Independent Commission Against Corruption – Mauritius A Long Term Comprehensive National Effort and An Holistic Approach To The Fight Against Corruption in Mauritius. The development of Mauritius as a centre for offshore and financial services in recent years has undoubtedly increased the risk of occurrence of economic and organised crimes such as corruption and money laundering. As this may affect the image of Mauritius as a financial center, the Government of Mauritius has taken the initiative against both corruption and money laundering. The Government has devised and implemented a powerful set of interlocking legislative measures to combat these phenomena. This has resulted in the establishment of both the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Financial Intelligence Unit. What has been achieved? ICAC has prepared a global plan, which outlines the various strategies to achieve its objectives of fighting corruption and money laundering offences in a coherent and comprehensive manner. It also describes the organization and structure of the ICAC and the way it carries out its responsibilities in accordance with the law. This plan, thus, makes more transparent the goals, expected results and the resources necessary to achieve such results. The strategy applies to the whole country and sustains the mission statement of ICAC namely: “With the community, ICAC is committed to fight corruption through effective law enforcement, education and prevention to help keep Mauritius fair, just, stable and equitable.” Every phase of its development is clearly described in the plan, which is also intended to be a standing document. ICAC is planning for the medium and long term and it is important to appreciate that the business of anti-corruption is not a quick fix. For example it took ICAC Hong Kong, an extremely popular institution with 99 percent of public support, some 28 years to reach where it is today. Time is therefore a determining factor in this endeavour and the ICAC is confident that its efforts will help maintain corruption and money laundering under control. The principles and procedures described in the plan incorporate the best practices adopted in Singapore, Australia, Botswana and Hong Kong. Experiences from anti-corruption initiatives developed by these countries have shown that for anti-corruption strategies to be successful and effective, there should be sustained and simultaneous attention on a number of fronts. Thus ICAC’s strategy plan focuses on an approach that includes three essential components: Enforcement, Prevention and Education. These components are each a vital part of the whole strategy to be implemented using an all-inclusive coherent approach for goal congruence.
1
With respect to enforcement of law, ICAC has had a busy start. From the beginning it has adopted a multi disciplinary approach combining legal, forensic accounting and investigative skills. The results have been substantive and arrests have made in respect of public officials: including Minister’s advisers, local government officers, senior customs officers, long serving policemen and government support staff. All of them have been arrested on bribery related charges following ICAC investigations. Impartiality, objectivity and a responsible use of powers conferred to ICAC by the law have been a hallmark of the work of the ICAC in the field of enforcement. Recently an ICAC investigation resulted in the arrest of a serving Government Minister together with one of his advisers, two intermediaries and a prominent local businessman. The ICAC is presently investigating into allegations of corruption, money laundering and missing funds belonging to the major national pension fund. A former and very senior staff of the largest clearing bank in Mauritius has been arrested for authorizing the issue of office cheques, totaling several millions of rupees, drawn from the pension fund bank account without the latter’s authority.
What lies ahead ICAC is building a creative partnership with the public, the Trade Unions, Non Government Organisations and the civil society institutions in setting up and implementing its anti-corruption strategy. The cooperation and commitment at all levels in the fight against corruption is being obtained by raising awareness on the dangerous and corrosive impact of corruption. A key component of ICAC’s anti-corruption strategy is the involvement and education of young people, aimed at instilling an attitude of zero-tolerance towards corruption in Mauritius. In addition, a national campaign to sensitise the public against corruption will be launched in March 2003 with the following objectives: Raising public awareness on the dangers of corruption Increasing intolerance towards corruption. Facilitating public reporting of corruption. Harnessing the public support in combating corruption. Informing the general public on the manner in which complaints against acts of corruption should be made. The campaign will include production of television clips, radio spots, press adverts, posters and brochures. ICAC has also worked out a plan for direct face to face communication to implement preventive education programmes, enlisting support programmes and community participation programmes. It is also promoting links with international organizations to foster cooperation in the fight against transnational organized crime. For all the divisions of ICAC it is a process of continuous improvement. Capacity building is underway with a major recruitment exercise, new training initiatives, the
2
development of technical resource support and a new customised premises – ALL IS IN PROGRESS FOR A PLANNED ACHIEVEMENT………...
13 February 2003.
3