an anti-corruption agency known as the Anti-Corruption Commission of Namibia (ACC) just as he proposed that the Commission would love to learn about the success story coming from Nigeria, especially in the recovery of stolen assets by the ICPC and its sister agency, the EFCC.
“The fight against corruption is taking a new dimension in the continent and we believe Nigeria should lead in sharing its expertise in the fight against corruption and we hope it will open its doors to other African countries like Namibia to learn.
“We feel ICPC and the EFCC should be able to go the extra mile to share their remarkable achievements. It’s not good for Namibia to go outside the continent to learn this.” he said.
While responding, the ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN appreciated the presence of the Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria during the launch of ICPC’s Strategic Action Plan 2024-2028, just as he reiterated that the fight against corruption on the continent cannot be fought in isolation.
He maintained that the Commission was ever ready and willing to partner with other anti-corruption bodies on the continent to stem the scourge of corruption in Africa noting that the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, (ACAN) the training arm of ICPC would come handy to see to the training request for personnel of the Namibian Anti-Corruption Commission.
“Those who indulge in corruption have their networks. So, we too at the continent need to come together so that we can distort the illegal methods. By doing so, we’ll have good governance and a vibrant foreign-direct investment on the continent.
“We are aware of the MoU signed by my predecessor, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, I wish to reiterate that our doors remain opened for any assistance that the Namibian Anti-corruption Commission may require from us.
“We have our own Anti-corruption Academy where we train people, I believe when your people come, we can also learn from them as well.”